EA Hot On PSP, Not Yet On DS As Results Released

Thanks to GameSpot for its news that Electronic Arts is backing the Sony PSP portable and reserving judgment on Nintendo's DS, as a conference call following the company's Q4 financial results revealed "the publisher has eight to 12 titles in development for Sony's upcoming handheld console, the PSP." However, EA "haven't made any decisions" regarding support of Nintendo's recently revealed dual-screen DS. Yahoo/Reuters also has EA's software/hardware predictions for 2004, with the company expecting "price cuts to $129 from $179 in the United States on the PS2 and the Xbox by this spring, and no later than Labor Day." Elsewhere, 1UP are reporting that EA's first Xbox Live title could be on the way, as they relay an as yet unconfirmed rumor that "three different Battlefield titles are in the works, one each for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and PC", each online-enabled and "built around a modern warfare setting instead of the historical settings of Battlefield 1942 and Battlefield Vietnam."

Well duh...

[rkischuk]

The PSP has been announced and out in the open for how long now, 8 months? Meanwhile, the Nintendo DS has been announced for maybe a week now?

I'm as skeptical as the next guy about the DS, but it's completely obvious that, with an 8 month head start, a publisher's plans for a portable console are going to be much more solid for the PSP than for the DS, that they've just barely been introduced to.

Not so duh..

[AzraelKans]

The DS was announced to us a week ago, selected developers get early word and SDK's for NextGen devices like the DS,XBOX2,PS3 and the PSP (under NDA's of course) sometimes 2 years before its release (as soon as its greenlighted), how much time do you think it takes to design, manufacture and release a device like this? the DS prototype has been sitting in Nintendo labs for some years now.

However the public response to the DS has been mostly negative specially compared to the PSP, and thats the reason why

Re:Not so duh..

[PainKilleR-CE]

The DS was announced to us a week ago, selected developers get early word and SDK's for NextGen devices like the DS,XBOX2,PS3 and the PSP (under NDA's of course) sometimes 2 years before its release (as soon as its greenlighted), how much time do you think it takes to design, manufacture and release a device like this? the DS prototype has been sitting in Nintendo labs for some years now.

And the PSP was announced to us how long ago? The PS3? Assuming that you're right (and I actually believe you are most

Hmm.. I dont think so.

[AzraelKans]

Maybe the PSP SDK was released a bit early (although Nintendo has mentioned several times they have been working on a new handheld for at least 5 years) to developers before the DS but definetely not last week

Is naive to believe that there arent developers for the DS just because is too soon. The real reason is just that developers are as eskeptical as everyone else about the DS

Desert Combat...

[decaying]

So is this modern day version just going to be the retail release of the mod Desert Combat [desertcombat.com]?

Re:Nintendo's Portable Hit Rate

[MMaestro]

No, but I remember the Game and Watch gallery handheld games.

Re:Nintendo's Portable Hit Rate

[chrismcdirty]

Was Virtual Boy supposed to be portable? It was the size of a small TV.

I don't believe they've done much else in the portable department aside from the insanely popular GameBoy line and the Game & Watch Gallery which got them pretty much into video games.

Re:Nintendo's Portable Hit Rate

[prockcore]

The virtual boy wasn't portable.. it had a stand.

In fact the virtual boy only did poorly because of the evil red and black screen. If nintendo did the virtual boy with two backlit color LCDs today, it might do quite well.

Re:Nintendo's Portable Hit Rate

[NanoGator]

"Well except for the Gameboy line Nintendo hasn't done to well with portable devices. Does any one remember the Virtual Boy? "

And besides the VB their portable failures would be....?

Like or hate the VB, it was an ambitious product. This is in stark contrast to Sega, Sony, and SNK who tend to make a lot of 'Me-too' products.

Re:Nintendo's Portable Hit Rate

[roche]

"This is in stark contrast to Sega, Sony, and SNK who tend to make a lot of 'Me-too' products."

I do not think I would include Sega in there. Remember the Dreamcast? That console was far ahead of its time. It was the first one to come with a modem and have games with online play. Also, remember VMU's? Those had lots of potiental that went unused. You could play mini games on them when not hooked up to the controller, and in some games like NFL2k, you could accually use the VMU to choose which play you were

Re:Nintendo's Portable Hit Rate

[BTWR]

Well except for the Gameboy line Nintendo hasn't done to well with portable devices

It's much more than that. The statement "other than the gameboy line" is not fair. Look at what they did...

1989 - Gameboy is released, selling tens of millions of systems, despite three vastly superior (graphically) portables being available.
1995 - Nintendo gets millions of people to buy their "Play it Loud" series of Gameboys - basically the EXACT same thing as the Gameboys that had been out for more than half a decade, but in "cool colors."
1996 - Nintendo gets millions more to buy still-uncolored Gameboy Pocket systems. They are graphically identical to the 1989 Gameboy and their only new features are that they are thinner and use 2 batteries, not 4 (though the original Gameboy wasn't terrible with batteries. Not great, but not terrible).
1997 - Millions more are sold when the "Gameboy (Pocket) Color" is released. This system, released a year after Super Mario 64's graphics shocked the gaming world, features games which (besides a few colors) are not much different than games released a decade earlier.
2000 - The 100 millionth Gameboy system is sold.
2001 - Gameboy Advance is released. Despite a huge engineering flaw (no backlight) it sells millions of units.
2002 - The Gameboy Advance SP is released. Millions of units are sold, presumably many to people who have already given Nintendo money when they bought the identically-powerful original Gameboy Advance systems.

So as you can see, Nintendo is a shrewd player. To say "they were able to sell a bunch of gameboys" is a huge understatement.

Actually...

[Guppy06]

"Nintendo gets millions more to buy still-uncolored Gameboy Pocket systems. They are graphically identical to the 1989 Gameboy"

Maybe I'm just speaking for myself, but the GBP had a better display than the original GB. The display was more black/white instead of black/green, providing better contrast and the pixels in the GBP had a faster refresh time so the picture didn't blur as much.

At any rate, the original poster ignored Yokoi's earlier work with the Game & Watch handhelds.

Re:Nintendo's Portable Hit Rate

[cbirdsong64]

That's a pretty big "except", considering they sold 100 million of the classic GB architecture in various forms.

More Battlefields?

[MMaestro]

"three different Battlefield titles are in the works, one each for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and PC", each online-enabled and "built around a modern warfare setting instead of the historical settings of Battlefield 1942 and Battlefield Vietnam."

I don't find it too hard to believe that EA will try to market modern settings in games these days, what with WWII being insanely overdone. But I find it hard to believe that they will try to make three different games, with three different settings. After all, what

Re:More Battlefields?

[beefneck9]

It would be cool to see some vietnam or even korea era games with the newer engines, as little has been done there. Vietnam's last serious look as a good era was at least a couple of years ago, and I think with graphics as tight as they are now, the foliage and terrain should be impressive.

While I enjoy these games as much as anyone (CoD, MOH), I do believe that some of the games sensationalize and trivialize what veterans of those portrayed go through. This is why developers need to be serious and make

How very nice of them

[Snowspinner]

It's very nice and considerate of them to not release games on the DS.

I wonder if they'll extend the favor to more systems.

Re:Nintendo losing its appeal

[Locky]

You wouldn't happen to have a tatoo of barbed wire around your bicep?

Sega was unprofitable. Nintendo makes more money on their products then Microsoft make on 90% of their products.

Re:Nintendo losing its appeal

[M3wThr33]

Actually, the top selling title this year was Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire (Counting combined sales, #2 and #3 if you don't), Mario Kart was #7 and Wind Waker was #5. That was in the US, and there weren't any Xbox titles in the top 10 either. Considering Mario Kart was out for less than 6 weeks out of 52 and made #7, that's pretty darn good. Of course, Vice City is #6, smack dab between the two.

No other company had 4 titles in the top 10. I'd say they're doing just fine. Take your holier-than-though attitude else

Re:Nintendo losing its appeal

[NanoGator]

What's wrong with Mario Kart? That game's fun. Oh wait, I forgot: I'm 25, that means I have to demonstrate my sophisticated taste in games by only playing the ones with 'mature' visuals.

"Lead, follow, or get out of the way. Sega could use the company ;)"

Nintendo's not several hundred million dollars in debt.

Re:Nintendo losing its appeal

[M3wThr33]

Yeah, once you're old enough to drink, apparently you're supposed to relish in virtually killing other people as the only way to have fun, lest you become homosexual or a pedophile.

Games on Handhelds

[MiceHead]

I'm a PPC fan, and can't wait until my 120E can run MS's OS(*). AFAIC, J2ME's DoA, and while my HP's no PoS, it's too slow to run MAME, much less a DC emu. Anyone else still PO'ed that that platform's RIP?

(*Apologies to fellow Palm OS fans; you can't abbreviate that further.)

Re:Games on Handhelds

[Luigi30]

My PS/2 runs MS DOS on a 8086, but a floppy's DOA and the monitor's a POS, I wonder if it can EMU an NES, even a 2600.

Re:Games on Handhelds

[Derkec]

That was an amazing first paragraph. A full 1/3 of of those words were abbreviations and acronyms.

Bad headline

[M3wThr33]

EA hasn't decided yet. They aren't against it. Don't word the headline to make it seem like they turned it down. It's the negative mantra like this that I don't understand.

Konami and Namco are for it only because they have some sort of faith in Nintendo like with the Triforce (Besides, Castlevania would work a lot better with the stats and map constantly available). I doubt Nintendo has released all the info on the hardware yet, even to the developers, so showing reserve right now is logical.

EA supports e

Re:Bad headline

[cbirdsong64]

I bet Hideo Kojima has some killer idea for two screens, and is pushing Konami to sign for it as soon as possible.

Re:Bad headline

[Mike Hawk]

Actually, it is potentially a very big deal. EA did not support the Dreamcast and look how that went...

Copying a copier?

[superultra]

Elsewhere, 1UP are reporting that EA's first Xbox Live title could be on the way, as they relay an as yet unconfirmed rumor that "three different Battlefield titles are in the works, one each for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and PC", each online-enabled and "built around a modern warfare setting instead of the historical settings of Battlefield 1942 and Battlefield Vietnam."

Could their decision to throw Battlefield on Xbox Live have anything to do with the fact that a competitor might do it first [gamespot.com] ?

Considering EA's stance on Xbox Live...

[dafoomie]

...I think the Xbox version will be Battlefield Grenada.