sony's new handheld - PSP

[JoyBoy]

Wait, didnt SONY already try a semi handheld, the Pocketstation? Lots of confidence they had in that, didnt they? People seem to be thinking that this PSP is ready to launch now. SONY themselves have said that they will not be sending dev kits out until late Q4 2003 at the earliest, and wont be on sale in Japan until Q5 2004, Which is what? 18 months away? God knows what the release date will be for Europe, and thinking back to the Pocketstation, heres hoping .

In between now and then you will have some pretty big advances in the Mobile Phone Market. (which I notice MrCaine01 failed to even mention). If anyone here has played on the Nokia 7650, the Samsung v200 and the Panasonic GD87, they have to admit the games look pretty good on them. Of course how they play is another matter, but that will improve time.

Even though the franchise is slowly dying, PokeMon is still a huge franchise especially in Japan. SONY have to come up with a killer app like that, to put even put a dent into it. Of course, they wont because the 'suits' will be marketing it at teens & adults.

MrCaine, SEGA owned Nintendo in Europe, which contary to popular belief, is still an important gaming market. The reason why SEGA fell on its ass was because by the time the Game Gear did launch, it was 3 years too late. Game Boy had an absolute huge user base, and was still selling like bread. Also the Game Gear did not Tetris. That was the kind of title that even women could play. Of course the female market, is something SONY has to figure out.

You know when people announce any kind of console, they always announce it with unheard of specs, that leaves fanboys, marks & rubes shooting the 'white stuff' all over themselves. Wait until you actually see it...

[frequency]

with sony behind the driving force of its new handheld, its gonna be just like the ps2 in terms of being in almost every home abroad. with a name like sony branded on that handheld we know we cant go wrong in purchasing this new little toy. plus sony has many great third party developers, which in turn will spell success for their PSP. for me as a consumer, if a product is great overall and if it catches my eye, then that means that the company has done their job in terms of making it appealing to the customer. and im sure sony wont have any problems in that department.

[MegaPyro6]

McCaine, I hat to point this out to you but MPEG4 is not DVD. DVD is MPEG2. MPEG 4 is the latest video codec, popularized by Divx. Now I can guarentee you that if the PSP can play divx video, it will sell uncoltrollably. Currently the only Divx compatible players are set top and cost an arm and a leg. To add to it, the PSP is portable. Many of the the Divx-heads, me included, would buy one just for the Divx playback. It would become a highly valued commodity for gamers and movie afficionados alike.

[podunkviller]

for all the fanboys out there

specs are meaningless. if specs were everything, xbox would be the dominant system. the ps2 isnt close to it in processing power.

dvd / divx doesnt mean it will have dvd. if they can squeeze 720 x 5(something, forgot the number) resolution out of a screen not capable of half that, i'll eat my shoe.

third party developers must learn how to develop for the system. they dont just wake up and make their games work, instantly. if it were like that, nintendo would have the same market share sony does in the console market.

more about specs. its one thing for something to be possible, its entirely another to implement it into a game.

//back to opinion

sony is fighting a terribly uphill battle. the gameboy already has a huge user base. developers already know how to develop for it. they know its number one. they know sony probably cant produce enough units in a year to catch up. that means the number one handheld through the year 2005 is likely to be the gameboy.

if you were a developer, what would you do? trust in something still being developed, or go with the proven one? i know where i'd be.

[MrCaine01]

okay let me elborate. I did not say that Sony didn't have an uphill battle or that they're definitely gonna come out on top. What I said is that it will be more powerful than the GBA. As for proven yes Nintendo is the market leader now but if the psp is easy to program for why wouldn't developers develop games for it? Sony has a HUGE ammount of support from developers on almost anything they do. As for specs, you're right it's meaningless, but it seems that everybody is forgetting why we all think the Ps2 is a great system, the software.

Sony is giving developers a lot of power to make some really good and versitile games. Sony is the market leader in the console market and kids will want the new sony handheld epecially when it'll connect to your ps2 and your pc. It's a versitile unit and Sony knows how to market things. Also it seems like a lot of people didn';t read one of my other posts carefully as in I said that it wasn't like Nintendo wasn't gonna come up with a good competing system.

So, in conclusion Sony does have a fight but with a very strong instilled console I don't think it's as uphill as some people believe and I didn't say that Sony was gonna completely take over the market. And as for developers go they go with what's making money and if the PSP is a hit they'll be definitely onboard as proven with the PS2

[Spike7]

As a developer, I dont think they will be stupid enough to make games only for one console. The point u made about "if you were a developer, what would you do? trust in something still being developed, or go with the proven one? i know where i'd be"
First it wont be game boy anymore. It is psp vs N DS. So psp and Nintendo ds will be at the same lvl of development. You cant compare a psp to GBA. Gba is kids, hence no real graphics. Psp games are targeted towards 18-31 and Nintendo DS as usual targets under 18. Not either one is going down but there is a variation of systems that is going to be sold. Second as for developers, i dont see why they will not make games for a new console unless the console is proven to be dead. For example, when FFVII came out, square announced that it will make games exclusively for PSX but at the end they made games for gba also. Developers not interested in what is proven or not, they interested in their market. SquareEnix see that GBA has a lack of rpg games so they decided to make FF chronicles on there to get a demandin share of rpg games of the gba market. Hope you will understand

[JoyBoy]

Spike, kudos for bringing this thread up. See folks, actual discussions do take place on FileForums

Anyways, at the time the discussion in this thread took place, Nintendo had yet to announce the DS System. That was only about 18 months ago. Now Nintendo is ready to launch in the US and Japan this November/December (from what I think I have read, the US gets the system first?). Web Advertising has started, and I'm sure in the US and Japan, TV Advertising is currently in full swing. Again, Europe is being treated badly as we wont see the DS until March 2005. But thats another discussion right there

The reason I point this out is that I feel Nintendo might have done a rush job on this System, just to answer the perceived threat that the PSP might be. The PSP was announced first (was that at E32003?), Nintendo, at the time, basically gave SONY the finger, and now Nintendo have a new System and ready to launch before the PSP? Thats messed up.

From what I have been reading as well, the developers for the DS are finding it tricky to come up with a Gimmick in order to use the Dual Screen feature. Heck, the Mario Kart DS one sounds lame to me; the second, lower, screen is basically a map of the track you are racing. Again, Nintendo insists on milking its mascot, Mario, for all he's worth.

The PSP on the other hand, is basically getting ports of familier Playstation franchises like Gran Turismo and Metal Gear. Thats the ****ing problem with the current generation of Consoles, the Publishers focus on milking brands instead of trying to be inventive and making new ones.

Personally, I dont think either System will sell even half of what the GBA has sold. The developers love making games for that little beast (Best selling console of all time ). They wont abandon that machine overnight, and I think its wrong to say that its marketed soley at kids. I see more teenie boppers with it, heck I have one and I'm 23 . I think the older generation enjoy the fact they can visit yesteryear through the GB/GBA and enjoy such classics like Mario Kart all over again (still the only game I own for it)

In terms of exterior looks, both systems look ugly too....

[lufcfan]

If anybody thinks the DS is gonna beat off PSP - stop smoking that sh*t

[frequency]

if had a choice between the psp or ds ...ill choose the psp over that dual screen crap any day

[NoNo9]

It is without doubts that the Sony system is graphically better.
But there is a big but here...
The Nintendo system wasn't developed in a rush... using arm processors made it simple but it is also very clear that alot of thought was put into this system.
The nintendo system has a built in microphone and a touch screen ; also wifi based rf connectivity which means that it has the potential of becoming a very capable PDA as well. Since sony has quite alot of other interests in the field with both its clie pdas and P9XX smartphones, the PSP would never be allowed to fill this niche.
The DS has battery life of 6-10 hours... the PSP has 3-4 hours...
PSP uses Gamecube like media... Gamecube media "on the run" seems like an awful idea - lots of scratches with no way of backing up your games. The DS uses small memory card which are more durable and make it easier to create flash carts for back ups and dev. (Sony also uses memory sticks but those are not meant to be used for games, and 1 gig of memory stick duo, which only holds 67% of the standard PSP media, cost more than a PSP...)
Last but not least, the DS would offer decent 3D with innovative gameplay which would most likely mean that it would be more entertaining.

[lufcfan]

Nah, sorry - but Nintendo are losing it - the GC is proof of that.

Sony are gonna blast the market with the PSP - and the DS is nothing more than a spruced up eye-liner tin with 2 screens

OK, maybe my views may seem a little excessive to some, but they're my opinion - you don't have to agree, lol

[frequency]

well, i agree with u lufcfan...nintendo had its run...now its time to let the other boys have some fun...lol