Topic: Interesting Tid bit from a japanese survey.

[BlkPaladin]

A survey in the Japanese(?) magazine did a survey on the PSP. Besides having customers and game store almost tore in half over looking forward to it, there was something interesting that pertains to the Gamecube/GBA connections. It seem some of the top things that customers would like to see in the PSP is the ability to connect with the PS2(/3) like the GBA/GCN connection.

So the connection may not as bad of a business decision as some people make it out to be.

Here's the page its from. (Magic Box)

[nitsu niflheim]

Just goes to show: Nintendo does it and it's seen as a gimmick, whereas Sony does it it's seen as cool and cutting edge.  And the sad thing is that ill-informed people are going to forget that Nintendo did it first and give Sony the credit.

[The Doc]

The PSP is not ment to compete directly with the GBA SP. Sony just wants to see if they can steal market share away from Nintendo in the handheld market as well, and I have to say that this time around it will not be as easy as it was in the desktop console market. Yes, the PS did destroy the Nintendo 64 becuase it came down to what system was easier and cheaper for developers to produce software for, and in that generation the answer was the Sony PS becuase of its use of optical media. It really came down to Sony's optical media vs Nintendo's chip-based mask rom media. Sony can try to take market share from Nintendo in the handheld market, but with Nintendo controlling 90% if the handheld market and a 60 Million user fanbase it will be very diffcult for Sony to even make a dent.

The Doc    

[Ian Sane]

DAMMIT!  I just wrote out a huge response and the stupid post f*cked up.  F*CK!

"It seem some of the top things that customers would like to see in the PSP is the ability to connect with the PS2(/3) like the GBA/GCN connection. So the connection may not as bad of a business decision as some people make it out to be."

The connection is actually a GREAT idea for Sony.  The GC/GBA link up hasn't been so hot for Nintendo because it primarily benefits  only Cube owners.  The link-up sells GBAs to Cube owners.  Nintendo needs something that does the opposite and sells Gamecubes to the bigger GBA market.

Sony on the other hand has the exact opposite situation: they have a strong console product and an unproven portable product.  The PS3 is already a for-sure hit and if it has link-up capabilities it could be used to sell PSPs to PS3 owners.  If done right that could make the PSP a big hit in a short period of time.

Nintendo may have in fact f*cked themselves over as an idea which doesn't really help them could be really successful for Sony.  If I was Sony I would include a link cable packed in with the PS3 along with a $10 PSP coupon.

[Ninja X]

The PSP might prove to be a contender.  After all, a dominant force in video gaming is behind it.  Nintendo needs to strengthen their GBA lineup and advertise the GBA SP WAY more.  After all, the PSP will probably appeal to the mature market, and Nintendo made the GBA SP mainly for that reason.  Also, it would help if they helped Square and other popular third-parties develop more games for the GBA, especially at the time when a real competitor finally challenges Nintendo to a market they literally own.  Lastly, they need to show off the GBA's library.  Around the time of the PSP launch, Nintendo needs to run ads and commercials that show off different games from the GBA library, like Golden Sun or Advance Wars.  Also, some more GBA packages would not be too bad.  Nintendo cannot give another market to Sony.    

[Michael8983]

"The connection is actually a GREAT idea for Sony. The GC/GBA link up hasn't been so hot for Nintendo because it primarily benefits only Cube owners. The link-up sells GBAs to Cube owners. Nintendo needs something that does the opposite and sells Gamecubes to the bigger GBA market."

I disagree. I think the connectivity will mostly benefit the Gamecube sells. Take Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles for instance. People who don't own Gamecubes will play it at their Cube-owning friends' houses using their own GBA as a controller which will HOPEFULLY get them interested in buying a Gamecube of their own. The same could be true with just about all the other connectivity titles. I've already experienced something similar with The Preview Disc. A friend brought his GBA over to download the Wario Ware Demo and it got him more interested in the Gamecube. The connectivity might not have played much of a factor in the Gamecube's success as of yet but, in fairness, Nintendo is only just starting to exploit the feature.
Presumably, just about all Gamecube owners already have GBA's so, for that reason alone, I don't see how the connectivity could sell THAT many of them. SOME people might buy multiple GBAs for games like FFCC but I think most people will just invite their GBA-owning friends over. That's obviously what Nintendo is banking on.

But there are really two major reasons why PS3/PSP connectivity just wouldn't catch on.

1) Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, Zelda Four Swords, and presumably many future connectivity games require using multiple GBAs as controllers. That's not much of an obstacle since just about everyone already owns a GBA and getting together three other friends with one won't be much of a challenge for many people. You could even buy extra GBAs for yourself if you need them since they're so cheap. With the PSP, it would be different. It won't saturate the market the way the GBA has anytime soon (likely never). If it's really going to be as expensive as people are speculating, that will just be another obstacle. The connectivity features in games like FFCC and ZFS actually accounts for the handheld being FAR more popular than the console.

2) The connectivity isn't like online gaming or DVD playback. It's not some straight-forward addition. It opens up all kinds of new gameplay possibilities for developers that are creative enough to think them up. Sony may be able to copy (probably poorly too) things Nintendo does but Nintendo will be the one thinking up the new ideas for the connectivity. If Sony actually does try to compete in that area, Nintendo will just have to start being even more secretive about the connectivity features in its future games and give Sony as little time as possible to rip them off.

[Michael8983]

Now that I've looked it over, that survey is kind of weird.
First off, it's not THAT anticipated. Less than half of consumers and game shops are looking forward to it? The question wasn't whether they'd buy or stock it, just whether they were at all looking forward to it. You'd think that just having the name Playstation attached to it would at least get the vast majority interested in it.

The consumers and developers also aren't realistic about the features they want in it.
Sure, a hand-held that plays DVDs, goes online, acts as a phone, and has 3D graphics may sound great to these people when they take the survey but how many of them would actually still want to buy the thing if they found out how expensive it would be?
As for the developers. Many of them aren't even willing to develope 2D titles for the GBA despite its huge user-base, so I doubt they'd be clammoring to develope 3D titles for the PSP. As for online gaming, if the majority of developers aren't even willing to do it on the PS2, I don't see why they'd do it for the PSP.
All these things may sound good in theory but they wouldn't hold up in the reality of the market. Hopefully Sony will follow the advice of these survey-takers and kill any chance of the PSP being even a minor threat to the GBA's dominance

[Oldskool]

Also, the PS2 is difficult to develop for and is not as powerful as the GCN, yet it wins against the GCN because it came out first and had WAY more hype. Something similar might happen to the PSP.

[Mario]

I think i read somewhere that Nintendo patented connectivity between two consoles so no-one could copy it.

Yeah they patented it, here it is;
http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/netahtml/search-bool.html&r=17&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=ptxt&s1=Nintendo&OS=Nintendo&RS=Nintendo  

[Uncle Rich AiAi]

Excellent find Mario.

I did a search on Espacenet (another patent website, which I used when I did microtechnology R&D) and came up with Portable game machine with download capability.

Click on the numbers next to "Patent Number" and "Requested Patent" to view images (need Acrobat Reader to view it).

[Mario]

Cool. So i guess there will be no PSP connectivity after all! Unless sony somehow finds a way to get around it... which they probably will

[Ninja X]

That was one hell of a find, Mario.

I don't see how Sony can get their way around it.  Unless a little money hat to the US government is allowed...

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Sony would try to label the PSP something obscure like a PDA instead of a "portable game system" to get around it.

Remember, PS2 is a "Computer Entertainment System."  And little computer appliances do already connect to bigger computers.

[Grey Ninja]

LMFAO!!!  WAY TO GO NINTENDO!!!!

Great find Mario.  I can't wait to see Sony dishing out the royalty fees to Nintendo.  

[Shar]

As much as I like Nintendo and would like to see them do well in both the console and handheld markets. I also feel that the portable market is stagnating. Since there is no competition Nintendo can get away with releasing hardware with only minor improvements and still guarantee to sell, i.e. Game Boy Pocket => Game Boy Colour and GBA => GBA SP.

Furthermore, software developers for the GB platform continue to release piles upon piles of junk. These games (if you can call them that) take a fraction of the time and cost to develop compared to console games and yet they retail for £30! (not sure what the US dollar value is). With such good margins on GB software even though most of these poor quality games dont sell very well they still make a profit.

Hopefully the introduction of the PSP will send a long needed kick in the backside of Nintendo and the companies that develop for the GB and force them to raise the standard of both the hardware and software.

[Termin8Anakin]

Mario: The find of the century!
Way to go Mario!

Take that Sony!
SO it looks like no connectivity for you!

[Michael8983]

"As much as I like Nintendo and would like to see them do well in both the console and handheld markets. I also feel that the portable market is stagnating. Since there is no competition Nintendo can get away with releasing hardware with only minor improvements and still guarantee to sell, i.e. Game Boy Pocket => Game Boy Colour and GBA => GBA SP."

Handheld gamers don't seem to care as much about powerful hardware as console games.
They seem to prefer simplicity and would certainly rather Nintendo keep the hardware standard for as long as possible and (as with the Pocket and SP) only occasionally change the outside design. And the last thing I ever want to see is 3D gaming on handhelds. I like it for consoles, but I want the handheld market to be the haven for 2D gaming. I think most handheld gamers prefer the simplicity of 2D games too.
I wouldn't mind at all if Nintendo kept the GBA going with no significant changes for the next ten years. There's just no need for any upgrade for 2D gaming.

"Hopefully the introduction of the PSP will send a long needed kick in the backside of Nintendo and the companies that develop for the GB and force them to raise the standard of both the hardware and software."

If the GBA didn't force developers to raise their standards, I don't think anything way. The GBA was supposed to force developers to put more effort into their games but instead they just started porting SNES games and constantly b*tching that GBA games were so much more time-consuming and costly to develope than original Gameboy titles which meant smaller profits. Of course, they still put little effort into their games even though they reluctantly had to at least make the graphics at least decent by GBA standards.
Of course, since the GBA became so popular and was instantly accepted as the successor to the Gameboy practically over-night, developers basically had no choice but to develope for it even though many of them would have preffered to stick with the original Gameboy and its simplistic graphics which required such little effort. They'll have the luxury of just completely ignoring the PSP.