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PSP Delayed Into 2005?
Thanks to the numerous readers who alerted us to the Gamespot article mentioning that the PSP may be delayed until next year. This analysis comes from games industry analysts and is the result of Sony's game title weakness and battery issues. David Jenkins at Gamasutra has additional analysis as well.
Could the real reason be that they don't want to directly compete with Nintendo's cheaply priced handheld or even that they don't want to draw sales away from their new PS2 model?
Seems like Sony didn't think too far ahead when they planned on releasing this in Q4 2004.
what?
Not supprising at all that it was delayed. Companies set really early release dates to stir up hype, then push them back a little, because they arn't done; People don't mind either because they are used to delays.
super pixelated fighter 3, long drawn out rpg XI, beatem-up-shootemup 4, basketball slammer 2005, scary things jump out at you 3: the deadening, fast swurvy car drivin' 5...
;p
same old crap that's released on the ps2 but now its portable and will likely cost twice as much to get 'in the game'! woot!
Large print giveth, and the small print taketh away
I think the reason the Gamboy over took Sega as far as the handheld gaming market went was because it came bundled with Tetris. When was the last time you saw a game so accepted by such a wide range of people? Sonic while fun and exicitng, only appealed to a fraction of the age group that Tetris did. I remember being in Elementary school and having to ask for my Gameboy back from my mom (who incidentally liked the "puzzle game" on it).
I've always held that the key to any game system is the games that run on it; simple, fun, and open ended games. I think Tetris is a really good example of a hit title booming a certain market.
If they were to rush out a product simply to come to market at the same time as the DS, you all would accuse them of underhanded tactics to flood the market with an unfinished product.
And if you RTFA you will see: "the securities firm expects the handheld 'to launch later than the current March 2005 expectation". It was already going to be a 2005 launch, now it will just be a Christmas season launch. I'd rather have a good system a year from now than a poorly designed system right now. Of course, Nintendo chose the other route with the GBA, releasing a barely playable system as soon as they could and then a vastly superior GBA SP a year(ish) later.
Better product = We all win.
Have you read the specs for the DS? It has wifi + chat built in to the system. And the way you're talking, the system for true geeks should be the Zodiac.
It's like sex, except I'm having it!
The gameboy hasn't gone up against a better all around handheld. Each of it's competitors failed in an area it had covered.
Sega Gamegear: Battery life you could measure in minutes. Couldn't even get me through a lunchhour when I was in high school.
Turbo Xpress: Battery life, and cost. The thing was damn expensive. By the time it came out, TurboGrafx was dead/dying which limited its future.
Sega Nomad: Batteries, and size. Ever held one? That sucker is huge. It's worth it to a hardcore genesis fan, of course.
Atari Lynx: Poor game selection, battery life.
NeoGeo Pocket: Poor game selection, released by a dying company. Never really had a chance with GBA announced.
Wonderswan/GP32/game.com/etc: Too obscure to really mention (in north american markets, at least).
My predictions for PSP?: Battery life, load times, and fragility of the game discs will kill it. GBA carts can take a pretty good beating, and don't mind being stuffed in your back pocket all day. For that matter, neither does the SP.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
FUD about battery life "problems". Sony has said from day 1 that developers shouldn't stream content. This should be obvious to everybody!
The real issue here is that Sony just isn't saying anything. See, the media gets nervous when there is no news... since that's their job. So they have to make up the news. Except that Sony has done an excellent job about keeping their secrets, so this is what we get. Rumors and hunches.
Trust me, you'll know more when Sony marketing deems it exactly the right moment.