Sony Describes DS As Gimmick 453
1up.com has news, via MCVUK, that PSP VP of Studios Phil Harrison has classified Nintendo's entry into the handheld market as 'irrelevant'. From the article: "The idea of a handheld rivalry with Nintendo is an irrelevance...Those formats don't appear in our planning. It's not a fair comparison; not fair on them, I should stress. That sounds arrogant, maybe, but it's the truth." 1up.com's commentary is well seen. From their piece: "Whether or not you fully agree, Nintendo DS can come off as gimmicky, but Sony's commentary is fairly strange." Read on for my own short commentary.
I know that, for the most part, comments like Harrisons are just the marketing version of "my processor is faster than yours" but I'm honestly surprised at the level of arrogance displayed there. Since the PSP's launch, Slashdot Games has posted article after article with titles like PSP Reception Lukewarm in U.S., PSP Not A Sellout Hit, What's Up With The PSP?, and most recently PSP Usage Lower Than Expected. This last article is especially disheartening for Sony execs because those numbers come from Japan, a nation that has traditionally been Sony's bread basket. If it's not doing well here, and it's not doing well there...do they really think that many Europeans are going to buy it when it launches there next week?
Re:Yeah, it's a gimmick! (Score:3, Insightful)
See, for example, the continued success of The Sims and it's many, many expansions over far better games.
Sony Describes DS As Gimmick (Score:2, Insightful)
'entry' (Score:2, Insightful)
PSP is great (Score:4, Insightful)
I think they're BOTH right. (Score:2, Insightful)
And Sony's comments are arrogant. It's the games that ultimately decide which platform is better, and having a bigger screen is no good if you have nothing special to show on it. Of course, I expect nothing less than this sort of statement from Sony. They still seem to think the Walkman glory is with them and continue to display Not-Invented-Here syndrome.
The software rules our world... (Score:3, Insightful)
The DS _is_ a gimmick... (Score:3, Insightful)
The way I see it, the pinnacle of handheld gaming is the GameBoy Advance SP.
As a DS owner (Score:5, Insightful)
That being said, the rest of the device is a dream. The games that have come out for it (or are right around the corner) are almost always sure winners: Nintendogs, Kirby, the new Sonic, the new Mario, Castlvania, the upcoming Animal Crossing, Lost in Blue, Meteos, Advance Wars DS... I held off on buying a DS until yesterday (a few run-ins with coworkers playing Nintendogs finally sold me), and I think the library of games and creativity shown in each one really, genuinely offers something new to gamers. This is mostly because of the stylus interface, but they use the wireless and flip-top covers in wierd unique ways as well.
The only thing else I could ask for would be that it played the old GB games, an analogue stick, and maybe a nice emulator (ala PSP). And considering that the PSP has all of those, that brings me to my point: the only reason the DS won me over for Portable Platform Money-Sink 2005(tm) was because the games are awesome.
Re:I think they're BOTH right. (Score:3, Insightful)
Hold the train, somebody better be rewriting history.. many claim that the 64 controller hasn't been beat.
Re:Mine is better than yours... and more expensive (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Gameboy (Score:2, Insightful)
Was there any legitimate excuse for DS not having FULL wi-fi capability at launch? I don't even mean being able to hack it and use a web browser like PSP, I mean playing online games with people all over world using free wi-fi at Starbucks.
Sony has every right to not think of Nintendo as a threat in the new handheld market: Nintendo, once again, dropped the ball when it comes to ONLINE GAMING.
Re:Zonk... (Score:2, Insightful)
Lemme fix that for you there, Zonker.
"Since the PSP's launch, Zonk has posted article after article with titles like PSP Reception Lukewarm in U.S., PSP Not A Sellout Hit, What's Up With The PSP?, and most recently PSP Usage Lower Than Expected. "
Corpses in the wake of the big N (Score:5, Insightful)
Game Gear
Nomad
Lynx
That portable TurboGrafix16 (Name anybody?)
Wonderswan, Wonderswan crystal / color
GP32
NeoGeo pocket, NeoGeo Pocket color
Tapwave Zodiac
Ngage
That's just a short list off the top of my head, I'm sure that there are others that a more thorough search would reveal.
The PSP is simply not in the right price/battery life/durability range for most people to be attracted to it. It will do well with the money-to-burn crowd and with the hard-core gamers who buy everything, price be damned. As for the casual gamer that is the bread and butter of the industry, I forsee it remaining sort of "meh".
movie playing isn't? (Score:2, Insightful)
My hopes for the DS - Partly open it up (Score:3, Insightful)
-----
A request for Nintendo to open up the GB DS
(BTW, is any of this even possible?)
(Please note that while there is some comparisons between the Nintendo DS (DS) and the Sony Personal PlayStation (PSP) my comments should not be construed as a judgment on which unit has better games or is better for gaming. My comments and ideas are limited to the DS' ability to be expanded past it's current usage, which could possibly expand it's total customer base, and not about corporately generated games. While I mention Python as the interpreter of choice, Ruby should also be strongly considered. BTW, I know the name sucks but I'm sure someone will come up with something better.)
The "App-Yan"
I propose that Nintendo makes or allow someone else to make a device that fits into the DS game slot on the DS which allows users to run Python applications. Applications would be stored and loaded from a removable SD card.
The "App-Yan" parts:
Hardware:
External housing design and dimensions: the dimensions would very similar to the "Play-Yan", Nintendo's mp3/mpeg4 player that fits into the GBA slot on the DS.
SD or SDIO slot: Python scripts and/or related data files would be stored here. No propriety software should be required to copy files to and from the SD card. Open data standards should be used whenever possible. Also somewhat similar to the "Play-Yan".
>256M non removable internal flash memory: This would be used for the storage of the Python interpreter et al and, at the user's choice, Python scripts or related data.
A/D converter on the "professional" model: It's about expanding the DS and a "professional" version with multiple A/D converters would expand the DS' use, for example, for automated data collection.
Software:
Python interpreter: the Python interpreter, a signed Nintendo application, would be stored on the App-Yan's internal flash memory. It could be updated by Nintendo to address security flaws and bugs. Scripts could be run allowing for a text output or with a full GUI. GUI objects could be accessed from either the DS' internal GUI widgets or from standardized custom widgets accompanied with the interpreter.
Signed script validator: Some groups have the need to ensure their scripts arrive at the user's DS unmodified. A built in public key signature system could be used to insure scripts arrive as they were intended.
Why the DS?
The DS, like previous versions of the GB, is well designed and a nearly indestructible device. They have been successfully used in environments that normally would kill off similar electronic devices. The closest example of a device that can stand up to similar abuse would possible be a "hardened" PDA (either Palm of PocketPC OS based in a custom enclosure) costing at least four times the cost of the DS/AY (DS with an "App-Yan" device). The DS' low cost, durability and touch screens make it an ideal candidate for this project over other portable devices. The use of a GB for nongaming use is hardly new. The Singer Izek sewing machine (now out of production) used a GB as a stitch and pattern controller.
What's the benefit to Nintendo?
This project would expand the current customer base and places used. Many would say the "holy grail" of a portable gaming system is to allow for its use in a public school setting. This might be possible using the "dynamically generated exams" example sited below. While the DS performs well as a portable gaming system added uses would generate additional console sales which would generate added games sales. While Nintendo is still the king of the overall handheld gaming market, the Sony PSP has presented itself as extremely strong competition. With Sony's le
Re:Yeah, it's a gimmick! (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Gameboy (Score:2, Insightful)
NEC was. It took the rest of the industry 10 years to catch up to the turbografx handheld.
Zonk didn't actually link to 1up.com's commentary? (Score:4, Insightful)
Go figure. [1up.com]
Timing (Score:3, Insightful)
This has really wiped out the PSP as a platform for the time being, though. Lumines is great but it's not $300 great, and there's nothing else I want, even a little.
They really should have done the mass-portage, best of PS1/PS2, and dribbled the stuff out until Christmas.
Whatever (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:My hopes for the DS - Partly open it up (Score:3, Insightful)
Meanwhile, opening up the console prevents Nintendo from making money on those development licenses. Moreover, while the licensing model tends to reduce the number of third party developers for the platform, it also results in a much higher quality game library due to the higher barrier of entry (as opposed to the Playstation market, where there are a ton of games, but a small percentage are actually any good).
Hmmm.. (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:As a DS owner (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Yeah, it's a gimmick! (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Sorny doesn't like the DS? (Score:5, Insightful)
What this means is that the Slashdot editors couldn't find a single story of more content among every submission from all the Slashdot readers.
Another attempt for Slashdot to be more (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't see any posters at this time who have recognized Zonk's post for what it is -- an attempt for Slashdot to be more than just a blog. The last major push for that backfired, nobody liked what Jon Katz had to say. Since day 1, Slashdot has been an approval system for links that we the readership submit. The editors have made some attempts to editorialize and have occasionally been flamed for it, but the editorials have been very light and Slashdot's readership has been flat for over a year.
Slashdot can continue to mature and grow readership by doing a little research. Dig up some links from the past and make a comment. Zonk could have taken a small step in either direction by posting how well (or not) the DS has done to continue to refute Sony's stance (or show that the issue is still unresolved).
Thanks, Zonk, for taking a small step in the right direction. We don't want a Slashdot newspaper, over-editorializing everything, but some light commentary would entice readers to get our feet wet in new subjects and make Slashdot an easier read for new visitors.
Re:PSP is great (Score:2, Insightful)
The other reason I ended up selling it was, and this will sound weak, the fact that it took a long time to load games. If I was playing Ridge Racer and wanted to switch to Tony Hawk it would just take what felt like ages to load. It got to the point where I would just say fuck it and leave the current game in the system.
These issues don't really bother me at all with the DS that I picked up afterwards. Now if only it had an analog stick...
Re:As a DS owner (Score:3, Insightful)
Okay, now imagine for a second that you're using the touchscreen with no second screen. A nice game of "CRAP, I CAN'T SEE AROUND MY HAND!"
Now does the second screen make more sense?
Re:The software rules our world... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Sour grapes (Score:3, Insightful)
Sony has to work hard to promote the PSP as an all-around portable entertainment machine. For me, that won't happen unless they open up the UMD spec so I can record UMDs and use them on the PSP. I don't think that will happen though.
I don't have either unit, and I am planning to sell my backlight-modded GBA because I use it only rarely now.
Right now, I am just using a Palm compatible device, and it does what I want for now, games (though rarely), more for images, audio, video and PDA functions.
Re:Yeah, it's a gimmick! (Score:3, Insightful)
Actually my favorite SimCity was 2000 (though the SNES version of SimCity would be a close 2nd). 2000 added things to the game to make it better and more enjoyable to me. 3000 and later added stuff that just seemed to make the game more tedious and frustrating.
Re:Yeah, it's a gimmick! (Score:3, Insightful)
The PSP has entered a slightly different environment. The proliferation of cellular phones, PDAs, laptops, and digital cameras has forced the costs of producing nickel metal hydride and lithium ion batteries down. For $20-$30, you can pick up a set of NiMH batteries and a charger. The price of keeping the device powered becomes far less of a problem this time around.
On the other hand, the PSP could easily fail because it has a pretty lousy line-up of games available, and, of course, because it's expensive. I think battery consumption problem is pretty minor these days.
Editorial Integrity (Score:4, Insightful)
Well great. We know where Zonk stands. Now why can't we mod him down for redundancy?
Re:Yeah, it's a gimmick! (Score:3, Insightful)
The DS for example is of far better build quality , has more games that are suited to mobility
I own both and my PSP is busy collecting dust
where as i have purchased 5-6 games for the DS and about 8 Gameboy advanced games over the last 6 months, I also intend to purchase a few before Christmas
In the console market , the superior product is the one with the superior games.
Take the PS2's position in the market right now , it is by far the weakest console , (discounting handhelds , though even the PSP is more powerful in a few regards)yet it is pulverising the competition
But that was exactly Nintendos intention! (Score:4, Insightful)
That was exactly Nintendos intention. You can have hold it analog-button (for, say, Jump-N-Runs), digital-button (for example for puzzlers) or analog-digital (such as for FPS). That way, developers are forced not to use too many buttons. You may like this or not, but for most non-hardcore gamers, it's a great idea.
Re:ROFL! Is this a joke? (Score:3, Insightful)
No, if you RTFA, you'll see that he was specifically talking about the touch screen on the DS.
As for the GBA Micro, it is not a gimmick, but it is nothing special--merely another edition of the GBA that offers a more convenient size--small enough for people to carry around routinely, like they do a cell phone. As such, it will compete with the cell phone gaming market, which Nintendo may see as more significant competition for the GBA than the Sony PSP. The Micro also differentiates the GBA from the DS, and demonstrates to developers Nintendo's continuing support of the GBA platform.
Re:PSP is great (Score:3, Insightful)
Emulators... and overpriced movies...
It doesn't matter if you've got a portable Cray with a blindingly bright XGA screen that gets 800 hours of playtime on fairy dust, if there aren't any good games, it isn't worth buying.
Nintendo is doing what they always do, putting fun, addictiveness, and play control ahead of all other considerations. As a result they have a "technically inferior" product that is a much greater pleasure to own and use.
Re:Sony getting a taste of its own medicine (Score:2, Insightful)