PSP will arrive on March 24th for $249.

[Trippy]

Uh, wasn't Metal Gear Acid a card battle game or somesuch?  So, how exactly is that appealing, again?

STEALTH GAMEPLAY, BUT WITH CARDS!

It's not a CCG-style game like MtG -- it's a tactical turn-based game a la X-COM, Jagged Alliance, FFT, etc. but with a CCG mechanic for choosing among available actions.

[AOFanboi]

I seriously doubt Nintendo can scrounge up enough mediocre titles for the DS before then to keep anyone interested.

Since the two hadhelds target different markets... "anyone" can be more interested in the DS' stylus input mechanism's possibilities than the option of re-buying their PS2 games on a new platform.

Maybe if you were around at the launches of Lynx and GameGear, you would have called it curtains for the GameBoy as well? After all, both the Lynx and GameGear had color, bigger resolution, and the backing of the big players: Atari and Sega. How could they POSSIBLY fail in the marketplace? Obviously the less featureful Nintendo product would lose.

But look: It didn't. Because of longer battery life, and interesting titles. Just like the DS will survive against the PSP. The latter is marketed as a media device that can play games, the first is a more "pure" game console. So it will sell, the same way the pure mobile phones and PDAs outsell "combined" units (smartphones).

Why the Nintendo hate?

[ahoythematey]

I'm in the same boat as Rasix, although I admit I am biased towards anything Nintendo.  If it was hitting at the same price as the DS, or even the converted japanese price I'd be all over it a year or two down the road once the kinks are all worked out hardware-wise.

[Shockeye]

Maybe if you were around at the launches of Lynx and GameGear, you would have called it curtains for the GameBoy as well? After all, both the Lynx and GameGear had color, bigger resolution, and the backing of the big players: Atari and Sega. How could they POSSIBLY fail in the marketplace? Obviously the less featureful Nintendo product would lose.

But look: It didn't. Because of longer battery life, and interesting titles. Just like the DS will survive against the PSP. The latter is marketed as a media device that can play games, the first is a more "pure" game console. So it will sell, the same way the pure mobile phones and PDAs outsell "combined" units (smartphones).

Why the Nintendo hate?

The Lynx was never really a threat and Atari quit being a major player in the late 80's.

The game gear, however, should've killed off nintendo's game boy. Why it didn't has a lot of similarities to why OS/2 failed against Windows. Both the game gear and OS/2 were superior products. Both failed at marketing and at "killer apps". Sony has proven itself adept at both those. The SP/DS is SNES-quality graphics whereas the PSP is PS1.5. I'm hating on Nintendo because they sat back on their asses and put out just enough to keep people buying their crap as opposed to spending real R&D money on advancing the platform. Don't give me that stylus shit, either. It's a gimmick and that's all it will ever be.

Look, none of the launch titles for the PSP interest me in the slightest. But they are now the 400lb gorilla in the room that Nintendo will have to deal with. The moment the PSP starts putting kid-friendly games into its line-up is the moment Nintendo can start turning off the lights and going home. But then again, the Gamecube keeps hanging on even though it only has 5 decent games a year.

Nintendo blew it with the DS when they knew the PSP was around the corner and now the PSP is here.

Say goodnight, Gracie.

[grebo]

The DS may have a homebrew future , any news out there about the PSP yet?

THat would be the only way anyone would get me to buy one...  the only handheld in my house now is the Gamepark.

[schild]

Grebo, the DS has no homebrew future. The PSP on the other hand has a memory stick slot and in 6 months or so we should see burnable UMDs.

[grebo]

Considering all the cool stuff you can do with the GBA, it will be interesting to see what happens with the DS.

I agree tho, on further inspection, the PSP has a lot more promise for coolness.

[eldaec]

Does a DS play GBA games?

I ask because I lost my GBA on a plane a while back. And so if it's reasonably priced I'd have no problem picking one up for Warioware, MarioKart, and Advance Wars.

[Shmtur]

Does a DS play GBA games?

I ask because I lost my GBA on a plane a while back. And so if it's reasonably priced I'd have no problem picking one up for Warioware, MarioKart, and Advance Wars.

Yes, it does, but only GBA games, not any of the older (GBC or earlier) games.

[Trippy]

The PSP on the other hand has a memory stick slot and in 6 months or so we should see burnable UMDs.

Not likely. While Sony has stated they will "open" up the UMD format to allow other manufacturers to make players that can play UMD movie and music discs (but not games) they are being their usual tip-lipped self and won't even say which standards body they have submitted their proposal too. Sony currently controls all UMD disc production (game publsihers have to send their game data to Sony to have discs made) and the discs are heavily copy protected as well and it's unclear whether or not they are going to "open" up the manufacturing of UMDs or whether or not they will continue to keep tight control over that.  Even if Sony's proposal includes specs for a "burnable" UMD format (which I highly doubt) it'll be a long time before such a device is priced for consumer usage as has been the tradition for other optical formats such as CDs and DVDs.

[ahoythematey]

The game gear, however, should've killed off nintendo's game boy. Why it didn't has a lot of similarities to why OS/2 failed against Windows. Both the game gear and OS/2 were superior products. Both failed at marketing and at "killer apps". Sony has proven itself adept at both those. The SP/DS is SNES-quality graphics whereas the PSP is PS1.5. I'm hating on Nintendo because they sat back on their asses and put out just enough to keep people buying their crap as opposed to spending real R&D money on advancing the platform. Don't give me that stylus shit, either. It's a gimmick and that's all it will ever be.

Look, none of the launch titles for the PSP interest me in the slightest. But they are now the 400lb gorilla in the room that Nintendo will have to deal with. The moment the PSP starts putting kid-friendly games into its line-up is the moment Nintendo can start turning off the lights and going home. But then again, the Gamecube keeps hanging on even though it only has 5 decent games a year.

Nintendo blew it with the DS when they knew the PSP was around the corner and now the PSP is here.

Say goodnight, Gracie.

Not trying to nitpick a mostly useless point, but the graphical capabilites of the DS have been bolstered to be somewhere around the N64/PS1 range, with superior sound thrown in as well.

As far as Nintendo "blowing it", I don't consider it that way as long as they continue pumping out the kind of stuff they have with the GBA, such as Castlevania, Advance Wars, and Metroid.  Hell, they seem to be the only place for sidescrolling platformers anymore, and every now and then some true gems come out as well, such as Astro Boy.  I think, for now anyways, that will satisfy my portable gaming desires.

[AOFanboi]

Nintendo blew it with the DS when they knew the PSP was around the corner and now the PSP is here.

Where? It's so popular they cannot meet demand. On March 11, I will be able to go into a Norwegian store and say "I'd like a Nintendo DS" and actually get one. Sony's PSP? Depending on how optimistic the Sony rep is, it will be Q1, May, July or at least sometime before the Christmas shopping season.

That's not a success story.

[Kairos]

I like the way the American PSP costs 50 bucks more than the Japanese one, and comes with a crappy movie instead of Ridge Racers.

[Rasputin]

My DS offers me the following:

backwards compatibility with my GBA games
802.11b wireless
Nintendo first party games
if I choose to go the "OMGMP3" or "WTFBBQMOVIES" route, I'm not locked into Sony's Memory Stick, I can get the $50 Nintnendo Play-Yan which takes SD memory. I also have the option of the Lik-Sang CF memory reader for $25 plus memory.

Oh, and I like the games. Daigasso! Band Brothers is nothing short of genius.

The PSP offers me nothing I want, and it's a lot more expensive. And less durable.

Good thing I've already got my DS.

[schild]

Oh, and I like the games. Daigasso! Band Brothers is nothing short of genius.

Yes, it's ilkely you'll be sitting around with your 7 friends who have all bought Daigasso! making music like they did in that video. Right.

And monkeys will fly out of my ass.

[MrHat]

Metal Gear and a couple of others look interesting. However, if I spend close to $300 on a handheld game I'm afraid I'd have to kill myself.

DS wins by reasonable pricing.

I'd add about $100 to that ($400 total) and get a god damn PDA.

Freecell for teh win!

[schild]

“Once [the DS] was unwrapped, people had options to play PictoChat, play the Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt demo, or play their existing Game Boy Advance SP games. For these reasons, Nintendo DS software sales were lower than expected at launch and projections for the year were reduced.”

The admission comes on the heels of Nintendo’s late-January announcement that Q3 profits had slumped 43% from the previous year, and that the company was cutting DS software’s worldwide projections, from 15 million to 10 million for the current fiscal year.

DS’s under performing software is readily apparent in the 2004 holiday sales figures. According to totals compiled by PlayMoreConsoles.com, just two DS games charted in the U.S. Top 100 in December – Super Mario 64 DS and Spider-Man 2 DS. The former moved 437,331 copies, while the latter sold about 200,000.

In contrast, Game Boy Advance’s Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories sold 539,847 for the month.

Do more people want to tell me how well the DS is doing? I mean, Kingdom Hearts is a silly card game. Mario 64 is a true blue platformer taking full advantage of everything the DS can do.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it, fanbois.

Edit:
1. Original Article.
2. Did anyone else notice that the Nintendo official said "play pictochat?" I know when I'm online I play instant messenger. What a bunch of fruitcups. Blaming poor game sales in part on a crippled demo and a shitty, in addition to pointless, chat interface.

[Trippy]

DS’s under performing software is readily apparent in the 2004 holiday sales figures. According to totals compiled by PlayMoreConsoles.com, just two DS games charted in the U.S. Top 100 in December – Super Mario 64 DS and Spider-Man 2 DS. The former moved 437,331 copies, while the latter sold about 200,000.

In contrast, Game Boy Advance’s Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories sold 539,847 for the month.

Do more people want to tell me how well the DS is doing? I mean, Kingdom Hearts is a silly card game. Mario 64 is a true blue platformer taking full advantage of everything the DS can do.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it, fanbois.

Yeah but what's the installed base of GBAs compared to the DS? A bazillion vs. a few million?

[schild]

Yeah but what's the installed base of GBAs compared to the DS? A bazillion vs. a few million?

When was the last time a Square game outsold a Mario game? Final Fantasy VII may have outsold Mario 64. Likely, but probably not in the first month.

This whole thing was really just to point out how crappy the DS stuff is selling. So much so that they dropped their expectations despite selling selling a shload of the console. Like they said, everyone is playing Pictochat.

I'm playing message board right now. It's from Namco, and it rocks.

[Signe]

Should I buy this thing?  I like rpgs and fighting games like Tekken and Soul Calibur.  If I buy two can I play with Righ?  I'd look this all up but I'm really tired. 

I'll just wait here until someone tells me what to do.

[schild]

At this point, given the paltry release schedule, you'd have more fun with a PSP, considering you could play eachother on his lunch break over the web (in Twisted Metal and a handful of other games at launch). I'm sure most of the future release titles will have web tunneling enabled as well.

[Signe]

Ok, thanks.  Actually, he works two minutes from home.  He could come home and play with me during lunch, but he never does.

[Paelos]

Ok, thanks.  Actually, he works two minutes from home.  He could come home and play with me during lunch, but he never does.

He's probably playing with himself at the office.

[Trippy]

Should I buy this thing?  I like rpgs and fighting games like Tekken and Soul Calibur.  If I buy two can I play with Righ?  I'd look this all up but I'm really tired. 

Both the Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP will have RPGs. For 3D one-on-one fighting games, the PSP is probably the better platform (better 3D graphics on the PSP). Both support wireless connectivity for playing against other people.

[MrHat]

Ok, thanks.  Actually, he works two minutes from home.  He could come home and play with me during lunch, but he never does.

He's probably playing with himself at the office.

At least he can take some 'inspiration' with him to work.  In the form of movies.


Dirty movies.

[Signe]

Am I crazy or do the perviest people in f13 all have monkey avatars?

[schild]

Am I crazy or do the perviest people in f13 all have monkey avatars?

MrHat isn't a monkey. He's Johnny Chimpo.

[SirBruce]

My avatar is actually a dragon, even though a lot of people think it looks like a duck.

Bruce

[schild]

Neither a dragon nor a duck is a monkey. Why are you posting in this thread? Be gone with ye!

[SirBruce]

Because I think if we did a poll as to who was the perviest person on f13, I'd do much better than I did in the last poll.  My point was simply to illustrate that it's not a monkey, so that's just more evidence that Signe's observation is flawed.

Bruce

[schild]

Your logic cuts me. Shouldn't you be trying to stay away from conversations like this? Yes, I do believe so. Now back to your regularly schedules discussion of why the PSP will be telling the DS to bend over.

[stray]

Now back to your regularly schedules discussion of why the PSP will be telling the DS to bend over.

While the PSP's capabilities are superior, they're both going to be fun (it's one thing to write off a game as "unfun", another to completely write off an entire platform). In the end, it's just going to come down to the simple matter of price. This time next year, I expect the DS will be well ahead in number of units and games sold.

[schild]

Now back to your regularly schedules discussion of why the PSP will be telling the DS to bend over.

While the PSP's capabilities are superior, they're both going to be fun (it's one thing to write off a game as "unfun", another to completely write off an entire platform). In the end, it's just going to come down to the simple matter of price. This time next year, I expect the DS will be well ahead in number of units and games sold.

The Playstation cost more than the N64.

The Playstation 2 cost more than the Gamecube.

Both always had, through the entirety of the generation.

[MrHat]

Didn't the Playstation 2 had backwards compatability like the DS does now?

[ahoythematey]

Actually, at the time of the N64's release the psx had dropped in price to $200, making it less expensive than the N64.