Topic: Media Bias: Sony PSP vs. Nintendo DS?

[nitsu niflheim]

In the latest issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly, the wannabe journalists, who long ago in my opinion used up their last bit of relevance for integrity in unbiased reporting, have expressed their opinions on which is better, the Sony PSP or the Nintendo DS.  I am not really bothered by who they chose as the victor in who's opinion among themselves tries to outdo another and I knew which system they would pick even before I opened the magazine, but my gripe is something I have noticed more and more lately coming up when commenting on the touch screen of the DS.  Why is it even an issue to talk about?  I don't mean as issue of why it was even included but an issue that seems so Godly important is about using the screen with "greasy fingers or stylus".  Okay, first off, Yes there is a chance that the screen after a while will begin to show scratches, and other signs of wear.  It's almost like PDA's with touch screens have never existed, at least the behavior of the people at EGM give that impression.  For a bunch of people who try so hard to be professional, they sure do come off like a bunch of braying idiots.  The reason why I am even bothering talking about this issue, is that there is a seemingly obvious bias from EGM, who, among others because when they can't find a major issue to bitch about, they bring up the issue about the touch screen and having to use fingers and/or stylus and it leaving marks or scratches on the screen as if it is their frigging trump card on why the machine is doomed.  

"Oh Noes!! The machine is doomed the screen will get a scratched up" they cry.  They act like touch screens have never been used in life before and they don't know how to act around them.  Really, come on you asses, get real.  I know for a fact, Fellowes ® makes screen overlays that are expressly for the purpose of protecting touch screens on PDA's from the terror and extreme danger of greasy fingers and stylus' that the idiots at EGM so fear and use as their so-called trump card to place the Nintendo DS as a system doomed and try and give more credence as to why the Sony PSP is the better system.  And does anyone think that there will not be a company or two out there that will sell screen overlays made specifically for the touch screen on the Nintendo DS?  If there are people that don't think there will be, they are stupid and shouldn't be allowed to own the system at all.

As far as I am concerned, the protection of the touch screen is going to be a non-issue.  The issue of when the choice between the Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP is going to come down to three things games, cost of the systems/games and the quality and craftsmanship of the systems themselves, and right now, while no cost has been revealed, let alone finalized, the Nintendo DS is leading the Sony PSP.  How long do you think it will be before the first reports of system malfunctions coming from consumers that bought a Sony PSP?  Is anybody, but the loyalist Playstation diehard's going to penny up the as high and $250-300 for a portable system?  Right now, there is no single game announced for the Sony PSP that is going to be a system buyer for me.  Right now, there is talk from Konami for both a Castlevania and a Silent Hill game of the Nintendo DS, Square-Enix is said to be making a new version of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles for the Nintendo DS, among other stuff.  I don't care how the games look, how well they make use of the two screens or of the touch screen, the Nintendo DS is the system that has the games I want to play right now.  I'm not saying I won't buy a Sony PSP, but not until it has some games that interest me.

So in closing, it just royally aggravates me that they pick the most insignificant thing to focus on and bitch about, but barely even picking up on the fact that Sony will rather ignore and deny that a problem exist with their hardware than admit that they build their systems poorly with what can only be describe as intentionally done to boost consumer sales.

[Hostile Creation]

I used to get EGM, mainly for the Hsu and Chan comics in the back.  When my subscription ran out, I did not bother to renew it.
And the only reason I got it in the first place was because it was a freebie.

A bias obviously exists.  I doubt they have any sort of secret contract with Sony, they just want to appeal to the masses, even if they have to do so through plain bias and deception.
EGM sucks, simple as that.  They are what I hate most about computer nerds.  Well, no.  That's not wholly true.  But they're still damn annoying.

[Bill Aurion]

EGM has been anti-Nintendo for a while now...In fact, I can't think of an "all-system" mag that ISN'T anti-Nintendo...I guess it's the "cool" thing to do, eh? >=P

[Berny]

Yeah it's too bad. The only source of good reviews is Nintendo Power and every review from them is a great review.
"omg all my star are for spyro!"
I don't know if they're still like that but when I was subscribed, it seemed like they gave everything 5/5 stars. It's just the opposite extreme of the multiplatform gaming mags. The world needs an unbiased source of gaming news.  

[Bill Aurion]

Nah, they give better scores now...The only titles that get 5/5 stars are the really worthy ones...

[Chode2234]

I would love to see a real Nintendo mag that isn't a joke, some other thing we could subscribe to to get all those free gifts besides something I just throw in the garbage.

[Gibdo Master]

Hey, does everyone remember that free subscription sign up thing for EGM I told you guys about sometime last year? Yeah, I never did get my mine.

In this day and age, with the Internet and all, I find magazines to be completely useless. Not only do they tend to be more biased than most gaming sites, but there info is of course always out of date by the time it gets in your mail box.  There's also the fact that subscription prices tend to be ridiculous and any bonus stuff you get is crap.

[Ian Sane]

"In fact, I can't think of an 'all-system' mag that ISN'T anti-Nintendo...I guess it's the 'cool' thing to do, eh?"

Around 1997 as the Playstation eased into it's seat as the market leader it became incredibly apparent to me that the only reason mags had praised Nintendo in the past was because they used to be the market leader.  I figure once Sony loses their crown the mags will start pissing all over them as well.  Afterall most of the readers are going to own the leading console so you're going to sell more mags if you suck up to them.

This reminds me of a cover story EGM had back in 2001: Gamecube vs Xbox.  They outlined the pros and cons of each system, had each editor vote for their favourite, and the Xbox won by ONE POINT.  Of course one had to read the fine print to see that.  One just browsing on the magazine rack would only see "XBOX WINS" in the headline.  I remember the article pissed me off not so much because they picked Xbox as the winner but because many of the editors who voted for it, voted for it for incredibly superfiscial reasons.  One chose Xbox because it LOOKED MORE HIGH TECH.  Yes the outcome of this grudge match was decided by the appearance of the consoles.  That really ticked me off because no gaming journalist should ever be swayed by something so f*cking superfiscial.  A mag like EGM has a lot of influence on the game buying public and if they say one console is better a month before launch some people are going to base their decisions on that.  Although this is just one example I firmly believe that the Cube could have easily beat the Xbox if the media wasn't sh!tting on them the whole time while praising the Xbox.

It's interesting that while with film and music the reviewers are often hardcore elitists with gaming it's the exact opposite situation where the reviewers are often mainstream casual gaming marks.

[Berny]

Quote
Originally posted by: Gibdo Master
Hey, does everyone remember that free subscription sign up thing for EGM I told you guys about sometime last year? Yeah, I never did get my mine.

Nor did I. When I found the link again, the offer expired. I'm angry at them. You gave us on for GamePro as well I believe and that came like a YEAR after I signed up. Meh. I don't care. It's all crap.

[Syl]

Gamepro's last issue thought that nintendo was at the top of its game during E3, so i suppose bias might cut both ways.
(It was actually a rather nice issue... they covered E3 very well...)

[Jale]

The UK Nintendo Magazine NOM is a good mag. It's very funny and scores fairly.

[nitsu niflheim]

Quote
Originally posted by: Ian Sane
This reminds me of a cover story EGM had back in 2001: Gamecube vs Xbox.  They outlined the pros and cons of each system, had each editor vote for their favourite, and the Xbox won by ONE POINT.  Of course one had to read the fine print to see that.  One just browsing on the magazine rack would only see "XBOX WINS" in the headline.  I remember the article pissed me off not so much because they picked Xbox as the winner but because many of the editors who voted for it, voted for it for incredibly superfiscial reasons.  One chose Xbox because it LOOKED MORE HIGH TECH.  Yes the outcome of this grudge match was decided by the appearance of the consoles.  That really ticked me off because no gaming journalist should ever be swayed by something so f*cking superfiscial.  A mag like EGM has a lot of influence on the game buying public and if they say one console is better a month before launch some people are going to base their decisions on that.  Although this is just one example I firmly believe that the Cube could have easily beat the Xbox if the media wasn't sh!tting on them the whole time while praising the Xbox.

This was the who long ago in my opinion used up their last bit of relevance for integrity in unbiased reporting that I was refering to.  And is exactly what I mean now too, they pick such stupid stuff to grade a system on, completely neglecting to grade it based on the games.  They barely even mentioned, at least base don memory, that the battery life of the PSP is around 10 hours for games, and two for movies.  10 hours, come on, the GBA gives ten hours with the lights on, and 17 or so with the lights off.  This is next generation we are talking about, 10 hours just isn't going to cut it anymore.  But then again, EGM really doesn't care about that, but I bet that is the battery life for the DS and PSP were almost the same, Nintendo would get ragged on it for one reason or another, just so that the PSP would come out the better looking system.

[KnowsNothing]

Quote
Hey, does everyone remember that free subscription sign up thing for EGM I told you guys about sometime last year? Yeah, I never did get my mine.

I didn't get mine either.  Don't really care, though.  I'll have to resubscribe to Nintendo Power, too.  Just because.

[manunited4eva22]

My neighbor JUST got his.  Kind of ironic.

[Urkel]

Ah, like a moth to a flame, I'm drawn towards any anti-EGM discussion.

It's all so sad, too. I've been reading EGM almost since the beginning, and it's sad to see how far they've sunk. I think Ian Sane hit the nail on the head about them sucking up to whoever is #1. During the Snes/Sega days, they made damn sure not to favor one console over the other. The console race was much closer, so I imagine if they pissed off one fanbase, they'd lose about half their readers. I even remember one time, a reader asked them which console was better. Their response was something along the lines of "If you like RPGs, adventure games, and platformers the Snes is best. If you like sports, action games, and shooters the Genesis is best."

See, that's an infinitely more useful guide to which system to get than saying flat out "The Xbox is best". What EGM should've said was "Get an Xbox if you like FPS and PC style games in general, get a Gamecube if you like Nintendo games."

Anyway, the magazine definitely got more anti-Nintendo as Sony became dominant. I remember one letter sent in asking why EGM was so down on Nintendo. EGM gave some bullsh!t response like "Oh, we're not down on Nintendo, we're commiserating with you guys". By the end of the generation, one editor even openly said that he didn't miss the N64 at all.

Now, the magazine seems to be much more targeted to what the casual gamers want. The games that are featured on the cover are usually some hyped up M rated GTA inspired crime spree game i.e. State of Emergency, Driv3r, or any other currently popular series. You'd think they'd at least put Viewtiful Joe on the cover, but no. They also seem to be obsessive about interviewing celebrities about their favorite games. It's usually just some clueless supermodel that likes to play Pac-man and Tetris. The rest of the time it's some clueless actor that likes to play GTA, Halo, Madden and whatever else is popular with the casual gamers.

Did I mention they no longer have a previews section? I'm not kidding. Virtually the only game that gets an in-depth look is whichever one is featured on the cover.

As for this particular issue, like the person who started this thread, I knew the moment I saw the cover that they would favor the PSP. I was annoyed about how much they complained about the DS's appearance, like it actually matters. They also seemed much more concerned about the DS's screen getting scratched than the PSP. It even says on the cover "We tell you which one is best", as though they've actually had extensive playtime with both to come to a final conclusion. In the latest Hsu and Chan comic, they half-jokingly campare the two systems, but say that the PSP will be for hardcore gamers, and that the DS is for casual gamers and little kids. The rest of the EGM staff seem to have similar feelings, though they didn't quite use those words.

Overall, just another bad issue from a mag that continues to worsen.

[Infernal Monkey]

I tried not to start this with an anti-EGM thing, but then I did, and my fingers keep on going. Actually, I haven't started, and I only ever type with like two fingers. I've NEVER seen the appeal of EGM. Sure, we get it here in Australia like three weeks after the US, and it's pretty expensive.. But WHY? EVERY second page is an advert. Then the reviews are squished up the back into little quarter page bits of crap that sound like the reviewer was looking at the instruction manual to base the review on. Half the adverts aren't even for games. Hey guys buy this new candy it's worthy of a three page advert. Oh Sonic Adventure 2 review? Quarter page.

Sorry, EGM = Fail.

Moving on,  the hilarious 'Connect' section of the newspaper thingy around here also did a DS and PSP head to head thing. They too only focused on the touch screen element of the DS, claiming the system will be useless for kids, because they'll break it, and that there will be a lack of third party support for such a 'gimmick system'. Not once did they actually talk about the fact that the idea is FUNKY and could lead to amusing things, or that it features a microphone. No no, don't buy it, the screen will break. Too kiddy.

Instead, they focused on the coolness of the PSP. How it'll have PS2 graphics, how it'll play your movies. Oops, they 'forgot' to mention you'll need to buy movies on a special media just to watch them on PSP, OOPS they forgot to mention the two and a half hour battery life. OOPS IT "WON" SURPRISE! NOT EVEN OUT. BETTER BUY ONE ANYWAY!

"RRaaAAAAOOOOOAARRRRRRR" *Fire*

[nitsu niflheim]

What really aggravated me the most about the whole Xbox vs Gamecube article in EGM a few years back, was that EGM always refused to say which system someone should by, by saying just like Urkel mentioned, by telling them to look at the games and choose they system by the games you want to play.

[Syl]

Quote
that the battery life of the PSP is around 10 hours for games, and two for movies

Those numbers are really screwed up, last i heard (and i've been paying attention.
10 hours for music (screen is OFF)
2.5 hours for movies
2.5-5 hours for games (Depends on if it loads constantly, wifi is on, etc.)  So, a game like GTA would only last 2.5 because of the constant streaming.

I'm actually amazed at how good gameinformer is getting at every part BUT the reviews.  I still absolutely hate the reviews, but their features are great.

[KnowsNothing]

Gameinformer is indeed better than Gamepro and apparentley EGM.  They had GREAT metroid prime 2: echos coverage.

Get 10 issues for free and 10% off all used games/accesories at gamestop if you get a gamestop card for some price.  It's a good deal

[nickmitch]

What I'm hearing is that because Nintendo ain't on top it ain't worth jack is the general consisis for these multi-platform magazines. Which is a tad ignint (ig*nin*t). Also how the heck could a system that's good be bad and the one thats crap be good just because it looks pretty. I mean super-mdels are pretty but what the fudge can they do other than walk, pose, get their picture taken, starve, change clothes, and repeat?!? I'll tell you NOTHING!!!! Its the same here. The PSP looks good but with 2 1/2 hours of battery life, no thanks and for $250? Please.

[ruby_onix]

Quote
10 hours for music (screen is OFF)

And not only is the screen turned off in that mode, but it's also using the cart-ish Memory Stick as it's storage device, not the DVD drive (because there's no way that Sony's gonna give anyone a UMD-burner with blank disks and allow rampant piracy, just for the mp3s, when that's what the Memory Stick is for).

And the "CPU usage" is as minimal as you can possibly get. And it's probably accounting for headphones, not the standard speaker.

By the way, supposedly in the latest issue of the European magazine "Edge", Chris Deering (SCEE's president, who earlier let the cat out of the bag about the PSP's cost being around $450, which has put a vast number of Sony fanboys into "denial mode") was talking about how the PSP will have a (sold seperately) battery expansion pack, which you will strap onto your forearm.

That'll be so awesomely mature. You'll be walking down the street and be all like "Hey dude! I'm Robocop now! Check out my PSP. Yeah, you can look at it for a few seconds. It won't die or anything now. What's that "meat burning" smell?" Sweet.

Oh yeah and, Chris Deering reportedly also said that PSP games are going to cost the same amount as home-console games (and that UMD movies will cost the same as DVD movies). When he said that the PSP was gonna be $450, he had said that there was no way that they'd take a loss on the system, because there was no way for Sony to make enough money to subsidize it, with the price structure of handheld games being what it is.

So, if Sony's jacking up the game price, then they can sell it at a loss, and the price of the system could be almost anything now. All we know is that it costs Sony about $450 to make one.

Edit: BTW, I meant that the Memory Stick input is there for rampant piracy, not for mp3s. Sony has apparently slashed mp3 playback from the unit (for now).  

[Uncle Rich AiAi]

Edge has been showing bias towards the PSP.  I subscribe the British version of PC Gamer, and in every issue, there is a ad for the next/latest EDGE issue.  The cover had a pic of the PSP in all its glory, and said: "Handheld gaming finally grows up" and no mention of the DS (on the cover I mean).  Not only that, but in the past, they've shown extreme bias towards Halo.  When they had their 2001 games award thingy, on the cover it said: "Guess how many Halo won?"  What extreme bias.

Also, a few months ago, they had the PSX on the front cover too.

[darknight06]

"Handheld gaming finally grows up"  Ok, I've seen the specs to this thing.  I've seen how it looks.  I've heard about what it supposedly is capable of doing.  What is soooooo grown up about this thing?  

Crap like that was the reason why the last magazine issue I remember reading was the last issue of Gamefan.  After that I just didn't care anymore because at around this time everyone else hopped onto the Sony bandwagon.  

[nitsu niflheim]

Also, what about games, the PSP is looking to be just an extension of the PS2, same games, and probably no variety either.  The only game at the moment that even interests me is the Tales game from Namco, but the chances of the game coming out of Japan is slim, even with Tales of Symphonia coming out here next month, I still think it won't come out, and I am not going to buy a system for a game I have no guarantee is coming out.

The DS is at least trying to do something different.  And what also bothers me, is how the media still is trying to label the DS as the GBA successor, when Nintendo has said that the DS will not contain the words Game Boy anywhere it the name of the system, and that they are working right now on the successor to the GBA and will release it around 2006 and maybe earlier if the DS doesn't fare that well against the PSP.  I wonder what they will say then.  My guess is the next Game Boy will make the PSP look like an old Atari system *lol* I can always dream...

[couchmonkey]

Quote
Originally posted by: ruby_onix


That'll be so awesomely mature. You'll be walking down the street and be all like "Hey dude! I'm Robocop now! Check out my PSP. Yeah, you can look at it for a few seconds. It won't die or anything now. What's that "meat burning" smell?" Sweet.

Ha ha ha!!  Now I need one for halloween....

I personally don't think Sony will charge $450 for it, the company has to be aware that nobody will pay that kind of money and I remember when the PS2 was rumoured to cost $400.  It didn't.  I'm sure PSP will be under $300.  Which is still too much, but whatever.

Of course, that all has nothing to do with game mags.  I haven't read many lately, as someone else said, I find that the web has made gaming magazines kind of obsolete.  I do pick one up once in a while, but after I finally let my Nintendo Power subscription run out about a year and a half ago, I gave up on them.  I agree with the hopping on the most popular system's bandwagon thing a few people brought up.  It's easier for websites to separate their console coverage so that they don't insult any particular market segment.