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Sony Entertainment Games

The 13 Steps to Sony's Demise 82

Posted by Hemos from the the-road-ahead dept.
An anonymous reader writes "There's an article up over at About.com called, "Nintendo's Role in Sony's Fall." The article discusses a detailed sequence of events, a time-line, that might play out over the next year or two as Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo battle it out. It references the launch of the Xbox 360, Halo 3, the PS3, and the Revolution strategy, as well as Sony's troubles with employee layoffs in 2008 and the PSP. Right or wrong? Who knows, but it's well informed and after 13 steps, the game plays out like this: Microsoft punches, Nintendo dodges, and Sony ends up with a bloody nose."
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The 13 Steps to Sony's Demise More

The 13 Steps to Sony's Demise

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  • It was even more interesting... (Score:3, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 28, 2005 @08:54AM (#14128263)
    when it was posted here two weeks ago: http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/11/14/ 211252&tid=233&tid=10 [slashdot.org]

  • I can't see it (Score:4, Funny)

    by the_unknown_soldier ( 675161 ) on Monday November 28, 2005 @08:55AM (#14128265)
    I can't see Bill Gates giving anyone a bloody nose. Maybe if Balmer threw a chair at sony....
    • Much truth is said in jest. As I see it, Gates took a body blow in the first round and is having his chin tested in the second, with the blind-side of Blue-Ray incompatibility. Twice underselling an underpriced console doesn't merely hurt the pocket, it shakes the stubborn confidence of the favored fighter, the one who picked the fight and expected to control the action. Sony is fight-tested, disciplined and poised, despite what this (possibly propagandistic?) article suggests. It is much better trained
  • These pages are so small, the sidebar (the one with the page index) is longer! Shit, you can really overdo it.

  • More Analysis than Prediction (Score:4, Interesting)

    by fistfullast33l ( 819270 ) on Monday November 28, 2005 @09:05AM (#14128344) Homepage Journal
    The article is more analysis of what's happened in the last year than prediction forward. However, the projections made aren't over the top. I was skeptical when I first started reading (because it seems that everyone wants to jump on the Nintendo trumps Sony bandwagon nowadays) but I think the author did a good job of taking the current state of console gaming and projecting into the future. While I'm sure he's going to be correct when he says that the Revolution will make a good compliment to a 360 or PS3, I don't know what percentage of people actually buy more than one system. I never played enough console games for it to make sense. I'm also a bit skeptical about the 360 price drop / Halo 3 launch. Halo 2 met with lukewarm reception IMO. I haven't even finished the game myself. My cousin (who's 10) told me he doesn't want an Xbox 360 because it's too expensive and isn't worth it for one game. Right. While he might not be telling the truth, I've talked to a lot of people who are going to sit back and wait to see what the PS3 is going to give out versus the Xbox 360. I can tell you that after Halo 2, I'm definitely not looking forward to more in Halo 3. At the same time, I haven't even touched GTA:SA yet either. At a $400 price point, I'm going to have to be mighty impressed before I buy any next-generation console.
    • Halo 2 met with lukewarm reception IMO.

      Erm. Care to explain what your definition of lukewarm reception is? It's in the all-time top 20 [gamerankings.com] at gamerankings.com. It sold millions of copies. It is still the number 1 XBox Live game [xbox.com] after being out for over a year.

    • Well...

      Since I already have a perfectly good Playstation II and XBox, and a decent game collection for each...

      And there is a huge supply of used games in every game store in town...

      And I haven't even come close to playing through all the games that are already out there...

      And my slimline Playstation II is pure solid-state with almost no moving parts except for the CD, which means it'll last for years or even decades if I take care of it...

      And I can get spare Playstation IIs for 149.00, and spare copies of m

  • Sigh (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 28, 2005 @09:14AM (#14128403)
    Yet more speculative wish-listing from beligerent Nintendo fans. Funny how slashdot always seems to find so much space for the "omg Sony is doomed Nintendo roxor" school of thought.

    Sony are in a bad place at this very moment. This is undeniable. Furthermore, this is mainly due to an act of utterly reprehensible greed and stupidity on their part. However, this *will* blow over. A year from now, the public will have completely forgotten that the current DRM issue ever existed.

    What people tend to forget when discussing the next generation isn't what's going to change - it's what's going to stay the same. Ultimately, Sony are going into the next round of the console wars with the exact same strengths that gave them such an overwhelming victory during the PS2 era. These include:

    - Vast array of third party titles, covering every genre and aimed at every demographic.
    - Huge brand recognition with people who don't consider themselves to be gamers, but still like to keep a console around.
    - Exclusivity, or early-release deals for the most significant franchises in gaming, including (but not limited to) Final Fantasy, Gran Turismo, Metal Gear Solid, Grand Theft Auto.

    At the same time, Nintendo have not demonstrated that they're prepared to address any of the issues that have rendered the Gamecube so irrelevant over the second half of the current cycle. These include:

    - Inability to deliver the quantity of first and second party titles they need to keep gamers interested.
    - A dictatorial attitude towards third party developers that serves to keep some of the most important away from the system.
    - Very few games which appeal outside of the pre-teen or retro-gamer demographics.
    - Serious under-representation in many genres, particularly driving games and RPGs.

    All the fancy new controllers in the world aren't going to make the slightest bit of difference to the sales figures until Sony throw away their advantages or Nintendo overcome their disadvantages.

    My own predictions as to what will happen? The 360 will make a relatively strong performance, especially with having a Christmas to itself. It won't beat the PS3. It won't even come particularly close. But I think that having a Christmas all to itself and (hopefully) a better RPG presence than the original X-Box will work in its favour. I can see it eventually selling, say, 75 units for every 100 PS3s sold, which would be better for MS than the picture at the end of this round, even if they did manage to take 2nd place in the final straight. The Revolution's only going to continue the slow downward trend out of the mainstream and into niche obscurity that Nintendo have been on for a decade now.

    • Re:Sigh (Score:4, Interesting)

      by BenjyD ( 316700 ) on Monday November 28, 2005 @09:43AM (#14128655)
      It really is a shame about the gamecube. It's done well and made money, but it could have been so much better. I wonder how different the console market would be now if:

      - Mario 128 for GCN and Zelda: twilight princess came out six months or a year ago
      - Mario kart: double dash was as good as Mario Kart DS
      - Zelda: WW had been as good as Miyamoto wanted

      I think we'd be looking at a very different console market now

      • Re:Sigh (Score:2, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward
        I (original poster) absolutely agree with this. If I came over as deliberately Nintendo-bashing in my original post, this wasn't my intention. I was more aiming to give a counter-point to the rather excessive optimism we've been hearing about Nintendo's chances in the next round of the console game.

        Volume and timeliness of games has been Nintendo's single biggest problem ever since the N64 launched. It's all very well for the fanboys to say that Nintendo should take the time they need to get each game right
        • Nintendo doesn't use the full hardware capabilities of a system unless the game requires it. Maybe they'll add a few polygons and texels to their games but I doubt we'll see much of a difference to the GC titles.
      • ... was choosing their locked-in proprietary disc format.

        If they had gone with a standard DVD-ROM disc, they would have gotten much more third party support. Third parties don't like having to go through Nintendo for the production of their games, plus the reduced storage of the Nintendo disc makes it harder to do simultaneous releases on all three systems. As a result, the Gmaecube hasn't gotten any GTA3 games, which use all the space on the DVD-ROM.
        • Not only that, I think not being able to play DVDs hurt them in sales early on. Everyone on Slashdot likes to talk about how you could have a Gamecube and stand-alone player for the same price as the PS2 or Xbox. That's true, but people don't think rationally like those of us on Slashdot.

          When I was a kid, I got one big present every Christmas. A Gamecube or PS2 would certainly fit this scenario. As a kid, I could have gotten either one, but I would never be able to convince my parents that I ought to

    • I hate to reply to your message with what's rapidly becoming conventional wisdom on Slashdot, but these points aren't entirely accurate (although mostly you're on the money):

      Very few games which appeal outside of the pre-teen or retro-gamer demographics.

      Not true, there's actually been a good number of these, but Nintendo has failed to play up on them well enough.

      - Serious under-representation in many genres, particularly driving games and RPGs.

      Gamecube actually has five high-quality RPGs: Skies of Arcadia,

  • Summary (Score:3, Interesting)

    by the computer guy nex ( 916959 ) on Monday November 28, 2005 @09:17AM (#14128420)
    Halo3, along with a 360 price cut, will be too much to overcome in households that can afford only the 360 or the PS3.
    • How soon will it be until the 360 has a price cut? Seriously, Microsoft may well not catch up with demand (eg. XBoxes won't be available on a walk-in basis) until near the time that Sony releases the PS3. I really don't think price cuts will play a role in 360-vs-PS3 in the short-term.
      • I really doubt it's that difficult for MS to satisfy demand, they'll probably meet it within two or three months (most likely much quicker).
        • Most analysts are calling for demand to be met after Christmas. So far, as best we know, the PS3 will be launched in "spring of 2006". The first XBox's price was cut (from $300 to $200) 5 months after launch. So, I guess it might be reasonable. Though in this case, the 360 is beating PS3, so I bet they have less of an incentive to drop prices early.
          • So far, as best we know, the PS3 will be launched in "spring of 2006".

            That should read...

            So far, as best we know, the PS3 will be launched in "spring of 2006" in Japan.

    • Re:Summary (Score:3, Insightful)

      by mwvdlee ( 775178 )
      What is it with that Halo stuff... reading through all the next-gen console topics, it would seem that Microsoft needs only ensure a version of Halo exists to win.
      Surely Halo is a nice game, but a lot of people don't even like the entire genre it's in.
      • No kidding. Even if every Halo 2 player buys an Xbox 360 (which isn't a sure bet), Microsoft will still need to sell about 15 times more than that to break even with the PS2. GTA: San Andreas stomped Halo 2 in worldwide sales, yet Sony would never dream of competing with only that one game. Halo 3 will undoubtedly sell a few consoles, but it's not going to win the console war on its own.

  • Microsoft more open than Sony (Score:3, Interesting)

    by interiot ( 50685 ) on Monday November 28, 2005 @09:21AM (#14128457) Homepage
    One thing that struck me was the end of this ArsTechnica article [arstechnica.com] comparing the next-gen consoles. Ars hammers home the point that Sony, being a content-creator, and Microsoft being only a device-maker, means that Sony will always tend to have more DRM on their system than the XBox does. Now, granted, consoles may not necessarily become the final media player in your living room, but if they're the ones that make it, quixotically, it seems like XBox is the most open way towards that for now.
    • Now, granted, consoles may not necessarily become the final media player in your living room, but if they're the ones that make it, quixotically, it seems like XBox is the most open way towards that for now.

      O.k. If you define "open" as in its the easiest machine to hack, you'll most likely be right. I'd say 95%-98% of the target market of all 3 consoles defines "open" as backwards compatiable and able to play DVDs, CDs, and maybe MP3s. In that reguard, Nintendo & Sony are both "open", but MS are "closed
      • Nintendo hasn't promised that you can keep playing "your" games. They have promised that you can repurchase "your" games and then play them. Big difference.
        • He's talking about Gamecube games, the Revolution is supposed to be fully backward compatible with the Gamecube. I. E. you can put a Gamecube disk in a revolution and it will work.

          This is not a big deal (certainly not as big as PS2 playing PS1 gaems) but it is a minor selling point.

          • He's talking about Gamecube games, the Revolution is supposed to be fully backward compatible with the Gamecube. I. E. you can put a Gamecube disk in a revolution and it will work.

            This is not a big deal (certainly not as big as PS2 playing PS1 gaems) but it is a minor selling point.

            Not a big deal? Are you kidding? I wouldn't have bought the PS2 without the ability to play PS1 games & DVDs for the price. I'd have gotten a PS1 and a GameCube. There are alot of fun GC games that I'd like to actually buy a
            • "I predict by the time that the Revolution is mid way through its life span that we'll see a new game boy system that is a game cube reduced down to portable size."

              I beleve they will call it the Gamesqrt.
    • Microsoft is only a device-maker? Have you heard of Windows? Or Office?

      I know it's in different markets, but that's not the point.

      As for being the most open, ever heard of Trusted Computing or Palladium?

      • I know it's in different markets, but that's not the point.

        Um, that is the point actually. Sony has oodles of audio and video they want to protect. Microsoft mainly wants to sell hardware and software.

        The point wasn't that Microsoft is remotely perfect. It's just an odd chance on Slashdot that we get to say that someone else is slightly worse than MS. I think it's clearly more of a "lesser of two evils" kind of thing, or "ignore Sony, pay attention to Nintendo" kind of thing.

        (yes, the story is

  • Not that well documented (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Alarash ( 746254 ) on Monday November 28, 2005 @09:25AM (#14128482)

    "The system is well designed and performs well, launching the next-generation of gaming consoles."

    I don't know about you, but to me, having even 1% of the sold consoles experiencing problem as trivial as PSU overheating, makes the console not well designed and performing well. When you design a piece of hardware, you don't check only if the processors can compute 1+1=2, but also if, you know, you can power on the damn thing.

    "Sony, who currently relies on its gaming division to prop up its electronics division, continues to develop the PS3 with more limited resources."

    I don't know if the author realizes that Sony also has huge revenues from movies (via Sony Pictures [sonypictures.com]) and music (via "a href="http://www.sonybmg.com/">Sony BMG).

    "With a 6-month head start, the Xbox 360 claims the dominant location in households who are unable to afford owning both the PS3 and the Xbox 360."

    That's my own interpretation here, but Microsoft might not dominate the market as stated in the article. Microsoft suffers from bad reputation. Even the lamest user know that Windows crashes a lot ("duh! My computer is bugging!"), gamers know that the original Xbox had severe issues (early units couldn't read later games because of a crappy DVD player that could read multi-layer discs), not to mention the above-mentionned defective PSU for the X360.
    As far as I know (and I may be wrong), PS2 never suffered any thing of that kind, and Sony has overall a good reputation (since people think they do great electronic device, which is kind of true unless you can afford to spend a few more bucks for higher quality equipment). And no, I'm not an anti-Microsoft. I run Windows XP and I bought a Xbox, kthx.

  • *sigh* (Score:4, Funny)

    by Mara-chan ( 886287 ) on Monday November 28, 2005 @09:26AM (#14128497) Homepage
    Yet another Xbox vs Nintendo vs Sony bashfest disguised as news.

    How many times must we go through this? Atari vs Intellivision vs Coleco. Atari vs Commodore vs Apple. Apple vs Windows. NES vs Sega. Dreamcast vs PS vs N64. PS2 vs Xbox vs GC.

    I'm waiting for the "PS3 controllers cause carpal-tunnel, Revolution causes tennis elbow, Xbox controller is the cure" article. Or "Cold winter nights cured by miraculous Xbox 360 Space Heater."

    Bah!

    - - - - -
    http://www.marachan.com/ [marachan.com]
    • Cool, a bashfest.

      Here's my list:

      Xbox vs Nintendo vs Sony: Nintendo

      Atari vs Intellivision vs Coleco: Coleco, but only because of the abysmal 5200 controller.

      Atari vs Commodore vs Apple: Commodore

      Apple vs Windows: Apple if you have the cash.

      NES vs Sega: NES

      Dreamcast vs PS vs N64: Saturn

      PS2 vs Xbox vs GC: GC

  • It's not that deep. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by solomonrex ( 848655 ) on Monday November 28, 2005 @09:32AM (#14128558)
    This analysis isn't that deep, not even much of a projection. I think that Nintendo may have found the key to competing with less money: innovation. The DS and now the Revolution prove that. Unfortunately, it will be relatively easy for MS/Sony to match the revolution's features by releasing a motion-sensitive controller, and Sony has already offered something amazingly forward thinking with the Eyetoy.

    But the PSP and Sony's resources are clearly the problems. Japan's gaming market is cooling off. Square Enix is in a slump. The biggest advancement in this gen of consoles, online games, are better served by the 360. Imagine this: Sony's Everquest works better on Microsoft's "Other Console", the PC, than it does on the PS2. Amazing.

    But the most important bit is the PSP. A new hardware launch always kills profit for a while. If Sony doesn't get over the hump and start taking market share from Nintendo in handhelds, the loss in profits and projected revenues will hurt a lot.

    Here's what was lacking in the article: the PSP's actual problems.
    1. It doesn't come close to competing with the Ipod, which Sony seemed to believe it would.
    2. One analog 'stick' in an age of FPS on consoles? This thing can't compete in the U.S.
    3. No Square RPGs? No turn-based strategy games? No pet simulator? This thing can't compete in Japan.
    4. Portable systems are still children's toys in the U.S. It's too expensive to be a toy, and lacks children's games.
    5. With the 360 and PS3 guaranteed to drive spending in home theater setups, this thing has bad timing.
    6. Customers can't see it. Everywhere I shop, there is no PSP display. It's hard to be impressed by the screen and games if you can't sample them in person. $250 is too much to spend on faith (for some of us).

    Here's what works with the PSP:
    1. The movies are actually selling. UMD is the most successfuly media format in terms of speed of adoption: a good sign for the Blu-ray discs Sony wants to push with the PS3.
    2. Big Screen.
    3. EA's support.
    4. Memory prices will continue to fall over time, so eventually this WILL work as a downloadable music player.
    5. The "children's toy" label has a chance to change if Sony sticks with this thing long enough.
    6. Built-in wifi support means that the zillions of us who have broadband and wireless routers could eventually use this for surfing the web or watching TV/Streaming music, if Sony gets the application right.

    Right now, the PSP is 90% potential, 10% reality, 0$ profit. Not the best distraction during a major console upgrade cycle.

    • Re:It's not that deep. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by prockcore ( 543967 ) on Monday November 28, 2005 @10:18AM (#14129013)
      Unfortunately, it will be relatively easy for MS/Sony to match the revolution's features by releasing a motion-sensitive controller

      Which would be about as effective as Sony releasing a harddrive for the PS2 to counter the xbox's built in harddrive. How many games support Sony's harddrive? One?

      No FPS maker is going to support sony or ms's add-on motion sensitive controller because not everyone will have it.

      Just like the eye-toy.. you'll get the game that's bundled with it, and that's it.
      • "No FPS maker is going to support sony or ms's add-on motion sensitive controller because not everyone will have it."

        If the Revolution controller is so popular that MS and Sony copy it for their own systems, most software developers will at least add support for it (though I doubt they'd ever require it).
      • Here in Europe there are more then 10 Games eye toy out(and more coming) and more offer some kind of Support for it (i.e. Sony cameo etc.) So i don't think that the Eye toy counts as an Add on Failure.
    • 6. Built-in wifi support means that the zillions of us who have broadband and wireless routers could eventually use this for surfing the web or watching TV/Streaming music, if Sony gets the application right.

      Which you know they won't. One hand is a content producer, the other is a content player. The producer side will want it to be DRM'd to hell and back, and in the process they'll screw something up somewhere and make it a terrible implementation. Such as you can only use Sony's formats, you can't encode

  • other scenarios (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 28, 2005 @10:25AM (#14129096)
    A further scenario that isn't mentioned is the relative health of MS. The article mentions that Sony may have problems resulting from its diversification, in that other divisions are currently (and may in the future) draining from Sony's overall financial health. It does not mention, but it should be said, that the same is true of MS. For the most part, MS makes money from Windows and Office, and runs pretty significant losses in other areas. MS has shareholders who may not support continued revenue loss, and despite popular opinion, MS has backed away from certain markets in the past (television being one example).

    Also, MS is fighting battles on many fronts, and so it may be vulnerable to the kind of problems that the diverse Sony has as well. The popular mythos is that MS simply outlasts competitors in all areas by relying on its war chest, but if it is stretched too thin in other areas, the 360 may suffer. Think, for example, of the challenge Google and Linux represent to MS as a company. It would seem that MS's first priorities would be to the protection of its valuable assets rather than currently unprofitable ones on the speculation that they will lead to future gains.

    MS also has certain (though not very severe) limitations on its flexability due to its monopoly conviction. It is possible that divisions of MS, including the entertainment section, could spin off to avoid these complications, but the resulting company or companies would not have the consolidated MS's resources.

    In all of this, it should be noted that Nintendo focuses pretty tightly on one industry, and this may make them more nimble than MS or Sony. Diversification may end up being something of a liability, depending upon how other divisions perform.

    Personally, I hope Sony and MS bleed each other dry a bit; having choice in consoles and games is generally a good thing (although in this era of ports it seems to be less of a factor), but both MS and Sony don't need to cement their oligopolic positions even further. That would be detrimental for everyone except them in the long run.

  • Why? (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Shad_the_protector ( 931920 )
    Am I the only one that doesn't understand why everyone is praising the "magnifisciant" XBOX 360 over the other next-gen. As I see it XBox if the only one that doesn't offer me something exceptionnal that would make me buy it.

    You have the three folowing, Xbox 360, ps3 and Revolution.

    For Ps3 tough it is another cheap computer exclusivly made for game, the Ps2 has offer me an impressive array of different game genre. And many of these genre had a couple of great game. Not to mention that not many of thes

  • This article is making some stupid assumptions (Score:3, Insightful)

    by mwvdlee ( 775178 ) on Monday November 28, 2005 @11:23AM (#14129632) Homepage
    Point 10 claims Sony will be funding it's losing electronics division with profits from the gaming division.
    Why would Sony keep the electronics department around if it is losing so big? Either they are confident that it will catch up, ensuring short-term outside funding, or they would just sell the department.

    Point 11 claims Halo 3 is the best game ever and will let millions of PS2 gamers dump their entire gaming collection, which they could have taken with them on the PS3, only to be able to play Halo 3 on X360. Besides, considering the PS3 will be relatively expensive anyway, why would MS cut the X360's price and lose even more on the box?
    • I wouldn't discount point 10 so readily. Petty internal squabbles can prevent companies from making ideal decisions. Despite the fact that the gaming division is Sony's most successful division, it's entirely possible that the electronics division could have more influence on Sony's executives.

  • I wont even RTFA (Score:4, Insightful)

    by AzraelKans ( 697974 ) on Monday November 28, 2005 @12:44PM (#14130416) Homepage
    Heres my predictions for this next generation (ps it takes a monkey to predict this):

    *Xbox 360 will have terrible sales in Japan, Ps3 will beat it by a landslide and Nintendo will follow.

    *The revolution controller wont be enough for Nintendo to beat Sony or MS only a few games will use it as advertised still kids and non-regular gamers will go crazy with it.

    *Nintendo will keep pleasing fans but alienating third parties and the teen/mature market, the online service will be a success but the lack of mature/third party games will keep the revolution at bay.

    *The PSP will eventually have a bigger better game library and act as a ps3 controller , the price will drop and a new version will be announced, still somehow it wont beat Nintendo at the handhelds market.

    *Gizmondo and Ngage2 will flop.

    *Phantom will never exist, after much talk the project will be cancelled , the producers will end up in criminal investigation sued by their own investors.

    *Duke Nukem forever will be released for the x360 and people will be underwhelmed with it still it will sell very well then dissapear, a sequel will be announced and it will take 10 years or so to be released.

    *Halo 3 will leave fans disapointed still it will sale a few million copies after a huge marketing campaign. The multiplayer will be amazing though. (although pretty much the same than halo2)

    *Ps3 graphics will be EXACTLY the same than those in 360 in most cases, it WONT have a hdd and games will be $10 more expensive, hardcores will still buy it like fresh baked bread. (most ps3 games will use a regular dvd instead of blue ray)

    *The ps3 will eventually beat MS in the console wars, the best RPG's and japanese titles will go to it, MS will still have a secure second place Nintendo will keep in third although their profits will be a lot bigger.

    *EA will keep creating mostly crappy licensed multiconsole games, although some of them will be relatively good. the next Madden and Tony hawk will be announced.

    *MS will announce Blue ray support for their next console, Nintendo will announce HDTV support for their next console and Sony will announce HDD support for their next console.

    So pretty much, things will be pretty much the same waythey are now.
    • "Xbox 360 will have terrible sales in Japan, Ps3 will beat it by a landslide and Nintendo will follow."

      Despite the usual "Japan hate US technology" trolls on here, the main reason why Xbox failed in Japan is that it didn't have games Japanese players wanted to play. This may or may not change for the 360. I'm curious to see what will happen when FFXI is ported to the 360.

      "The revolution controller wont be enough for Nintendo to beat Sony or MS only a few games will use it as advertised still kids and non-
      • If this theoretical "PSP2" will do everything the PSP will do "and then some," nobody will write any software to take advantage of the "and then some" because not everybody will have it. Witness the Sega CD, the PS2 HDD, etc. Nintendo had some success in the Gameboy line. The Color Gameboy played regular games along with original gameboy games. Publishers published games that were compatible on both systems. When the DS came out, which does everything the Advance does and them some, people still write DS
        • "The Color Gameboy played regular games along with original gameboy games. Publishers published games that were compatible on both systems."

          Only briefly. It wasn't long before publishers started to sell transparent GBC-only carts, and I'd say it was less than a year before publishers stopped producing four-color games entirely, bringing about the death of the old four-color Game Boy.

          Zelda: Link's Awakening DX ran on both four-color and GBC. The Oracle games were GBC only.

          "When the DS came out, which does
      • "Despite the usual "Japan hate US technology" trolls on here, the main reason why Xbox failed in Japan is that it didn't have games Japanese players wanted to play."
        Sorry, but the Xbox 360 is already having bad sales over in Japan actually some magazines reported people literally laughed at the xbox 360 during the x05 and leave their hall unattended most of the time. I think it has a lot to do with 2 facts that American and Japanese gamers have extremely different tastes. (FPS-RPGS, SPORTS-WACKY PUZZLES) an
      • You seem to forget something: "kids and non-regular gamers" >> "regular gamers." The first category is more commonly referred to as "normal people." Nintendo may not win the "hearts and minds" of the "regular gamers," but stuff aimed at "regular gamers" won't be picked up by peoples' grandmothers. The Revolution has the potential to reach this untapped market.

        Keep dreaming. The reason that "market" is untapped is because those people aren't interested enough in video games to shell out $200 + games an
  • 1. As others have mentioned, Sony has massive third-party support and exclusive (or at least time-exclusive) franchise titles like Grand Theft Auto, Metal Gear Solid, etc. To listen to the author, the only franchises with mass appeal are apparently Halo and Nintendo's first-party titles. Complete nonsense.

    2. The 360 only has a DVD drive in it. Many of today's PS2 and XBox titles already fill a whole DVD, and they have much simpler geometry, textures, and FMV clips than most next-gen games will have. 1

    • Agreed. People seem to think Sony is reeling because Microsoft is throwing a punch, when surely it is Microsoft that is in trouble. If they don't score a knockdown right now, they'll lose this round just like the first.

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