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[sonycowboy]

I have to say, I love the new gamedaily I"ll only post the summaries and leave it up to you to read the details.

http://biz.gamedaily.com/features.asp?article_id=7972&section=feature&email=


The upcoming portable war between the Sony PSP and the Nintendo DS is heating up. Is Sony ready for the mobile market? Can Nintendo continue to dominate? The positives and the negatives for both camps.

Launch Lineup

EDGE: Currently Sony, but that could change if Nintendo surprises us with some big-time announcements in October.


First-Party
EDGE: Nintendo's first-party offering have always been among the strongest in the biz.

Third-Party
EDGE: Sony has the edge, but it's closer than some might think.

Pricing
EDGE: Clearly Nintendo DS—$149.99 is too appealing to the mass market even if the PSP does more than just games for $225-$299.

Launch Timing
EDGE: Once again, Nintendo.

Experience
EDGE: Nintendo certainly has more experience when it comes to the handheld market.

Battery Life
EDGE: Nintendo DS, especially if it is closer to 10 hours.

Marketing
EDGE: Nintendo gets the edge, but only slightly.

Consumer Cool Factor
EDGE: Sony PSP, nobody does "cool" better

Overall
The portable market is ready to explode, and both of these systems are going to dramatically expand the market. Sony and Nintendo may be offering different portable experiences, but it's going to be a close battle for sure. DFC Intelligence president, David Cole, is predicting that market share will be "fairly evenly split" between the two.

Nintendo has nothing to prove. They own the handheld market. It's Sony that's the challenger here, but we all know what happened with the original PlayStation don't we? All we can do now is wait and enjoy the ride.

EDGE: You didn't really think we'd pick a winner here, did you?

 

[GDGF]

That's pretty surprising, coming from Edge. Europe is Sony country (err..continent)


Bodes well for the big N.

 

[Miburou]

Er, it's not EDGE as in the magazine...

 

[sonycowboy]

That's pretty surprising, coming from Edge. Europe is Sony country (err..continent)


Bodes well for the big N.

It's not the magazine, EDGE, it's just for each aspect, they give the "edge" to one or the other.

 

[pilonv1]

http://biz.gamedaily.com/features.asp?article_id=7972&section=feature&email=

You must learn to read before you can understand.

EDGE: You didn't really think we'd pick a winner here, did you?

Not when there's so little know about launch lineups and PSP.

 

[Miburou]

Damage control: FAILED!

 

[GDGF]

Oh. Still, a nice little comparison.

 

[Pellham]

if anything, I see the PSP opening the portables market up to more adult gamers. Right now, portables are dominated by teens and kids, which is not a problem, since they are a HUGE segment obviously. I think both the DS and PSP will be very successful (Nintendo in particular will have to concentrate on DS anyway, since it will inevitably be 80% of its business in the next generation).

 

[sonycowboy]

Overall
The portable market is ready to explode, and both of these systems are going to dramatically expand the market. Sony and Nintendo may be offering different portable experiences, but it's going to be a close battle for sure. DFC Intelligence president, David Cole, is predicting that market share will be "fairly evenly split" between the two.

If this prediction turns out to be true, then Sony will have won. I think it's possible, but it's likely that Nintendo will shoot out of the gates with a significant edge over the PSP (even considering the difference in launch timeframes). However, if Sony can create and cultivate their target market, towards the end of those two products, I could see Sony taking half.

That's kind of a big if at this point, though.

 

[xsarien]

That's pretty surprising, coming from Edge. Europe is Sony country (err..continent)


Bodes well for the big N.

It's not from Edge.

Nintendo has nothing to prove. They own the handheld market. It's Sony that's the challenger here, but we all know what happened with the original PlayStation don't we? All we can do now is wait and enjoy the ride.

I think between the PSX, Sony's complete inability to penetrate the portable digital music player market, and the Vaio's limited marketshare, it's time to stop giving them the benefit of the doubt everytime they enter into unfamiliar territory (hell, even ground that they've known for years.)

I mean shit, yeah, I love my PS2, but I'm also a pragmatist. Sony has no experience in handheld gaming, why should I just assume that they're going to get everything right?

 

[DSN2K]

it wont be close battle at all, DS will lead by a large amount.

got nothing do with quality of the systems but the market they are being pushed at.

PSP will be a success but anyone thinking its going to out sell a Nintendo handheld is joking them selfs. Nintendo have "won" this war already for what its worth.

PSP2 or whatever it is will be a problem for Nintendo with the next Gameboy. Sony will certainly get what they want out of this console, a foothold in and they have timed it very well I might add.

 

[sonycowboy]

I think between the PSX, Sony's complete inability to penetrate the portable digital music player market, and the Vaio's limited marketshare, it's time to stop giving them the benefit of the doubt everytime they enter into unfamiliar territory (hell, even ground that they've known for years.)

I mean shit, yeah, I love my PS2, but I'm also a pragmatist. Sony has no experience in handheld gaming, why should I just assume that they're going to get everything right?

I think the biggest reason for giving them a shot is that the market really is wide open. I mean Nintendo is it. And the big N seems to have blinders to how big the market can actually be and are happy to cater to the younger crowd.

In other markets, the market is viable and well defined, with many competitors. With the PSP, the adult portable gaming market is untapped and we'll have to see if that market is simply not being catered to, or if it simply can't exist. If the market is viable, Sony WILL succeed, regardless of price and battery issues.

 

[Jacobi]

Wait for Spaceworld err... E3 err... 7 October. Until then it's a bit senseless to compare the lineups I think.

 

[Drensch]

With the PSP, the adult market is untapped and we'll have to see if that market is simply not being catered to, or if it simply can't exist.

You do realize that adults make up a significant part of the gameboy market, yes?

 

[jenov4]

I'm not sure about the actual statistics, but everywhere I look it's kids who are playing their GBA's & GBA SP's...

 

[sonycowboy]

You do realize that adults make up a significant part of the gameboy market, yes?

No. I've never seen any published reports to give a breakdown, but my understanding is that the median age is like 10-12, with the adult demographics being inconsequential. I'd love to see otherwise, because that would just give Sony that much more possibility for success.

 

[GDJustin]

I have to say, I love the new gamedaily I"ll only post the summaries and leave it up to you to read the details.

http://biz.gamedaily.com/features.asp?article_id=7972&section=feature&email=

Thank you Myself and one other guy are handling the majority of what you see on the new GD biz, with the other handful of stories freelanced out. I really shouldn't take any credit though, as James does about 5X the work that I do.

 

[Insertia]

You do realize that adults make up a significant part of the gameboy market, yes?

no.

 

[jamesb23]

Yes, as Justin said, I handle most of Biz. I wrote this PSP/DS piece, so I hope you guys enjoyed it.

 

[xsarien]

Yes, as Justin said, I handle most of Biz. I wrote this PSP/DS piece, so I hope you guys enjoyed it.

I'm sure it's produced what will probably be one of GAFs more memorable threads.

 

[sonycowboy]

Yes, as Justin said, I handle most of Biz. I wrote this PSP/DS piece, so I hope you guys enjoyed it.

Much appreciated. I went to the site regularly before, but most of the news stories were simply pickups from the wire, but getting some timely reporting and interviews from the business side really help to fill the void between PR releases and NPD numbers that are old by the time they get released.

 

[Lord Error]

You do realize that adults make up a significant part of the gameboy market, yes?

I very much doubt this is the case righ tnow. It would definitely work into Sony's favor if it was, though. I guess it also depends on what the 'significant' part means? Is that 10-20%? Or 50%?

 

[dark10x]

You do realize that adults make up a significant part of the gameboy market, yes?

Hmm, did you simply make that up based on assumptions or do have solid data? How is "significant" being defined?

 

[Travado]

Marketing
EDGE: Nintendo gets the edge, but only slightly.

 

[Sho Nuff]

They both suck. Read a book

 

[Suikoguy]

I stopped reading after they said nintendo was better at marketing. lmao!

 

[GDGF]

Hmm, did you simply make that up based on assumptions or do have solid data? How is "significant" being defined?

Can't say I've seen anything extremely recently, but there have been reports and data backing this up. I can't recall the exact number, but it was significant. If you really want to do the research, I wouldn't be surprised if there was something about this in one of Nintendo's year end pdf's (found on their website)

 

[Go Go Ackman!]

Hmm, did you simply make that up based on assumptions or do have solid data? How is "significant" being defined?

I'm thinking that the important factor is the number of adults that own PS2's, but have yet buy in to the handheld market. I'm sure that the number of potential customers who were unimpressed by handheld gaming exceeds the number of ones who are already own GBA's.

 

[Baron Aloha]

No. I've never seen any published reports to give a breakdown, but my understanding is that the median age is like 10-12, with the adult demographics being inconsequential. I'd love to see otherwise, because that would just give Sony that much more possibility for success.

According to Nintendo at E32004...at least 40% of the GBA's userbase is made up of people over the age of 18. So its not as inconsequential as you think.

 

[GDGF]

Oh, and I haven't seen anything better than Nintendo's 'Who Are You' gameboy adverts coming from Sony. IMO sony's marketing peeked with the old enos lives stuff.

 

[Ranger X]

to answer the question of this thread; DS.

 

[shibbs]

What is happening on 7 October? Nintendo giving a DS conference?

 

[dark10x]

What is "significant" in all this, though?

20-30% seems reasonable, but 50% does not.

 

[GDGF]

Well, apparently it's more than 40%, so there ya go. It's always been pretty high since the introduction of the system, though. Same for the high instance of casual gamers . The Gameboy market is another beast entirely from the home console market. It's really not going to be significantly threatened until someone else releases a cheap alternative with great battery life, too (and a killer lineup) It's like Nintendo is the only company that recognizes that formula or something. Everybody else tries and fails, and it all stems back to high prices and crappy battery life (they can't really be expected to do anything about Pokemon)


And speaking of Nintendo's handheld marketing, as I was typing this, another great looking GBA Who Are You advert pops on the TV. I believe the song was Black Betty this time (but I could be mistaken)

It was for Mario Pinball.

 

[aoi tsuki]

Well, apparently it's more than 40%, so there ya go. It's always been pretty high since the introduction of the system, though.

Huh? Where are these mysterious adult gamers? Why is it that the only people i see playing a GBA in public are either nerds or kids? Why don't GBA games ever get brought up during discussions about new games? And where'd you get that figure from?

i keep hearing about these adult GBA gamers like it's some urban myth. The only adults i know with GBAs are my gamer friends, but that's still only half a dozen or so. Compare that to the gajillions of people who own a PS2.

 

[GDGF]

Huh? Where are these mysterious adult gamers? Why is it that the only people i see playing a GBA in public are either nerds or kids? Why don't GBA games ever get brought up during discussions about new games? And where'd you get that figure from?

i keep hearing about these adult GBA gamers like it's some urban myth. The only adults i know with GBAs are my gamer friends, but that's still only half a dozen or so. Compare that to the gajillions of people who own a PS2.

I've seen plenty on various college campi, on airplanes and in other forms of public transportation. I guess it depends where ya go. I'd imagine it's mostly these casual playing adults (and to be fair, just over 18 isn't really all that old) that are the main reason for the lower attach rate (and have been since the days of businessmen playing Tetris between meetings)

They're also the main reason Nintendo can release the original SMB and have it be a smashing sales success. Nostalgia is king, here.

 

[xsarien]

i keep hearing about these adult GBA gamers like it's some urban myth. The only adults i know with GBAs are my gamer friends, but that's still only half a dozen or so. Compare that to the gajillions of people who own a PS2.

Maybe it's just where you live, I see at least one adult with a Game Boy a day.

 

[Alcibiades]

Huh? Where are these mysterious adult gamers? Why is it that the only people i see playing a GBA in public are either nerds or kids? Why don't GBA games ever get brought up during discussions about new games? And where'd you get that figure from?

i keep hearing about these adult GBA gamers like it's some urban myth. The only adults i know with GBAs are my gamer friends, but that's still only half a dozen or so. Compare that to the gajillions of people who own a PS2.

if buy "kids" you mean 18+ college students, I'd think they'd be classified as adults anyway...

I know quite a few people in college that own GBA's (that may or may not own PS2's).

The RPG market is really strong and it's the only viable portable system out there.

Not only that, I find GBA titles compete directly with GCN/XBox/PS2 titles in purchasing decisions when it comes to games like Pokemon, FF Tactics, Fire Emblem, Metroid, Advance Wars, Castlevania etc...

Some people would choose a GBA Castlevania (not surprising consider how LOI turned out) or GBA Metroid (they might prefer 2-d oldschool style) over their console 3-d iterations...

GBA's aren't just road companions.

 

[dark10x]

Maybe it's just where you live, I see at least one adult with a Game Boy a day.

No shit? That's awesome! I've never seen anything like that...

Where do you live?!?!

 

[snapty00]

First-Party
EDGE: Nintendo's first-party offering have always been among the strongest in the biz.

Marketing
EDGE: Nintendo gets the edge, but only slightly.

I don't agree with these two. I think Sony makes the better games overall now, and Sony's marketing just totally blows Nintendo's out of the water. You can be the biggest Nintendo fankid on the face of the planet and realize that. I mean, the fact that there's a thread on GAF whenever there's a Nintendo commercial ought to be a sign of that. That, and the fact that Nintendo fans have pulled the "marketing card" as an excuse since day one for GameCube.

The rest, I think, are good points, though -- especially the price. That, I believe, is what will be a determining factor, and DS definitely has the advantage there.

 

[ArcadeStickMonk]

Maybe it's just where you live, I see at least one adult with a Game Boy a day.

No shit? That's awesome! I've never seen anything like that...
Where do you live?!?!

Dude, what the fuck? Have you ever seen me without my SP in tow? I'm an adult! I'm twenty four, dammit!

 

[dark10x]

Dude, what the fuck? Have you ever seen me without my SP in tow? I'm an adult! I'm twenty four, dammit!

You and Nate are damn near the ONLY people over the age of 20 that I've seen walking around with a GBA...

 

[Floyd]

Why is it that the only people i see playing a GBA in public are either nerds or kids?

I see a shit load of nerds playing GBA too. They are everywhere. But they are still adults nerds or not.

 

[SantaC]

I don't agree with these two. I think Sony makes the better games overall now, and Sony's marketing just totally blows Nintendo's out of the water. You can be the biggest Nintendo fankid on the face of the planet and realize that. I mean, the fact that there's a thread on GAF whenever there's a Nintendo commercial ought to be a sign of that. That, and the fact that Nintendo fans have pulled the "marketing card" as an excuse since day one for GameCube.

The rest, I think, are good points, though -- especially the price. That, I believe, is what will be a determining factor, and DS definitely has the advantage there.

if it's something you should agree on it's Nintendos first party games.

btw I am 25 and own GBA SP. as do my friends

 

[dark10x]

if it's something you should agree on it's Nintendos first party games.

btw I am 25 and own GBA SP. as do my friends

Nintendo's first party games are among the strongest in the business...but SCE has more than caught up as of late.

 

[sohka88]

Nintendos first party games are not that good any more... I would still give them a very small margin over sony (even thought I like sonys games better).

 

[ArcadeStickMonk]

If there's either a F-Zero or Advanced Wars for the DS, then I'm sold right there.

But watch in amazment as I shun Metroid!

 

[DSN2K]

I agree with everything besides marketing.

 

[dark10x]

If there's either a F-Zero or Advanced Wars for the DS, then I'm sold right there.

But watch in amazment as I shun Metroid!

Damn, you'll need bigger pockets if you buy a DS...

 

[Phoenix]

Considering how little is known about both platforms even at this late date in terms of marketing, content availability, comparative pricing, etc. I find this article to be somewhat ludicrous and I don't have plans to get either of them. Logic would suggest that both platforms be available before even talking about who has an edge in what - even in experience as Sony has been building portable consumer electronics since like forever.

Edge - deductive reasoning....