Sony's NeoGeo Pocket's (PSP2/Vita) business/non technical ramifications talk
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PSS was announced for NGP and Android, and whether it comes to PS3 or not was up in the air.
Except PCs have some rather major use issues that consoles don't. Or at least didn't, but consoles are becoming more PC like with bugged games and patches that break games (yes, Dead Nations, I'm looking at you and your disconnect-every-time-they-try to-play-this-level bug introduced in that latest patch), and PC's aren't as awful as they used to be. Although security and junk is still an issue, and you still get random, unsolvable PC compatibility faults. This new wave of mobile devices don't have these problems yet. You buy them and they run the software and work. Vita has no advantages in that respect - it's basically the same sort of thing, only with more controls and less features, unlike PCs vs consoles that were two very different beasts.
Was at a party yesterday, one guy complained that one game couldn't run on his Android phone.
It was also the same idea behind Windows and DirectX. It's a problem with varied hardware and virtualisation. But bizarrely, we've even seen issues with closed hardware like PS2, and SKUs having trouble with some games. Android compatibility can become worse, but , for the time being at least, shouldn't get anything like as bad as the PC, where it can come down to individual boxes being a PITA. Case in point, a friend couldn't get MySQL running on his Shuttle no matter what he tried, while a work colleague installed it first try, no worries, on the same model PC. Particular models of handheld may have bugs, but a FW upgrade or patch should fix that, whereas on PC a bug might just never get addressed. Vita will be a step up, but I don't envisage compatibility of Android to get bad enough that people will want a simpler device.
PSS will have the same potential problems as Android. There might be device incompatibilities that need to be addressed, presumably by the Hw manufacturer as part of their PSS certification.
Which is exactly my point. Smartphones are to dedicated gaming handhelds what PCs are to consoles.
No, I'd sooner say it is pretty much exactly the same situation. Gaming handheld is 100% dedicated to games, and the baseline for the software on it is fixed in performance and (extensive) control features. Smartphones lack even the most basic control features for gaming on 99,8% of the devices currently out there, and even iPhone's are ever more diverging in basic performance and display resolution, and tonnes of patches incidentally solving issues with this or that newer or older OS version. And that's on iPhone - the situation is quite a bit worse on Android.
Despite this, there certainly have been times that the PC was still the better gaming platform. I think iOS is enjoying such a phase right now. But that preference will break into two distinct groups again just like it did with PCs and consoles, and then I'm predicting that for a while the dedicated gaming handhelds will regain terrain over their smartphone brethren in the gaming space (but not in the phoning space, reading email one space, portable internet browsing space, etc.)
The main issue for gaming on cell phones is that the controls are not good enough for many people. Additionally there monthly fees associated with cell phones and the ability to use them for things beyond gaming makes them less attractive for parents who usually end up paying for these devices. Parents generally would much rather pay a couple hundred dollars one time rather than 50 to hundred bucks and an additional 50 to 100 dollars a month. If anything the current generation has shown us that handhelds are potentially going to cannibalize the home console market, especially if the prices of handhelds stays above $200.00. DS outsold everything and at >70M units sold WW the PSP which is viewed as failure by some outsold all the consoles except the Wii.
I know that personally PSV is going to be the next piece of hardware I buy, I own all the hardware from this round including a tablet but I am not sold on Wii U yet.
ShadowRunner
Veteran
The home console market grew this gen. You could take exactly what you said and conclude the opposite aswell, that a successfull handheld market doesnt cannibalize the home console market
Cellphone gaming is ok, suitable for short play. I'd pay more attention to tablets for the real challenger to dedicated consoles. Screen size and battery life are big obstacles for cellphones, less so for tablets.
It is likely MS will release their own tablet/pad too. If they want, they can include dual stick attachments to the pad... which is why I'm also waiting for Sony S1 and S2 info.
It is likely MS will release their own tablet/pad too. If they want, they can include dual stick attachments to the pad... which is why I'm also waiting for Sony S1 and S2 info.
Prophecy2k
Veteran
I don't think tablets will ever be a serious contender to a dedicated portable gaming device, especially in terms of the core users of those dedicated devices.
Once you start adding buttons and additional control inputs to a tablet it stops being a tablet and resebles some more akin to a netbook or even something like the PSVita. Plus people don't buy expensive tablet devices for gaming. The price will always be inhibitive as well as the sheer size of the device.
If anything, looking well into the future, the tablet could more possible replace the home console. But then that's a whole different kettle of fish.
The home console market grew this gen. You could take exactly what you said and conclude the opposite aswell, that a successfull handheld market doesnt cannibalize the home console market
Sounds a lot like the analysis that lead up to the financial crisis - how many Wii, PS3 and 360 would have sold without the DS and PSP? Consumers don't have an infinite suppply of money to throw at hardware so its reasonable to conclude that some will buy only one system. IMO handhelds like laptops potentially can replace their non-mobile big brothers for a segment of the buying pool as long as the experience on the handheld is robust enough. We have machines coming out now that are robust enough in their abilities to cause some consumers to take a second look before buying a home console to compliment their 3DS or PSV. Granted there are many of us who prefer to game on a large screen but likewise for a smaller segment it isn't screen size that matters but simply games and for someone interested in RPGs the DS was the system of choice in terms of variety this round.
ShadowRunner
Veteran
Can you tell me how many Wii, PS3 and 360 would have sold without the DS and PSP? How much would it take to equate to significant cannibalisation?
Im not calling it either way, dont have any info to know how much the consoles would have sold without handheld gaming and neither do you, total guesswork. Just sayin that the reasoning you gave that lead to your conclusion wasnt sound, wether than conclusion is rite or wrong is another matter. If both markets are growing its not really work worrying about imo.
Im not calling it either way, dont have any info to know how much the consoles would have sold without handheld gaming and neither do you, total guesswork. Just sayin that the reasoning you gave that lead to your conclusion wasnt sound, wether than conclusion is rite or wrong is another matter. If both markets are growing its not really work worrying about imo.
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I don't know the number so we agree there. I would say that rate of growth would be thing to look at. What we can look at however is the trend in sales generation to generation of handhelds to consoles. Gameboy advanced sold ~80M units worldwide, PSP (the failure) has sold >70M world wide, DS >120M world wide and the DS by far is the best selling system overall this generation - the PSP again which is viewed as a failure by some has outsold everything but the Wii. The home consoles sales growth overall isn't as high as one might expect this generation which in part is due to the global economy but it is also due to the growth handheld sales. Would we have a world wide console sales of ~200M this generation if the DS hadn't sold almost 150M units world wide? Consider this between the PSP and DS there are well over 200M units sold. One can argue of home consoles are growing very modestly whereas handheld unit sales to date certainly have grown.
Ah... portable gaming in the sense of taking gaming to any corner of your home, or your friend's home. It's already happening now. Game selection may be a problem at this moment, but touchscreen tech will improve; and enterprising developers will likely try to create new core games from the casual rubbles.
http://www.ps3center.net//news/5168/kojipro-all-future-titles-to-have-psvita-versions/
Another semi-confirmation for Zone of Enders for Vita ?
Another semi-confirmation for Zone of Enders for Vita ?
I'm sure you could map a few things to the back multi-touch pretty easily. The price bit is far more interesting. I personally would expect the boxed copy of the PS3 version to come with a PSN code that allows you to download/unlock the Vita version or something like that, but we'll see. It would be a smart thing to do, as it is especially something I'm pretty sure the press would love. If they do a Zone of the Enders, I'd totally hope for gyroscope support - that would make that game so much cooler than it already is. Same for Move support. Those games are my dream for a Move implementation.
Once you add a couple of track pads underneath the tablet that can simulate button pushes very well, then you have something that works very much like a console controller and looks nothing like a netbook.
No one will ever buy a $500-$600 tablet just for gaming but if tablet manufacturers continue doing what they never did as PC vendors, complementing their cpus with comparable gpus and not stratisfying cpu/gpu performance based on retail price across their lineup, then they will make tablet gaming more viable then it ever was on the PC.
Then the question becomes why bother buying a portable gaming device and a tablet when the tablet is just as capable of gaming. Remember $300-$500 dollars is an acceptable price tag for a tablet year in and year out. And tablet makers are already acclimating consumers to the habit of updating on a shorter term basis. We may end in a situation where tablets surpass portables within 10-18 months every generation where the typical buying habits allow for a rather sizeable userbase with tablets less than two years old across time.
I think Sony and/or maybe MS's success will be forcing upon market the question, "Why buy a $500 tablet when a$200 gaming device that already has Android/WinMo OS can do those things and more?"
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What's the story for L3 and R3 ? Not supported ?
EDIT:
http://twitter.com/#!/yosp/
I thought someone confirmed that L3 + R3 will be available on Vita...
EDIT:
http://twitter.com/#!/yosp/
I thought someone confirmed that L3 + R3 will be available on Vita...
Prophecy2k
Veteran
I have it on good authority that the PSVita's are indeed clickable ;-)
I dunno where this rumour of no L3+R3 came from?
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