If there's one commodity which the games industry isn't lacking in, it's pundits. The launch of every new product brings with it a flurry of comment, from the well-considered to the flatly biased, spouted from the mouths and keyboards of everyone from highly paid analysts through established journalists to prolific forum posters and bloggers. There's an ocean of opinion out there, although to be honest, you probably wouldn't want to swim in most of it.
For professional commentators - be they financial analysts or writers, and including yours truly - this week marks one of our more egregious and shameful failures. It's a week when we should all, by rights, be standing up at our Pundits Anonymous meeting and admitting that we all, almost without exception, got the most important console launch of the past decade wrong. Some got it more wrong than others, certainly - but in the cold light of day, I struggle to think of a single well-known industry commentator who called the Nintendo DS correctly.
I too cannot think of any 'gamers' who didn't predict doom and gloom for Nintendo when the PSP was first unveiled. The DS has humbled all so-called gaming experts and that is one mean feat.
I really expected the DS to fail miserably. I didn't think it would kill off Nintendo's hand held line, I just didn't expect it to do very well. I figured it would rely on the gimmick of a touch screen too much, but it has some amazing games now. I'd say it's probably the most solid handheld system ever.
I don't think I ever gave much thought to the PSP. I still kinda want one, cause there are a lot of great games for it. It's a shame the system feels like garbage to play. If they would release a PSP with video out and PS3 controller support (both of which the Go has) as well as a UMD drive, I'd buy it in a second.
I don't know if I expected the DS to do quite as well as it has, but I did expect it to completely trash the PSP. As Reggie said, there have been N competitors to Nintendo in the handheld market, and Nintendo has buired them all.
Blizzard Entertainment Software Developer - All comments and views are my own and not representative of the company.
during that time i believed in the same thing i always did and still do: i said they would both be great systems and i was sure that they would both have their up's and downs. during that time i never even touched any of the systems so i couldn't be quoted on that. but now since i have had extensive use of both systems, i can feel that i was right. sure the ds is destroying the psp. but that's only because of the psp's lesser library (not to mention that it's hard to find some of the better games). i honestly can't stand when other bash a system that they most likely never played before. in my honest opinion why have one system just because someone is that "stubborn fanboy" when you can have both! that way you have more games! ^^
I thought the DS was in trouble until I played it. After seeing both in action and playing Kirby Canvas Curse, the DS made me a true believer. The PSP just wasn't as fun to play and most of the games could be played on a console in close form. The Nintendo used better ideas over horsepower and just about stomped another competitor in the handheld area. Also, the PSP just didn't look or feel as portable or as strong as the DS, scratched easily and the games were bigger and easier to damage.
I think the main reason why the DS has done well is the big library of kid friendly games. I think older kids (teenagers) tend to be more into phones/consoles than handheld games. So parents like myself will buy the DS for the kids.
Initially I knocked the PSP but since getting one, I have to say that I love it. I wouldn't have the same love if it didn't have custom firmware. The huge screen is great. I agree that it's not as easy to carry around like the DS but for me, it's fine because I'm careful with my stuff.
All in all, they're both great consoles. If I had to choose only one, I probably would go with the DS.
MrPopo wrote:I don't know if I expected the DS to do quite as well as it has, but I did expect it to completely trash the PSP. As Reggie said, there have been N competitors to Nintendo in the handheld market, and Nintendo has buired them all.
Pretty much my train of thought as well. I do have to give the PSP credit for actually managing to scratch the surface of the market though, unlike every other attempted handheld not made by Nintendo.
MrPopo wrote:I don't know if I expected the DS to do quite as well as it has, but I did expect it to completely trash the PSP. As Reggie said, there have been N competitors to Nintendo in the handheld market, and Nintendo has buired them all.
Pretty much my train of thought as well. I do have to give the PSP credit for actually managing to scratch the surface of the market though, unlike every other attempted handheld not made by Nintendo.
Hey, I thought the N-gage had a great run and gave Nintendo a run for their money.
I never even gave the PSP a second thought before they both came out. Graphics matter little to me so the DS capabilties are great. The games range from looking like high-end SNES games to high end PS1/N64 and the touch screen brings a new aspect to the gaming.
To me the PSP is just a portable PS2. The only reason I will get it one day is to play all the RPGs on the system which still aren't as plentiful or as good as the DS rpgs.
I buy handheld to play the games on the systems not for portability. The DS is where all the great exclusives are even if its not an exclusive it looks and plays different then all the other versions.
Many people said the same about the Wii, and for some odd reason still do.
I think the big issue the PSP has is it has no 'killer apps' or not enough to really pull people into buying one.
I have had a DS since launch day and have really enjoyed heaps of great games, I then got a free upgrade to the lite and sold off my original but am still using it quite often.
