Sony Enters the Handheld Market!

[IntvGene]

Oh... no... the end is truly near.:o

"Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) announced today plans to expand its in-home entertainment to outside the home with a new, all-in-one portable entertainment platform, "PSP(TM)." Scheduled for release in the fourth quarter of 2004, the company's goal is to extend the reach of PlayStation(R) to a broader audience, allowing consumers to enjoy gaming and other entertainment content anytime, anywhere. Specific details on release plans and pricing will be disclosed at a later date."

PSP specifications:

* USB 2.0
* Memory stick
* MPEG4 video codec
* 3D graphics
* Wide screen display
* LCD screen with backlight [480x272]
* Optical secured ROM disc with 1.8GB cartridge
* Built-in stereo speakers and headphone output
* Rechargeable lithium-ion battery

Connectivity with the PSP is provided via a USB 2.0 port on the device, allowing for connection to PlayStation 2 consoles, and will use Sony's Memory Stick technology for game saves.


See more in the following news releases:
http://www.avault.com/news/displaynews.asp?story=5132003-125752
http://www.gamesarefun.com/cgi-bin/newspro/fullnews.cgi?newsid1052847679,93181,
http://news.com.com/2100-1043_3-1001279.html

[Savedman]

Sweet! 'Bout time!

[Gamereviewgod]

>:( Damn it, they need to stop making systems. I have no more room for these things, even if it's small!!!!

[Bratwurst]

If this is real, maybe it'll whip Nintendo into shape. :D

[Starcade]

Sony should just stick to consoles IMO, let Ninendo do the handheld market, I believe Sony will fail in this attempt.

[Sylentwulf]

Maybe Sony will pull it off <shrug> Wouldn't bother me in the least, I've been sick of nintendo for 5+ years now.

[YoshiM]

It's funny, people get into a tizzy when Microsoft tries to dominate the living room but it's great when Sony tries to do almost the same thing (heck, what's left that they HAVEN'T done: computers, PDAs, cameras, TVs, VCRs, camcorders, stereo equipment, CD/Tape Walkmans, DVD players, console video games).

I'm not a big fan of Sony, but I think it would be good to bring some good competition to the handheld table (mobile phone games don't really count in my book). Maybe Nintendo themselves might actually release something that's NOT a port from the SNES (gasp!)

[mitmoe]

Sony will soon rule the handheld market too! :rocker: Competition is a good thing. It will force Nintendo to kick it in the ass a little instead of resting on it's handheld laurels.

[Raedon]

Maybe Sony will pull it off <shrug> Wouldn't bother me in the least, I've been sick of nintendo for 5+ years now.

preach on brotha! I am dead tired of SNES games I finished 10 years ago being re-hashed for a quick buck.. gimmie a truely portable PSX.. that would be so sweet.

[Daniel Thomas]

The specs sound nice, but I'll reserve judgement until I actually see something. What will it look like? Will it be a true handheld ala GBA, or more like a laptop? How big is the screen? Who has signed on to develop software? And how much will it cost? I remember better handhelds then the humble Gameboy dying early because of high price tags. People won't spend more than $100 on a handheld.

The Gameboy Advance has really grown on me, but I'm still angry at Nintendo for putting such a lazy job into the hardware. They should have AT LEAST put two more buttons on the damned thing. I say bring it on -- competition only results in better games, and Nintendo needs to get their butts kicked.

[kainemaxwell]

Sony should stick to consoles.

[kevincure]

I wish Sony would control the living room - they're the best all-around mass market electronics company in the world, hands down.

[ventrra]

Sony should stick to consoles.
...and Nintendo should stick to Hanafuda :roll:

[The Unknown Gamer]

Ladies and Gentlemen in the corner of the squaired circle for tonights
Championship Match. The winner in every match it faced Nintendo!.
Now entering the ring in the opposite corner an untested contestant.
Whose victorys come in other fields Sony...who will win?

With Sonys track record on the PLaystation 1 & 2 and Nintendo's
with the GB & the GBA who ever wins will be good for us gamers.

[Sylentwulf]

Well, the main issue is SIZE in a handheld. Yes, the lynx and game gear were better, but they FELT cheap, and they were HUGE. When you call something a portable system, make the friggin thing PORTABLE.

[IntvGene]

Well, the main issue is SIZE in a handheld. Yes, the lynx and game gear were better, but they FELT cheap, and they were HUGE. When you call something a portable system, make the friggin thing PORTABLE.

And don't forget battery power. Christ! I needed a portable generator to play the Lynx as a portable.

I think I read somewhere today that they are planning it to be around 4.5 inches. But, don't quote me on that. I think that they are looking to make it more advanced than the GBA, so it might cost them in size.

[Arqueologia_Digital]

Oh shit!!! >:( Sony attacks again!!!!Damn it!

[Zaxxon]

This will hurt Nintendo. GBC/GBA is where they have been making all their profits for the last several years. Nintendo probably planned to keep the GBA in it's current config. for the next 10 years and just milk it like the original GB.

[buttasuperb]

Oh shit!!! >:( Sony attacks again!!!!Damn it!

Attacks? :roll:

As others have already said, competition is a GREAT thing. This will make Nintendo work harder to put out better games for the GBA and future handhelds. And to me, that is awesome.

[ManekiNeko]

Can it be...? We'll finally see Sony's first failure in the video game industry. The PSP is going to be too expensive and too complicated for a portable. Even the company's wretched hype machine won't be able to save it.

JR

[brandver3]

Everyone is accting like this is the first person to go up agains't GBA this year.
There is that Helix thing, the Nokia N-Gage, and now the PSP. ALot of people complain about pay 100 for a SP, let alone the 200-300 the Helix is going to cost. And if Sony is really making the "all in one portable entertainment machine", then you can bet your ass its going to be alot more then 100 dollars. And with a 4.5 inch screen, how fucking portable will that thing be. I like the GBA because it small and inconspiuase. I can keep it in my pocket with a few games, whip it out when I'm bored, play it at work and no one be able to see it cause of its size. I don't want a portable that i have to carry a purse for. I don't want a portable that has 20 face buttons (N-Gage). I want it nice and simple. I mean fuck, jaking up the spec means longer games, longer games mean hour spent straining my eyes at that little screen making my eye sight worse then it already is. At least the GBA player is coming out. WIll sony make most of its game usable with the PSP, probably not. It doesn't seem like they really want to change the handheld industry (the spec are like a Palm Computer with 3d (yippee :roll: )), they just want another peice of the pie.

ANd another thing, the reason I like the GBA is its the only system you can get a decent new sprite based game. I have counsols for 3D, i don't need it on my handheld to. And imagine this, developers can't get the camera to work right with 12 inch or more of screen to work with, imagine the kind of insanity inducing hell the camera will be on a 4.5 inch screen (and thats the big one, the other two have much smaller screens).

All three of these are a very very bad idea. Ones from a company that know snothing about anything (Helix), one is from a companies who biggest game experience is Snake and Memory (N-Gage), and one is from a company who gets by the first year or two of a counsol release on the hype machine, not game quality (PSP).

[Captain Wrong]

If this is real, maybe it'll whip Nintendo into shape. :D

So true my processed baby meat friend. nintendo has been coasting in the handheld market for too long.

[Bratwurst]

So true my processed baby meat friend. nintendo has been coasting in the handheld market for too long.

Despite my appreciation of what the GBA library has to offer, I'm ready to admit how flawed the hardware is (even the SP sucks in some ways, and I'm waiting on another revision). Monopolies suck, and even if the PSP suffers the same disadvantages the Game Gear and Lynx did, 1. Sony has had experience in portables of this nature before, (Walkmans) 2. It's going to be a formidable force through sheer name brand recognition alone for the first few months.

[brandver3]

Whoa, Nintendo has not be coasting.

Fusion, Advance Wars, The new Pokemon (and they are good RPG's regardless of the packaging) WarioWare, hell Wario Land, Golden Sun 1&2. I, sure there are others I have forgotten. Nintendo has been doing a damn fine job with the GBA. Not only with first party but with Third party as well. All three Castlevanias, Puzzle Fighter, Street Fighter Alpha 3, Mega Man and Bass, Crazy Taxi, the Upcoming Space Channel 5 and Jet Set Radio, Tactics Ogre. The GBA is one amazing little machine with A LOT of fantastic titles and challenging game play. I dread to imagine what Sony will bring out.

"Oh look mommy, I can play Twisted Metal in the car now" Yeah

[Raccoon Lad]

They should have just made a portable PSX that plays Mini-discs
That way, they can make new games for it AND the big PSX at the same time..just like Sega did with the Master System and Gamegear.

[buttasuperb]

"Oh look mommy, I can play Twisted Metal in the car now" Yeah

I would rather play Twisted Metal 2 than any of the games you mentioned, maybe except Fusion.

Don't get me wrong, I think there some good original games for the GBA, but it could and should be WAAAAAY better.

[Mr. NEStalgia]

Man, I'd sure love to play those psx games on the go...glad i didnt waste my money on the sp.

-=Mr. NEStalgia=-

[Captain Wrong]

Coasting = hanging on to the original Game Boy waaaaaay past it's shelf date ("ooh look, it's smaller now" "ooh now it's color") and bringing out the uprgade hardware that was flawed (only 2 face buttons and a terrible screen? WTF?) and underpowered. Really, when I first saw the GBA all I could think was that if Nintendo actually had competetion they'd bring out something really impressive instead of what they did. I mean they had how many years to plan for the next handheld? Shit, I'm honestly suprized they didn't try to drag the GBC out for another year or two.

I really think they wouldn't have held on to the GB for as long as they did if someone seriously challenged them and I really expected more from the GBA. The GBA struck me at the time as doing about the mininum they could do and still call it a new machine. I attribute that to having no serious threat in the market.

And sure there are some games worth playing, but there are a lot of enhanced SNES ports as well. Even those games you mentioned that aren't SNES ports still have SNES gameplay. While I'm not saying that's necessarly bad, it's kind of a "been there, done that" thing in my eyes. Yeah there's the portable novelity of it, but it's still just a new coat of paint, IMHO.

If you're happy with the GBA, then cool beans. But I really think it (and it's software) is far from amazing and I think the handheld market needs competition badly. I'm not going to try to guess what Sony has in mind or who is going to put out softs for this thing, assuming it makes it to market. But Nintendo really needs a formatible competitor to light a fire under their ass or at least give those of us who'd like a poratble gaming machine and were completely underwhelmed by the GBA an alternative.

[petewhitley]

I'm hoping Sony brings a more adult-style of gaming to the handheld market. I know, I know, Advance Wars/Metroid/what-have-you on the GBA, but for the life of me I can't seem to find enough games for the damn thing that have that edgy quality Sony brings to the table.

[Charlie]

I like this. Know why? Because it forces Nintendo to quit rehashing SNES games. But I reckon it's going to force Nintendo out of business. If they force Nintendo out of the handheld market it's over for them. Take a seat behind Sega, Coleco, Mattel Electronics, Atari, and the rest.

[brandver3]

Alright, now that I have some time I can make a right proper post.

Nintendo didn't keep the old Gameboy going for so long because it was milking a cashcow. It would be ignorent to assume that they didn't upgrade because they just didn't want to. It was more likely a smart buisness manuver that payed off.

Nintendo has had compition before. And the compation has been better, more powerful, and higher quality. So why didn't they topple the pitiful Gameboy of old.

It would take a very dense person to beleive that Nintendo could not have made something far grander then the Game Gear when it came out. But Nintendo didn't, why? I can gaurentee Nintendo knew about the Game Gear in advance, but they didn't rush to make a better machine. And it payed off. The Game Gear had color, back lighting, better graphics and a TV tuner. But all the technological things that made the Game Gear better the Gameboy is what killed it.

Backlit color graphics meant expensive (for the time) technology. So while Nintendo went with the cheaper, older technology, Sega took the leap with the grander model. And that cost them. The technology was expensive for the comsumer. And as the past has shown, when it comes to hand helds, people dont want to pay more then $100, and even that is pushing it. Then when you actually bought the Game Gear, it was still costing a fourtune in batteries. Nobody wants a handheld that needs the batteries replaced every 6 hours (and 6 AA no less) or a portable that you can;t leave you wall outlet with.

Nintendo didn;t make a new model not because they were lazy, but because at the time the technology wasn't cost effective for them or the consumer. The specs for the GBA could have been done a few years ago. But it wasn't, why? Because if it were done when the technology was new, the GBA would have been big, clunky and a battery whore. By waiting to realease it,They were able to make it small, efficeint, and not drain batteries every few days.

Also size is a big factor in this area of the market. The Lynx and the Game Gear were huge. Overly large handhelds don't do well in the market place. We may like them, but we as hardcore gamers are not the target audience, nor are we the driving force in the industry. Casual gamers are the the driving force, we are more like the historians. And most John Q. Gameplayers don't want a handheld that is akward to hold. And in S0ny's case, I fail to see how something with those specs, 2.5 inch disks/ 4.5 inch screen/ and adding in the buttons and room for the actual technology that is playing the games, can be anything less then a Lynx. The market place wants small hand held that are actually what the name implies, "hand held".


And I won't even begin to elaborate on the massive massive massive head start that Nintendo has. Waiting for Nintendo to release the new Gameboy that they are working on would have been the smart thing for all three companies.

All of these new systems are making the exact same mistake that buried all of Nintendos handheld competitors before. Cutting edge brand new technology. Brand new technology will be expensive, it will tax batteries, and it will be big.

I'll make two little notes here.

One, I left out the NEO GEO Pocket because it did everything right.

And Two, our of all the new hand helds, the one that might actually stand a chance in the N-Gage. It's small, it is a cell phone which gives it some big momentum, and it uses Bluetooth. I don't think it will topple Nintendo, but it may be able to stay in the game.

[Captain Wrong]

Nintendo didn't keep the old Gameboy going for so long because it was milking a cashcow. It would be ignorent to assume that they didn't upgrade because they just didn't want to. It was more likely a smart buisness manuver that payed off.

Yeah, milking the cashcow till she gives no more milk is generally seen as a smart business move. :P

I understand what you're saying about the Game Gear and all that, but I'm not talking back that far. I'm not a tech expert, but I really don't seen anything in the GBA that couldn't have been done a few years earlier. I really think with the Pokemon thing still huge then, there was no incentive for Nintendo to go to the expence of introducing new hardware at that time. You call it a smart business move, but I still say it's milking the cash cow. That's what businesses do.

Nintendo has made a habit of being very reluctant to bring new hardware to market. It's always taken some major push from competetion to get them started (like the Genny pushed them into the SNES and the PSX pushed them into the N64.) They've always held on to their last gen hardware till the last possible minute. In the handheld area, they really don't have anyone pushing them, so I feel we'll probably be in for 10+ years of the GBA unless someone really steps up and gives them a fight.

As for why the other challengers failed, well, I think it had more to do with software than anything else. Yeah, the Game Gear had techinal limits but so does the GBA (how useful is a portable you have to be sitting under a desk lamp to see the screen?) Nintendo had a good line up of softs for the GB, and the importaince of Pokemon, like it or hate it, can't be undersetimated. Plus Nintendo has been able to put more marketing muscle than most of the other handhelds (though Sega did try to match them in the begninning) and, as you mentioned, it's got a head start and is pretty much synonomous with hand held gaming.

And yeah, it's all about the games, and looking back through this thread, seems like quite a few people are ready for something different. I'm not the only one who has a "been there, done that" feeling with the GBA library. I'll be interested, and I should think anyone interested in gaming would be too, to see what Sony has in mind. If they were smart, they'd relaize that softs is where they're going to need to beat the GBA.

Like it or not, Nintendo is vunerable in this market. I know with so many failed challengers, it would appear that they are invincible, but all it would take is someone with some good games that aren't just ports of earlier stuff, and we could have a real console war in the handheld departement.

And it least we agree on one thing, the NGPC did get it right. I think that handheld, even though it pretty much bombed at market, may have been the one that finally got Nintendo to put the Game Boy out to pasutre. If SNK hadn't been in such bad shape at the time and if they'd really aimed for a mainstream audience, they could have been a contender.

[Sylentwulf]

OK, everyone keep saying the gameboy HAD competition, and the competition was better, higher quality, and more powerful.

Well, no that's not at all true. Let's see:

Lynx - friggin HUGE, Killed batteries, not at all portable. Was more powerful, and had better graphics, also cost more.

Game Gear - friggin HUGE, Killed batteries, not at all portable, blurry screen. Was more powerful and had better graphics, also cost more.

R-Zone - LOL
Tiger.com - LOL

OK, am I missing any? Realistically, the Neo-Geo Pocket, and wonderswan were only available overseas (Yes, the NGP was over here, but *I* didn't even HEAR about it until it was dead in the water, and I collect videogames)

If sony puts out a handheld under $100, and it's PORTABLE, then it WILL be competition. The N-Gage and Helix are both scheduled to be released at $250-$400 depending on who you talk to, which is just an automatic disaster.

[brandver3]

I agree that price tag is a much bigger killer in this market then with counsol gaming. And with spec like that, i don't think Sony will be $100 or less.

[MarkM2112]

First of all, I am glad that Nintendo will finally have some competition with some deep pockets, which makes me think that they will try to support this for the long haul...

Unfortunately, with the specs they gave, I think that it will be doomed, mainly because of the media they chose. While an optical disc carries a lot of info, the reader is still a motorized device. I don't know a LOT about electricity, but I know that the two biggest draws of electrical power are lights and motors. Taking that into account, along with a backlit screen, I don't think the battery life for this thing will be very long. Even if it IS rechargable, I don't want to be charging it every 2 hours. Then, size would be an issue as well...

[Neb]

ACTUAL PSp CONCEPT ART!

http://atarihq.com/tsr/special/active11.html

Just kidding! But check out the link anyway. If the PSp turns out to be this big, then it truely is doomed!

[Nature Boy]

preach on brotha! I am dead tired of SNES games I finished 10 years ago being re-hashed for a quick buck.. gimmie a truely portable PSX.. that would be so sweet.

What, so you can play PSX games you finished 10 years ago? :D

I agree that competition is a good thing. GBA games will have to come down in price to compete if something ever seriously challenges it. I kinda like the re-releases but I also agree more new material would be good too. Competition might not result in that though - especially if the re-releases sell well (which is something I don't know).

What do people think about SONY making it not exclusively a game machine (poor grammar but you know what I mean)? Could work against them if it drives the price of the unit up. I'm not gonna spent $200+ (CAN) on a portable game machine - I'll be waiting for a few price drops if that's the case.

[kainemaxwell]

But how do we know Sony won't rehash old PSX title son their portable unit as well?

[RetroYoungen]

Oh horrors, maybe Nintendo will lose some of their what, 95% of the handheld market?

So it's Sony, Nintendo, Nokia, and that other one that's gonna make the Helix... finally, a handheld brawl!!!

[christianscott27]

i just hope whatever sony brings to the handheld market will not be as fragile as their walkmans. game boys are pretty rugged and stand up well to kids abuse but sony discmans and psones break after one dropping. the way i see it if cant take some bumps and shakes its not a worthy portable, sony's repair service isnt exactly known for being cheap and speedy either.
________
Aromed Vaporizers (http://www.vaporshop.com/aromed-vaporizer.html)

[DigitalSoapbox]

First, to brandver: No, Nintendo was completely milking the GB when they could have easily improved upon it and still kept it at a reasonable price w/ reasonable battery life. The reason that it did better than its competition at the time was a) price, as you said, b) name recognition - when the GG first came out, Sega wasn't nearly as well-known as now and, most importantly for a handheld portable gaming system c) battery life. The GB lasted a hell of a lot longer than all of its competition between switching batteries, and it didn't even take that many.

To NatureBoy - if the PSP is not strictly a gaming platform, then if falls in line w/ Sony's development plans for the PS2 - which is, more and more, becoming a set-top box system more than a gaming system, just as Sony originally planned. I'd bet that they'll do with this new device what they did w/ the PS2 - market it mostly as a strictly gaming device, and then slowly alter the marketing to add more and more features/add-ons/uses.

Hopefully the N-Gage, but I think more importantly the portable Playstation, will force Nintendo - who hasn't done anything original in YEARS - to innovate a little, and put out a handheld that isn't revamped old hardware and in line w/ the times. I kind of doubt it, though - look how long it took them to dump the (expensive) cartridge format in favor of (yet another) proprietary disk format - a move that's costing them developers for the GC. They really need to move to standard, cheaply producted CDs and DVDs like everyone else.

[zmeston]

Can it be...? We'll finally see Sony's first failure in the video game industry. The PSP is going to be too expensive and too complicated for a portable. Even the company's wretched hype machine won't be able to save it.

JR

I love you, JR, but I totally disagree. By the end of 2006, Sony will own either a considerable minority or slim majority of the portable market. The PSP will be neither too expensive nor too complicated (although I am curious how Sony will pull off a dual-stick control scheme on a portable); it'll be the coolest piece of gaming hardware sinve the Steel Battalion controller.

The problem for Nintendo is that all they can do to combat the PSP is to lower the GBA's price point and cut into their own profit margins; judging from the ever-smaller N's sorry E3 exhibits, they surely can't compete with better games.

-- Z.

[zmeston]

Oh horrors, maybe Nintendo will lose some of their what, 95% of the handheld market?

So it's Sony, Nintendo, Nokia, and that other one that's gonna make the Helix... finally, a handheld brawl!!!

The problem is that while Nintendo owns 95% of the handheld market, they own perhaps 15% of the console market. The handheld market is Nintendo's lifeblood, and with Sony (I totally discount the N-Gage) draining half of that blood, Nintendo will have to seriously reconsider staying in the hardware biz. But they'll probably produce hardware and lose market share until they become the next Sega, stubborn bastards that they are.

-- Z.

[le geek]

I would rather play Twisted Metal 2 than any of the games you mentioned, maybe except Fusion.

I hope you mean if there is a two player link mode! :)

Cheers,
Ben