Monday, November 30, 2009
Sony PSPs enlisted as study aids by the Royal Navy
Whoever it was at Sony HQ that decided to pursue "military contracts" as a revenue source, kudos! Mere days after the US Air Force expressed interest in expanding its PS3 supercomputer, we're hearing glorious Britannia's Royal Navy has conscripted 230 PSPs into duty as revision aids for its trainee sailors. Loaded with maths and physics materials, the PSPs can be used in a bunk, have familiar controls for the young and mostly male recruits, and are considered pretty tough to break. The underlying reason for this move though is cost cutting: by making the training course more intensive, the Navy is saving on teaching time. Given that the UMD drive won't come disabled -- which is hoped to encourage the sailors to take better care of the device -- the future this paints is of marines who've spent more time with a freebie handheld console than with a pro instructor. At least they'll have a great stable of captured monsters to show for it.