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E3 - PSP Loss-Making, Odama Pinballed, Humans All Destroyed
Thanks to Forbes/Reuters for its article mentioning Sony expects to lose money on its PlayStation Portable hardware, with Sony's Kaz Hirai saying: "So if you're saying 'Day one, are you going to be profitable on the hardware?' then probably not... Hopefully, this will have a 10-year lifecycle, at which point I'll look back and say 'Yes, definitely profitable'." Elsewhere, on the final day of the E3 show, 1UP has a preview of Nintendo's unique-looking Odama, described as "the fast action of pinball mixed with the ancient art of Japanese warfare", GameSpot has more information on Pandemic/THQ's Destroy All Humans!, where you'll "get to probe farmers, slaughter cows, and do all the awesome little things that aliens do", and other sites go hands-on with Star Fox 2, confirm a Disgaea pseudo-sequel for PSP, give some more information on Devil May Cry 3, and show impressions of Treasure's take on the Gradius series.
Amidst all this E3 coverage, prior to the show Sega said they had something Earth shattering to announce at E3...
Did I miss it or something? I don't recall seeing one thing about Sega.
on a side note, i'm really hoping to see some quality titles that link with PS2 games, and i'm crossing my fingers on GT4 Mobile being able to transfer cars, Photos, Replays and more with the PS2 Version of GT4
/. is overrun by bed-wetting elitist nerds
let it be known, for anything other than servers, a *nix OS sucks
Considering that Treasure is made up of ex-Konami employees responsible for Castlevania and Contra it wouldn't surprise me that they'd feel right at home making a Gradius game. It wouldn't surprise me if some of them helped create the Gradius franchise.
Slightly OT, but I wonder if Microsoft is making the same mistake in portables that they made in console: entering the game late. I think they're watching to see how the PSP does, but it seems that if it does well they'll be playing catchup all over again in 3-4 years as they are trying to do with the Xbox. Would it have been wiser to pull out an Xbox-Teeny (ha) at the same time as the PSP?
You haven't explained how the PS1 was a fluke. When other manufacturers were releasing overpriced systems that were slow and too difficult to program for, Sony released a system with a swift 3D processor that was easy to write games for. Plus, Sony offered more reasonable license fees than their competitors. It's not luck that made the PS1 the most successful 32bit console, it was savviness.
The PS2 isn't an underpowered dog because Sony was stupid; they made the calculated decision to be first-to-market, and whether you like it or not, that decision payed off. Again, no fluke.
The Gameboy was released in 1989, and remained essentially unchanged until 1997. Even then, it was the same system, just bumped with a larger palette -- a sort of Gameboy v1.5. The true successor, the Gameboy Advance, came out in 2001 -- twelve years after the Gameboy.
You could argue that the dominance of the Gameboy was due to one simple factor: every competitor screwed up by making systems that were over twice as large as the GB. That's the best predictor of the PSP's possible failure, IMHO. But I hope it succeeds, the PSP is cute!
// I will show you fear in a handful of jellybeans.
The way things are looking, they very well might subsidize the price to make expensive hardware more palatable to consumers (especially in light of the cheap and fun offering from Nintendo), then sell the handheld on awesome graphics, a few killer games, and video capability.
Problem is, the way the specs read, this thing is still going to be expensive, 100s of dollars expensive, and it's going to suck juice like an electronic hooker. 2-10 hours, WTF? 10h on "standby" or "idle" mode maybe, but they wouldn't have included 2h unless it's easy to drain it that fast, be it video or games.
<Flashback to the early 90s>
Sega GameGear is RADICAL! The graphics are way better than Nintendo's 'Lameboy'. Plus it plays TV!! I don't care that it eats batteries like popcorn.
</Flashback>
We all remember what happend before right? I fully expect the PSP to be a tech wet-dream, but with (I'm guessing) average play time close to 3-4h, a huge price tag, and gimicky "movie" features, I can't see the PSP gaining more than a devoted nich market, like the GG did. Granted, it will have considerably more resources behind it, but it really doesn't seem poised to become a market-saturating force like the GBA
"Cheeze it!" - Bender