Microsoft to Enter Handheld Market?

Posted by Zonk on Thursday January 26, 2006 @04:54AM from the banner-day-for-portable-gamers dept.

eldavojohn wrote to mention that, via Joystiq, he read an article over at BusinessWeek that indicates Microsoft may be working on a portable media device. The article states that, if they are, they're not just going after the iPod. The plan would include a way to leverage a powerful part of the Microsoft empire: games. From the article: "Microsoft would probably use the Xbox brand to market the gadget. 'I think the brand is an opportunity,' Moore says. True, perhaps, but also risky. If the new device comes with the Xbox brand, most consumers will view it as a game player, like Sony's PlayStation Portable. That might limit its appeal, since the portable gaming market is much smaller than the one for digital media." A funny comment, considering the success of the DS.

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It may be successful, but by szembek · 2006-01-26 04:59 · Score: 5, Insightful

At the same time the mp3 player market and video game market are completely different. While somebody who buys a portable game system might use built in mp3 player functionality, somebody looking for an mp3 player would not be interested in the overhead of a gaming system.

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Re:Go for it by clontzman · 2006-01-26 05:16 · Score: 4, Insightful

Fail to release any games other than pointless ports of console games I already own.
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By the way, the '???' there was caused by my playing a spot of Mario Kart DS

In other words, the flagship game for the DS is a port of a console game you probably own on four other platforms already? ;-)