Nintendo, Sony Start Handheld Gaming Battle At E3

An anonymous reader writes "There's a Wired News article up discussing the fight for handheld game console supremacy starting at next week's E3 Expo. According to Wired News, 'Nintendo, the biggest seller of video-game consoles 15 years ago, once again faces a tough street fight against Sony, the upstart that stole much of the video-game business with its PlayStation. This time, the fight is over handheld video-game machines, and if Nintendo loses, it could be in serious trouble.' It explains: 'Nintendo is expected to give peeks at its next-generation handheld system -- code-named the DS -- while Sony will release more information about its PSP. Both companies will be vying for the hearts and minds of gamers and -- more importantly -- software developers.' Who's gonna win?" Slashdot Games recently ran a related story that has developers and journalists analyzing the showdown to come.

Comments

A little hard to compare

[Painaxl]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the DS a side project, and NOT Nintendo's actual follow up to the GBA? Calling it Nintendo's "next generation handheld" implies that it's a replacement for the GBA, which I'm pretty sure is not what it is intended to be.

Nintendo DS info: GB lib. will be included.

[ITR81]

In EGM the May edition the Nintendo DS will play the entire GB lib. So no-one will be left out. In EGM the June edition Nintendo HQ admits the codename for the DS is the "Nitro". DS second screen is rumored to have a touch-sensitive pad, handle 3D graphics, a microphone input, and a wireless functionality(wireless connections to the next gen Cube?). Controls list: D-Pad, L, R, A, B, with additional X and Y buttons being considered.

Journalism errors

[M.C. Hampster]

I'm not even past the first few paragraphs, and I've already found errors:

In fact, the Game Boy Advance is carrying a lot of water for the company, since the GameCube, Nintendo's flagship gaming console, is rapidly falling behind the PlayStation and Microsoft Xbox in sales.

Since when is the GameCube rapidly falling behind the XBox in sales?

In case you haven't been in close proximity to any 12-year-olds in the past five years, the Nintendo Game Boy Advance is a $100 portable game device the size of a slice of bread.

Wrong. The Game Boy Advance SP is $100, the normal Game Boy Advance runs around $70.

I guess we've all just gotten so used to the mainstream media just getting their facts wrong that people don't even notice anymore.