People, lets just establish one point first:
This is
not about one game against one game - it's about the difference the PSP offers over the DS in terms of technical capability with a smaller price gap than expected.
This is not about RR PSP against RR DS - it's one example out of many that are yet to follow as more games make their appearance.
Readykilowatt said:
Let me just make some comments here. The NDS vs PSP situation is very different from the PS vs N64 situation.
(1) The NDS is backwards compatible with the Gameboy [this is very important IMO] (the N64 was not backwards compatible with the SNES).
(2) The Playstation was released before the N64 (the NDS is being released before the PSP).
(3) The N64 is more powerful than the Playstation (the PSP is more powerful than the NDS).
(4) The N64 and the Playstation are home consoles (the NDS and the PSP are portable consoles) [*whispers* they are different markets.]
(5) Many people were saying that the N64 will bury the Playstation (many people are saying that the PSP will bury the NDS).
There is one difference that matters though: PlayStation launched nearly 1.5 years in advance (PS1 end of 1994, N64 mid 1996) - the DS however will be launching a few weeks in advance. Not years, not months -
weeks. Would the time frame be significantly larger, would the above points make sense. Given that the two handhelds are launching within the same timeframe, people
will be making a decision between the two.
One other thing to note in the above notes though is that the technical difference between PS1 and N64 was less significant as the different between PSP and DS.
What makes this a very similar situation though is the different approach both companies are taking - and the tactics taken by Sony are very similar to the ones they used back in that era: making handheld gaming mainstream - just like what the PS1 did. Targeting not only little kids that play GameBoys but mainly console gamers and others. The market that today spends a lot of money on console games and accessories. A market that earns money. Clearly, the market filled with 15 - 30 year olds. This coupled with technology and the support is what made the PlayStation brand the success it is today. PSP is no different in this aspect: it has the technology, the support as it seems and it has the right target audience. Nintendo on the other hand isn't changing it's strategy and still going for a "different" more traditional product. It isn't targeting a wider audience - in fact, just as most Nintendo fans hold on to; the DS is targeting a different market all together and that's the flaw in Nintendo's strategy.
I am not disputing that the DS will sell. In fact, it will sell the first few months - what I predict will happen though if PSP does become the next hip product among console gamers and the above mentioned targeted audience is that the younger players will grow out of the DS and GameBoy era really quick. When they see the better graphics, the more hightech and expensive design - they will want it. They want to be cool. DS is "last generation" they will say - and once that happens, you'll see PSP sales go up and DS sales slow down - something we all wittnessed last generation. Something that no Nintendo fan would have believed back then in 1994.
The ultimate flaw is Nintendo's strategy in them not targeting a wider audience. PSP does and it has the potential to make handheld gaming mainstream - something the DS won't.
