They say that when David Perry talks, everybody should listen. Well, the legendary developer just spoke about many things regarding Nintendo Wii's success, Sony PSP's lackluster performance, and everything else in between. And we believe you guys are rather interested to hear his thoughts.

Perry was all praises for Nintendo and the effective business approach it is currently taking for the motion-sensitive console. According to him, Nintendo is so innovative and that it has the track record to shake the competitor's world at a moment's notice. His thoughts on the Wii is best summed up in this quote:

You can't assume it is going to be like the other platforms, because you are going to have Nintendo taking most of the sales. And if Nintendo really sees you as a threat, they will take the moves to wipe you out. They are not going to let you win.

David Perry was quoted before saying that the UMD format for the PlayStation Portable is already dead. Despite attempts to simplify control schemes (as compared to the PS3 and PS2) to engage casual gamers, Sony failed in securing enough exclusives and accepting ports contributed to the downward trend:

You are going to end up with exactly that frustration- why is the game not as good? If you have a PlayStation 3 version of a game, the PSP version is going to be like the bastard stepchild of that game. They really need to restart the PSP program in my book.

Aside from his current racing MMORPG project dubbed as "Top Secret", David Perry used to developed a new IP called Plague. However, he stopped working on it because it began when the user base for next-gen consoles is not yet established. He admits that every once in a while, developers need to think business-wise to avoid losing money.

When asked if he's going to continue working on it now that there are enough next-gen gamers, David Perry answered, "Absolutely. When there are 100 million PlayStation 3's out there, it's a whole different conversation. But we're not there".

Shiny Entertainment founder and Project Top Secret leader David Perry has expressed his disdain for the Sony PSP's UMD format, saying that the small disk is "waste of money, time, and investment".

Perry has his own ideas for the PSP, saying that if he were in charge of PSP development, he would take out all UMD mechanisms and make all existing UMD games available for download so that PSP gamers can still play their UMD titles. He also gave his own ideas on how gamers can give proof of purchase of the PSP UMDs that they own in order for them to get the downloadable versions of their games.

This is Perry's impression of a UMD-less PSP:

That will make it even more sexy-looking, because it will be thinner again when they get all that junk out. Then, hopefully, the platform will actually get enough interest so that people will make a game specifically for it.

If UMDs had feelings, they must feel a bit bad after being referred to as "junk".

Perry also went on to say that the UMD-less PSPs may be very beneficial both for Sony and retail stores, since costs of shipping, insurance and warehousing are eliminated. Retail stores would also get their valuable shelf space back.

Well, that certainly was some radical concept from Perry. But considering that his former studio created the offbeat Earthworm Jim franchise and that he is the director of the innovative Project Top Secret, it's really no surprise that he managed to come up with those ideas.

For those who were waiting for Atari's reincarnation of the classic Earthworm Jim for the PSP, you guys might just have to wait a tad bit longer. Yeah, we know some of you have been wriggling for Jim's freedom into the handheld scene for quite some time now, but as PSPFanboy reports, the game is now put on hold.

They contacted Atari's Alissa Bell about the status of Earthworm Jim and she believed that the game "is off the roster. May be revisited in the future, but the title is, as I hear it, on hold."

O snap. This, especially after David Perry's hopeful statement at the GDC 2007? What we need now is a reason why Jim's taking a rest. And until then, we're putting this in the proverbial can of worms with the Rumor label. If all goes well though, maybe we can dig something up and give you guys updates as they come along.

You can't kill the messi earthworm. Pro-G UK's people at GDC 2007 had a talk with David Perry, Shiny Entertainment's founder, about the fate of the world's mightiest invertebrate. The reply: "We reformed the (Earthworm Jim) team and they were all into it."

Here's where the story gets thrown for a loop: no mention of the last concrete Earthworm Jim project, which was, or is (maybe) the PSP Earthworm Jim. That project's status might as well be in limbo, given that Foundation 9 acquired the Shiny dev from Atari, but the Earthworm license stayed behind. Without any new news on development in that title, we don't know where it is.

Pro-G didn't mention any specific details about how Shiny, Foundation 9, or even Atari is involved in here - just the reformed team. Based on his quote, any Earthworm Jim title they're thinking of is still in the pre-production stage: "Trust me, all the original Earthworm Jim guys are still very interested in the whole idea; just know that it'll happen eventually." Must be something new, indeed. But we're filing this story in PSP Updates, too, just in case there's an (eventual) connection.

Second loop: Pro-G mentioned that there were no concrete details about the game's release or "on which platforms it may grace". Which means that they might be starting from scratch, and, who knows, may be trying to infest next-gen consoles with worms (hence the multipost).

The only other option is for Perry's team to pick up work on the PSP Earthworm and get it back up to speed, but again, no mention was made of the project (hey, maybe they can do two Jims at once, maybe...). Anyway, until more concrete details are offered by the Perry team, guess the only next-gen worms to worry about are in Worms HD.

For a time now, across the gaming industry, there has been a strong belief that Sony is soon to come up with a new PSP. According to developers and industry players, it could probably be not exactly PSP II but at least a reworked PSP hardware unit.

Regardless of when it will happen, coming up with a next-gen PSP seems like a logical step for consoles to survive. If this then is true, what kind of rework will be done? What changes? Veteran developer Dave Perry has these thoughts in mind:

• I would propose they make the PSP with a clambshell design, to protect that lovely screen
• They should have made the screen at least DVD resolution (704x480 in U.S., 704x576 in the U.K.) instead of the current (480x272)
• I would also kill off the UMD disc, remove it entirely and shrink the device size
• I think switching to digital distribution would be a much better idea, by including that Sony Media Manager software for free. Embracing digital distribution, even offering convenient encrypted over-the-air WiFi distribution, would bring movies and games back to the PSP in a sensible way
• If they wanted to be forward thinking, they could offer modern features like game demos, trial music from new artists, item sales, vast customization of items, characters and in-game objects from databases too vast to store on the PSP
• Did user-created content hurt YouTube? Why not open the PSP? Welcome indie games, welcome development, get the users promoting the device

What do you think guys? Of all the things mentioned, Perry put premium on the homebrew scene. He went on discussing how Sony keeps on forcing users to upgrade PSP's internal software. Currently, Sony is at Firmware 2.82, but the homebrew scene isn't so far away, cracking open all previous firmwares up until 2.80.

Furthermore, Perry stated the only problem here is Sony refusing to listen and learn from its customers. "I bet Sony tries to tell you it doesn't matter. Well, if you type 'sony psp hack' into google, there are now 8.6 MILLION pages dedicated to the subject," the developer reveals.

David Perry has been around for quite some time. He actually founded Shiny Entertainment and worked there for more than a decade (1993-2006). Currently, he is leading GameInvestors and has an MMO project coming up entitled 2Moons.