By 
The PlayStation Portable (PSP), which was launched in March 2005, was not Sony’s first attempt to create a portable gaming device. Sony had launched another device called the “PocketStation” in December 1998 to compete with Sega’s VMU for the DreamCast. The unit was originally released in Japan, but because of its unpopularity it was never released in the United States or other countries. The main reason the unit failed might be the fact that the PocketStation never had any type of game cartridge media to insert into the unit. To play games on the unit you were required to own a PlayStation One. Then to get games onto the Pocket Station you had to plug the unit into the memory card slot on the PS1 then transfer games over. (also serves as a Memory Card) Another reason for failure was the fact that there were only a handful of PS1 games that actually included “mini-games” for the Pocket Station. Because of this design, the unit was absolutely pointless for the majority to purchase.
[Thanks for the pics, lipanz]
Other things Sony had intended for Pocket Station to be a tool to “train” characters and unlock new features in the full game editions. This was pretty much a rip off of Sega‘s Virtual Memory Unit they released to go along with the DreamCast, which was eventually another failure because of the buggy parent unit. The Pocket Station also had speakers, a clock, infrared (for multiplayer), and once again served as a memory card. Pocket Stations are now “rare” novelty items and can only be purchased for high prices on sites such as eBay. This might have also been a plan to compete with Tamagotchi, but Sony obviously never came through.
Technical Specs:
- CPU : ARM7T (32 bit RISC Processor)
- Memory : SRAM 2K bytes & Flash RAM 128K bytes
- Graphics : 32 x 32 dot Monochrome LCD
- Sound : Mini Speaker (12 bit PCM) x 1 unit
- Switches : 5 input buttons + 1 reset button
- Infrared : Bi-directional (IrDA based)
- LED : 1 indicator
- Battery : Lithium battery (CR 2032)
- Other functions : Calendar & Identification #
- Dimensions : 64 x 42 x 13.5 mm (L x W x H)
- Weight : Approx. 30g (w/ battery)
Links: PlayStation | Sony | SCEA
Related: Free PS3 Conga | 8GB MS Duo
I own one. How is it PSP-like?
“but because of its unpopularity it was never released in the United States or other countries”
What? Bull****. They sold like mad, they couldn’t keep them in stores.
http://www.dealtime.com/xPR-Final_Fantasy_VIII~RD-28717649540
“And Since Sony had trouble meeting demand for that PDA device, it never made it’s way over to this side of the swamp”
“The main reason the unit failed might be the fact that the PocketStation never had any type of game cartridge media to insert into the unit”
Failed? Again, it sold like mad. It did not fail. Japan has over 2 dozen games supporting the thing
“Another reason for failure was the fact that there were only a handful of PS1 games that actually included “mini-games” for the Pocket Station.”
This article is full of **.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocketstation
Compatible games [list]^^^
And Pocket MuuMuu had over a hundred minigames in it
“Very similar to Sega’s portable unit they released to go along with the DreamCast, which was another failure”
VMU wasn’t a failure either. It was a lot more supported, and even games without minigames supported it.
Hey everyone just wanted to post some more facts. The Pocket Station was sold out only for a period of time because of the sudden demand, but as soon as the reviews came out, it became very unpopular. The game that had made it popular for a few weeks was the Final Fantasy VIII Game. It allowed unlocking special content that wasn’t normally available in the game. This made the unit popular to all FFVII fans. Sony never sent out a second shipment of units because they still had a lot of bugs to deal with. And since they decided to stop the unit they never got to shipping the item to the U.S. Also only people who owned PS1s could utilize this therefore it only was targeted at a small range of customers. The Sega VMU may have been a good product, but the reason it FAILED was mainly because the Dream Cast was too buggy and it got discontinued.
“Sony never sent out a second shipment of units because they still had a lot of bugs to deal with”
Like? Keep in mind I own one.
“Also only people who owned PS1s could utilize this”
And PS2s. It even shows u int he menu as a Pocketstation instead of a memory card.
“The Sega VMU may have been a good product, but the reason it FAILED”
Actually it didnt fail
“was mainly because the Dream Cast was too buggy”
Howso? Again keep in mind I own one
“and it got discontinued”
Not because of bugs. Because Sega was in debt
“Hey everyone just wanted to post some more facts”
If they were posting facts it wouldn’t be an issue. But I’m finding many things wrong with these “facts” that don’t agree with reality
“but as soon as the reviews came out, it became very unpopular”
No. It was extremely popular
Ok this story is wrong on so many levels. 1.the pocketstation was realeased in the US, in very limited quantities. Hell I bought mine at Babbages (now gamestop). It also had suport on american games, Although very limited support. FFVIII and Street Fighter Alpha 2 are all that I can remember. It failed in the us due to a lack of support by sony just like the ps2 hdd. Whoever wrote this article really needs to do some fact checking before he posts his work.
[Comment ID #486 Will Be Quoted Here]
The facts should also be checked before they’re submitted for a dig too.
Guys (and gals)- It doesnt matter if the pocketstation was successful or not. Its outdated and no one cares anymore. Techni just because you own one doesnt mean it was successful. And actually it was buggy, but you never saw it because all the games that supported it were fully tested before they were shipped. There may not have been bugs with the actual pocketstation itself but compatibility with games. Notice how many games there are for ps1 and how many games support it. Do the math, it was buggy and for that reason it failed…
“Techni just because you own one doesnt mean it was successful. ”
No, I was saying since Sony couldn’t keep up with demand it was a success
“And actually it was buggy”
No, it wasnt. Please tell me the bug(s) and how to reproduce it
“There may not have been bugs with the actual pocketstation itself but compatibility with games”
Thats not a bug.
“Notice how many games there are for ps1 and how many games support it”
The math doesnt say its buggy
“it was buggy”
No, it wasnt. Prove it, tell me these bugs and how to reproduce them
“and for that reason it failed… ”
It didnt fail, so your reasoning is flawed. Much like this article
A few comments first off as a lot of people are mentioning, this story has a lot of flaws.
Also while Babbages and other US game stores did carry Pocketstations, they were imported in small quantities for Final Fantasy VIII.
Also there were problems with the Pocketstation due to battery life which is why after a quick sell out interest died down rather quickly. This must have been what he meant by “bugs” which wasn’t a bug as much as it was a limitation of the batteries.
[Comment ID #489 Will Be Quoted Here]
haha this entire comment form is hillarious!
FACT: PocketStation was a failure read the quoted comment.
FACT: Dreamcast was a failure. & the VMU thing
READ THIS: All models released in Japan were all in English edition. They didn’t make a special NA or JP edition like they do for all other consoles. Therefore it was compatible with all PS1s as long as they can read english and they have games with the PocketStation Game on them.
Important: Sony didn’t ship PocketStations to retailers in the US. Only speciality stores such as Babbages (now GameStop) specially imported units for customers that owned FFVIII. (pretty much the only game that the unit was popular with)
And anyways don’t critizice the post, not a bad job. just depends on your point of view.
there is a reason why this one failed, and they are starting to show some signs of the psp failing just like it. If it wasnt for gta for it, i think it sux and is way over priced.
“FACT: PocketStation was a failure read the quoted comment”
Thats not a fact. Systems don’t have to be alive now to be a success. Fact: Pocketstation sold better than Sony had hoped, it succeeded
“FACT: Dreamcast was a failure”
Like hell it was
“there is a reason why this one failed”
It didnt fail
“and they are starting to show some signs of the psp failing just like it”
No, they arent. PSP has succeeded.
techni, youre an idiot
Ok,
Everyone here is saying one thing or the other. I never saw or heard of the PocketStation until I saw one in Japan on display and not for sale about 3 years ago. Never saw it in the states. If you want us to believe you get real stats from Sony or the stores that sold them and post them here with bibliography.
Hey this is sahas. (admin)
There has been a lot of spamming of the comments by Techni as most of you can see. I didn’t remove the comments because I want comments to be open to all opinions. Anyways Techni has made a fool of himself as he has been submitting comments as himself and reposting in other names to support himself. He apparently didn’t read the line below the submit comments button that states that IP logs are ON. So any ways he posted this:
With the IP 24.150.38.xxx which is the same one Techni uses. And he has offically been banned from Skatter Tech.
Update: Techni has hit again with another 3 comments acting as though he is another viewer “diggviewer” claiming that the IP could be being used by someone else in the same network such as a school. First off no school on weekends in the United States. Second the IP is not a school domain, but instead a residential Cable Internet service. And finally he uses the same grammar and has the same gramatical errors.
Also: Skatter Tech is not against Sony or any company in any way. We have written 100x of articles on Sony products and infact we are a huge fan of Sony products. We have wrote many tutorials and hacks you can do with the PSP and other products.
I’d say Techni made a few good points, along with several bad ones.
The article´s reasoning _is_ a little bit jumpy: a) owners of ps1 were not a small range of customers and b) units without cartridges (provided they are cheap enough) are not inmediate failures. The VMU and the PocketStation are a lot more close to a regular memory unit and a Tamagotchi, which you mention, and not to a PSP.
But this is a very nice find. Thank you for it.
Remember a friend of mine bought one imported into the UK back circa ’99. He went for an interview @ Sony, where the panel showed off their GOLD PocketStations :o)
I loved it… all the people who I’ve known that’ve owned them, loved them!
Grand Turismo 2, car trade :o)
FF VII
How many more games were there @ the time that meant anything?
Well not to me anyway.
I’m off to see if I can pick up another as a replacement for my wrist watch :o)
Long live pocket power
I basically agree with Techni (though not his belligerent methods). I’m stil interesed in what bugs PocketStation and Dreamcast had. Dreamcast failed because of lack of support and poor sales. And PocketStation was shown to be what it was: a cheap gimmick. How were either of these buggy?
Wow…funny stuff. I JUST ordered a pocketstation because I have loved FFVIII for years & confess that it’s still my favorite game even after all the PS2 games and all the XBOX amazing graphics , blah blah blah… but I never was able to play the game entirely without this device. So, for me it will be worth it (as a FFVII fan) to own the thing. After reading all the “facts” I almost forgot why I came here anyway…
Wait, how was the Dreamcast head unit buggy? I’ve got one, never had any bugs at all. The only Dreamcast-related problem I’ve ever had with mine is one single game title that wouldn’t work: Dead or Alive 4, which I ended up returning to Babbage’s.
Also, you people that were talking about the PS2 HDD: It’s interesting to note that EA games since the HDD came out seem to support it almost universally. To this day, if you rent God of War, all you can save to is a Memory Card; if you rent The Urbz or The Sims 2, you can save to the HDD.
As many bad things people have said about EA, that’s something really interesting they have done merely to support their customers. They do not at all have to include HDD support in every new sports title like they do, especially since any PS2 that has been manufactured for the past two years or so (every slimline PS2) doesn’t support the HDD at all.
When FF8 came out, I had my younger brother pick one up for me while he was stationed in Korea & I was leaving the Army. I liked it, & bought a gameshark to unlock the SFA pocketstation minigame. My only complaint with the unit, using it for the mini games or not, It does have a short battery life. (Same battery is used in a good chunk of PC motherboards, for saving CMOS data, last 3-5 years or more.)
I still place a new battery in it every so often when I get an urge to replay FF8. & Yes, when attached to PS2 it notices that it’s more than just a PS1 Memorycard, showing it as a pocketstation complete with name. No other PS2/Pocketstation interaction seems to work. I save my FF8 games onto it.
hey dude, u got the pic from my site.. i dont see anywhere in this site stating where did u get the pic.. grrrr…