Sony says the DSi is for kids, the PSP is for winners

[ManaByte]

http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/04/sony-says-the-dsi-is-for-kids-the-psp-is-for-winners/

If Nintendo is really committed to reaching a broader, more diverse audience of gamers beyond the "kids" market that they've always engaged, there isn't much new with the DSi to support that. Significant gamer demographic groups are being ignored, and there continues to be limited opportunities for games from external publishers to do well on the DSi. Compare that with the PSP platform, where we have many blockbuster franchises from our publishing partners launching this year, representing a wide variety of genres and targeting diverse demographics. Games such as Rock Band Unplugged from MTV Games, Assassin's Creed from Ubisoft, Dissidia Final Fantasy from Square Enix, and Hannah Montana from Disney demonstrate the commitment that publishers have to the PSP. From our own first-party studios, we're launching unique versions of LittleBigPlanet and MotorStorm, and we're also planning a steady stream of downloadable games -- both new titles and PSone classics -- to add to the content that PSP owners can already purchase wirelessly through PlayStation Store.

The PSP is about to be obliterated, again, by the DSi tomorrow and SCEA responds with LIST WARZ!

[Purple Filth]

both new titles and PSone classics

From SCEA? 

i'll believe it when i see it

[ManaByte]

both new titles and PSone classics

From SCEA? 

i'll believe it when i see it

I think they're talking about the PSOne games they have up on PSN to download, which work on the PSP.

[MoxManiac]

Well, PSP is the better system but sadly sales will not reflect this  :'(

[TakingBackSunday]

Eh, PSP is a cooler system all around, but I've had better enjoyment from the DS' games.  PSP is an emulation king though.

[Purple Filth]

both new titles and PSone classics

From SCEA? 

i'll believe it when i see it

I think they're talking about the PSOne games they have up on PSN to download, which work on the PSP.

i know that but SCEA's release schedule has been "A grade" shit (Especially this year with a whopping 0 so far).

[Great Rumbler]

Which handheld currently has the best Grand Theft Auto EVER? Oh, that's right, it's the DS.

PSP obliterated.

[archie4208]

Well, PSP is the better system but sadly sales will not reflect this  :'(

3D Picross is not on the PSP.  PSP sucks.

[Arbys Roast Beef Sandwich]

Hannah Montana from Disney demonstrate the commitment that publishers have to the PSP.

At least they're going for the niche-yet-lucrative pedophile market

[Phoenix Dark]

PSP might be the most irrelevant gaming thing on the market right now. What do you expect Sony to say

[twerd]

I'll care about PSP when they release LBP for it.

[MoxManiac]

Well, PSP is the better system but sadly sales will not reflect this  :'(

3D Picross is not on the PSP.  PSP sucks.

I don't know what the hell 3D picross is but i bet it stinks!

[archie4208]

Well, PSP is the better system but sadly sales will not reflect this  :'(

3D Picross is not on the PSP.  PSP sucks.

I don't know what the hell 3D picross is but i bet it stinks!

Only the greatest handheld game ever.

[Guybrush Threepwood]

I'll care about PSP when they release LBP for it.

If the PSP version of LBP is side-scroller only (no plane switching), then I might be excited.

[siamesedreamer]

My Best Buy has more Xbox 1 games for sale than PSP games.

[pilonv1]

Hannah Montana from Disney demonstrate the commitment that publishers have to the PSP.

At least they're going for the niche-yet-lucrative pedophile market

those Disney games are all over DS/Wii. I think this is the first one for PSP

[tiesto]

The PSP is the system that will not die... though it's getting a couple cool-looking niche RPGs in the coming months, I have to say.

[Dickie Dee]

Whatever the merits of their arguments, these companies probably shouldn't take a direct potshot at one of their competitors, it always comes off weak and lame.

[Eel O'Brian]

wait for psp2

[Great Rumbler]

Whatever the merits of their arguments, these companies probably shouldn't take a direct potshot at one of their competitors, it always comes off weak and lame.

Especially coming from a position of relative weakness. Just look at the numbers: the DS has outsold the PSP by at least 2:1 in all three major regions and continues to sell consistently better from both a hardware and software perspective than the PSP.

It makes Sony look delusional.

[ch1nchilla]

That third-party list is fucking hilarious. 

[treythemovie]

Sony pretty much obliterated their own argument by listing Hannah Montana

[originalz]

I like how the few titles in that paragraph are almost literally the entire known lineup for the PSP this year.

This shit never works out anyway, remember how the N-Gage would be the real man's portable gaming system?

[Great Rumbler]

Hannah Montana from Disney demonstrate the commitment that publishers have to the PSP.

At least they're going for the niche-yet-lucrative pedophile market

Hannah Montana is the best selling third party game on the DS

I'm pretty sure that isn't the case.

[drew]

I like how the few titles in that paragraph are almost literally the entire known lineup for the PSP this year.

This shit never works out anyway, remember how the N-Gage would be the real man's portable gaming system?

anime avatar

Which handheld currently has the best Grand Theft Auto EVER? Oh, that's right, it's the DS.

PSP obliterated.

anime avatar

That third-party list is fucking hilarious. 

anime avatar

[TakingBackSunday]

Anything Hannah Montana sells well though.

[Oblivion]

This shit never works out anyway, remember how the N-Gage would be the real man's portable gaming system?

[drew]

this is the real mans portable gaming system:



this is the next best thing:

[TakingBackSunday]

I had that power ranger fighting game for the Game Gear, fucking awesome game.

[originalz]

I was a big Game Gear fan back in the day, battery life sucked ass but all you needed was a car charger and you'd be set for long roadtrips.

I recently saw the system at some random store and was shocked at how big and clunky it was.  We've really come a long way, anyone remember how the Lynx was unnecessarily created to be big so gamers would think the system would have more power?

[EmCeeGrammar]

For all its technical prowess, the psp is irrelevant as a portable.  I don't think American culture really supports anyone other than children playing away from their couch. The ds has an awesome library but I have no use for it.  I don't commute on public transportation, I don't travel on plane.  In spite of that, a ds player wouldn't make sense because of the input method. It at least has that benefitting it.

[dark1x]

For all its technical prowess, the psp is irrelevant as a portable.  I don't think American culture really supports anyone other than children playing away from their couch. The ds has an awesome library but I have no use for it.  I don't commute on public transportation, I don't travel on plane.  In spite of that, a ds player wouldn't make sense because of the input method. It at least has that benefitting it.

Yeah, handhelds don't work as well in the US.  I believe the success of the DS is attributed to the fact that it is a better platform for kids.  It has its fair share of solid games, but it's clearly aimed at children.  The PSP attempted to reach for a different market and, while it is the most successful non-Nintendo handheld to date, it is proving that there simply isn't a huge market for handhelds outside of the kid realm.

These days, I generally only use my PSP or DS on lunch break when the weather sucks and I can't take a walk.  Not a bad thing, however, as it provides a nice break in the day and is still satisfying.  I just close my door, turn down the lights, and enjoy a game for an hour or so.

[cool breeze]

I was a big Game Gear fan back in the day, battery life sucked ass but all you needed was a car charger and you'd be set for long roadtrips.

I recently saw the system at some random store and was shocked at how big and clunky it was.  We've really come a long way, anyone remember how the Lynx was unnecessarily created to be big so gamers would think the system would have more power?

One of my friends had a Lynx back in the day.  He was anti-gameboy for some reason and kept buying alternate handhelds, so he had always had stuff like the Nomad or Game.com and things like that.  My favorite part about the Lynx wasn't how massive it was, it was how they let you flip the screen and play it with the d-pad on the right.  I never understood the purpose unless that was the only device you would ever use.

Nomad was actually kind of cool at the time, though, even if it did eat up batteries worse than the Game Gear ever did.

[Veidt]

I say both are great gaming machines. I'd buy both : )

[Himu]

lol

Sony

[Diunx]

PSP >>>>>>>>>> DS.

Metal Gear Portable Ops

[TakingBackSunday]

ugh, that game 

[drew]

ugh, that game 

furry avatar

[TakingBackSunday]

don't you dare speak ill of the panda

[Great Rumbler]

Which handheld currently has the best Grand Theft Auto EVER? Oh, that's right, it's the DS.

PSP obliterated.

anime avatar

lolz you sure zinged me on that one!

Here's a hint: Chinatown Wars is the best GTA ever made. If you say otherwise you're a liar or a fool.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

My avatar is from a piece of artwork for a novel series.

[close]

[dark1x]

Here's a hint: Chinatown Wars is the best GTA ever made. If you say otherwise you're a liar or a fool.

I suppose I can see why some people might feel that way, but the experience Chinatown Wars provides is VERY different from many of the other GTA games.  I never enjoyed the overhead games much, to be honest, and although it offers plenty of improvements, it didn't change my mind.

Of course, I actually loved GTA IV which a lot of people seem to hate.

[cool breeze]

PSP can play 6 GTA games; only one of those games is worse than Chinatown Wars.

[Eel O'Brian]

i haven't turned on my psp in so long the battery probably won't take a charge anymore

[archie4208]

Just sold my PSP and I'm gonna buy a DS soon.  Thanks Guybrush.

[Great Rumbler]

PSP can play 6 GTA games; only one of those games is worse than Chinatown Wars.

I could never really get into the GTA sidestory games on the PSP. If I want to play a GTA3-style GTA game, I'll just pop one of those in my PS2. The PSP GTA's just felt like too much of a retread and not really designed to be portable games. And I'm a huge GTA fan, played the series from the first game up to Chinatown and beaten most of them.

On the other hand, Chinatown Wars is an awesome fusion of some of the things that made the old GTAs so good and some of the things that made the newer GTAs so good, while being perfectly suited to short bursts of 10-15 minutes and actually making decent use of the DS's touch screen.

[Van Cruncheon]

ew, touchscreen

[Guybrush Threepwood]

ew, touchscreen

bububu the innovation!

[Great Rumbler]

ew, touchscreen

It works in this case, though. For one thing, it doesn't force you to use the touchscreen all the time. When you actually do use you're doing things like hot wiring cars or bashing out the back window of a car you drove into the ocean or for quick access of your PDA.

The main problem with touchscreen use in a lot of games is that it forces you do use in place of something that could just have been done with a button or the d-pad and is bothersome rather than adding anything useful to the experience.

[cool breeze]

It does force you to use touch screen all the time.  It even makes the distinguished mentally-challenged mistake of having touch screen shit happening in real time while other things are.

For example: you are running from the cops, you see a car you want to jack, you go in and suddenly you have to play a fucking mini-game, which you can't even complete because it's fucking real time and the cop will throw you out.  Or how about having to rub the bottom screen to bring a patient back to life while driving the ambulance.  Or having to touch the screen to throw grenades.  Or having to use the touch screen for basic menu commands.  Or having to press a fake button on the touch screen WHEN THERE ARE 8 PHYSICAL BUTTONS TO USE, ONE OF WHICH IS USED TO ACTIVATE THINGS.

The worst is that a lot of these require the stylus and can't be done with a finger tap.

PSP can play 6 GTA games; only one of those games is worse than Chinatown Wars.

I could never really get into the GTA sidestory games on the PSP. If I want to play a GTA3-style GTA game, I'll just pop one of those in my PS2. The PSP GTA's just felt like too much of a retread and not really designed to be portable games. And I'm a huge GTA fan, played the series from the first game up to Chinatown and beaten most of them.

On the other hand, Chinatown Wars is an awesome fusion of some of the things that made the old GTAs so good and some of the things that made the newer GTAs so good, while being perfectly suited to short bursts of 10-15 minutes and actually making decent use of the DS's touch screen.

But I really don't it did that.  Chinatown Wars is a 3D GTA game set in the overhead position.  The mission formula, the combat and controls and practically everything else are from the 3D GTA games.  As someone who only really hated GTA Advance out of all the GTA games, I still think that Chinatown Wars is one of the lesser games with regular GTA4 (Lost and the Damned is awesome).

As for the PSP "stories" games, yeah, they weren't suited for portable gaming, but that doesn't mean shit, especially if you played them on the PS2.  The only thing they really had less than the original counter parts were less compelling stories, but Chinatown Wars doesn't have a good story or even cutscenes with serviceable dialogue.  And Phil Collins was in Vice City Stories.  Phil Collins > distinguished mentally-challenged looking Will Smith look-a-like with lame jokes about honor

[Great Rumbler]

It does force you to use touch screen all the time.  It even makes the distinguished mentally-challenged mistake of having touch screen shit happening in real time while other things are.

For example: you are running from the cops, you see a car you want to jack, you go in and suddenly you have to play a fucking mini-game, which you can't even complete because it's fucking real time and the cop will throw you out.  Or how about having to rub the bottom screen to bring a patient back to life while driving the ambulance.  Or having to touch the screen to throw grenades.  Or having to use the touch screen for basic menu commands.  Or having to press a fake button on the touch screen WHEN THERE ARE 8 PHYSICAL BUTTONS TO USE, ONE OF WHICH IS USED TO ACTIVATE THINGS

I never really had a problem with any of those and none of them occur that frequently. As for the hot-wiring while being chased by cops, just make sure not to jack a parked car.

but Chinatown Wars doesn't have a good story or even cutscenes with serviceable dialogue.

I like the dialogue in Chinatown Wars more than in GTAIV.

As for the PSP "stories" games, yeah, they weren't suited for portable gaming, but that doesn't mean shit, especially if you played them on the PS2.

Well, it does mean something because I played LCS on the PSP and it just didn't work, in my opinion. Chinatown Wars works so much better as a portable GTA game.

[Kestastrophe]

PSP

best machine sony ever made.

agreed
PSP (with custom firmware)
touchscreen controls

[Rman]

So is the screen better?  Does it have better speakers instead of the crappy DSL speakers?

[Van Cruncheon]

PSP

best machine sony ever made.

you are a man of impeccable taste

[cool breeze]

So is the screen better?  Does it have better speakers instead of the crappy DSL speakers?

speakers are way better.  Screen is bigger, has a minor ghosting problem with 3D games.

[Kestastrophe]

i hope to god they don't bother with touch screen for the PSP2

but we know they will

me too, but Kosma was hinting that the next PSP will have some form of touch screen control 

all we need is dual analogue and we are set.

It could use more handheld specific games, instead of just console games shoehorned onto the system, but that is my only hardware complaint. PSP is awesome

[Van Cruncheon]

a handheld ps2 would destroy my soul with joy