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.... But that is usually because they tack gaming onto a device designed form making phone calls.
If they decide to make a new version of PSPgo with a touch screen, semi-decent camera, and 3G (HSDPA) then it could be the first great gaming mobile with the added bonus of truly online gaming for a mobile.
Only problem is the current pricing for PSPgo would price this at around £400 - £500 The iphone is like a poor mans psp/ds in imo. Instead of making their own poor mans handheld/phone shouldn't Sony be concentrating on the psp go?.
It's like they are saying to consumers "we're releasing a new psp but don't bother with that because we're bringing out an iphone clone soon because we've recently noticed that the iphone is doing considerably better than the psp." I think this is a bad idea which to be honest, has been a trait of Sony lately. Too many bad decisions. :( Like what? Well i love my iphone i've ditched my ds in favour of the games on the iphone. I found it tiresome taking multiple carts with the bulky ds everwhere unlike the iphone that has it rolled all rolled into 1 It's all about personal preference of course but do you not think the games on the iphone are very limited compared to those on the psp and ds?, you make a good point about size and carts though, it has a definite advantage there. »
Of course they are limited compared to both the PSP and DS, but it was never designed as an handheld gaming console, it simply one of it features, and I think in many ways aimed at a different market.
Personally I think both the DS and PSP for are a massive fail for me. Don't get me wrong they are both fantastic bits of kit, with some great games, but I rarely get chance to play them outside of the home, at least for long enough to do a game justice, and at that point I would rather play my PS3 or 360.
But the iphone games I have are much shorter fixes, and I end up playing them for 10 minutes here and there, waiting for a meeting to start, in the queue at lunch time etc. Quick to load, cheaper, and has a deliver system that is awesome! Most new phones retail at high prices - I think my C905 was about £350 sim-free at launch last year (RRP was even more - closer to £450). That's where contracts come in...
Hopefully this will be in the same vain as their Cybershot and Walkman phone series'. They've done a good job with both of those. Yeah... because the N-Gage was soooo sucessful.
Sony would be better off fixing the problems they have right now rather than making something else for them to balls up later. I can't believe nobody has just said it.....
N-GAGE, nuff said. »»
That's a fair point, I have a few simple puzzle games for my touch that are great to play for a few minutes here and there but, although you are right to say that it wasn't designed to be a handheld gaming console, the simple fact is that Apple are trying to turn it into one, there's hardly a day that goes by when we don't hear of a big name console game being converted to the iphone, Mass Effect and Need for Speed for example, and it's these type of games that I have a problem with. They just seem seem to 'ambitious' for it in my view. Is it Apple driving that though, or games publishers realising that its one of the best selling gadgets at the moment. I'm not sure what the exact sales figures are, but with iphone, we are seeing a piece of tech which users are carrying around with them 24-7, even if the game itself is just a lure to buying the full game, I think the influx of console to iphone conversions are more likeley to be being driven by the publishers, not apple. Lets face it gaming on a Mac has never really been something they've pushed massively for.
And why do you have a problem with it anyway? The Mass Effect game realises that it cannot compete with the 360 version, and addressed how to drive the game play in a different way, as long as people know that they are not going to get the kind of graphics and depth of gameplay I dont really see what the problem is, particularly when I brought the game for £2.99 I think! N-Cage...
The iPhone is so popular due to the apps, great touch screen and being able to fully snyc with iTunes.
I'd rather have a phone that works as a great MP3/4 player than one that plays games.
Besides, after seeing Sony's handheld attempt with the PSP I'd rather not. Nokia had no experience in the gaming market, where-as Sony have expertise in both the gaming and mobile phone fields. Im not saying its a dead cert, I think I'd expect a better result from Sony than the N-Gage.
What problems do they need to fix anyway? Whats wrong with PSP? It has some great games, and is overall a reliable piece of kit with some great features. The new PSPgo isnt really anything to shout about extra, but I cannot see what the problem is with the PSP in general. »
I don't necessarily have a problem with it, I just personally would choose a psp or ds ahead of it as a gaming device. I agree, but I don't think either apple or the games companies are viewing it as a gaming machine. They are certainly not putting the kind of money behind Mass Effect mobile as they will for Mass Effect 2, but they are just recognising that there is a chance to make money from the iphones capabilities.
As to what the PSPhone or whatever, should be pitched at, a phone with gaming capabilities or a gaming device with phone functionality, who knows which they will choose, or which will work better. At the end of the day its their mistake to make, there is obviously a demand for it, or people wouldn't be playing games on their phones, or PSP users wouldn't have been whispering about adding Phone functionality for the last year of so. We'll see what happens... i think people have missed an important point. Sony errikson phones are the worst on the market. They crash all the time and have piss poor battery life when you attempt to do anything. I know because i was dooped into getting one when i renewed my contract with orange. Next time i'll do more research.
Personally i think they should get both thier portable gaming and phones spot on before trying to combine the 2. you get the feeling they are trying to invade the little neiche apple have carved for itself with the i pod touch and i phone respectively. The PSP go! is going to be a massive flop unless they halve the price and make downloadable games considerably cheaper than thier UMD counterparts. However seeing how Sony seem to have gotten it into thier head that thier brand name will carry them through reguardless and have basically insulted thier bread and butter ( gamers, usually relatively tech savy and hard when it comes to pricing and wanting a good deal) repeatedly in the last few years, i highly doubt it.
Right now i'd say Nintendo or even MS have a much better chance at releasing a successful gaming phone. Ha MS and Nintendo have been selling products on the back of a name for years, Windows operating systems have been consistently bad since 98, and Nintendo have sold three iterations of the same piece of hardware with only minor hardware improvements and everyone laps it up. Nintendo have done a fantastic job of wrestling their way to the top of the pile and I can only applaud them for that, but it does make me laugh when people slag off Sony when the other 2 are guilty of the same crap.
As for Sony Erricson phones, my previous phone to the iPhone was a K800i, and I had no problems with it. Wasn't all singing all dancing but then again I didnt expect it to be, and I know many other swho keep buying song phones. »
Well again maybe not at the start but with the success they've had I think that they are looking it as 'MORE' of a games machine now than they used to. There was even a story on this site not too long ago where someone from Apple was claiming that the new 3gs was even more powerful than psp. Until I got an iphone last year, I had had four or five SE phones and always found them very good. Apart from the control stick getting a bit dodgy, never really had any problems. In fact I've had better experiences with Sony phones than any of their other products.
My issue with mobile gaming is that most of it is ten minutes on the tube here and there, and I'm not going to take a DS/PSP for that journey. The iphone is good for that, but as a gaming device I don't really like the touch interface. Pinball Dreams is a cracker though. However the difference between sony and Nintendo, is that if you buy a nintendo product you are guarenteed to get a sturdy bit of kit at a resonable price.
heres the break down.
Nintendo = quality, reasonable price.
Sony = ok - poor quality, woefully overpriced.
MS = poor quality, good price. Really, I've not had any problems with either my PSP, or my PS3, the PS3 in particular is considered to be a very high quality piece of kit from what I have seen. The PS2 I can agree was dire.
I had problems with the hinge on my DS, as I have known a few people have also.
As for price I'm not sure sony are overpriced, that suggests its not worth the tech that's in there, and in the case of the PSP and PS3 I don't think that's the case at all, especially as we still here that they take loses on the PS3. The PSPgo is another matter, that does seem over priced. But I would rather pay more for a more reliable console than less for one that needs repairing 3 times (having said that I brought both). Just worry about the PSP and PS3 Sony, real gamers dont care about iPhone gaming! Seems like another knee-jerk reaction from Sony, and possibly one that may be misguided. Personally my main concern when buying a *phone* is how it handles that particular task (i.e. dialling up another phone and having a conversation). This involves service area coverage, reception capabilities of the phone itself, durability, battery life, size of digits (too small and I'll need a tooth pick to dial in a number or type out a SMS message), how it feels in my hand, shape, size, aesthetics and finally price.
Now, if all of those criteria are to my taste then it's a bonus if it has radio, MP3 playing capabilities, a LED flashlight, Bluetooth, camera, and games, etc. However, the gaming ability of a phone has been, and will probably continue to be, for me the single least important aspect of it. I'm buying a phone afterall. Not a games machine. While the two needn't be mutually exclusive the phone does the communications part more easily than a console, and the console does the gaming better than the phone. This leaves the concept of a "gaming phone" in a precarious position. well its bound to happen because Sony have seen all those shiny dollars piling up at the house of Apple. ...and Sony are embarking on the whole networked products malarky tied into the Sony (Playstation) network, so they'll have you ringfenced in with your phones, digi cameras, vaio's, video cameras, tv, playstation, god knows else what, toaster and toilet roll holder perhaps?
anyway it's all part of their scheme to tie you into their network to sell you content. can't blame them i suppose.
There's been a shuffling in the ranks at Sony as well I see http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/suzuki-named-as-new-scei-deputy-president @WHERESMYMONKEY
What planet are you on? I agree that most Sony products are overpriced but poor build quality? You have to be kidding! My PS3 has never once crashed, stalled or done anything out of place, neither has my PSP. The PS2 (original) had lots of faults (I had 2 original ones) but they fixed that with the slim one (I have had mine since release and that has never once failed me). Hell, I have an old Trinitron TV in my attic that still works.
You also said that Sony Ericsson phones are the worst on the market. I have a W350i which I bought for £60 and that has never failed me either, which is more than I can say for the two Motorolas I had. Battery life on it is also decent.
You are right about combining the PS brand with phones though. My W350i isn't flashy, but I have played games on far more expensive phones and nearly all of them were shovelware. No, I take that back. They were ALL shovelware. I have a PSP and a DS for gaming, I don't need a phone for it as well. At the end of the day, a machine designed for games will be better than one that uses them as an add on.
I also agree about the GO! I worked out that it costs only £5 more to buy a PSP 3000 with a 16GB memory stick and a game with it. »»
I dont know the in's and out's of the spec, but from the games I've played I doubt it, although I think that quote came from Carmack from Id Software not Apple. »»»
Apologies if it was, I thought someone from Apple said it. I can't imagine holding a device the size of a PSP to my ear to make phone calls, but a PSP with 3G network access to browse the web, play online etc sounds pretty cool.
About the iPhone, I consider myself a "real" gamer (I've been playing games since the C64) and I really enjoy playing on my iPhone. There are a couple of genres I don't see it working well with (e.g. beat-em-ups), but practically everything else works great. If you don't believe me check out:
http://firemint.com/realracing
or
http://rolando2.ngmoco.com
I think it's just snobbery. It burns the enthusiast's ass that he's actually in the minority.
Make no mistake: the PSP, DSi and iPhone are all moving in the same convergent direction, just from different angles. You ARE a monkey, how can you justify Nintendo for selling consoles at a reasonable price. The Wii is a gloryfied Gamecube and selling for £180. you can get an xbox360 for under £100. Nintendo are the only company selling hardware for a proffit.
Yes the PS3 is expensive, but definately not overpriced, as Sony is losing money on every one they sell.
(PSP is very overpriced) Thats right. A poor mans PSP/DS that costs twice the price. My iPhone 3GS 32GB costs £540, that is considerably more than the a PSP Go! or a DSi.
I would also like to point out that I have a hacked PSP 2000 and a DS Lite and I play the iPhone games about 300% more than either of the 'true' handheld consoles. If you need to ask then it's clear where your loyalty lays console wise... and thus I'd be wasting my time trying to hammer the message home through your thick skull. Geez. For 540 quid you could buy a console and a small-ish TV (by today's standards if you buy a flat screen,) or a reasonable sized cathode tube TV. Granted, it's not "gaming on the go" but I know which one would be much more likely to satisfy my gaming needs...Hint: Not the phone-based gaming platform. It's funny how short people's memories are. I'll never understand why people are so hostile to new platforms (especially from newcomers to the market).
I remember how ridiculous people thought it was that Sony thought they could take on Nintendo and Sega. How doomed the Xbox was. Look what happened there.
I think the DS is great, but my memory isn't quite as selective as some people's. People talk about it in such reverent tones, like its success was assured. Funny that.
I remember Nintendo releasing a console that people thought was the ugly, underpowered step-child of a Gameboy Advance and a Game & Watch...
... how its launch line-up of games was pitiful
... how its 3D capabilities were far short of its main rival
... how it took a hardware revision before most people would be seen dead with one.
... how ridiculous people though the stylus was. Games like Zelda and Metroid would surely never work...
... how it took two years before developers really figured out how to develop great titles for it.
... how even now, the DS is the undisputed KING of shovelware. Unless you like games like "Imagine Bake a Cake for my Pony's Dream Wedding".
AND YET here it is. Loads of great games. Best-selling console on the market, I believe. I'd buy one tomorrow, if I could spare the cash :)
People should be a bit more open minded. »
My loyalty is with me as a gamer, I own both the 360 and PS3, not interested in the Wii at the moment, and I own a DS and PSP. I spread my time pretty evenly between the consoles I play, usually based around quality exclusives, GoW and Halo on 360, MGS and Drakes Fortune on PS3 etc etc.
Until this gen I have pretty much owned every console over the years at some point. My question was more aimed at the fact that I find it hilarious that people have such a big chip on their shoulders about Sony. They make out that they've made such a big mistake this gen and are paying for it, and that thing will not turn around until they do.
Yet MS and Nintendo seem to be golden boys. People seem to have forgot that the 360 is inexcusably unreliable even now, and that Nintendo have released 3 iterations of the same console with only slight upgrades,and yet the same people go out and buy each one. Nintendo refuse to lower the price of the Wii(which is IMO is fair enough if people keep buying it)but SONY are the rip off merchants???
The truth about the PS3 price point is that based on weekly sales the PS3 sold more consoles than the 360 did in the same amount of time (about 3 million more). Considering the PS3 is selling in a market where the consumer has 3 choices, within the "new" generation, I'd say that pretty good going. So at the moment I doubt that Sony will be too worried that the price is too high to encourage people to buy the console
The PS3 and the PSP may be expensive compared to the others, but they are in my experience, more powerful and more reliable than the competitors with some fantastic games. Yes they are not perfect but none of the companies can claim to to that! | 
