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Portables (Games)

PSP To Increase U.S. Lead Over DS 154

Posted by Zonk from the two-screens-are-better-than-one dept.
Next Generation has a piece on an analyst's prediction that Sony's PSP will gain more ground on the Nintendo DS, here in the states, over the next five years. From the article: "SIG has compared year-by-year sales and estimates for the first five years of each machine's life, using sell-in and factory shipments. It points out that in its first year both PSP and DS managed around 13 million units each, with DS slightly ahead. Year two cumulative stats give PSP 25 million over DS' 22 million. In Year Three the difference rises to ten million (38m to 28m). In Year Four, PSP's lead has stretched to 15 million and to 20 million by Year Five." Though the PSP is now leading in the U.S., the DS is still king of the mountain in Japan.
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PSP To Increase U.S. Lead Over DS More

PSP To Increase U.S. Lead Over DS

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  • So sad. (Score:1, Flamebait)

    by Deliveranc3 ( 629997 )
    Poor American PSP owners :(

  • when did the psp outsell the ds? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 24, 2006 @01:07PM (#14549356)
    I mean units in customers hands, not in retail channels.

    Seriously, when? Anybody got a source?
    • Never as far as I know. Unless they saw enormous(and I mean enormous) sales numbers over the christmas holidays, it's not possible. The DS was leading the PSP by 3:1 going into that.

    • Re:when did the psp outsell the ds? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 24, 2006 @02:59PM (#14550417)
      It hasn't outsold the Nintendo DS for more than a couple of weeks at a time; and may never outsell the DS.

      Unfortunately (for Sony fans) Sony is demonstrating an understanding of the market on a much worse level than they had with either the Playstation or PS2; at the same time Nintendo is demonstrating an understanding of the market at a much higher level than they have since the SNES.

      Basically Sony thinks that people want a (3rd rate) MP3 player and a (2nd rate) Portable DVD player at a higher price than both of the components would cost together; on top of that their games are middle of the road, boring ports/clones/sequels of PS2 games. On the other hand Nintendo has focused on producing a low cost gaming system; their games are demonstrating a reasonably high quality and originality level for a new platform.

      Pretty soon both systems will have price cuts, the Nintendo DS will be at a price level where it is gift friendly for most families, many people can purchase it on a whim, and small children/young teens can easily save up for one; the PSP will still be a pretty large investment for most gamers. Basically, the Nintendo DS will increase it's market dominance when it hits the mass-market price range well before the PSP.
      • The price of the Nintendo DS (A bit more than the cost of two new XBOX 360 games) was a major factor in me getting mine. I'd never buy a new PSP over a DS for two reasons: the screen is unprotected and I've heard they've had hardware problems with dead pixels and a slightly unresponsive button. Plus, hey, let's be honest, they're hella expensive.
        • I wasn't aware the dead pixel issue still existed. I figured that was an early production problem that had been sorted out.

          I bought my PSP from that first run, and I've been very pleased with it. No dead pixels, and no issues with button response.

          It's really not even in the same category as the DS though. The PSP, while an exceptional game machine, is so versatile. It's great for watching movies. It's a decent portable web browser (so long as you don't have to do any text entry).

          My only complaint

      • >Basically Sony thinks that people want a (3rd rate) MP3 player
        > and a (2nd rate) Portable DVD player

        It plays MP3. granted its no IPOD but 2nd Rate DVD player? UMD is DVD quality with digital audio. Batteries will generally last (on mine) 4-6 hours. Even so a 1-2GB memory card will get you 1-2 movies or a few TV shows to watch.

        Sorry but the DS wins on being cheap and games machine only. It is not an entertainment system.

      • Unfortunately (for Sony fans) Sony is demonstrating an understanding of the market on a much worse level than they had with either the Playstation or PS2; at the same time Nintendo is demonstrating an understanding of the market at a much higher level than they have since the SNES.

        Unfortunately, Slashdotters don't understand math.

        Here are some prices as of 5 min ago from EB games. This is an ansorment of goods that a buyer of either console might actually purchase. "But people would buy more/less games at
    • Could we get your source for number of DS units sold in US only? thanks, Jake

    • Re:when did the psp outsell the ds? (Score:1, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chroni cle/archive/2005/12/26/BUGLNGCO6C1.DTL&type=tech [sfgate.com]

      According to this source, it hasnt.
      • http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2006/01/handheld_ unit_s.html [mercurynews.com]

        And according to this source, it has. Who's right? I haven't seen any figures for the US that I'd actually consider believable. My impression is that in the US, the 2005 numbers were neck and neck. However, considering that the DS sold for 12 months in 2005, whereas the PSP sold for 9, the PSP has a better trend.
        • a blog is NOT a reputable source.
        • Probably not the guy who is posting on a blog, basically citing himself, and rattling off numbers above what Sony themselves have said. Ladies and gentleman, the Sony fan. Take a bow. You're killing the industry and produce nothing of value.

          I was wrong earlier btw, it's not 3:1, it's a tad under 2:1(around 1.8:1). A bit under 4 million(3.6) total for the DS since it's launch late 2004, and just over 2 million(2.1) for the PSP launched just outside Q1 of this year. That's just going off NPD funworld, who

          • Seriously, IGN, Gamespot, NPD, numerous other gaming news sites ALL have similar numbers, and your counter is a guy who happens to work for an insignificant news agency and who is basically citing himself on his blog.

            Hey, I never said he was believable - quite the contrary, in fact. I posted his numbers as another example of figures we can't get the real info from.

            The problem with IGN, Gamespot, and numerous other gaming new sites is that they all quote NPD. They are all the same source. And we have no i

          • By the way, where are you getting your NPD numbers? I've been to their site, and I can't find anything even remotely resembling PSP/DS sales numbers in the US. If you go back to the blog I listed above, one of the comments said the PSP outsold the DS by 500,000 units *according to NDP*. Where'd he get his numbers?

            Sadly, most of the posts don't give any references at all. Those that do give extremely vague ones. Where is a person supposed to get real numbers?
    • The PSP hasn't outsold the DS in any market, and thanks to this holiday season in Japan, it's trailing the DS fairly soundly in global sales. The article predicts that the PSP will outsell the DS in year two (which, if you're being specific, started in Novemeber for the DS and in January for the PSP). As far as "increasing" the lead, that's just a bad title, and it should probably be changed to "gaining" the lead for clarity's sake. How about it, Zonk?

      And just for the record, industry analysts have rep

  • DS is my choice (Score:5, Interesting)

    by elasticwings ( 758452 ) on Tuesday January 24, 2006 @01:07PM (#14549357)
    While they are both fun pieces of hardware in their own respect. I just have a thing for Nintendo and the fact that they still make games that are just fun. This is the same reason I prefer to have a Gamecube over other consoles and will probably buy a Revolution. I just like fun games.
    • "While they are both fun pieces of hardware in their own respect. I just have a thing for Nintendo and the fact that they still make games that are just fun. This is the same reason I prefer to have a Gamecube over other consoles and will probably buy a Revolution. I just like fun games."

      Boy I hear that. I had a PSP for a short period of time. Even though I was having fun with Liberty City Stories, the machine still felt very much like a gadget. (as opposed to a game machine.) I ended up buying another

    • Got both DS is my choice (Score:4, Insightful)

      by monopole ( 44023 ) on Tuesday January 24, 2006 @01:37PM (#14549684)
      Got both a PSP and a DS. I use the DS (and my GBA micro) a lot more, even for watching movies. The four factors involved are battery life, memory stick cost, size and system fragility. The DS has an incredible battery life which is crucial when traveling and the micro still beats the PSP. The DS video solution the Play Yan uses cheap SD flash which is also supported on many of my other gadgets, on the other hand the MS Pro Duo flash is twice as expensive for the same memory size. The GBA micro which shares the movie player with the DS is small enough to fit on my belt and be used anywhere. Finally the PSP is big, fragile and more likely to be stolen, making a poor choice for travel.

      Not to diss the great screen on the PSP, but the gamboy screen is quite sufficent.

    • Re:DS is my choice (Score:5, Informative)

      by MyDixieWrecked ( 548719 ) on Tuesday January 24, 2006 @02:08PM (#14549946) Homepage Journal
      I got a DS the day it came out... then got a PSP as soon as I could get my hands on one (january 7th, 2005); japanese unit.

      I love my DS and I had sawaru (the wario game), jump all stars, mario64ds, and that trauma center game, plus I've borrowed my friends' games like kirby and the pacman game. the DS rocks...

      although, the PSP has lumines which had kept my attention far more than the DS. I also had an NES emulator on there with more ROMs than I could ever play. The psp looks beautiful and the looks alone provide entertainment sometimes. Watching movies/tv shows/pr0n on the thing is pretty sweet, too (although, I'd never buy a UMD movie).

      the PSP feels more versatile since you can run so many alternate apps on it, but the DS is just so much more creative. The #1 thing that's killing the PSP, though, is the lack of decent games. Seriously, every game for it feels like a PS2 game crammed into the handheld. there's nothing original about it. they're all sequals. Lumines is the only shining star, but it did dull-out after 8 months.

      too bad I bricked my PSP during a botched official firmware update and now I gotta call japan to see how to get it fixed. oh well.
      • Right. So, so far the best use of the PSP (and I hear this from everyone who owns one or is buying one) is to pirate games.
        • Right. So, so far the best use of the PSP (and I hear this from everyone who owns one or is buying one) is to pirate games.
          ... to pirate Nintendo games.
          • Indeed. That's the irony. Of course, one could argue that maybe they wouldn't be doing that AS MUCH if Nintendo would release these games for the DS in emulation themselves. Sell them, iPod style or something.

            Who am I kidding, they'd still pirate the games.

      • Re:DS is my choice (Score:2, Interesting)

        by MukiMuki ( 692124 )
        See, that's why I got one of those annoying product replacement plans for mine at Best Buy.

        Usually I don't bother, but for fragile stuff (Sony products, iPods) I pick up an extended warantee ASAP. Accidental if I can find it.

        After realizing that I wasn't going to find a new RPG on the PSP to save my life that was worth a damn, I just broke down and "traded in" my PSP.

        Got a DS, two RPG's ( Lunar 'n Mario & Luigi ), and an $80 gift card.

        Traded in THUG2 for Shining Force GBA, and now my DS has two nice, lo
        • yeah, I'm waiting for the new Ys game for the PSP to come out in the US (if it ever does/ if I ever get my PSP fixed).

          how's lunarDS? I have the GBA one. I kinda liked it, a little. sorta.

          I'm a little disappointed with the RPGs in general these days. I want something like Ys 1&2 (from the TG16/CD), Zelda: Link to the Past, or Final Fantasy 1.

          I believe that only a handheld can truly take full advantage of an RPG. You can casually play and level up when you have a moment when you're out and about, or, duri

      • although, the PSP has lumines which had kept my attention far more than the DS. I also had an NES emulator on there with more ROMs than I could ever play.

        Lumines and PSP emulation are available on GBA (and by extension Nintendo DS) as well; see Luminesweeper [pineight.com] and PocketNES [pocketnes.org].

        Lumines is the only shining star

        And it's shinin', shinin', shinin', shinin', shinin', shinin', shinin', shinin', shinin', shinin', shinin', shinin', better stop before the lameness filter kicks in...

        • Lumines and PSP emulation are available on GBA (and by extension Nintendo DS) as well; see Luminesweeper and PocketNES.

          liminesweeper is kinda crappy. at least when someone pointed it out to me when I first got into lumines. The thing I like about lumines is not only the intense gameplay, but the pretty visuals that accompany it and the catchy music and sound effects. it kinda gives the whole game this feel that's extremely palatable. The game is very well produced and was assembled extremely well.

          I had an N

          • liminesweeper is kinda crappy. at least when someone pointed it out to me when I first got into lumines. The thing I like about lumines is not only the intense gameplay, but the pretty visuals that accompany it and the catchy music and sound effects.

            If your version of Luminesweeper doesn't have music, then either you are using an old version from before July 18 (when music was added to the version for flash carts and emulators) or you are using the version for GBA Movie Player (which currently lacks mus

            • if your version of Luminesweeper doesn't have music...

              I don't recall when it was, exactly. my friend had it on his DS and showed me when I was deepest in the soup of my Lumines addiction.

              But how do you suggest buying a PSP that can run homebrew guaranteed? Can one run most homebrew programs on a PSP with 2.01 or later firmware? Or can one still buy a PSP Value Pak with older firmware new in box? Or do you suggest relying on eBay for all PSP hardware purchases?

              you can roll back the firmware using a buffer ov
    • I have both a DS and a PSP and I have to admit I prefer the DS. The real proof of the DS' popularity is my housemates reactions to it. I am currently in my third and final year of uni and I live in a fairly geeky household off campus. One of my housemates has just bought a DS (after months of temptation) and after seeing our wireless advance wars and mario kart battles, my other two housemates are considering getting ones as well. The only interest they've expressed in the PSP so far has been "Ooh, it has
  • If only the stock-market could be predicted in this way, then I would be a rich man ....
    • The best way to make money on these things, is to take what the analysts say and bet on the exact opposite, if you do it often enough you are bound to make a fortune.
      Like I always say "The year they stop predicting the end of the world , is the year i start to worry".

  • I 3 mine (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Fr05t ( 69968 ) on Tuesday January 24, 2006 @01:09PM (#14549377)
    I got a PSP in November and I love it. Great for watching movies, listening to mp3s, playing of favorite games (emulated). It might not be for everyone, but I've really enjoyed mine.
    • everybody uses it for movies, music, and emulation.

      who cares how many systems they're selling if nobody buys the games?

    • and that's a big problem (Score:4, Insightful)

      by muel ( 132794 ) on Tuesday January 24, 2006 @01:28PM (#14549596)
      Everything you just lauded is bad news for publishers seeking to make a profit off PSP games. Why should third parties pump resources into PSP development if their title has to compete against UMD movies, mp3s, uploaded MPGs and (to a lesser but still decent extent) homebrew apps for a PSP owner's attention? Lots of talk has been made about system sales, but the bigger story is software sales; with this in mind, the DS is much more publisher-friendly, and that, more than anything, will tell the tale of which gaming system succeeds more. Sure, Sony is selling a slick piece of hardware, but if they're gonna recoup from a loss-per-unit-sold, that'll come from UMD movie profits, not game licensing.
      • I do own several games in addition. I would probably buy more if there was a place in town renting UMD games. People not wanting to spend ~$60+ (CDN) on a game before playing might be why the software sales have been low.

      • "Why should third parties pump resources into PSP development if their title has to compete against UMD movies, mp3s, uploaded MPGs and (to a lesser but still decent extent) homebrew apps for a PSP owner's attention?"

        Your argument makes absolutly no sense whatsoever. It is like saying why should a company bother making games for the games consoles because you can watch DVD's, play music and play games on them. Heck you can even just watch TV.

        DS is cheap because its a cheap system. they get you on the extra
    • I like mine too, but:
      - The games are too expensive
      - The UMD format pisses me off: I already have DVD's, I don't want to buy the same movie twice
      - The lack of USB storage support infuriates me...I refuse to buy yet another memory device

      So while it's a great piece of hardware, and there's lots I can do with it, from Sony's perspective there's no way they can make money from me, they've priced themselves out of the game.

      But still, it's a damn nice toy.
      • Why would you buy UMD movies? Rip your DVDs to MP4, and save them on your memory stick. (If you're opposed to Sony's memory stick, there are third party devices that will allow you to use virtually any other compact storage medium (CF/SD/etc).)

        I use PSP Movie Creator [pqdvd.com], which allows you to adjust your quality settings based on your available storage. It rips at roughly 2.5x normal viewing speed, and produces excellent results.

        UMD is teh suck.

    • Re:I 3 mine (Score:2, Informative)

      by MobileTatsu-NJG ( 946591 )
      "I got a PSP in November and I love it. Great for watching movies, listening to mp3s, playing of favorite games (emulated). It might not be for everyone, but I've really enjoyed mine."

      I bought a PSP in December, and I hated it. Here's my little story:

      I bought the $300 'giga-pack' which came with the 1 gig card. This seemed the only way to not get totally screwed on flash memory. (It was like $120 to buy the 1 gig card seperately, even though equivalent SD and Compact Flash was a lot cheaper
    • Once again. More emulation. I'd like to see some stats on the MONEY being made off each system. Because I'm guessing that Nintendo is actually selling games. Not just emulation machines.

  • Variety and depth of games? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by lpangelrob ( 714473 ) on Tuesday January 24, 2006 @01:09PM (#14549378)
    Either SIG has a magic crystal ball, or the killer PSP games I haven't heard about (especially the super killer ones to be released on 5 years) will kick the DS around the curb. Seeing how the whole PSP movies thing didn't exactly tide over the country (as opposed to the, oh, I dunno... video iPod?).

    In the meantime, I hear that Mario Kart DS is doing surprisingly well.

    • Agreed. Nintendo is also probably going to have another portable out within 5 years as well. How will the PSP be seen then?
  • I'm sure analysts also thought Google stock wouldn't go up in value, and that Ford would be king of the car industry for decades to come. And Apple will never use an Intel chip; they might as well dissolve the company since no Apple product will ever be popular.

    All I see in the future are a handful of PS2 ports for the PSP, and a veritable boatload of original games for the DS. I suppose the PSP is popular if you really like GTA and watching movies...

    If analysts really think that a trickle of overpric

  • Is this from the department of obviousness department?

    It's like saying that the Chronicles of Narnia DVD is narrowing the lead of the Predator DVD.

    DS came out first. Of course sales will be increasing at a slower rate than the PSP, which came out a relatively short time ago. If the article is trying to answer the "what is more popular?" question, the only thing that (should) matter is total sales over the lifetime of the unit, which is a much more difficult beast of a problem.
  • What happens to the PSP when the next Gameboy arrives?

    Note. Not trolling, Nintendo has always stated that the DS is their Third Pillar, the other two being their console and the real Gameboy.

    I'm really suprised at how the DS has been recieved over here, sure it got off to a slow start, but lately it's been picking up steam. The PSP has suprised me also, I never expected UMDs to sell as well as they've reportedly been doing.

    • Re:new Gameboy (Score:5, Interesting)

      by EggyToast ( 858951 ) on Tuesday January 24, 2006 @01:25PM (#14549557) Homepage
      I'm not that surprised. People bought the system for games, and they end up buying the movies because there's really no games.

      Ultimately I think Sony may have achieved what it wanted, although more by dropping the ball on game development compared to actual effort. They said they wanted to create more of a multimedia device, rather than pure games. In some regards, they've succeeded -- many PSP owners don't use the device for games all that much. They use it to watch UMDs, or hack it.

      The catch, as I see it, is that the hacking market tends to be early adopters -- geeks if you will. They're the ones who snatch up gadgets and like to explore it. Sustained sales, though, those are more mass market appeal. Hacking a system, no matter how simple, is not something that appeals to most people. Similarly, you can't buy roms -- they don't sell MAME emulators in Best Buy.

      So who is going to buy these millions of PSPs in the future? I know a LOT of people bought them once the emulators hit, but, well, that doesn't turn a profit -- game sales do. Outside of the puzzle game Lumines (which, while popular, isn't exactly a system seller), there's GTA. And a few racing games. Sony seems to not care about the future of the system for games; it just gets a few UMDs.

      But I don't see the system focusing on movies hurting the sales of the DS, which focuses entirely on games, and has been selling very well.

    • The problem for the DS in five years time is going to be the power and form factor of PDA or mobile phone buying sold then.....
    • With the success of the DS, Nintendo decided to put the new Gameboy on the back burner and focus on the DS. You'll notice they only mentioned the DS being the third tier up until it became clear the DS wasn't just a gimmick and was actually good.
    • The "new gameboy" is already out, it's called the Micro. Really. Nintendo at the launch of the DS said the DS would not replace the Gameboy Advance and they were planning a new gameboy. Note, they never said they planned a new gameboy platform. So after the DS they launched the Gameboy Micro as the "new" gameboy. Same hardware platform, new smaller package.
  • Something that I have to point out about this article - It specifically states that Sony has sold 13m PSPs in the US. Sony hasn't released any info as pertains to PSP sales within the last three months. They've only said that they've shipped 10m PSPs to retailers sometime in December. Either thye have insider info, or the analysts are pulling this out of their ass. I'll assume it's the latter.

  • Am I misreading this? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by iainl ( 136759 ) on Tuesday January 24, 2006 @01:22PM (#14549517)
    The DS and PSP have both only been out for roughly a year. So this is really saying that the DS is ahead of the PSP here in reality-land, but some random analyst predicts that the PSP will win in America in the end.

    Based on? Well, based on the fact that they refuse to believe that Sony could lose, it would seem.
    • Based on the fact that Sony is in full disaster-avoidance mode? The only "good" news that's come out of Sony recently has been this sort of, "Trust me, it'll kick ass, just pay us now and wait," stuff. They've had some pretty worrying news the last few months (the rootkit, talk about heavy DRM on the PS3, an inability to address price questions, manufacturing issues), and it's looking like the PS3 and Revolution will come out almost simultaneously. The worst news out of Nintendo, meanwhile, has been their g

  • Yeah, yeah ... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by hattig ( 47930 ) on Tuesday January 24, 2006 @01:26PM (#14549562) Journal
    Silly Analyst.

    PSP might be nice hardware, but until it gets the really fun games, people won't care. All I've heard is that the DS games are really fun, whilst the PSP games are a bit dull.

    Has the PSP actually outsold the DS in the US anyway? I didn't think it had. Odd how the headline reads 'To Increase ... Lead', when it should probably be 'Predicted to take lead'.

    And with the very suggestive 'Touch Me' adverts that appeal to adults, I don't see the DS losing out. However a redesign to be a bit less toylike would do it some good I think, like the SP did to the Advance.

    And indeed, I bet the Advance is still selling strongly in the US...
  • Both systems seem to be selling well. Being "in the lead" doesn't seem to matter for as much this time, since both systems are doing well.

    The reason that it is good to follow the leadership of the various game system races so closely is that, if one system gains a substantial lead over a competitor, then developers will have to take a hard look at the opportunity costs of developing for one that's further behind.

    In Japan, the DS has a clean, substantial lead, enough that it may begin to attract developer a
  • Since others have covered well the lunacy of predicting five years of sales on less than one year of data and no confirmed titles shipping beyond a few months from now, I'll move on to the underlying question I always have about this stuff... ...who cares? I mean seriously, are there people out there who go "ha ha my console makes more money than yours" or something? What a ridiculous idea. Why should a consumer care about anything other than whether they enjoy the thing and it offers the titles they wan
    • I think it is the fact that anbody who just dropped $150 to $300 on a DS or PSP (respectively) would like to know if they're system is going to be the leader. If it is then that means that most of the cool games are going to come out for their system. If their system is second fiddle then it may get dropped or see limited game releases.

      When I had a N64 I would see FF7, Metal Gear Solid, and other Playstation exclusives come out and I would think to myself, "Why dosen't my system have cool games like that?
      • I think it is the fact that anbody who just dropped $150 to $300 on a DS or PSP (respectively) would like to know if they're system is going to be the leader.

        I thought how it worked was you trash talked the one you didn't have, thus increasing the coolness of your particular choice. Clearly the one owned by the most foul mouthed of 12 year olds (or foul mouthed people who read at a 7th grade level) is the best.
    • I've never understood people getting on "teams" for this kind of thing. It's very surreal. Rooting for one multinational billion dollar company to beat another one? What does the consumer get out of that? Less competition.

      I would like to think that the main driving force (as I can see this as the only possible justification unless you hold stock in either company) would be that you have an intense desire to see your chosen platform not die and get well supported. Dreamcast fans could identify with this sent
  • I can't read the article since i'm at work, but is the blurb correct in that they're just basing this prediction off of the sales numbers for the last two years? Certainly sales numbers are important, but they're certainly not the _only_ factor. I would be very surprised if sales numbers for consoles haven't ever experienced unexpected dips or rises based on the particular games released for them or because of other unpredictable factors.

    That said i wouldn't be suprised either if the general prediction tu

  • The PSP and DS are similar in that they are handheld gaming systems, but the similarities end there.

    No one argued that the Game Gear competed with the Super Nintendo. It's slowly becoming clear that the PSP and DS are just as different.

    A DS is the next-generation of Game Boy.
    A PSP is a console system and media center squeezed down into a handheld package.

    There is some overlap, of course, but at least there's not as much confusion any more. They have different markets. The PSP's market is going to be slow
    • I don't know if you meant to type this:

      No one argued that the Game Gear competed with the Super Nintendo. It's slowly becoming clear that the PSP and DS are just as different.

      But wasn't the Nintendo Gameboy competing with the Sega Game Gear and the Turbo Express and Atari Lynx? The Gameboy was a no-color handheld video game system. The Lynx was color. The Sega Game Gear and the Turbo Express were color and they both had TV adapters so you could not only play games but you could watch TV on them as
    • "A DS is the next-generation of Game Boy." Actually Nintendo made it clear when they released the DS that it wasn't the new GameBoy. It is a different system with a different market, there will be another GameBoy system at some point, possibly more [gag] PSP like in terms of focus on pixel pushing.

  • Analyst: DS will beat PSP (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Jerf ( 17166 ) on Tuesday January 24, 2006 @01:38PM (#14549690) Journal
    Noted Slashdot analyst "Jerf" has analyzed the portable market, and has determined that the DS will beat the PSP in the US. Jerf points out that in its first year both PSP and DS managed around 13 million units each, with DS slightly ahead. Year two cumulative stats give DS 25 million over the PSP's 22 million. In Year Three the difference rises to ten million (38m to 28m). In Year Four, the DS' lead has stretched to 15 million and to 20 million by Year Five.

    When asked for evidence for his claims, he replied: "What, we need evidence and reasons? What, are you a Communist or something?"

    (Actually, the report may or may not be useful. Who can tell, since we don't seem to have a link to it. But the article is useless trash, and if I had to guess, this study does sound suspiciously paid-for, if you get my drift.)
  • Look no further than the scientific double-blind gamefaqs survey [gamefaqs.com]! It shows not only that DS is strongly favored over PSP, it shows that PSP is the least favored system. Also, it is my duty as a Nintendo fanboy to point out Gamecube's staggering lead over Xbox.
    • I like my GC as much as the next guy, but the poor showing for the XBox likely has to do with the 360 being on the same poll. For XBox owners who upgraded, it makes sense that the 360 would pass the original XBox in their affections since it's just like the original, but (supposedly) better.

  • Three reasons why I think they are insane (Score:4, Interesting)

    by kingsmedley ( 796795 ) on Tuesday January 24, 2006 @02:19PM (#14550029)
    Funny thing is, a year ago I might have agreed with these guys. I held out high hopes for the DS prior to launch, but in reality I knew Sony had the cooler hardware and impressive marketing clout with the dominance of the PS2. I honestly expected the DS to end up in 2nd place, bulldozed by the Sony juggernaut.

    But the sales performance of the DS this past year has taken many of us - even Nintenedo fans - by surprise. Clearly the DS has the superior momentum, and Sony has shockingly few gems on the horizon. Considering this is the ONLY DATA available, then where the hell does this prediction come from? I can see only three possibilities:

    1. These guys at SIG have a vested in terest in Sony's short term success, and therefore put forth a scenario designed to help Sony's stock price.

    2. These guys at SIG are preoccuipied with the hardware appeal of the PSP design, and have completely overlooked software sales on the assumption that superior hardware means superior sales.

    3. These guys at SIG don't consider the "casual gamer" appeal of many DS games as representing a significant market.


    I hope these guys weren't counting on UMD movie sales to spur the PSP onward, because I suspect the new video iPod will take much of the wind out of those sails. (Sales?)
  • My belief is that the PSP is simply too close to a current-gen console to be an effective handheld game device... the problem is that because it has such horsepower, people expect a console-level experience on it, but because its a portable device development has a portable budget. How can you put a console-style game on a portable system? Ports and sports! On the other hand, the DS is cheaper still to develop for, and you simply can't shoehorn the latest PS2 game onto it, so some actual creativity goes
  • Let us not forget something major here, Nintendo also continues to manufacture games for GBA (which is still backwards compatible with games produced over a decade and a half ago), and has recently revamped the SP with a killer baclkight, and also pushed out the slick little GB Micro.

    Add those figures to the DS sales and it's easy to see how Game Boy has been the most successful gaming platform. Now excuse me, Mr. Game Boy Color and I have a date in the bathroom with Pokemon Red.
  • http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chroni cle/archive/2005/12/26/BUGLNGCO6C1.DTL&type=tech [sfgate.com] So far, Nintendo DS sales are better than Sony's PSP. The NPD Group, which tracks retail sales in the United States, estimates that Nintendo has sold 2.37 million units of its portable game player, to 2.16 million unit sales for Sony's PSP. Dated Monday, December 26, 2005. Did the PSP sell 200,000 units in five days? No. This article is mistaken.

  • With the price of some PSP games... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by unclethursday ( 664807 ) on Tuesday January 24, 2006 @03:54PM (#14550881)
    I don't own any handheld. Just saying this now. I do have a GameBoy Player for my GC, but I have a total of 2 games for it.

    But, I checked out some of the PSP titles last night. And I was appalled to see that some of the prices for them were $50.

    $50 for a HANDHELD game? No thank you. $40 is a bit much for a hand held game, IMHO. $25-$30 I can deal with, maybe an occasional $35 here and there-- were I to be a handheld game player. But the PSP games all started around $40 with few exceptions (some older games were down to $30), and some of the newest games were $50.

    Sorry, if the pricing on PSP games stays like this, I can't see the PSP gaining much of a lead, if any, over the coming years. Handheld games are generally shorter than their console counterparts/cousins. They generally as not as fully featured as their console cousins. But I'd be God damned if I was going to spend as much on a hand held game as I am spending for a full console game if I owned a handheld system.

    The system is $250. Start adding in games at $50 a pop, and I'd rather just wait for all the next gen consoles to come out and get the game there. The handheld gaming market is driven from pick up and play games, and some long RPGs, that you don't spend a lot of money on but get tons of enjoyment out of. $50 for handheld games, no matter what publisher put them out, is simply too much money.

    With all the added risk you take with your handheld systems (dropping/breaking, losing, etc.) and the games, the price of the PSP and its games is just too high to keep it viable in the handheld market for too long. Consoles generally sit in one place, and don't move, so they don't have the same risk factors associated with them. And we've been paying $50 for those games for years. Until the PSP, no one was paying $50 for a handheld game... and, frankly, it's a gamble I think Sony and the publishers attempting to milk the handheld market buyers are going to lose.

  • I think at this point it's unfair to compare the PSP and DS at all, because the DS is a games system and the PSP is a movies system. Think about it: many major movies now appear on the PSP at their time of release, and most of its games are just PS1 (or 2, if you count Liberty City Stories) rehashes. The DS, on the other hand, focuses solely on gaming, and IMHO, it does that well.
  • This is purely anecdotal, so take it with a grain of salt.

    I got a DS for Christmas from my brother, mainly because neither of us could come up with something better (we always consult each other on giving each other gifts). In the end we figured my GBA SP had taken a bit of a beating of the last couple of years and at the very least a DS would simply be a fresh platform to play my existing GBA games.

    Much to our surprise, the DS blew us both away. Enough that he & I went out looking for ANOTHER DS, for h
  • Fargo spoke on this in his "Thought of the Day" in GameSpy Daily today, and I have to agree with him 100% on this:

    According to this news report, the Susquehanna International Group (an industry analyst firm) released a study today comparing the market growth of the Sony PSP to the Nintendo DS over the next five years. The firm states that "As the class of gamers seeking console-like gaming grows, the PSP will be the only serious alternative to Nintendo portables," and predicts that the PSP will sell 20 mi

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