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Famitsu Weighs In On Battle Between DS And PSP
Thanks to IGN Pocket for its discussion of a recent Famitsu-sourced Japanese magazine article quizzing readers and game creators about their impressions of the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP handheld consoles. In a reader survey, it's revealed that "14.8% checked that they'd like to purchase a PSP, compared to 11.8% who checked that they'd like to purchase DS... 7.1% stated that they think the PSP's design is cool while just 2.3% stated the same for the DS." It also polled developers and industry figures on questions such as "Which design do you like better?" ("PSP = 251, DS = 42"), and "Which do you want to be left standing in the end?" ("PSP = 84, DS = 156".) Which handheld do you want to be left standing?
I'd like them both left standing. Competition usually brings out the best in all competitors.
But I don't think the PSP will fare well because it seems like Sony is hoping people will buy movies for their PSP, so they can only play them on their PSP, or whatever home entertainment device Sony pimps to them. I don't think people will dig that. And I think that will be a very bad thing for Sony.
It's like sex, except I'm having it!
I'm loving the DS's design so far, and I'm a long time Nintendo fan. I'm surprised that so many people are calling its touch screen innovative, however. Why are we so soon to forget that the Game.Com had a touch screen four or five years ago? It's a great feature that worked well for the failed GCOM, it's just not inventive.
I wasn't excited about either system until Nintendo said two important things:
1.) 802.11 connectivity.
2.) Use the sylus + on-screen keyboard to chat.
Then it occured to me. I can play against peeps on the net from my couch. VERY cool. Sadly, I don't see the PSP being as exciting in the multi-player area.
The DS's interface leaves a lot of room for interesting stuff. PSP is more 'Been there, done that'. I can see the PSP being successful, but I think I'll have a lot more fun with the DS.
"Derp de derp."
I really could care less which one is left standing, it just doesn't matter. I'm buying a DS no matter what and I'm not buying a PSP. There are two reasons.
1) I remember back in the game gear / gameboy days. Gamegear was the system with clearly superior technology and hardware, you could turn the thing into a TV even! But who won? Nintendo with their low res spinach screen gameboy. It was just superior enough to a tiger lcd game and you could switch cartridges out of it instead of buying games seperately. DS and PSP is history repeating itself.
2) Completely ignoring what I just said, lets say the DS fails miserably. Let's say that the DS turns out to be the worst thing ever. Great! I'll be the guy who's got one. I'll be just as cool as that kid down the road who still has a working Virtual Boy. Worth every penny. Not only that, but its guaranteed to have at least a couple good games for it. From the previews we have been given at E3 as we as its gameboy backwards compatibility and wirelessness, owning a Nintendo DS is guaranteed to entertain me for at least X hours. As far as the PSP goes there is no guarantee of that I have seen. So even if the DS bombs, it is a great investment on which I am guaranteed to make a return. Worst case scenario I end up buying ever game that comes out for it because they get marked down to a buck each. Best case, it wins. Can't lose.
Note that I'm not saying the PSP is a POS. I'm just saying that with the knowledge currently available to me the DS is showing every sign of being worth the price while the PSP is not. If its announced tommorow that the PSP is actually as good as a Treo 600 a gameboy and a light saber combined, or even close to that, I'll change my mind.
Or buy both...
The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
I really am. But in reality, the thing should have been a surprise announcment. Giving Nintendo the heads up that a huge dick was heading striaght for their proverbial monopoly was not the best of things to do. Now I've got two portable systems coming out within a year that I'd be absolutley more than happy to buy if I just had the money.
However, the promise of graphics AND innovation beats the ability to buy movies I already own.
In reality the system that does the best in the next generation depends sqaurely upon which one appeals more to the people who drive sales: 12 year olds. That said, I hopefully i'll be proven compeletly and utterly wrong.
X
... whichever one has an adapter available so you can play its games on your home system. Despite there being some really cool titles out (and more on the way) I'm not much of a pocket system fan.
I think I have to go with the DS. Both show a lot of positives. And the developers obviously think this as well. But it seems like the developers are more excited about the DS. And maybe this excitement will translate into some great new games for the DS. My $0.02.
the cosmos in 20 words or less: thumbuki.com
While I would prefer they both remain standing I think Nintendo will win this round of Mortal Kombat for the following reasons:
1. Nintendo already has a large portfolio of portable games. Sony will have to play catch-up much like Microsoft has been doing with its X-Box in the console space.
2. Nintendo has an installed base of customers. Kids want to buy whatever their friends already have so they can exchange games.
3. This means a lot more to Nintendo. Sony's focus is on the console market. That's where they'll put their best engineers and managers. Nintendo has to fight to survive. They are hungrier.
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Your Boss Might Be A Muppet
It was of both gamers and developers, as was this one. Check Magic Box, June 7.
Gamers voted that DS would trounce PSP in every category, and were more excited about it. A majority of developers were more excited about PSP.
My take? Many developers see the innovative features of the DS and scratch their heads, wondering why they should go through all the work of coming up with new ideas to take advantage of them, when old ideas still sell. Gamers, being the ultimate reason for the technology in the first place, see the potential of the Nintendo DS hardware and drool. The disconnect between the two opinions here should be surprising, but somehow it isn't, considering the game sales slump that Japan's been going through recently. Seems like a solvable problem, however....
What you say makes sense, but we have been on this very road before. Sony launching a system comprised of a lot of simple design decisions, and Nintendo launching a system on which they were making some rather odd risky design decisions.
Right right this is not the same thing, the DS will be about half the price, Sony isn't getting the year head start and so on. But make no mistake, Sony isn't stupid, and they will do what they need to make the PSP a contender. What if Nobody wants to develop for the DS? Nintendo says that the DS isn't meant to compete with the PSP, but the fact that they will be sharing the market means that it will be directly competing whether they want to call it that or not.
Sony dethroned Nintendo once, it could happen again.
On Wall Street they say "buy low, sell high" On the pad we say, "buy high, sell high" Isn't that somehow better?
At first glance it seems like the PS1 vs N64 battle all over again but it really isn't. Nintendo clearly dominates the handheld gaming market with the Game Boy series. Backwards compatibility with Game Boy Advance (and possibly even GB Color?) games ensures that the DS won't be a total flop. Also, though I really do like the designs of the PSP and the DS, I don't think that the expected $300+ projected price range of the PSP will do so well. And finally lets not forget that only the DS will launch intime for the holiday season this year (atleast in America). I predict the DS being one of the hot sellers this December, with most people waiting for a PSP price drop when it does eventually arrive in America.
While everyone looks at the dimension, number of games, size, screen resolution.... the only number that really matters is PRICE.
Will Sony screw themselves with a whooping $300+ handheld. If DC is $150 then PSP will technically have to be twice as good to win.
It seems pretty clear that the DS will have the right combination of price, battery and decent games to be successful. Nintendo has that down cold. And the form factor is a good one. (Though, does it have a headphone jack?)
Those variables are still up in the air for the PSP, though. If it's more than $300, less than 10 hours, or has nothing to offer but more of the same from the PS1 and PS2, it will be dead on arrival. Also, the PSP is kind of a brick: it's nearly an inch thick. And the design doesn't protect the screen.
As for playing back movies and MP3s, without recordable PSP disks, that dog won't hunt.
Honestly, I think Sony took one look at the DS at E3 and said "It's good. We're so screwed." That's why they're cutting costs elsewhere like in the handhelds division.
Jon Acheson
All opinions expressed herein are my own, and not those of my employers, who are appalled.
I'm not terrribly fond of either, really. The PSP seems like it's doing too much to do one thing well. Speaking specifically of the DS though, graphic and processing power aside (which don't match the PSP), we're looking at three additions to the DS from the GB.
The stylus looks interesting, in that you can write messsages. And play variants of Wario-Ware. But beyond that, I'm having a hard time seeing any third party developer making a game that uses it. And I don't really see much beyond novelty - ala E-reader or power glove - for the stylus.
The best Nintendo had to demonstrate the Dual Screen functionality with were maps. I don't see how that fundamentally changes the gaming experience, or adds anything to the gaming experience the PSP can't do with a start button. Moreover, looking at the map means taking your eyes away from the main action of what's happening on screen 1. I can't see third parties supporting this beyond maps. Why? Because with two portable platforms they won't want to code platform specific games. They'll go with the lowest common denominator, which means the single screened PSP. And if the stylus works for gaming, why haven't PC stylus games taken off - at all?
The wireless multiplayer is pretty great, and perhaps is the DS's redeeming feature. Knowing Nintendo's track record with internet multiplayer (which is to say not having one), I wouldn't expect much more beyond being in the same room. You can do that now, even if it is wired. And if the PSP doesn't support it, why code it into the game enough that it dramatically improves/affects gameplay?
I think the DS will face the same problem that Nintendo has always faced. Nintendo comes up with these hardware ideas based on internal games, and then expects the third parties to follow along. The DS is closer to the e-reader, or the power glove, or the Gamecube - Gameboy interoperability. Novel, integrated with a few first party titles, but little more than that. Nintendo currently dominates the portable market, yet the e-reader and the GC-GBA connection are barely used among third party devs. It can only be harder when you have a team developing the same game for both the PSP and the DS.
I'm not saying the DS absolutely can't work, or that the PSP will bury it into the ground. I'm merely surprised at how overwhelmingly positive the response has been to something that hasn't really shown that it can do anything. Predicting the inevitable Nintendo fans who will retort simply with some accusation of trolling, I'm not an Xbox or PS2 fanboy. I love my Gamecube. I'm merely wondering why the DS is so great (or the PSP), and where the revolution in gaming is that Nintendo keeps promising everyone. I'm perfectly willing to change my viewpoint when someone tells me why the DS will be so great.
I might end up getting one. (Not at launch, though)
But it'll be more expensive, and most of the things you will do on it is music, movies and games.
It's probably only going to play music off of the Connect service and ATRAC files, not mp3s. (Sony's iTunes)
People will have to repurchase their DVDs to play as a UMD. Double purchases? I doubt it. It's not like Advent Children is going to be UMD only.
And the games right now look like PS1 and PS2 games that most people already own.
It's too recent to begin rehashing those titles as a franchise.
Repurchasing music, dvds and ps1/2 games on a console more expensive than the PS2 (Which already plays it all) isn't something a lot of people will look forward to.
Lets face it.... handheld tech is getting into 3D graphics these days so the battle won't really be won on technical merit - dual screens or no dual screens.
Let's take a history lesson. The Sega Game Gear was better than the early gameboy, but its price and lack of a large range of games put a lot of people off (not to mention that it ate batteries for breakfast!). Even though Nintendo had the less powerful machine, it sold more.
Back to today... I bet Nintendo are going in with a back catalogue of a pile of games for the DS. I have no doubts that the DS will have HUGE pile of games at release... even if they are GBA hacks or emulated re-releases of old NES fare. As for PSP?... I can't see that happening.
Lastly.... hackability of the device. When people can stick public domain games, demos, and other interesting hacks onto their machines (including emulators for old machines) - that machine will SELL.... and more importantly, create a developer base from which MORE games can come out. I just can't see this happening with Sony's overly-protective anti-piracy DMA included mini-disc format. Sorry, but locking down hardware = less developers = less games = high prices = less interest.
READY.
PRINT ""+-0
GB3?
Let's list the Gameboy's that have been released so far, shall we?
Gameboy
Gameboy Color
Gameboy Advance
(Not including the reincarnations of the same handheld [IE: GBASP, GBP, GB'C', etc.])
Seems like the next Gameboy would be GB4... Are you combining the GB and GBC together? They were definately seperate systems. If a game can be played on one console and not the one before it, that's when I'd seperate them (Yes, there were GBC exclusive games).