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PSP Launch May Be Hurt By Lack Of Games?
Thanks to Bloomberg for its article discussing a seeming lack of development kits for Sony's forthcoming PSP handheld, and the logical possibility the system "may be hampered by a lack of new games" when the handheld "goes on sale in Japan before yearend." According to the news article: "Sony has yet to send the final development kits for PlayStation Portable to any of its outside game publishers, said Yoshiko Furusawa, a spokeswoman with Sony Computer Entertainment in Tokyo. Sony had already sent the final kits to publishers for its best-selling PlayStation 2 home video-game console at a similar stage before its debut in March 2000, Furusawa said." Hirofumi Otsuki of Sega added: "We don't know if we'll meet Sony's schedule... PlayStation Portable details still seem to be in development."
Ironically enough, I don't remember seeing these articles for the Virtual Boy.
I don't think there was any controversy about the likelyhood for success of the Virtual Boy.
You're right, in a way, most systems do ship with too few killer games. The N64 was an oddity in this regard: it shipped with Mario 64, Waverace, and Pilot Wings, three truly killer games. Sadly, that's all it had for a very long time, leading to 2nd tier status. But the Playstation, Saturn, XBox, 'Cube, PS2, 3DO, Jaguar, Sega CD, TG16, Genesis... all shipped with weak lineups, especially in Japan.
However, the difference between those systems and the PSP's situation, is that the PSP looks to ship before ANY 3rd party developers get development hardware. At least Halo was in production... That really great must-have PSP game that is going to come out someday hasn't even been started yet. In two years when it is ready to ship, will the PSP even still be there? That the system is shipping before the great games are ready is no surprise. That the system is shipping before the great games have been started is a first for the industry, and doesn't look good for Sony. They're going to need all the help they can get in unseating the Game Boy, and going in without even giving your posse a map to the fight seems a little rash.
The ______ Agenda
Remember how dismally the PS2 performed, after it was launched with a mediocre set of release titles? Remember how it never got any good games, the public turned away from it in droves and Sony ended up selling three units, one of which turned out to be a catalogue error whether the buyer had really ordered a dishwasher? Remember how the PS2 ended up getting completely buried by the mighty Gamecube?
Yeah, right...
The importance of having big launch titles is over-stated. They only matter to very early adopters, while most shrewd consumers will wait for the prices to drop from their early silly-point to something more reasonable. Putting out a console, be it traditional or handheld, isn't just a short-term effort. You could have amazing release titles, but unless these are followed up consistently throughout your product's life-span, you aren't going to succeed. The PS2's sales have only really started diminishing in the last few months. If Sony can bring the range of quality 3rd party titles to the PSP as they have to the PS2, they'll succeed.