Alcibiades
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http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nb20041009a1.htm
'NO REASON' TO BUY SONY PSP
New Nintendo console analysts' choice
By TAIGA URANAKA
Staff writer
The PlayStation Portable is the talk of the town, after basking in the limelight at a recent game show.
But despite all the hoopla, Sony Computer Entertainment Co.'s soon-to-debut portable game console is unlikely to loosen Nintendo Co.'s grip on the global market, according to game industry analysts. They say there is no compelling reason for gamers to buy the PSP. Its rival, the Nintendo DS, they say, offers eye-opening novelty.
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"With a dual touch-sensitive screen, voice recognition and wireless communication, the Nintendo DS has a load of new features," said Eiji Maeda, game analyst at Daiwa Institute of Research Ltd.
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Daiwa's Maeda said that while PSP's game lineup also includes popular titles, many are already available on the PlayStation 2.
"Popular titles do not necessarily make killer titles, by which I mean games that users can only play with that particular console," he said.
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Takashi Oka of UFJ Tsubasa Securities Co. said the Nintendo DS' backward compatibility allows users to play games created for the Game Boy Advance, which has 500 game titles in Japan.
"It is reassuring for users to know that they can also play existing games," he said.
Even worse for PSP, industry watchers suspect that Sony might have to delay its launch, which the firm has said would happen by the yearend in Japan, because game software makers cannot meet the deadline.
"I think it would be better for Sony to delay the PSP's launch to avoid direct competition with the Nintendo DS, even if it means missing the holiday shopping season here," Masaru Onishi of JP Morgan Securities Asia said.
"Instead of releasing (the console) with a weak game title lineup, it should wait until next year to get fully prepared."