Skype skips me and other PSP-1000 owners.

With the release of the PSP 3.90 firmware, Sony officially supports Skype, but only on the PSP-2000 series. Come again? Yes, those of you with a PSP-1000 (the original, non-slim version of the PSP) are left in the cold when it comes to using Skype.

QJ.net recently explained (or speculated)

“Although PSP-1000 and PSP-2000 are identical in basic functions, there are differences in hardware specifications to some extent and, for that reason, PSP-2000 may differ in features from PSP-1000. We had studied the possibility of supporting Skype with PSP-1000 but had to give it up because of the smaller size of main memory on PSP-1000 series.”

I guess I really did not pay too much attention to what was going on behind closed doors. After all, last fall I came close to preordering a new PSP (wanted that Star Wars version), but decided that the smaller footprint, video out, and faster load times were not worth the upgrade.

I guess the memory upgrade (64MB vs. 32MB) was the hallmark feature of the PSP-2000. Now the cows are out of the barn. What other future features will be excluded from PSP-1000 owners? Last night I wrote about PS3 SKU confusion, and now we get this beauty.

In the interest of disclosure, I do not use Skype, but that is irrelevant. Sony is going to isolate and piss off their core fan base, myself included. I have owned a PSP (original, fat, phat, PSP-1000, etc) since its launch, and I am rewarded by Sony deciding that my PSP is no longer in its future. I never realized that the leap from the PSP-1000 to the PSP-2000 was akin to a hardware leap. I thought this was more along the lines of Nintendo’s typical strategy of releasing a GameBoy Advance, followed by a GameBoy Advance SP, followed by a GameBoy SP Super Special Limited Edition (or whatever).

I am all for progress, but I would rather Sony come clean and say that those of you with a PSP-1000 are about to be left in the dust.

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6 thoughts on “Skype skips me and other PSP-1000 owners.”

  1. ACtually picked one up when they launched here but then returned it unopened.

    Was thinking about it again recently.

    Remote Play could be nice but not enough PS3 games seem to support it. They say you can turn on and off folding remotely, even over the Internet.

    Put some addictive puzzle games on it and I might bite.

  2. wco81 – If I could get remote play to work over the internet, it would be well worth it to me. Could you imagine playing NCAA Football 98, F1 2000 CE, FF VII, and a whole host of other games on your PSP via remote play on your PS3? I guess I will have to get another router to be able to cash in on this great innovation.

    I have been selling PSX games on eBay for a few dollars here and there … if I can play them on my PSP via remote play, then I will have to increase my PSX library!

  3. This is tragic i bought mine and i think its a waste of money to spend another $160 dollars of my hard earned money for basiclly the same thing

  4. This is totally unacceptable!! This is the reason why many sony fans are leaving the psp and ps3 family. I tossed away my psp-1000 and switched to nintendo wii and ds. Sony sucks.

  5. if theres no mic for 1000 than how the hell where peapole talking on socom before 2000 came out and why have i seen pictures on official websites… they just want you to get the new shit so they can make MONEY! whens the last time you saw a ds that wasint lite brian?

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