The introduction of the Nintendo DS has been a smashing international success, with millions of the things moving off the shelves within weeks. The Sony PSP's launch in Japan was surprisingly smooth, and the rest of the world awaits their chance to touch its sleek, black, plastic skin.
The portable gaming sector is an oddity. Common wisdom is that the big bosses at the big companies decided handheld consoles would be the Next Big Thing. Or did they? I think the big story here, and the biggest hidden story of 2004, is that Sony has fallen into a trap. Sony alone has decided that handheld consoles is the next big thing. Nintendo, on the other hand, knows that it’s already been the big thing for years; and, if anything, it may experience a drop-off soon. They see that Sony is trying to make a high-end niche in their market. Attacking from the skies, if you will.
My guess is that Nintendo doesn’t think there’s any room for that kind of niche.
Why do I say that? The DS, to Nintendo, is simply an experiment. It’s not a follow-up to their bread-and-butter
Gameboy units. They’ve gone out of their way to make this clear. No, no, no, the DS is an attempt to “bring the fun
back to gaming”. Whatever that means. But, make no mistake, Nintendo isn’t trying to make the best portable gaming
machine with the DS. They think they already have it in the GBA.
The fact is, Nintendo just needed a product to head off Sony’s entry into the portable market. They knew Sony’s attack
was inevitable and they planned well for it. They know that, as long as the DS competes with the PSP, the GBA can
continue to be the money-maker it is. The high-end DS and PSP can disappear for all Nintendo cares. They’ll still have
their little gem.
Meanwhile, Sony is betting the farm, taking a loss on every unit, and hoping to eat into Nintendo’s dominance from the
high-end. Sony has something to prove. They’re desperate. That can be a good thing. That can be a bad thing. It’s far
too early to tell. If they can produce a killer app soon, that will ensure Nintendo’s continued presence in the
high-end handheld gaming market. Many of you will accuse me of being a Sony-loving Nintendo-hater. No, I love
competition. If Sony fails, then there won’t be any competition in this new “high-end” market, and all those millions
of DS players would then get stuck with the modern version of the Sega CD.
Now that would put the fun back into gaming!
