The PSP was exciting and full of possibilities when it first came out. Many third-party accessories manufacturers started to produce all kinds of cool add-ons for the system that expanded its capabilities. But when the PSP wasn’t quite the huge hit they’d hoped for, those neat innovative accessories began to disappear, and very few of them were made for the PSP-2000, and the original versions didn’t fit the new, slimmer, case. Here are some of the most interesting add-ons for the PSP-1000 that never quite got a chance to fulfill their potential, plus a few that did carry over to later models.

Stereo Dock

Since the PSP was first marketed as not just a gaming handheld, but a full-featured portable multimedia machine, it made sense that several companies would offer a stereo-speaker dock. Logitech, for example, sold its PlayGear Amp, and numerous smaller companies had devices in various price ranges. Plug the PSP into one of these gizmos, and you’d have a nice little music player that was small enough to carry around (some were even built right into a hard-shell case, like Nyko’s Theatre Experience), but nice enough to have in your living room. Unfortunately, none of these offerings could really boost the sound very effectively, so while a stereo dock was a nice alternative to headphones, it couldn’t replace a real stereo.

GPS Receiver

The PSP GPS Receiver was actually an official Sony product, but didn’t end up being much better supported than the third-party devices–at least not in North America. There were several games and software packages for the PSP in Japan that made use of the GPS attachment, and there were early indications that it would be a neat way to augment travel and map-related software. Sadly, support for the PSP-290 GPS Receiver (as it was officially known) soon dwindled and now it’s only useful if you’ve hacked your PSP to use homebrew programs.

TV Tuner

The PSP TV Tuner is an exception on this list because, although it was released in a limited geographical region and wasn’t widely supported, it also wasn’t a PSP-1000 accessory. In fact, the PSP-S310 1-seg TV tuner was a PSP-2000 accessory. It was released in Japan, and isn’t really usable in many other regions, because it receives only 1-seg broadcasts.

Camera

The PSP camera, originally known as the Go!Cam or Chotto Shot, depending on where you lived, is another official Sony product, and one of the few accessories that have been carried over to later PSP models. In fact, Sony’s popular InviZimals games rely on the camera for their augmented reality, so it eventually became available worldwide (it was originally only released in Japan and Europe). Not only did all later PSP models get a camera (except the PSPgo, though you can get an adapter from Japan that will let you mount a regular PSP camera on a PSPgo), but the PS Vita will have cameras built right in.

Motion Sensor

Because the PSP fits nicely in a gamer’s hands, it seems almost natural to want to tilt and move the device itself to control what’s happening on-screen. Datel, best known for their “Action Replay” cheats, decided to fulfill that want with their Tilt-FX motion control device. Though it doesn’t seem to have caught on widely, there must have been some demand for the product, as they not only made a PSP-1000 version but followed it up with a PSP-2000/3000 version. Interestingly, motion control has caught on recently with the big consoles and smartphones, and the PS Vita will have motion-sensing capabilities built in (and, no doubt, support for them from actual game developers).

Extended Battery

The bane of any portable device is short battery life, and various manufacturers have attempted to address that problem with add-on and external batteries for as long as there have been portable devices. For the PSP-1000, for example, Blue Raven produced a 15-hour extended battery that did, indeed, extend the PSP’s unplugged life by a considerable amount. Unfortunately, it also added considerably to the PSP’s size and heft, as it was nearly as big as the PSP itself. If could be charged with the PSP’s own AC adapter, but it cost a lot. Fortunately, by the time the PSP-2000 was released, Sony had improved battery life by quite a bit.

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