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[Dave Long]

Just do a search at eBay on PSP in completed items. You'll see all the units that didn't sell because the reserve was set above the cost of the unit. Obviously, like any system launch, people expected to make a mint on this one by reselling unopened units but that isn't happening.

eBay is usually a good gauge of how desirable something is when you have many units available on there.

 

[DrGAKMAN]

Not really naysaying PSP or hopping on the "PSP Bomba" bandwagon, but in my (Blockbuster) district we didn't get the system or games for sale or rent and only ONE person called about the system this week to see if we had it for rent. By contrast we've gotten alot of calls (and still are) about wether we carry NDS systems/games.

I also wanna make a comment about the false demand/supplies crap. Nintendo, MS & Sony are ALL guilty of this, so don't get on a high horse about how Sony is soooooo great for having so many PSP's available at launch...that's crap. Sony had that many at launch thinking/knowing that they would sell out as fast as PS2...sad thing is (and I think this is surprizing ALL of us), it's not:
-no justification for a $250 portable
-same kind of games buyers can ALREADY get on their consoles
-console priced games on a portable is also not justified to buyers
-of the impulse buyers who are an early adopter of the PSP they WILL tell other potential buyers about the durability, price, dead pixel & battery life issues
-PlayStation is branded with consoles (hence why not many buy anything but a PlayStation home system, despite the competitions efforts) & GameBoy is branded with portables (hence why 95% of the portable market is and has been GameBoy for longer than even PlayStation has been *the* console, also despite it's competition)

Portable gaming is about:
-durability
-portability
-battery life
-price of system (should be cheaper than consoles)
-price of games (should be cheaper than their console counterparts)
-pick up & play games (hence why puzzle, mini, quick action & pokemon games games do so well on portables)

PSP may have better marketting/power/graphics, but if it can't find it's groove in the above categories then it won't do well and I can already see Nintendo DS and even the GBA out-class PSP in some/all of those areas. By the time PSP hits any kind of stride, that's when Nintendo probably will go ahead with a more powerful, durable, capable, price-freindly, battery-freindly next generation GameBoy.

 

[kaching]

I'm not which side of this thread I'm enjoying more... those folks who took local surveys to show the PSP is selling... or those folks who took local surveys to show it's not.... :lol :lol :lol :lol

Who needs NPD when you have irate GAFers canvassing the retailers! :lol

 

[chespace]

Portable gaming is about:
-pick up & play games (hence why puzzle, mini, quick action & pokemon games games do so well on portables)

Fucking bullshit. Last I checked, Pokemon was an RPG. Plus, there are plenty of "pick up & play" games on PSP. In fact, I'm about to go play one right now so you'll just have to twiddle your stylus and figure out what those are.

 

[Speevy]

Portable gaming is about integrating into one's daily life a gameplay experience that is either impossible or inconvenient to emulate on a console, and that can be entered and exited at a moment's notice.

 

[Odnetnin]

What handheld supports the features I listed, again?

Fuck, PDAs support touch screen, and have games that utilize it far better than the DS -- what's your point?

Name the games or shut up. That's all that can be said here.

The amount of damage control in this thread is hilarious. So much for PSP's selling out, GAF. :lol And those in stock @ stores numbers you guys are providing OBVIOUSLY doesn't take into account the returns unless the retail staff put the PSPs back in stock.

Someone needs to find the thread where guys on this forum PROCLAIMED a 100% sellout. ^_^ roffles

 

[Dragmire]

The naysayers will eat crow when all the casuals realize PSP has Ridge Racer and Wipeout.

 

[TekunoRobby]

The naysayers will eat crow when all the casuals realize PSP has Ridge Racer and Wipeout.

They already realized it man, Ridge Racers is sold out here!

I wanted to pick it up too. Online time!

 

[Speevy]

The naysayers will eat crow when all the casuals realize PSP has Ridge Racer and Wipeout.

I would think Grand Theft Auto, Midnight Club, and NFSU would be more compelling, since those games sell better than any Ridge Racer or Wipeout.

 

[oldskool]

Is it true that it can take up to a minute just to start playing some psp games? G4tv.com said that it takes 30 seconds to load the game, and another 20 seconds to load a level. They didn't mention which game, but if true.... ouch!

 

[Dragmire]

I would think Grand Theft Auto, Midnight Club, and NFSU would be more compelling, since those games sell better than any Ridge Racer or Wipeout.

Come on, man! Ridge Racer and Wipeout are the future of gaming!

 

[quetz67]

From what I read Sony is probably happy. Sure PSP is not flying off shelves everywhere and maybe its not even close to being sold out.

But Sony can push the half million units or so into the retailers that are sold out and claim the 1.5million shipped they need to reach their 3 million estimation.

 

[Alex]

I just don't want anything to tank, heh. I think gaming is by far better now than it's ever been, and as most folks who own a PSP know, it's a damn fantastic little machine. I'm really amazed how much I'm digging the launch lineup.

 

[Date of Lies]

I love it how sony fans push the "graphics aren't important" rock when it comes to PS2 but rush to drop it with "LOOK AT THE GRAPHICS ON P-S-P!!"

some gangsta kid in the metro told me it played PS2-level games, movies and mp3s. I asked him how much it cost, he told me he payed 700$ CDN for everything :lol

He had NBA Street on it and it had cheap single 2D image cutscenes with text :lol


anyway, resume damage-control

 

[Azrael]

I love it how sony fans push the "graphics aren't important" rock when it comes to PS2 but rush to drop it with "LOOK AT THE GRAPHICS ON P-S-P!!"

The PS2 is a lot closer graphically to Gamecube/X-Box than a DS is to PSP.

Wouldn't the bigger hypocrite be someone who hates PS2 because its games "look like shit," but prefers the DS to the PSP because "graphics don't matter"?

 

[SickBoy]

Heh, given the comments here, I've thought about eBaying a few copies of Ridge Racer.. seems to be in pretty steady supply here. I think THUG is the one selling out.

Anyhow, I just wanted to chime in again, and say that I think the real test is what the system's doing next week. I said earlier I think Sony's probably surprised at the low sales. Still do, but they're on record saying they expected to sell out "within a week."

So ask at the end of the month.

Me? I'm continuing to go insane over the launch. I really want one, but it's more about coveting a neat new gadget than actual need. My gaming money would be better spent on a long-term strategy of picking up affordable console games, since I rarely am in a situation to play a portable (my GBA is woefully underplayed, for example). Still, the Atari Lynx was my favorite handheld of all time, and this reminds me of all its good points, while being backed by a real company and not requiring a family that owns a stake in a battery-manufacturing plant (hooray for modern rechargeable technology!)

 

[Date of Lies]

The PS2 is a lot closer graphically to Gamecube/X-Box than a DS is to PSP.

Wouldn't the bigger hypocrite be someone who hates PS2 because its games "look like shit," but prefers the DS to the PSP because "graphics don't matter"?

I said to resume damage control, not paint the town with it.

 

[P90]

Portable gaming is about:
-durability
-portability
-battery life
-price of system (should be cheaper than consoles)
-price of games (should be cheaper than their console counterparts)
-pick up & play games (hence why puzzle, mini, quick action & pokemon games games do so well on portables)

Head of nail hit.

Chespace:

Fucking bullshit. Last I checked, Pokemon was an RPG. Plus, there are plenty of "pick up & play" games on PSP. In fact, I'm about to go play one right now so you'll just have to twiddle your stylus and figure out what those are.

Arent' you in the VG journalistic biz? Pokemon IS pick up and play. FF I and II on GBA are pick up and play. Dr. G did not say the PSP DOESN'T have pick up and play games or won't ever have. Just that pick up and play games are alot of what portable gaming is about. History bears this out.

 

[NR1]

Well, all I have to say is that this weekend shall be very interesting in terms of sales. Does anyone know which retailers will be closed on Easter Sunday? I know all Target stores are closed, and since it appears most Targets still have large numbers of PSPs in stock, that will hurt Sony. I would assume Wal-Mart will be open, but I could be wrong.

Does anyone know about Best Buy, Circuit City, GameStop, EB Games, Fry's, Toys "R" Us, K Mart, and other major retailers?

To have one full day of missed sales could hamper Sony's ability to reach its goal of 1 million units sold within a week. Though the DS was released on Nov. 21, and most stores were closed for Thanksgiving on Nov. 25, we need to realize that Nov. 26 is considered "Black Friday" in retail. DS had a very good retail climate working for it, where as Sony's climate is just hampering the PSP's potential growth.

As one of my co-workers put it, "Well its obvious nobody is buying it, because they are all putting their money in gasoline for their cars!" Gas is $2.05 a gallon in the Dallas- For Worth area on average. And as everyone knows, Texans love their pick-up trucks, SUVs, and Hummers. :lol

 

[WrathOfOtaibah]

All this talk about PSP has made me itching to get one today. I'm going to pick one up for Ridge Racer, Wipeout, and Lumines if they got it. My credit card will be hurting...badly but I must get one.

I could find a DS in stock from day one.

The day of the DS launch, when I went at noon to get one, two stores were already sold out (Best Buy and EB) and had to go to Target where there were just a couple left. The DS launch fared much better. Of course, it was the holiday season. Somehow there were tons of copies of Mario 64 DS. Looks like the PSP launch is the bizarro DS launch:

- More games than units
- Did well
- Cheaper hardware and games

Maybe Sony made a huge miscalculation

Sony overpriced it and threw in a bunch of extra crap to make more money. $250 is just too much right now. There may be some more buzz once word of a new GTA for it hits. Plus the franchises right now aren't exactly the kind that force people to run out and get it by impulse. Most of the EA games are PS2 ports and going by their performance thread, they are less in demand this year.

I think if people want to see good PSP sales, they'll have to wait until GT4 and GTA come out.

By the time PSP hits any kind of stride, that's when Nintendo probably will go ahead with a more powerful, durable, capable, price-freindly, battery-freindly next generation GameBoy.

Yeah but the current performance in Japan is making sure that there's development going on to hit that stride. The US market will pick up, it just won't happen until the right games and the right price hit. Not sure about Europe and Australia but I imagine they will reflect the US. There's a lot of big hits coming to the PSP. Even if its a sales dud, to dismiss it entirely is a bad idea.

You are right, Nintendo does have the upper hand in the handheld market. I do now think that the DS is that stop gap. It was meant to fight off the PSP until Nintendo had something amazing to unleash to the public. If the PSP was a success, Nintendo would work fast and show GBA 2 off at E3 2006. If PSP was a decent handheld and DS/GBA performance is acceptable, they would wait until they were ready.

Going by the PSP performance, it will probably be longer before we see anything about the GBA 2.

 

[jetsetmario]

Just a quick comment about all the people mentioning how games have been selling out. The reality of this is this. Activision and EA shipped out an ass of software. For christs sake we received more copies of Thug remix than we did PSP's. However we received about four copies of the other games. Ridge Racer-4, Wipeout-4, Darkstalkers-4. The real story with the sellout of these games at certain locations is that they simply did not have a huge intial print run.

 

[dark10x]

I love it how sony fans push the "graphics aren't important" rock when it comes to PS2 but rush to drop it with "LOOK AT THE GRAPHICS ON P-S-P!!"

That's a pretty poor comparison. PS2 is clearly a member of the same generation and typically produces visuals very much on par with XBOX and GC. Some of its best games are still quite stunning to behold (MGS3, for instance). Heck, the PS2 features more 60 fps titles than any other system.

Still, I would typically prefer a new game to be announced for XBOX or GC over the PS2 simply due to the fact that they tend to offer slightly better visuals. There is still a difference, afterall, but it is quite minor.

What allows the PS2 to remain such an appealing platform, however, is the software library.

The DS situation is ENTIRELY different. It is literally a generation behind the PSP. "Graphics aren't important" when comparing PS2 to XBOX, as they really compare quite favorably. However, it becomes much more of an issue when you are comparing, say, N64 to XBOX.

The DS basically offers an inferior audio/visual experience as well as a poor software library. I'll be able to enjoy it when the software picks up, but in most cases, I would have preferred it on PSP due to the generational gap in presentation. If you were to ask someone whether they'd prefer a new Zelda game on N64 or GAMECUBE, which do you think they'd choose?

 

[AniHawk]

If you were to ask someone whether they'd prefer a new Zelda game on N64 or GAMECUBE, which do you think they'd choose?

N64. Because the N64 Zeldas > GC Zeldas.

 

[Littleberu]

N64. Because the N64 Zeldas > GC Zeldas.

Woh!? What kind of logic is that?

 

[Littleberu]

Portable gaming is about:
-durability
-portability
-battery life
-price of system (should be cheaper than consoles)
-price of games (should be cheaper than their console counterparts)

It's not because Nintendo established these rules that they are still valid.

The point of portable anything is to have the most thing in the smallest space possible, while being very good in everything it does. PSP is a portable gaming system, a mp3 player, a video player and an images viewer. THAT'S a good portable system nowadays.

 

[Speevy]

There is still a difference, afterall, but it is quite minor.

I know nothing about graphics, and I see a difference between the average quality of graphics. Let's forget Halo 2. Forget Ninja Gaiden. Forget DOA3. Forget Rallisport Challenge 2.

Let's focus on average/bad exclusives.

Now, what does this prove? It proves what a stupid guy like me sees when he compares the PS2 to the Xbox. Purely average games. I even took the better ones from the PS2 pile. More than anything, I see cleaner graphics and better environment textures on typical Xbox exclusives.

 

[dark10x]

Shinobi and SOCOM are f*cking ugly games, though. BAD choice...

Still, those shots could all come from the same system and it wouldn't suprise me.

The difference between PSP and DS is more like...

 

[Catchpenny]

I'm like Michael Jordan, and dark10x is like Yinka Dare. To prove this, I'm going to put up a video of Shaq posting up on Shawn Bradley.

 

[chespace]

Chespace:


Arent' you in the VG journalistic biz? Pokemon IS pick up and play. FF I and II on GBA are pick up and play. Dr. G did not say the PSP DOESN'T have pick up and play games or won't ever have. Just that pick up and play games are alot of what portable gaming is about. History bears this out.

What I do for a living has nothing to do with this discussion -- you don't see me come in here saying "as a videogame journalist I think..." -- so let's leave that shit at the door.

That said, I would argue that RPGs are not pick-up-and-play type of games. I can't count the number of times I've had to get off the bus on the way to work and had to literally walk with one eye on the GBA and one eye on SF morning commute foot traffic to finish a random encounter... or in the case of SMB RPG, stress about finding that next save point. Most of the time, I just turn off the screen, close the GBA and deal with it after I get to the office.

You could say that any portable game that lets you save anywhere/anytime is pick-up-and-play. In fact, you could say that EVERY PSP game is pick-up-and-play because of the system's universal sleep ability. Shit, it must be once a day that I just flip the system off when I need to mobilize off a bus or get from point A to B. It's sweet because even in the middle of Wipeout, I can just pause, then switch the damn thing off and not lose ANYTHING in the transition.

Anyway, if his point is that pick-up-and-play is what portable gaming is all about, then the PSP fits right into that tenent.

 

[DrGAKMAN]

Head of nail hit.

Chespace:


Arent' you in the VG journalistic biz? Pokemon IS pick up and play. FF I and II on GBA are pick up and play. Dr. G did not say the PSP DOESN'T have pick up and play games or won't ever have. Just that pick up and play games are alot of what portable gaming is about. History bears this out.

Gee thanks for the backup. You're right, I wasn't saying PSP couldn't do it, just that it (or any portable) needs to do it.

Portable gaming will *always* be secondary to console gaming...which means it's games, for the most part, have to be sorta secondary. Portable gamers are getting portable games more for quick bursts of fun every once in a while, so puzzle games, quick action games and mini games do well on the system. But, that's not to say the GameBoy brand hasn't had depth at all...the GameBoy line has been VERY good for strategy games and RPG's 'cos a system that relies less on graphics and more on gameplay & immersion (hell the screen is inches from your face)...but even then games like PokeMon & Fire Emblem are deep, but can be turned off at any time to be played later. This quick burst gaming is what portable gaming is about...you play it on the go, on the move out and about, you may need to stop playing at any moments time.

Which brings up another point...the attach rate for portables has always been lower for portables than for consoles...always. Sony plans to change that with PSP in order to make money on licensing, but the problem is they're going to have to manage titles/exclussives from their console lines and portable lines which is very difficult to do (ask Nintendo) and even *moreso* difficult for Sony since the PSP has console-level graphics. So there's going to be lots of similar looking ports between PSP and their console counterparts. So I think Sony is going to have a tough time managing that *and* trying to increase the attach rates of a *secondary* form of gaming! To add...if PSP games are going to remain as expensive as they are (practically the same price as their console counterparts) than I don't think Sony will be able to increase attach rates for portables.

Someone made the comment about more multi-media functions on PSP. Hey, that's great and all, but it's not like it can't be done on GBA/NDS/next GB. I'm sure that the Play-Yan (V-Pocket) will come to the U.S. and I'd rather just download movies & mp3's to it than pay for a portable version of a movie I already own. Granted, the PSP's screen is *alot* nicer for movies, but even a portable DVD player is more practical for that, just as an iPod is more practical for music. Also granted PSP has memory stick options for movies/music as well...but that, to me, is sorta offset by the fact I could get a simple cheap add-on for my existing GBA/NDS for *way* less than a PSP.

To each is own, sorry if I hurt anyones OPINION like I seemed to have done with chespace!

 

[vireland]

Is it true that it can take up to a minute just to start playing some psp games? G4tv.com said that it takes 30 seconds to load the game, and another 20 seconds to load a level. They didn't mention which game, but if true.... ouch!

Some games, yes. BUT the PSP instant save state is fantastic. You just hit the power briefly and it will save the game state as-is and turn off the machine. When you hit it again, it takes about 2 seconds and the game returns to exactly the point where you turned the system off (mid-action, even). Works very much like save state in PC console emulators. Great feature that makes it unnecessary to quit/load games in the power off/on cycle.

 

[Wario64]

Hmm, so is it best to just put it in sleep mode? I've been turning it off completely every time I powered down. I was afraid it'd waste battery but now thinking about it, I would actually save more battery power if I just used sleep mode.

 

[chespace]

Hmm, so is it best to just put it in sleep mode? I've been turning it off completely every time I powered down. I was afraid it'd waste battery but now thinking about it, I would actually save more battery power if I just used sleep mode.

Sleep mode is your friend. And it's not a killer on batteries either.

To each is own, sorry if I hurt anyones OPINION like I seemed to have done with chespace!

Nah, no hard feelings. I just vehemently disagree that handheld games have to be secondary, or played in quick bursts, as I seem to contradict that assertion every day. In fact, just ask my wife how much time I spend just lazing around playing Metal Gear Acid. If anything, I think PSP will only legitimize the status of handheld games as "primary" form of entertainment for many.

 

[Drinky Crow]

Some games, yes. BUT the PSP instant save state is fantastic. You just hit the power briefly and it will save the game state as-is and turn off the machine. When you hit it again, it takes about 2 seconds and the game returns to exactly the point where you turned the system off (mid-action, even). Works very much like save state in PC console emulators. Great feature that makes it unnecessary to quit/load games in the power off/on cycle.

Holy shit, I'm retarded. I didn't know this -- the giant brick of the PSP manual was just too daunting to read, even on the john. Man, my wife is gonna be grateful -- no more "I gotta get to a save point, then I can pick up the kid" antics.

 

[P90]

What I do for a living has nothing to do with this discussion -- you don't see me come in here saying "as a videogame journalist I think..." -- so let's leave that shit at the door.
.

Then why not use a more anonymous user name? Something is amiss here.

You could say that any portable game that lets you save anywhere/anytime is pick-up-and-play.

That sounds good to me. I don't see how Dr G's post disagrees with the statement.

 

[Date of Lies]

The DS situation is ENTIRELY different. It is literally a generation behind the PSP. "Graphics aren't important" when comparing PS2 to XBOX, as they really compare quite favorably. However, it becomes much more of an issue when you are comparing, say, N64 to XBOX.

What you just said was "graphic aren't important, UNLESS when comparing DS and PSP, then they DO matter", what kind of fucked up double standard is that? And the fact that you called the DS's library poor (which to some extent, I agree with) is somewhat laughable considering that if you're not a racing game fan, you'd be hard pressed to find anything that stands out in PSP's launch and if you want to compare libraries, you can go to one of jarrod's threads and see for yourself. Personally I'd think both libraries are comparable and in fact, I favor the DS' and I dont think the PSP's library warrants a Gretzki bundle's price for me right now but I wouldn't mind getting it later on when the price drops, Sony breaks this bundle crap and the library broadens.

 

[Kola]

I don't want to read the whole thread, so what's the consensus? (just tick the box)

[ ] The PSP actually sells quite well!! Don't believe the haters!
[ ] Poor Sony's gonna go bankrupt real soon...
[ ] We still don't know shit, piss off punk!

 

[Drinky Crow]

you're not a racing game fan, you'd be hard pressed to find anything that stands out in PSP's launch

As opposed to the preponderance of OMG MINI-GAMES!!!! and puzzlers that comprise the DS "quality" library?

How you dipshits can overlook Lumines (one of the best puzzlers made), MG Acid (a great PC-esque strategy game), Darkstalkers (2D fighting at its finest), and Untold Legends (a better-than-average multiplayer-enabled Diablo clone) is beyond me. The launch variety on the PSP slaughters the currently available DS library, most of which seems to be limited to minigames or who have their design encumbered by the need to incorporate the touch screen.

And next week we get Hot Shots Golf, which slaughters EVERYTHING on BOTH systems.

 

[mashoutposse]

What you just said was "graphic aren't important, UNLESS when comparing DS and PSP, then they DO matter", what kind of fucked up double standard is that?

It's this kind of fucked up double standard:

XBOX>PS2 - graphics difference not a big deal

PSP>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>DS - graphics difference a big deal

It's really that simple.

 

[Speevy]

DESTROY!

 

[Drinky Crow]

Yeah, the DS to PSP graphics leap is like PSOne to DC, and then some. It's more than generational; it's transcendental. The DS is really a very ugly piece of hardware kit.

 

[Speevy]

It's like PSP to Xbox.

*runs*

 

[chespace]

Then why not use a more anonymous user name? Something is amiss here.

I've been using chespace forever now. It's just like a staple of my online persona or something. Your inability to separate my profession from my hobby (posting on GAF) is not my problem.

As for Dr. Gak's point, I've already addressed my disagreement in another post.

 

[Date of Lies]

Alright Sony fans, sorry for interupting your circle jerk.

 

[DrGAKMAN]

Sleep mode is your friend. And it's not a killer on batteries either.



Nah, no hard feelings. I just vehemently disagree that handheld games have to be secondary, or played in quick bursts, as I seem to contradict that assertion every day. In fact, just ask my wife how much time I spend just lazing around playing Metal Gear Acid. If anything, I think PSP will only legitimize the status of handheld games as "primary" form of entertainment for many.

The original GameBoy was my first system, the GameBoy line has remained my favorite system and out of all the systems I own the most games for GameBoy (close to about 75 and at some times in my gaming life over 100).

However...I'm in the minority as MOST people who've bought a GameBoy (wether original, Color or Advance) buy 5 games or less and it shows in the attach rates. Add to that the special editions, pocket versions, sp editions, fantastic color lines and I'd say alot of people own multiple GameBoy's even. And even though I have tons of GameBoy games the attach rate is crippled by the fact that I own multiple GB's (orignal launch, funtastic black, silver GBpocket, see-thru purple GBcolor, white launch GBA, silver GBAsp).

Portables...will *always* be secondary to consoles. Me and you are in the minorities of: 1) really being into games, 2) taking portable gaming seriously & 3) commuting to work rather than driving. Most potential portable gamers in America are hendered from getting into portable gaming like us 'cos they drive. And most people (even mainstream PS2 owners) still don't take portable gaming seriously. This may change with the feature heavy older skewing NDS & PSP...but will portable gaming be seen as more than console gaming because of that...NO...when X-BOX 360, Revolution & PS3 launch...all the "greatness" that was the PSP will be forgotten. Yeah it's beautiful for a portable...but still most gamers would rather put $300 towards an all-powerful next generation CONSOLE than they would a portable. Some older people may take the console level graphics of the PSP and see portable gaming as a more "serious" thing...but in no way will it be taken as seriously as console gaming.

Maybe someday in the future when maybe consoles get small enough and portable technology get's good enough the two will meld together to become a uber-gaming platform...but by itself...as it is now...portable gaming will be secondary to that of console gaming.

 

[gamergirly]

As opposed to the preponderance of OMG MINI-GAMES!!!! and puzzlers that comprise the DS "quality" library?

How you dipshits can overlook Lumines (one of the best puzzlers made), MG Acid (a great PC-esque strategy game), Darkstalkers (2D fighting at its finest), and Untold Legends (a better-than-average multiplayer-enabled Diablo clone) is beyond me. The launch variety on the PSP slaughters the currently available DS library, most of which seems to be limited to minigames or who have their design encumbered by the need to incorporate the touch screen.

And next week we get Hot Shots Golf, which slaughters EVERYTHING on BOTH systems.

What have you been drinking lately? :lol

 

[Wario64]

Wait, next week Hot Shots Golf? Uhh...isn't it releasing in June? Don't play tricks on me!

 

[Drinky Crow]

Gamecrazy has it listed as 3/30.

 

[chespace]

Maybe someday in the future when maybe consoles get small enough and portable technology get's good enough the two will meld together to become a uber-gaming platform...but by itself...as it is now...portable gaming will be secondary to that of console gaming.

In terms of technology, I think we're just starting to see it become a good enough standard for the mainstream to take handheld gaming seriously. Like you said, a big part of why folks haven't been taking portable gaming seriously is because up until last year, handheld games looked like shit most people were playing when they were kids. They see your typical GBA game and they think, ahhh, videogames... that shit I used to play back in 1990.

And you can't separate technology from content, and vice versa. They have an undefinable effect on each other -- kind of like that MGS3 thread from a while back (hmm, a new one seems to pop up every week or so) where folks were debating whether or not MGS3 would still be "best game evar" if it had the same gameplay but looked like MGS1. A part of why MGS3 is the best experience ever is because it looks AND plays well.

With PSP and hopefully with DS, the content will finally be compelling enough for the mainstream to see all the benefits of handheld gaming.

 

[mashoutposse]

Not really naysaying PSP or hopping on the "PSP Bomba" bandwagon, but in my (Blockbuster) district we didn't get the system or games for sale or rent and only ONE person called about the system this week to see if we had it for rent. By contrast we've gotten alot of calls (and still are) about wether we carry NDS systems/games.

I also wanna make a comment about the false demand/supplies crap. Nintendo, MS & Sony are ALL guilty of this, so don't get on a high horse about how Sony is soooooo great for having so many PSP's available at launch...that's crap. Sony had that many at launch thinking/knowing that they would sell out as fast as PS2...sad thing is (and I think this is surprizing ALL of us), it's not:
-no justification for a $250 portable
-same kind of games buyers can ALREADY get on their consoles
-console priced games on a portable is also not justified to buyers
-of the impulse buyers who are an early adopter of the PSP they WILL tell other potential buyers about the durability, price, dead pixel & battery life issues
-PlayStation is branded with consoles (hence why not many buy anything but a PlayStation home system, despite the competitions efforts) & GameBoy is branded with portables (hence why 95% of the portable market is and has been GameBoy for longer than even PlayStation has been *the* console, also despite it's competition)

Portable gaming is about:
-durability
-portability
-battery life
-price of system (should be cheaper than consoles)
-price of games (should be cheaper than their console counterparts)
-pick up & play games (hence why puzzle, mini, quick action & pokemon games games do so well on portables)

PSP may have better marketting/power/graphics, but if it can't find it's groove in the above categories then it won't do well and I can already see Nintendo DS and even the GBA out-class PSP in some/all of those areas. By the time PSP hits any kind of stride, that's when Nintendo probably will go ahead with a more powerful, durable, capable, price-freindly, battery-freindly next generation GameBoy.

The PSP's only problem is that people haven't seen it up close yet. I think we all counted on Sony doing a better job of marketing the console pre-launch. $250 sounds unattractive when your only frame of reference for gaming handhelds are underpowered, plasticky, single-purpose Game Boys. It's unrealistic to expect people to pay that much without letting them see more than the illustrations on the box.

Similar to how things panned out in Japan, people will continue to concoct Nintendo-favorable reasons that explain why no one wants a powerful handheld, up until the day that PSP becomes the #1 seller month to month.