Sony Ramps up PSP Advertising

The difference actually has to do with controlmethod. You're right that Mario Kart and Zelda and Mario and whatever have been console games first, but that was the 2D-era of gaming and that translated to handhelds perfectly, it almost seemed made for it because 2D-games (with the right adjustions here and there, screensize related and so on). It was perfect because those 2D-games could be perfectly translated to a handheld.

Seeing that the analog nub of the PSP is absolutly no substitute for the analog stick (the DS-touchscreen isn't either) you have a huge translation problem, suddenly 3D-games have to be controlled like in the era before MArio 64 changed the world of gaming and since the PSP is as powerfull as a PS2 developers get the idea they have (developers can receive some whacky orders from their publishers) to translate PS2-games to a handheld. Big judgement mistake!

Nintendo has moved the standard for handheld gaming up a notch by also provinding the wonder of touchscreen control which only the PC has a substitute for, adding to handheld gaming as a whole. Sony wanted to copy homeconsole gaming into the handheld market, it has clearly failed (only the quirky PSP puzzle games on it sold over a 500 000 copies as the PS2 port esque ones don't come close to that) Nintendo has now clearly pushed Handheld gaming into a seperate direction, from one that copied 2D-gaming (and did that perfect) to one that delivers the unique games we can enjoy today (and enriching gaming as a whole).

That and handheld gaming requires to give people the ability to boot the machinee up and play like 5-10 minutes something fun and favorably also fresh and turn it back off. DS delivers that in shovels, the PSP has a "hey i got this (similiar) game on my PS2/GC/Xbox too" thing too it and that's one of the big reasons why it's getting ass-whooped by the DS.

Games such as Tekken and GTA ect, are not exactly new, as they have been out before, they are just relaunched versions of ps2 games being bourght out on PSP (granted, a few new or improved features may have been added, but when it boils down to it, it is still the same game, but on a different format.)

Whereas Nintendo have had some new and innovative ideas, Nintendogs, for example, it was a completely innovative idea, nothing like it had been seen before (maybe apart from those crappy LCD Tamagotchi's - but let's not go there.), my point is that it was perfectly executed and made full use of the DS features, touch screen and built in microphone etc, features that the PSP hasn't got, and it was because of these features that innovative, and more importantly fun games could be made.

That is where Sony are losing out, they need these innovative titles, not just rehashes of PS2 games - granted they are trying what with "Talkman" and that USB camera device they are going to launch, but that is not going to be enough.

The whole PSP vs DS debate all boils down to one thing in the end - games it doesn't matter how good at graphics they are, or what they can do, at the end of the day, games make a console, be it handheld or otherwise, and thus far Sony are fighting a losing battle.

P.S. I am not a Nintendo fanboy, I have a PSP, but even I can see the PSP is losing in the games (and possibly sales) department when compared to the DS, the severly delayed european PSP launch didn't exactlt help matters either, but I digress.

Okay dumbass...

PSP - Lumines, Exit, Metal Gear Ac!d 1 and 2

DS - Nintendogs, Meteos, and Pac Mania (?)

What is your point? All Nintendo has is a couple of unique ways to handle gameplay. Sony just hasn't done any of that type of game yet. (it will come, trust me). You talk about unique IPs and THEY BOTH have the same amount.

But your right it does come down to games, not how these games incorporate touching, breathing, or how big of a memory stick you can shove in the side of it. As innovative as Nintendogs is, I'd rather have Metal Gear Ac!d. I like turn based strategy rather than heavy (dog) petting.

It's all about opinion, but to say that Nintendo has a leg up, to be funny. is ridiculous. There are still fresh ways to serve up standard gameplay, otherwise 2D would of died out a long f**king time ago. And besides Sony offers much more in the way of graphics, so I bet you'll see alot of ambitious RPGs and sandbox style games coming out. I respect and admire what Nintendo is trying to do, but just because Sony isn't having you hackey sack or yo-yo your PSP to play California Games doesn't make them s**t.

Next time post up a decent argument and stop disesting my games one by one.

You kiss your mother with that mouth?, okay, I'm sorry if i've upset you in any way, but the fact of the matter is that Nintendo are beating Sony (just look at the sales figures to prove it.)
(I would also like to point out that I do not appreciate being insulted, so there!)



I'm sorry, I'll try harder next time

"All Nintendo has is a couple of unique ways to handle gameplay"

Yeah, because you know... how your game is being controlled actually determining how your game is going to play in it's very essence and core and changing the way you control games actually changes gameplay in its very core... are all very minimal matters in the world of videogaming (sorry for possibily kind of twisting your words but i hope you realise what i'm going for here... how that sentence is a big pile of s**t and you using it as a argument and then accuse someone else of not having good arguments).

It's not a matter of having orginal IP's but having orginal gameplay mechanics you could stick into your IP, old or orginal.
Nintendo made it very easy for itself (and third parties) to create orginal mechanics, Sony by pushing 3D games on a device that can't handle them properly (controlwise) made it hard-ass for itself to innovate. The PSP is so viewed as a thing that provides a watered down expercience you can also have with your homeconsoles, the DS is viewed as machine that delivers a new fresh type of gameform. It's indeed a thing of taste but also perception.

Wel first things first, as for sales figures:

http://www.codepoetsolutions.com/myth/dsvspsp.html

Took me a whole two seconds to pull up Japanese sales figures YTD and LTD. Who knows if there accurate or not but since he didn't post up numbers, I did for him. And look 300,000 units over for the year ain't that big. Now sure the LTD is much better for Nintendo, which basically just means the PSP had a rough start, that's all. Don't cling to old numbers and what Nintendo has done in the past.
I'm sure if someone cares they can post up American numbers and European numbers. I mean I used google and found it in .34 seconds.

Now as for the real argument, the only reason I went into gameplay and s**t is because he is pushing the subject. I mean which is better, Metal gear Ac!d or Nintendogs? I say again, it's all about opinion! You can either evolutionize or revolutionize, either way it's moving foward and both systems are obviously doing that.

As for Optimus' quote about PSPs not being able to handle FPS and 3D gaming well, Nintendo suffers the same fate. Metroid Hunters anyone??? Playing an FPS with a stylus on a small screen just doesn't work well.I know it's two axes and supposedly more the correct way to play than Metroid Prime, but the stylus 3D gaming is just not good, not in Metroid's case.

BOTH SYSTEMS should of have double analog sticks, peroid!

Well your problem there is that those figures are astoundingly old. I've been tracking JP hardware figures since the launch of the DS and here's what I have found.

LTD Figures
DS: 6,210,486 (68 weeks)
DSL: 262,680 (3 weeks)
PSP: 3,167,381 (67 weeks)

Average Weeks Figures over product lifetime
DS: 91,331
DSL: 87,560
PSP: 47,274

Figures up to the week commencing 13-Mar-2006.

Now I love my PSP, look at the PSP reviews I've written for SPOnG, but in Japan the DS is kicking its arse. The PSP is selling strongly, it's been the 2nd placed platform almost every week since it's launch, but the DS is just a phenomenon.

I've not seen official US or EU figures, they are hard to come by, but I have heard rumours of parity in the US and a slight advantage to the PSP in the UK, but those are old figures.

the psp is doing well here in the uk,but i dont rate the uk market at all.its filled with casual gamers who really dont have a clue about games at all.

some guy said to me the other day "get a 360"
but i got the imppression that was it,that was his whole gaming knowledge in those to words and one number

vault13,ur getting cut down,post after post so just accept the DS is better and shut up.ok.

But why would you put *those* white bits on a giant poster just outside the main train station?

But then again, guys with girlfriends might wanna?

LOL, that's like, "I've ran out of arguments but mine's better than your's".

Well, I think that the PSP is as innovative as the DS in a different way, and I think that IMO there are at least as many potentially good games on DS and PSP.

To say that handheld games are different to console games is rubbish.

Remember that Nintendo have had a monopoly for about 17 years. They have kept the progression of handhelds slower than that of the home systems because they didn't have any competition. You could liken it to Intel and AMD; up until the mid 1990s Intel had no serious competition and just gently incremented processor speeds, not really improving them and then when AMD started to grow, Intel was forced to play the clock-speed game. Recently, Intel's realised it's pointless and has started to concenrate on novel and innovative features.

Nintendo was creating simple 2D consoles until the PSP came along when it was forced to innovative to stay alive, in the same way Intel has been forced to scale and start to innovate to protect against AMD.

Let's face it, Nintendo's handhelds have always been poorly supported. Most of the games on them are crap, and they've never enjoyed the "big" titles. Yes, there are good games, but I could count the ones on Gameboy with both hands, the ones on GBC with less than one hand and the ones on GBA with both hands.

Compare that to the home consoles, where I have at least 10 excellent Super NES games and 15 excellent Gamecube games. These are more than their handheld counterparts - and remember that because Nintendo never had any competition in the handheld sector, the GBs lasted very much longer than their counterpart home systems, with the GBA being the only real "new" gameboy in those 17 years.

Like it or not, competition is good. And the PSP will widen handheld gaming to "hip" people who wouldn't dream of buying a Nintendo system, in the same way the Nintendo system appeals to older people who wouldn't dream of buying an ultra-violent PS2.

It doesn't reall matter if you rate the UK market or the gamers, casual or otherwise, that make it up. The fact is that the UK is one of the largest single country markets there is for games. Also we have a large concentration of development talent here. I'm not saying we are the trend setters that Japanese developers are, but there are a lot of good games, market leaders even, that come out of the UK.

The UK market is pretty indicative of the worldwide market in general. If a game is big in the UK, it's usually big, on average, across the world. Like it or not, the UK market most closely resembles the entire industry.


Now that wasn't my intention when posting the Japanese hardware sales figures. I was correcting his base facts, not trying to "cut down" his entire argument.

I have to agree with Vault13 that there is as much scope for good games on the PSP as there is on the DS. Just because the DS offers new ways to play doesn't automatically make every game on it better than every game on the PSP.

A touch screen doesn't stop sequelitis from damning a platform. A microphone doesn't stop uninspiring games from being developed. Sure they encourage different thinking in games development, but Mario Kart, one of the best games for the DS, doesn't make any use of either of them in the actual game. There is nothing technical preventing a Mario Kart style game from appearing on the PSP and being just as good.

First game I bought with my PSP! Also check out Gripshift if you want something a little different on the racing front. There are "pure" races that are very Mario Kart "inspired", but the main game is puzzle navigation.


There is a quote, I foret who it's from, and it may offend some, but it applies here.