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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."
Nope. Those lines of those who line up no matter what represent enthusiast interest & demand. I also remember extremely long lines for N64. How did that turn out? Why don't you touch PS1 I mentioned? ;) As for PS2, it's now the market leader with the weaker hardware than Xbox/GC. With the superior hardware and the aggressive price, consumer demand (not only 'gamer', general consumer I mean) for the PSP is huge. NDS sold well for the moment, but it's not more than a stopgap solution until GBA2 arrives.
The PSX I didn't touch because I didn't agree with your point. The PSX trailed behind the Saturn for quite a bit before it really took hold due to the 3rd party support it was getting.
And I just got through explaining that the hardware in the PSP is not clearly superior. The DS has the better input device that allows for more types of games, and it clearly has the better battery life. As for pricing... DS is much cheaper, as it's cheaper per unit, and doesn't require accessories such as a carrying case (protected screen), or memory sticks.
Most of the "consumer demand" I have seen is from gamers, granted. But from what I've seen, most people I know are a little leery of the PSP given Sony's hardware reputation and the poor battery life.
But what you fail to realize is that NONE OF THIS MATTERS. What matters most of all is who has the games. And right now, the ball is firmly in Nintendo's court. Nintendo has Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Wario Ware, Pokemon, Mario Kart, and DS Wars. Each of these is GUARANTEED to sell a million copies. The only thing I see in Sony's court that's guaranteed to do well is Gran Turismo 4... and that's a direct port of a PS2 game. How long is this going to last do you think?