Topic: Sony may lose steam challenging Nintendo here!!!

[KDR_11k]

With the first generation, development often doesn't take place on the actual hardware and specs aren't that accurate. I meant that the DS demos probably didn't max out the hardware, either. Oh, and if the PSP is anything like the PS2 nobody's going to use that vector processor, anyway.

[joeamis]

True but how would the DS games have looked if they were created with 3 times less ram than the DS has and they didn't use the Arm 7 processor?  In some instances then they wouldn't be able to run both screens.

[jasonditz]

Just think how bad the DS games would look if they ran emulated on an old 6502 with a WYSE terminal attached.

[KDR_11k]

Come to think of it, would urning off the co processor lengthen battery life? I.e. if you had a game that used the PSP to its maximum, would the battery life suddently fall to one hour or something?

[jasonditz]

You know... that's a good point. It definately should lengthen the battery life assuming the thing is either turned off or in some standby mode.

Not that it matters to me personally, the battery life on the PSP is already unacceptably low as far as I'm concerned.

Incidentally, what is the battery life on the DS? People keep saying its much longer, but I never have seen an actually time attached to it.

I got almost 40 hours of gametime out of the pair of Maxell batteries that my GBA came with.  

[joeamis]

The DS supposedly will be around 10 hours, but don't hold me to that.  The PSP may last as short as 2 hours or as long as 10 hours depending on the game.  So the average then for PSP will be about 6 hours.  Don't hold me to that either.  This early in the game it's hard to have concrete figures for either system.

[KDR_11k]

Nintendo said the DS will have the same battery life as the SP. They also joked "Well, they mentioned 2-10 hours for the PSP, expect that to mean 2".

[odifiend]

REALLY.  It sounds like the PSP's batttery life is optimized when the game uses only what is required to have the game operating.  So captilizing on all the PSP's technology yields no time to play.  Not really smart.  So on top of investing millions to develop these games, you have to work around the battery issue.  I really wonder how long this portable will last...
Do you guys think the PSP will be able to have a game disc stop spinning and then restart spinning like on the gamecube, so you can continue your game, or do you think it will crash upon disc ejection.  That could also be a big factor for battery life.

[areefer]

It seems sony was unsure how to "really" create a portable system for the masses and just went spec crazy and upon completion realized ooops we made an uh-oh with the battery life and I agree about the uncertainity of how well the psp will do because if the gba-sp and ds don't kill it out the crib what kind of word of mouth spreads around about the battery life, games, and whether or not it's worth the price of admission over ds will be what really makes or breaks the psp.

p.s. sony just better hope the answers that spread from peer-to-peer are yes to those thrree questions!!!

[jasonditz]

The thing is, even if a lot of people buy the PSP at launch those battery issues are going to be such a nuisance a lot of them are going to get frustrated and stop buying software for it.

Sony's taking a loss on the systems and assuming they'll make it back on the software... that could wind up being worse for them than not selling systems in the first place.
 

[KDR_11k]

Hm, come t think of it... Didn't people call the N-Gage a GBA-killer as well? Didn't they hype it up like it would completely destroy Nintendo? Didn't it end like all the others before it?

[areefer]

I don't know about a gameboy killer but the n-gage was expected to do more that it has done.

Sony will fail miserably where all have failed, lack of 1st party exclusives, because no matter how many 3rd parties they bring aboard Nintendo is going to get just as much if not more 3rd party support plus Nintendo's own million selling franchises and that's a heck of alot of armor to crack!!!

[jasonditz]

The n-gage was an example of why combining a graphically superior handheld with a sub-par phone was a bad idea

The PSP will provide an example of why combining a graphically superior handheld with a proprietary video player is a bad idea.

[Bloodworth]

The NGage is a different story altogether.  Nobody cared even at their own press conference.  It's pretty clear to me that NGage is competing in the phone market, not the standard gaming market.  If people want a phone that can play games they get an NGage; they don't get one to replace their Game Boys.

[WuTangTurtle]

That makes alot of sense Bloodworth, i totally agree.

I wonder though, Nintendo can't always own the market, I wonder when, who , and how Nintendo will lose some real market share.

I seriously think PSP will gain some marketshare like maybe 10-20%, but in around a year or two later after the PSP launch Sony will be like the XBOX in Japan (XboX is actually competing with PSone and WonderSwan Crystal).

[areefer]

An interesting point you make there about Nintendo someday losing their dominance in the handheld market because it's true that no one stays on top forever and by that same token sony will be dethroned also in the home-arena.

I believe Nintendo will dominant again in the home-console arena and then we may see a drop-off in gameboy dominance by Nintendo, but I think that'll happen AFTER the ds.

[areefer]

The ds vs psp battle is just the beginning of the war between sony and Nintendo for our next-gen home-console dollars and I think sony is greatly underestimating Nintendo because while they are the home-console leader Nintendo is actually the company that has put more systems and games in homes over the last ten years so the Nintendo brand is strong and they have made it quite clear at e3 that the future of the Nintendo brand will revolutionalize the industry not to mention that by squashing the psp and gaining more and more fans towards the end of the gamecube's cycle along with the ds Nintendo could see a major boost in support just when it matters most: Next-Gen.

[Blackknight131]

I agree with others who give SONY's new machine a little more of a purpose than as a speedbump in the portable gaming market.
SONY will find its audience, the 18-34 yr old male demographic, there can be little doubt. Their marketing will be focused and likely will saturate mediums largely populated by that demographic. When the system comes out, the early adopters will be lining up...and the image of the unit as a sleek, new-age techno status symbol will be enhanced, and I think will have a trickle down effect on slightly younger demographics as well (Little Brother wants the cool things Big Brother has). And this is irregardless of price and battery life...if both those fall in competitive terms with the DS, the market is gonna become hectic.

That said, the DS has a huge and very practical advantage: its releasing at least 3 months earlier in America....that three months can go a long way to stealing the PSP's thunder come its own release. If the image associated with the (hopefully somewhat streamlined) DS becomes people all over having a blast playing networked Metroid Hunters with 16+ people in close and long ranges, and utilizing pictochat functions and maybe even voice communication of some fashion, I think it will convince many people skeptical about the DS to purchase one.  
The DS, to me, is a unit that will impress more if you see it and hold it live. Hopefully someone who has been to E3 can verify that. Frankly, I personally think the current design prolly looks better when viewed up close and live....but that does nothing when getting the word-of-mouth around.

-Blackknight131

[areefer]

Let me go on record as saying I think competition is good and we all benefit as consumers by having multiple options but I think sony is going about it the wrong way and since they are doing pretty well on the home-console end I question the need of them to feel they should step into the portable arena with Nintendo. I doubt Nintendo would make that move if things were vice-a-versa but that's just me maybe.

I work in customer-relations for a well known company and one thing I've seen time and time again is that satisfied customers aren't likely to switch brands unless the price is more reasonable, and in the case of up-grading, it has to improve the overall quality of their experience over the brand they're used to immensely, if the price gap is wide.
Bottom line is consumers want all they can get for as little as they can pay for it and there just happens to be millions that love and cherish the fun and excitement that they have gotten from Nintendo's franchises and all itterations of gameboy's till this point and for many the move from gba/sp to ds will be as simple as popping open a coca-cola and that is going to be one tough nut for sony to crack.

[WuTangTurtle]

I agree areefer.  GBA fans will most likely jump to DS without a second thought.

And to Blackknight131, yes the DS is more impressive once seen, touched, and played.  Nintendo said it best when they gave away Those DS shirts to all DS attendees, the shirts read "See it, Touch it, Play it"

IMO, if PSP initial sales go well but the system turns out a dud, then Sony might lose some market share NextGen.  Otherwise i feel Nintendo and Microsoft will still likely have a long ways to go to really even compete.  

I predict though that with so many ppl now buying GCN for the $99 sale, alot of ppl have now seen what Nintendo is all about and NextGen we will see a vast improvement for Nintendo although probably not numero uno, more like Nintendo 40% share, Sony 50% share, and Microsoft 10% share IMO.  Thats if DS goes well and PSP doesn't.  And i base Microsoft at 10% only because i feel that if all systems released about the same start or at least without much advantage Microsoft would have trouble selling at all.

I mean think about all the great games coming to GCN late in the cycle.  New (mature) Zelda, Metroid, RE4, Tales of Symphonia, Baten Kaitos, Fire Emblem, Paper Mario 2, Geist, Killer7, etc.

[areefer]

Nintendo once had what sony has but sony never had what Nintendo had and stilll has. Playing video-games once meant playing Nintendo whether home or on the go but sony came along and changed all that in Nintendo's hiatus, now while Nintendo did underestimate sony and never really caught up from the 12 month+ lead sony gained all was not lost because they had the gameboy and it was more like a transition from leading two gaming markets to only leading one which may have actually improved the gameboy to the heights we see today with the ds.

It's quite possible that had sony not swept the rug from up under them we would be staring at the release of the gba right now and not the ds (and who knows where the sp would be) so in a way sony just stepped in and shared the spotlight with Nintendo so while sony has experience being the market leader in home consoles two straight systems so does Nintendo, but sony on the other doesn't have any experience with a handheld gaming system and Nintendo has plenty plus I don't think they will be giving up huge head starts anymore and that may spell trouble with a capital "T" for sony.

[Blackknight131]

Thank you ShaolinBrutha...I was getting the idea that people who actually played with the device rarely came away disappointed. Very pleasing signs.

On the topic of Nintendo brand name, these days it is becoming for true SONY as well. The days when playing videogames was synonomous with " playing Nintendo" is being (unfortuneately in my eyes) superceded by "playing playstation". And that strong Playstation name will be present in the DS's competitor. I feel that will come to bear some significant weight with gamers of this generation, particularly those weaned on the consoles of the last two cycles.

But what of marketing? I hear many people feel SONY has a powerful and convincing marketing machine....altho personally Im not too impressed by their "live in your world, play in ours" series. It does however, IMO, beat the pants offa the (ugh) "Who are you" commericals and generally most of Nintendo's TV spots in recent times.
Love the new GBASP commercial tho...and E3 seems to hint that Nintendo marketing will be revamped in lines with this "reggie-lution".

-Blackknight131

[areefer]

Well the point I was making is all sony did was make Nintendo focus on the gameboy more and continue to dominate the handhgeld market and prosper while they wait for the perfect time to unleash a well balanced attack against sony which may be next-gen. Open your eyes people the Nintendo brand is strong and the perfect utopia of gaming for most people would be to have a Nintendo system and all the games they like on it. Sony will soon realize in more ways than one what it's like to get to the game late (with psp) and start 0-0 (with the ps3) which is going to be one heck of a ballgame people.

Nintendo needs to bring back the old Get N or get out slogan...priceless

[Blackknight131]

I take it the "Who are you?" campaign isnt jellin' with you either...

I totally agree Nintendo has a powerful brandname itself. No longer the indisputably most potent name....but it invokes plenty of support nontheless.

So EA was quoted as having not recieved much of anything from Nintendo in terms of next gen console technology, particularly in comparison to SONY and MS...I read it on IGN yesterday, anyway. After Satoru Iwata's bold proclamations, I am so very looking forward to what their Revolution will entail. They seem to be keeping the innovations close to their chest...very much like Nintendo.

-Blackknight131

[areefer]

I'm not crazy about the "who are you" ads but they are pretty cool as they make you think about what type of gamer you are based on the games they show clips of and with the likes of r.e.4, pikmin 2, mario tennis, new mario, new zelda, and new metroid those ads will up the ante big time. Nintendo is very smart in the way they blitz off top notch titles at the end of their sytems cycle which in turn leaves fans fiending for the new one.

DS will rock!!!