Once again, we have Cantopop star and man among men, LEON LAI, helping us out. Welcome back, LEON.

It's great to be back.

So, LEON, what games have you been playing on your Champagne Gold PSP?

I've been really getting into DJ Max Portable with some Initial D on the side.

Those are both great games. It's too bad Sony hasn't kept up with the amount of software the DS has, which leads us to our first point.

Too Much Too Soon. Too Little Too Late.
From a hardware standpoint, Sony made a wonderful system with nearly the power of the PS2. Slick looks with a beautiful widescreen LCD and the ability to bring all your media on the go in one device. This strategy was meant to capture the aging Gameboy demographic, but Sony's continued insistence (to this day) on using proprietary formats like pricey Memory Sticks and tight-fisted control over what media you could actually load onto the machine (no full resolution videos unless you pay for overpriced UMD movies, and the inability to play protected music tracks bought from iTunes), keeps the PSP from replacing your DVD player or iPod.

But it's the games that really matter. After a promising 2005 launch with titles like Lumines and WipEout Pure, quality games were few and far between, though import titles filled the gap for those who knew how to find them. 2006 finally brought some truly great titles that took advantage of the system, like the aforementioned DJ Max Portable, Loco Roco and Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops. However, it was still not enough to overtake the Nintendo DS juggernaut and Sony was relegated to second best in the portable race.

It's Like A Nut You Can Play Outside.
As the PSP sank lower in the minds of the consumer and gamer community, Sony put it's vast resources into correcting the matter.

Did they encourage developers to release more innovative titles? Allow users to take full advantage of the multimedia capabilities of the PSP?

No, they.... what the PINK?!?!....

LEON is in the hizzle! Yo! The PSP is da bomb diggity dawg! All you want iz a PSP for X-X-X-Mas!

...er... good way to lead into the Sony's biggest blunder with the PSP, it's marketing.

From the PSP web site badly disguised as a personal blog, to the numerous "urban vibe" campaigns like PSP grafitti on both the East and West Coasts, Sony showed how desperate they were to capture market share and their utter lack of respect for their target demographic.

Take a look at some of the other winners, below. Somewhere, ad execs are rubbing their hands in anticipation of more Sony dollars.

What... The... PINK?!?!?....

Conclusion
Sony's blunders can be attributed to one thing - arrogance. Being the console king for the last two generations would give anyone a big head, but you should never forget the customer base which put you in the position you are.

Don't get us wrong. We love Sony and think they have done some things right (region free gaming on the PSP and PS3 for instance), but even with all the problems Sony has caused for itself in 2006, it still has a chance to pull a hat trick and take the Videogame Crown for three straight generations. Or at least share a comfortable space with the Wii.

Sony, please start respecting your customers again and go back to focusing on creating an environment to foster the most compelling game experiences. Allow users to tap the full potential of your products instead of endlessly updating firmware to close your system more. And make sure your products are accessible and affordable so the most people can enjoy it.

And for Pink's sake, fire whoever is putting out your current marketing campaigns.

Thanks again to LEON LAI for helping us out. Any parting words for our readers, LEON?

Life is only what we choose to make it.
Let's just take it,
Let us be free.
We can find the glory we all dream of.
And with our love, we can win.