JD on EP

I'm seeing some comments on PSP forums hoping that Sony will fix the 'Out of Memory' bug - it's not seen as a hardware limitation - and maybe it will be possible for the device to be made configurable to allow more memory to used for the Flash player.

Also, I think some cognitive dissonance arises when seeing the PSP as a powerful device capable of playing complex games, and seeing it struggle with simple Flash games (like pacman). Users might be faster to put that down to tecnical ineptitude or conspiracy (ie Sony doesn't want a powerful Flash player) than hardware limitations.

That bit of speculation (Sony doesn't want a powerful Flash player) is pretty easy to buy into though.

Let's face it, if developers were able to sell game content for the PSP without Sony making a buck, that puts a big wrinkle in their model.

However, something like Central could thrive here. Sony could provide the hosting and storefront, developers would have to submit titles to them for a fee, and the player wouldn't be restricted to the browser's memory limitations.

Shoot... thanks for the observations, guys, unhappy as they risk being... I'm about 90 minutes away from getting into the office and checking in face-to-face with other staffers on this.

Do you have any ideas on what might help ameliorate the consumer situation? Getting a consumer-oriented PSP FAQ up on the Adobe site could help, even though most who would need it wouldn't find it... a key reference document is a necessary first step, however. Maybe a gallery of content, some guidelines of what types of SWF to look for, I'm not sure, do you see any ideas which might help?

tx, jd

Interesting post on getting around the browser memory management problem.

http://pspupdates.qj.net/JBG-Flash-Pack-released-for-PSP-v2-70-only/pg/49/aid/29487

[jd sez: Thanks!! I had seen a hackery link earlier today but hadn't had time to pursue it... getting some context from the mobile team on this is another job on my list today. Appreciate the heads-up!]

I have been testing side by side performance of SWF content on a pocket pc (Asus 636) versus PSP and the difference is stunning. Surprisingly the performance of the Flash 6 player on the PPC is much, much better than on the PSP.

Not what I expected, comparing a device running the Windows PPC platform to a dedicated gaming device.

I can only see that this will add significant fuel to the conspiracy fire in respect of an intentionally neutered Flash player for the PSP.

Clark

Re: Do you have any ideas on what might help ameliorate the consumer situation?

PSP portal site from Adobe, content gallery just like you said. What information could Adobe possibly offer consumers that won't go over their heads? If you're going to release information, release it to developers.

Other than that, let Sony deal with their consumers. They're turning the PSP into a hodgepodge of thrown together capabilities, don't get suckered into cleaning up their mess. It's a unique platform with a limited consumer base, Flash support on it isn't going to make or break either company.

I think you're on the right track - the more information that we have on what works well and what works poorly makes it easier to make content that performs well.

Something else that might be useful is to start talking about it more in terms of 'Flash Lite 2' than 'Flash 6' - it seems more like FL2 player to me. Calling it Flash 6 invites comparison to the desktop. Flash Lite 2 invites comparison to other mobile devices.

Any FL2 content will likely run quite well on the PSP - just the d-pad navigation needs a bit of a fix.

wondered about that

why it wasn't flashlite 2 that was used for PSP

lets hope the PS3 uses Flash 9!

The flashlite 2 comparison seems to be true. Using a collision test swf the framerate of the PSP is identical to a nokia 6680 [6.6 fps]

Not really compariable to the desktop...

Stu