Archived from groups: alt.games.video.nintendo.gameboy.advance,alt.games.video.nintendo.gamecube,rec.games.video.nintendo,alt.games.video.sony-playstation2,rec.games.video.sony (More info?)
http://forbes.com/infoimaging/2004/06/07/cx_pp_0607mondaymatchup.html
_______________________________________________________________________________
Sony PSP Vs. Nintendo DS
Penelope Patsuris, 06.07.04, 6:00 AM ET
NEW YORK - Portable gaming isn't just for 10-year-olds anymore. Both
Sony and Nintendo recently announced new handhelds that are aiming
upmarket, targeting older teens and young adults, who have more
disposable income than the traditional grade-school consumer.
The hand-to-hand(held) combat started at the 2004 Electronic
Entertainment Exposition in Los Angeles late last month, when both
companies unveiled their respective prototypes. In one corner stands
Sony's (nyse: SNE - news - people ) PSP, set to roll out in the United
States by spring 2005; and in the other is Nintendo's DS--a moniker
that is still a code name--which will hit U.S. stores late this year.
The competition marks the first time that a company with real clout
has challenged the lock that Nintendo has had on handheld gaming for
15 years.
"A lot of companies have gone up against Nintendo [in this market],
and everyone wonders why no one else has been successful in it," says
IDC analyst Schelley Olhava. Nokia's (nyse: NOK - news - people )
N-Gage, a combination cell phone and game device, has the distinction
of being the market's most recent flop. Despite a redesign, analysts
say consumers simply don't want a device that is part utility and part
entertainment.
Meanwhile, Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) is mum about the
possibility of a portable Xbox, but you can bet there's one in the
works.
Sony and Nintendo are approaching this market with different
strengths, and their respective strategies to dominate the next
handheld-gaming generation are also very different. Sony will draw
upon the incredible popularity of its PlayStation franchise, which has
established perhaps the most formidable brand in that arena. "A lot of
people think that Sony will be able to transfer [its] PlayStation
brand to the PSP," says Olhava, "and those gamers already skew much
older. Nintendo does better with kids and teens." With both companies
vying for an older market, that could give Sony an edge.
Nintendo is banking on its wholesale dominance in portable gaming.
Thanks to their respective successes, both outfits have elicited
formidable support for their handhelds from such software developers
as Electronic Arts (nasdaq: ERTS - news - people ), THQ (nasdaq: THQI
- news - people ) and Activision (nasdaq: ATVI - news - people ),
which design the games that make or break a device's popularity.
The PSP, Sony's first entry ever into the handheld market, is clearly
designed for more than just gaming. Its games will be stored on what
the company calls a universal media disc, which bears a striking
resemblance to Sony's failed MiniDisc format, according to Wedbush
Morgan gaming analyst Michael Pachter.
"It's clear that Sony intends to place entertainment on its discs
beyond videogames," says Pachter. He speculates that, assuming the PSP
sells well, Sony will have the kind of leverage it lacked with movie
and music outfits when it originally tried to get Hollywood to license
its MiniDisc format. Indeed, Sony's press materials cite interest in
the format from "major music companies." Says Pachter: "I think this
is a backdoor way for Sony to collect royalties on other entertainment
content, and this time, if they have a big installed base, it could
work." In the future he expects the PSP to have its own hard drive for
music, like Apple Computer's (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people ) iPod.
Nintendo's DS is most distinguished by the two displays it has, one of
which is a touch screen that users can tap to play with a stylus or
their fingers. The dual screens allow gamers to see a bigger map of
where they are in the gaming environment. Pachter is particularly
excited about the DS user's ability to actually draw characters like
Pac-Man that will then become the game's main character.
"That shows the capacity of the device to do things that you just
can't do on consoles," Pachter says. "If you take the gaming
experience and make it more challenging, you'll necessarily expand
your market."
Both the DS and the PSP have wireless connectivity to let gamers play
each other on their own handhelds via a local access network that
spans about 75 feet, or on the Internet using Wi-Fi. The industry
believes that this could prove even more popular than desktop online
multiplayer gaming and will likely drive sales of all gaming
handhelds.
"Community game play is going to be big," predicts Pachter, "and it's
going to be through a local area network and not an online
subscription."
_______________________________________________________________________________
http://forbes.com/infoimaging/2004/06/07/cx_pp_0607mondaymatchup.html
_______________________________________________________________________________
Sony PSP Vs. Nintendo DS
Penelope Patsuris, 06.07.04, 6:00 AM ET
NEW YORK - Portable gaming isn't just for 10-year-olds anymore. Both
Sony and Nintendo recently announced new handhelds that are aiming
upmarket, targeting older teens and young adults, who have more
disposable income than the traditional grade-school consumer.
The hand-to-hand(held) combat started at the 2004 Electronic
Entertainment Exposition in Los Angeles late last month, when both
companies unveiled their respective prototypes. In one corner stands
Sony's (nyse: SNE - news - people ) PSP, set to roll out in the United
States by spring 2005; and in the other is Nintendo's DS--a moniker
that is still a code name--which will hit U.S. stores late this year.
The competition marks the first time that a company with real clout
has challenged the lock that Nintendo has had on handheld gaming for
15 years.
"A lot of companies have gone up against Nintendo [in this market],
and everyone wonders why no one else has been successful in it," says
IDC analyst Schelley Olhava. Nokia's (nyse: NOK - news - people )
N-Gage, a combination cell phone and game device, has the distinction
of being the market's most recent flop. Despite a redesign, analysts
say consumers simply don't want a device that is part utility and part
entertainment.
Meanwhile, Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) is mum about the
possibility of a portable Xbox, but you can bet there's one in the
works.
Sony and Nintendo are approaching this market with different
strengths, and their respective strategies to dominate the next
handheld-gaming generation are also very different. Sony will draw
upon the incredible popularity of its PlayStation franchise, which has
established perhaps the most formidable brand in that arena. "A lot of
people think that Sony will be able to transfer [its] PlayStation
brand to the PSP," says Olhava, "and those gamers already skew much
older. Nintendo does better with kids and teens." With both companies
vying for an older market, that could give Sony an edge.
Nintendo is banking on its wholesale dominance in portable gaming.
Thanks to their respective successes, both outfits have elicited
formidable support for their handhelds from such software developers
as Electronic Arts (nasdaq: ERTS - news - people ), THQ (nasdaq: THQI
- news - people ) and Activision (nasdaq: ATVI - news - people ),
which design the games that make or break a device's popularity.
The PSP, Sony's first entry ever into the handheld market, is clearly
designed for more than just gaming. Its games will be stored on what
the company calls a universal media disc, which bears a striking
resemblance to Sony's failed MiniDisc format, according to Wedbush
Morgan gaming analyst Michael Pachter.
"It's clear that Sony intends to place entertainment on its discs
beyond videogames," says Pachter. He speculates that, assuming the PSP
sells well, Sony will have the kind of leverage it lacked with movie
and music outfits when it originally tried to get Hollywood to license
its MiniDisc format. Indeed, Sony's press materials cite interest in
the format from "major music companies." Says Pachter: "I think this
is a backdoor way for Sony to collect royalties on other entertainment
content, and this time, if they have a big installed base, it could
work." In the future he expects the PSP to have its own hard drive for
music, like Apple Computer's (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people ) iPod.
Nintendo's DS is most distinguished by the two displays it has, one of
which is a touch screen that users can tap to play with a stylus or
their fingers. The dual screens allow gamers to see a bigger map of
where they are in the gaming environment. Pachter is particularly
excited about the DS user's ability to actually draw characters like
Pac-Man that will then become the game's main character.
"That shows the capacity of the device to do things that you just
can't do on consoles," Pachter says. "If you take the gaming
experience and make it more challenging, you'll necessarily expand
your market."
Both the DS and the PSP have wireless connectivity to let gamers play
each other on their own handhelds via a local access network that
spans about 75 feet, or on the Internet using Wi-Fi. The industry
believes that this could prove even more popular than desktop online
multiplayer gaming and will likely drive sales of all gaming
handhelds.
"Community game play is going to be big," predicts Pachter, "and it's
going to be through a local area network and not an online
subscription."
_______________________________________________________________________________
VeOc.48609$8_6.37762@attbi_s04...
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram