Slashdot Mirror
DS, PSP Could Claim Supremacy in Console Wars
njkid1 passed us another link to a GameDaily article, this one quoting analysts at DFC Intelligence as seeing a sort of usurpation of the console space by portable games. With the DS consistently outselling almost every other system on the market since last year, it's possible that the DS may become the best-selling system 'of all time'. Moreover, portable consoles may actually grow to have a larger market share than their more expensive, high-def cousins. "This comes from DFC's latest report on the portable gaming market, which the firm predicts will exceed $10 billion in worldwide revenue this year, led by the DS. DFC said that the PSP will 'establish a solid position in the marketplace' but that much of the Sony portable's fate will depend on how much effort Sony Computer Entertainment decides to put into promoting the platform over the next few years."
But ONE of them could claim supremacy in the handheld wars.
When someone gives us a handheld that has a video output that allows us to play the games on a television, then they can claim supremacy in the console wars (if they outsell the consoles.)
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
The actual linked story headline is "DS Could Be Best Selling Video Game Platform Ever". Adding the PSP to the Slashdot version is a little skewing.
I don't know about everyone else, but does owning a handheld even impact playing games at home? I own a PSP and, quality of titles notwithstanding, never play it unless I'm commuting or traveling somewhere. When I'm home, I have no desire to play a portable system since I can play a more powerful, more immersive game on my TV.
So, my point: Is installed user-base all there is to care about? Don't Sony/MS/Nintendo make the bulk of their profits on the games? I'd be more interested in seeing the ratio of portable to non-portable games sold. Maybe they are in fact on to something here, but hardware sales numbers don't really tell the whole story.
Also I'm getting tired of these articles that claim to forecast "the answer" after one holiday season of incredible hardware droughts for several systems which forced many buyers to go to their plan B or C anyway.
why? forty-two.
The DS may just be the perfect gaming machine. It's kid-friendly with plenty of titles to appeal to youngsters, but it's adult friendly too in the fact that you can pick it up and play it when you've only got a few minutes to spare. Just flip it closed and it goes into standby until you open it back up.
Plus there's the price point. Parents can pick one up for $130, which way less than a PSP, and games are not more than $34.99 each (with rare exceptions). They can choose from DS and GBA titles, which also appeals to parents because they can keep playing their old games too.
As both a gamer and a parent, I can say that I play my DS far more than Xbox 360, Wii, and PS2 combined. I own more DS/GBA games than all three combined too, just because they are cheaper and often much more fun (New SMB anyone?)
I've been saying this for quite some time now. Out of this generation, the DS will likely be the console winner. I'm not just talking about raw sales, the GBA outsold the PS2 by a lot, but it was still thought of as being a very very different kind of machine. No, what I mean by "winner" is "winner" in the truist sense of the word: competing head to head with the 360, PS3 and Wii, as a console, not just as a handheld console.
Firstly, the DS has the ability to play the same kinds of games that the 360, PS3, and Wii (a little less so) can. For the first time in over a decade, we're seeing canonic games of major series (and not just "handheld spinoffs") coming onto a handheld. Not only that, but it doesn't really feel like "just a handheld" anymore. The DS has things, above and beyond portability, that no other system can do... so there are reasons for purchasing it and playing it, even if your not interested in the portability. No other handheld system can claim this, outside a few very minor exceptions.
When I play a DS, it feels more like I'm playing a TV-based console, then a GBA. It's got a solid, robust design, the screen is incredibly clear, and it has full 3D graphics, that, for the screen resolution, can sit right next to the GameCube.
Just watch, many series are going to jump ship from TV-consoles. We're already seeing it start to happen.
Multiplayer Gaming (defined): Sitting around, discussing single-player games with my friends, at the bar.
A) Home consoles only get demos in stores and homes. To "sell" a casual friend on your experience you'll probably have them over at your home. I would say I only regularly visit and get visits from maybe 3 of my friends, the really close ones. Meanwhile I play my DS lots of places in public where there's a queue to be made and the "ooh, that's neat!" factor from friends I'm less familiar with means more exposure.
B) Multiplayer on home consoles just needs one system and a few controllers. Handhelds require a system purchase to link up and play with each other. I remember picking up a GBA to enjoy Four Swords with my buds. Now that I think about it, could the big push for online multiplayer on home consoles be a stab to get more sales of hardware bigger than just a controller?
More Twoson than Cupertino
The DS is successful because it provides simplicity and compatibility in a low-cost package.
The DS is simple. I put in a game, I turn it on, I play it. I'm not told to join an online service, or pay for "points" for microtrasactions, or update firmware, or create a profile, or enter a password, or set up family accounts, or download patches, or view my online achievement scores, or update billing information, etc. (Note: it's true the DS can play over the internet using Wi-Fi, but the feature isn't very prominent and a lot of avid DS players don't even know about it). My DS is happy with being a little machine for games. It doesn't want to run my life, and I think a lot of casual-to-moderate gamers don't really want their console to become an online/entertainment hub. The games are the thing.
The DS is compatible. Not only does it have a lot of very nice games of its own, its backed by the massive Game Boy Advance library, with all sorts of treasures. I think pretty much everybody is getting the idea that backward-compatibility is the only way to go these days. While this is porbably good news for consumers (a PS3 is able to play 13 years worth of legacy games, for example) it'll be interesting to see if any other consoles are able to survive in such a market, building a stable of titles from the ground up. N-Gage, Gizmondo, and Zodiac all crashed and burned, for example.
The DS has a very very low entry price point. With a new DS lite running about $130 and a used original DS weighing in around $70 or so, the DS is by far the cheapest entry point to the current generation of systems. Unfortunately I think console manufacturers have lost sight of how much the public are really willing to pay for games, and the current console bunch (PS3 in particular) are prohibitively expensive for the masses. The people who make games and systems for a living tend to focus on those who eat, sleep, and breathe videogames, and forget that for every customer who would give up a kidney and wait in line for a week for a limited-edition Halo sequel in an exclusive holographic slipcase, there's a thousand parents who just want something fun for the kids to do on long car rides, or a suduku simulator to make the morning commute more bearable.
The current systems lineup offers something for everyone and an amount of diversity we've never seen before. Regardless of how it turns out, we're all in for a hell of a fun ride.
Andrew Lenahan http://www.starblind.com/
The summary is like proclaiming Toyota's victory over BMW, because they ship more cars per year. I believe consoles and handhelds exist in markets that overlap in only limited ways, so there's no real "victory" over the other.
21 million.. Yeah, HUGE failure there... I wish I could sell such a disasterous product.
Uh yeah; where were these "New Schools" of thought 8 years ago when the original GB was outselling (Even outsold the PS2; 118 million to 115 Million) everything? Portable systems outselling consoles isn't a new trend by any means. If there's anything to be surprised about, it should be that the GBA only sold about half the amount (69 mill) of the original GB. Granted the time between GB/GBA (GBC was a market test for the GBA) and the GBA/DS was roughly twice as long as well. There wasn't much growth in the handheld market (only about 5% if you do the figures).
/. post)
The DS on the other hand, is making the handheld market EXPLODE. (New customer base! Hurrah!). I wouldn't be surprised
The DS has ALREADY sold more unit than the ENTIRE "Next Generation" (Aimed at the linked article in the
PSP uses the same stupid asinine mentality of the PS3 but now in the palm of your hand "BIGGER, BETTER, BADDER!" with games that look pretty and chuck gameplay in as an afterthought half the time, sony tried to make it a portable media hub and it's still expensive as hell to boot. PSP is the same mentality as the PS3 and therefore doesn't stand any real extra chance of succeeding. The DS on the other hand, has already proven that the simpler and more addictive games the better. Hell my friend who isn't into to videogames just told me she wants a DS...
A quick session of Animal Crossing in bed is a good way to wind down.
The other night I took a bath and played New Super Mario Brothers.
Or perhaps you're cooking something and want to keep an eye on it, but could play a quick game of Hearts while doing so.
I didn't expect to play on the DS while at home, but it has worked out that way.
GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
I travel every week for work (~2 hour flight each way). I originally purchased a used PSP at gamestop and two games for ~$250. I hated it - the controls were terrible, the games were substandard ports, and it was wayyyyy too bulky. The next day I returned it. A week later, after a lot of searching, i found a DS Lite and my gaming life has been a breeze ever since. Its small, light, durable, and the games are exactly what I want. The problem with PSP is it's trying to be a console on a portable system - it doesn't work. The DS works because it knows its audience - a quick, portable distraction that wont have you getting too involved in a game that requires a savepoint to safely exit. I'm no Nintendo fanboy, but I have to say - in the portables arena DS wins hands down.
What I don't get is why people equate sales with the quality of a product (I'm not saying the parent did this, but I have to post somewhere). PCs with Windows outsell Macs. Britney Spears outsells [insert your favourite non-pop artist here]. Does it make them better? Of course not. It just means more people like the DS than the PSP, or buy it because that's what everyone else is using. As a PSP owner, do I give a rats? No, not really... unless of course that stops games developers producing quality titles for the PSP. Sure the PSP is $50 more expensive than the DS, but if you think about it that's just one, maybe two games. DS games are only slightly cheaper than PSP games, and in most cases the same price. I'd rather get a game like GTA, Metal Gear Acid 2/Portable Ops, or any of the other console-quality games for my PSP than some stupid little toy game that tries too hard to use the stylus. From my browsing of the DS shelves at stores, I rarely come across a DS game that interests me (I'm NOT paying $40 for a simple game of cards that I could probably program myself if I wanted to). $40 for GTA or portable ops? Sure, now you're talking.
That's kind of the point of all this. Every time we normally look at PSP sales, journalists just compare with the DS, which is still absolutely kicking its backside all round the park. But at over 20 million machines, the PSP is actually doing rather well in comparison to the home console market - sales figures usually show it selling around the level the 360 does these days, or even more.
"I Know You Are But What Am I?"
My wife bought me one for my bday a few days ago and we can't put it down. Only have Club House Games and New Super Mario Bros. Club House Games is really addicting and now my wife says she needs a DS Lite too. Once I get a slot 1 flash card for it and can use the PDA organizer software, play MP3s, etc. life will be good.
Lately, the Target, Walmart, and Best Buy nearest my home have been selling out of DSes on a regular basis. Not as bad now as before the holidays, but once every few weeks one of the stores is out. I've never seen the PSP sold out anywhere, not even on launch day.