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Sony To Release PSP Handheld Console In 2004
JayBonci writes "According to News.com, in a news conference before this year's E3, Sony announced its plans to release a new gaming handheld called PSP, slated for release late next year. Presumably, this would be to compete against Nintendo's Gameboy Advance, a clear winner in the handhelds department for years now. The games come on a new media format, half the size of a CD or DVD, holding 1.8 gigs. Other Gameboy competitors such as the Neo-Geo Pocket Color have suffered from small game libraries and the inability to get over the GBC/GBA's entrenched marketshare. Despite all of this, Sony isn't SNK, and obviously has a lot of muscle to push its way to where it wants to be. It will be an interesting fight."
At least this will force Nintendo to compete with better technology rather than sticking us with ten year old graphics and sound.
Well, if I can't easily change/recharge batteries on a road trip/flight/train/etc, it damn well better last longer than a couple of hours. AAs are much easier to find and more portable than AC sockets.
"Zelda isn't _that_ good."
Um... yes, it is. Zelda is one of the reasons that Nintendo is still in the hardware business instead of going the way of Sega. It's the strength of a handful of games like Zelda that kept the N64 afloat. After all, you didn't see the original GTA or MGS on the N64, either.
And while his motives may be questionable, he does have a point: Sony's main customer base are a completely different breed of people than Nintendo's die-hard customer base. They tend to be the people with a teenager mentality that will pay $$$ just to see some blood, tits and ass. In other words, most of the games on Sony's platforms have gone Hollywood.
I wonder what companies they will team with to create new games. In order to beat Nintendo, they're really gonna need an awesome initial lineup of games. I'm thinking at least 25 or so. And they'll need some big named games as well, like Castlevania and whatnot.
Most likely the usual players. Sony has what I would consider to be as strong of a lineup of 3rd party developers (Square, Enix, Konami, EA, Rockstar) with big-name games (Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Metal Gear, SSX, Grand Theft Auto) as any company out there. And that's not even mentioning in-house titles like Gran Turismo.
Also, what are they going to do to entice developers
16:9. 3d audio. 1.8 GB storage on 60mm discs. Real-time NURBS rendering. USB 2.0. Not to mention the 50 million+ PS2's already sold worldwide.
How many MEGAbytes are GBA cartridges again?
I think this new system is plenty enticing. Development kits are coming out in June, which gives developers 1.5 years to work with the architecture before release in Dec. 2004, at which point Nintendo will still have the GBA at the forefront of their portable lineup (remember, the original GB went virtually unmodified for almost 10 years).
I still have an original gameboy. I never saw the need to replace it. Tetris in colour? Who cares! I think the best games are the simplest ones. The game I played most on my Sega Megadrive was the rip-off of Tetris, I don't recall its name.
This talk is making me nostalgic, I might go home and find my GB.
"How did Sony with with the PS2?"
Discounting Sega, they were first to market.
"They got into the market far later than all except Microsoft;"
You forget the generational cycles in the video game industry. To an extent, all bets are off when the next generation of console rolls out, which means (discounting the Dreamcast) Sony had the first-mover advantage.
"their hardware is far behind the XBox,"
Debatable. We're not exactly comparing a Genesis with an SNES.
"Sega, who's technology was often cutting edge and who had a long history in the industry, is now defunct in the hardware market."
Sega's problems were never because of either hardware or software. Their main pitfall was marketing. In my opinion, if the Sega Saturn had been backwards-compatible, Sony would be the one out of the hardware business.
"Nintendo, the oldest of the current crop, has true market force only among young children,"
Never underestimate the spending power of young children in large numbers.
While the PS2 may be outselling the Xbox and GameCube, the GBA is outselling the PS2 hands down. Perhaps even the PS2 and Xbox combined. Why do you think Nintendo is so keen to push GBA link-up with the GameCube?
"relying on their classic intellectual property like Mario."
You seem to believe that's a liability.
They seem to be pushing the 3D capability it has. The GBA has basically zero 3D hardware or software. Yes, Doom was possible, but that isn't exactly 3D, and the textures were still pretty low res. From the sound of it, the PSP could run Quake or Half-Life or FF7 fairly well.
It has a larger, higher res LCD than the GBA (480x272 versus 320x240).
It has a USB 2.0 port and a Memory Stick slot. The GBA has basically the same serial port that the original had 10+ years ago.
The PSP is far, far more capable than the Game Boy Advance. The only potential problems I see is battery life, a small game library, and Nintendo's virtual monopoly on portable video games.
It would seem to me that as the technologies become more and more similar we are going to see a lot more of this style of integration. With capacity prices dropping drastically, processing power increasing rapidly - why not have an "all in one" style system? Pop-in one of those 1.8GB disc's and wham, you have a PDA with all your appointments stored on the memory stick.
Pop that out, pop in Zelda X, all your saved games also available on that memory stick. Run out of space on that stick? Run out and spend a few bucks on another for saved games.
It keeps the need for vast amounts of solid state media to a minimum, keeps the price of the device down, and provides scalability for the storage needs. Personally, I think it's a nice idea that they integrate these things.
Play tetris on a train, pull up my schedule for the next day, all for one price. I'd rather spend $150(guessing) on a device that will do all this than $100 on a Gamboy Advance SP and then $300 more on a PDA.
I want a portal gaming system that is similiar to the current mp3 player setup... except for games.
Yes, iPod for games!
Just USB or firewire the freaking games onto your gaming system. Sure I won't be able to get a GIG of information now... but come on! Size and jedi ninji graphics isn't the most important thing. Downloading is so more efficent than these little CDs or cartridges. You could even exchange games by connecting the gaming systems to each other.
What would even rock more would be if they would release the SDK for free. Then you could have fresh shareware/freeware stuff to try all the time.
Plus, you could have it play mp3, ogg, divx, whatever...
I would drool to have this setup... I would equally drool to program such a device.
Davak
I believe they're publishing 512 megabits as we speak, which pretty much translates into 64 MB. I wouldn't be surprised if they reach gigabit (128 MB) sizes in a year or so. However, consider:
- Bigger cartridges that conform to the old form-factor do not need new hardware to read. Cartridge prices don't go down like optical media because cartridge sizes are always growing
- Cartridges can also include hardware upgrades, such as additional RAM or even a GPU (Super FX chip, anyone?). Optical media can't do that
- And, of course, cartridges are a good deal more durable than optical media, which is a good thing when you're making a system intended to be carried around in pockets and such
And as for the "graphical benefits" you list that a Sony handheld may include, keep in mind that you'll still be playing this on a tiny screen. Even if you are able to make obnoxiously fine LCD displays for cheap, there's only so much small detail that can be discerned by the unaided eye."I think this new system is plenty enticing."
I see little to convince me that this system won't get shot down in flames like all the others. The Game Boy family has brutally bitch-slapped almost a dozen technologically superior handhelds in its time, and they weren't pretending to be fifteen different things at once. And don't forget that there are more GBAs out there than PS2s.