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Babbage
Video game hardware
The epic battle of gaming gadgets
Feb 16th 2011, 9:33 by T.Y. AND K.N.C. | TOKYO
THE iPhone has not only overturned the cellphone industry, but the portable game market too. Its popularity has forced today's giants, Sony and Nintendo, to change in order to survive.
In the case of Sony, it means combining its portable Playstation console, called PSP, with a cellphone. The result, announced on February 13th by Sony Ericsson, was the Xperia Play. It will hit American stores first, in March. Sony will provide a platform for users to download and play selected PlayStation games by the end of the year. Sony will also release a new portable gadget called NGP (Next Generation Portable), with 3G wireless service this year.
The company may argue that it planned to do these things anyway—and surely it did have such plans in a filing cabinet somewhere. But the fire under their workbenches was Apple's runaway success, particularly with the iPad, which poses an even greater threat to game device makers than the iPhones' small screens.
Nintendo has been scrambling to catch up too. When the iPad was released Nintendo's boss, Satoshi Iwata, dismissed it as a direct rival. And he maintained his nonchalance last month when he welcomed Sony's NGP as a catalyst to spur the market. The worry, however, is that the market may enjoy those rivals devices more than his. Nintendo's response, to be launched on February 26th, is the Nintendo 3DS. It is provides 3D images visible to the naked eye, avoiding the need to wear cheesy glasses.
Moreover a gaggle of other competitors are eyeing the field, including Samsung's Galaxy tablet and smartphones, and even Panasonic, which is testing an online portable game device in America. Together, all this means today's gaming powerhouses are facing enemies on all sides. But they certainly have experience in getting past hostile environments to reach the next round.
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At this point I have to agree with Iwata. Anyone I've seen using an iPad has been either web browsing or reading e-books. Dedicated gaming devices, especially with dominant market positions and popularity, simply seem to be in a different category.
This doesn't mean that iOS games don't matter and can't make money. It means that the cheap-o simplistic games I've seen people play on iOS are a different breed. No one would try to argue that Flash games are substitutes or competitors for the flagship games, developed with huge corporate budgets, that run on a current-generation console. Granted, perhaps for a subgroup of people just looking to kill time, one game is as good as another and lower price trumps all, but enthusiastic portable gamers are not impressed enough to switch to iOS as of yet.
Now, many people outside Japan may think that this is very true - if you buy one, you won't buy another.
But this is a nonsense for buyers who love mobile PCs & Gaming computers. And here are reasons why this is all problems due to software makers in your location.
Like myself, they offer different things.
Whilst both offer gaming with the mobile computers, Sony offers more of entertainment with it along with software developers. Music, games, books, documents and all. So everyone who love these use these when needed.
On another hand, Nintendo offers - beside gaming with it - dictionary, brain train/ play software like sudoku, proverb quiz, maths, art (how? then you otta try the software) - all things adults will enjoy using it (even job interviews/ tests, academic tests, how to write good business letters....).
So in Japan, we use both. Anyway both are pretty small enough for business/ walking bags (bags won't walk, it's your legs) for all ages. So they are not really competing our heart and mind.
Hm. Something I realized when foreign people talk about them.
I am in no way encouraging/supporting this idea but I am really left wondering why in this vast immoral world no one thought of something that will blow away all the competition and introduce the next young billionaire:
3d-porn!