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Sony PSP Launched With Long Queues In Akihabara
Juergen writes "At 7 a.m. JST, the first shops in Tokyo's 'Electric City' Akihabara opened their doors and sold the brand-new Sony PSP to the long queues of gamers (Mirror) who had waited already for more than 24 hours in a chilly 5 degrees Celsius."
So when did this happen? I remember back in the good old days when we called them long lines...
Waiting in line for 24 hours almost certainly did not get them the PSP 24 hours before anyone else did. It's the classic example of waiting for 2 hours in line for a 5 minute rollercoaster.
Le français vous intéresse?
That it is.
DS has sold half a million units in Japan so far, and has sold more than a million worldwide. This is more than double the units than PSP has even shipped. Do you suppose that the long lines for the PSP have anything to do with the fact that the unit is in short supply?
I think it's immediately clear that both handhelds don't have much in the way of games at the moment. I would be hard pressed buying a game for the PSP right now. I own Feel the Magic for DS, but I bought it mainly because I wanted to get a feel for the capabilities of the system.
So really, in absence of good games, it's early adopters who are picking up the consoles. What will determine the winner in the long run is the quality of the hardware and the game selection.
Square-Enix seems firmly entrenched in Nintendo's territory this time around, and Nintendo seems to have RPGs in the bag, boasting a lineup of things such as Xenosaga, Baten Kaitos, Final Fantasy, and others.
Nintendo also has the benefit of being able to supplement DS's weak launch lineup with GBA games. If you have a PSP, you have to make do with the crappy selection of launch games... which honestly won't go far. I wouldn't ever bring my DS with me anywhere if all I had to play was the demo cart and Feel the Magic. My DS still plays my GBA library for the most part.
In terms of hardware quality, PSP has superior graphics, and a bigger screen. To counter that, DS has 2 screens, and a very innovative input device for a handheld console. PSP seems doomed to recieve mostly PS2 ports and never be far from a power plug, while the DS has the stamina to go for a long time without meeting a power plug, and has a library of games that seem to work well on a handheld. (wario ware, pokemon, dragon quest monsters, etc.)
But I would agree with you when you say PS2 all over again. I remember a year of mind numbingly horrible games, and an extremely limited number of consoles at launch so Sony could show how they were selling out so fast and build up hype. I don't think it will work this time though. PS2 took the market anyways, as it's all there was. This time Nintendo is going head to head with Sony. Sony won't have a whole year to get someone to make a decent game.