Sony's Achille's Heel

[gamefreaks365]

Is it possible that the PSP could be the strongest weakness of the Japanese giant Sony? I think so, and I write why in my latest editorial 'Sony's Nightmare Scenario'. If you're at all interested in the coming fight between the DS and PSP, I urge you to read this article:

gamefreaks365.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=102

[Oscar-RN]

You work for GameFreaks? Cool, Cool.

Nice Article.

[gamefreaks365]

Thanks. Are you a DS owner? If so, what do you think of its prospects of beating the PSP?

[Oscar-RN]

Of course I am

I work for DSAdvanced btw (http://ds.advancedmn.com)

I do believe the DS has more power in terms of game design to knock out the PSP. But Nintendo needs to play their cards right.

[Jason-RN]

Nice article.
I agree that the price of games and third-party support will play a major role in the upcoming handheld war. It'll be interesting to see if developers jump ship and go develop for the PSP, like with the PSone/N64 incident.

As for game prices, I don't think Sony will be stupid enough to sell PSP games for a high price. They know that handheld games have to be fairly cheap.

[gamefreaks365]

JSR said:

Nice article.
I agree that the price of games and third-party support will play a major role in the upcoming handheld war. It'll be interesting to see if developers jump ship and go develop for the PSP, like with the PSone/N64 incident.

As for game prices, I don't think Sony will be stupid enough to sell PSP games for a high price. They know that handheld games have to be fairly cheap.

There are a few things that happened then that aren't now:

1. The Nintendo 64 was expensive to develop for, and the carts were expensive to manufacture. Remember paying $70 for GoldenEye? That's why.

2. The development teams might be equal right now between DS and PSP, but a troubling sign for Sony is, they don't have Konami, Capcom, and Square secure in their corner, like they did with the PlayStation. I believe Square is making a DS RPG, Capcom is releasing Viewtiful Joe for the DS, and I'm not sure about Konami. Regardless, I think we're going to see a tide of 3rd party publishers/developers moving to the DS, once Nintendo has a 5 million unit advantage in March.

There is a risk, however, if the DS under-sells. If Nintendo can't meet expectations, it could mean an early death for the DS, as developers would be nervous to develop for a system that they see as not being able to compete with the PSP.

3. People were looking for a cheap alternative, and in my opinion, a change from Nintendo systems, after dominance for two generational cycles. Nearly 10 years later, the DS is the cheaper alternative, and Nintendo's the alternative to two generations dominated by Sony.

[Jason-RN]

Very valid points, Kyle. However, Capcom is going to make PSP games. Both the Viewtiful Joe and Darkstalkers series will have PSP titles.

[Leverish]

Nice to hear the PSP only has PS graphics. Now all of those damn Sony fanboys in my school have to brag about graphics even though, I tell them you play for GAMEPLAY not graphics.

I worry for the DS. I only know 4 other people have a DS besides me where I live.

[gamefreaks365]

Nintendo said:

Nice to hear the PSP only has PS graphics. Now all of those d**n Sony fanboys in my school have to brag about graphics even though, I tell them you play for GAMEPLAY not graphics.

I worry for the DS. I only know 4 other people have a DS besides me where I live.

You should always remember that basing off of one town, in one state, in one country isn't representative of global trends. I knew far more people that owned N64's than PlayStation's, yet the PlayStation sold about double the hardware units worldwide (slightly more).