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Nintendo Gives No Ground In Handheld Wars

TomO wrote to mention a news item on the site Pro-G reporting on a general consumer confidence in the DS, greater than that of the PSP. From the article: "Wavemetrix, a company that specialises in working out what customers think of products, has released a new report on the Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP. The report, rather shockingly, reveals that the 'DS is better than the PSP in every important area.' This includes games, quality, screen and value." Relatedly a Gamespy article states: "Few could have imagined it, but the DS is becoming the most significant new console in Japan since the PS2. What started as a rumbling -- with great novelty games such as Wario and XX/YY -- has recently turned into a full-scale dual-screen uprising led by Electroplankton and Nintendogs."

6 of 187 comments (clear)

  1. Old news but... by rerunn · · Score: 1, Informative

    The DS has already been somewhat hacked: http://users.belgacom.net/bn967347/

  2. Re:Factual error by SetupWeasel · · Score: 2, Informative

    Last I'd heard, it had only sold around 10,000 copies. Not stellar. However, I own a copy, and I think it is pretty sweet.

  3. Re:Is this a surprise to anyone? by SetupWeasel · · Score: 4, Informative

    But the thing is that you can send them to Nintendo, and get it it fixed or replaced. I don't have the link anymore, but gome guy bought a DS at launch last year. It had a dead pixel, and he sent it back to Nintendo to see how good their service really was. He sent it in less than 2 weeks after launch and had a replacement in his hands within 5 days.

    Nintendo's customer service and quality is a real advantage, especially in the portable market.

  4. Re:Study: -1 Troll by DarkYoshi · · Score: 5, Informative
    Nintendo is fighting Sony with 4 handhelds at the same time: Gameboy, GBA, GB color, DS. Not to mention, Nintendo will have the new Nes Micro handheld next year.

    Nintendo is no longer producing the Game Boy, GB or GB Color, nor are they making games for it. The PlayStation 2 did not have to compete with the NES or SNES, only the N64 for a year and the GameCube.

    Nintendo will have the new Nes Micro handheld next year.

    First, it is the Game Boy Micro, not NES Micro. Second, it will be another Game Boy Advance, not an NES.

    Please tell me you are not using EGM as a resource for this, as they are the only people bad enough to make monkey-poo rumors like that.

  5. Exclusivity? by tepples · · Score: 2, Informative

    I also picked up Mawaru: Made in Wario (aka Wario: Touched!)

    Nit: Wasn't Touched == Sawaru and Twisted == Mawaru?

    The only games that I still have/play are RidgeRacers, Lumines (HOLY CRAP, GREAT GAME), and Minna no golf (Hot Shots Golf).

    If your argument is that they are well-produced, then you're correct. But as for exclusivity, nyet.

    but I've got the emulators on the PSP

    The versions of the PSP that can run emulators are no longer for sale. All shipping units run 1.51 or 1.52 firmware, which have not yet been cracked, and given Sony's cat-and-mouse mentality, there will likely be 1.53 by the time a 1.51 crack appears.

    they both have some serious advantages over the other, and I don't see a clear winner no matter how you look at it.

    What about someone with $250 plus tax in his wallet? Spend it on a PSP and get no games, or spend it on a Nintendo DS and get three games.

  6. Personal sales experiences by Grave · · Score: 2, Informative

    As an employee of a major video games retailer, I can state that we sell far more PSP systems, games, and movies than we sell in DS. I don't have the actual numbers available here, but I'd wager it's almost a 10:1 ratio. Worldwide the DS might be on par with the PSP, but not in my local experience. I suspect that in North America, the PSP outsells the DS by a wide margin, just as the XBOX outsells the GameCube by quite a lot in NA.