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Sony PSP/Nintendo DS Opinion Piece
Mr Nash writes "The Armchair Empire has posted a lengthy op-ed about Sony's PSP and Nintendo's Dual Screen where the writer comes to the conclusion that "the market just doesn't appear to be ready for a pair of new handhelds to step onto the scene."
Old news for the fans who have been tracking down those devices for a long time.
(I would like an explanation about how a brilliant Super Mario 64 port is a bad thing.)
When sony will spill the beans about the psp price? Battery life was already kicked into the developers yard, so I expect that most games will have small load times before gameplay (2-10 seconds) so they can put on the game box "Expected battery life: 3 hours".
Interesting times.
I think you underestimate how deep Nintendo's pockets are.
and how thin Sony's profits have been.
Haven't had a challenge in the handheld market since the game gear? I can name five off the top of my head, all from large well established companies.
My guess is that you're posting somewhere from Europe, where Nintendo doesn't have a strong presence. Crack open their financials, take a look at the world market. These guys are not hurting in any way, shape, or form.
These pretzels are making me thirsty.
The article had very little positive things to say about either side, it's almost as if the author worked on the N-Gage and was bitter...
Nintendo has said they want the DS to be a third pillar in gaming, with GCube and GBA as the other two. And the holy trinity series makes sense, or at least helps to explain they're not trying to do away with the GBA.
The PSP on the other hand has been pushed back a year....11/05 so Sony can work on the battery life. Perhaps the market will be ready then.
http://www.commaecho.com
Video gadgets require attention, and the price of low battery life or just plain high price leads to failure to adopt or abandonment. The Gameboy established itself because it had excellent battery life and a low price. I can't see these doing much of either.
To hit the high points, lets start with his conclusion.
The latest Nintendo handheld platform (the Gameboy Advance) launched in 2000 (the SP is just prettier, not more functional -- it's the same device). Clinton was President, some parts of the world still liked Americans... and we were typing away on piii 600s, with 64mb of ram. In what way are we not ready to move on? Of course we're ready for a new platform, and maybe even a new idea or two (it's about damn time I had a real FPS in my pocket, and fragged others wirelessly). I'm a married man with a kid, I don't have too much cash to spare... but I have a GBA, a GBA SP and I'll get myself a Nintendo DS when it comes out (I'd consider the Sony, but it is beyond my price range).That's the big picture. Some smaller points:
Sony:
-he's only got 2 complaints about the PSP:
One: Battery life: Yes. But batteries get better and for all we know they'll offer a fuel-cell pack for this thing in a years time. I give Sony props for putting out the polygons.
Two: Price: He's got a point, it's expensive. But people by iPods and I think they're crazy.
Nintendo:
-His arguments against the DS make even less sense.
One: "remakes aren't innovative". New software reshaped to take advantage of a new platform using new features... the only thing that's still around is the Mario face on the box.
Two: The GBA is out there and it's cheap. F3@r this? Really? You have a gi-mungous installed base with compatible games and you're offering updates for those legacy titles when used on the new H/W (pokemon gba titles can d/l updates at the new movie, in the DS)... this is market leverage, not a liability.
I guess this guy gets recognized for maintaining his luddite-ish "I-hate-new-things" tone for the entire article, but this just means he's taken a stand, not that he's thought it through.