PSP still hasn't reversed Nintendo's handheld dominance

I have to confess that I'm quite impressed with the PSP. While I don't own or want one, and still believe that the price isn't worth it, PSP has done amazingly better against Nintendo than any other handheld in history. My guess for the future is that PSP will be used as a foot in the door, and the *next* generation of handhelds will be the real race.

No problem, though; competition is always a good thing.

First of all, I've had a Japanese PSP for about 2 years now. Yeah, its scratched up, but what are you gonna do?

Problems:
I've had to take it apart at least twice to clear out the accursed buttons due to 'debris and dust' - Especially annoying when trying combos on Street Fighter and Tekken.

Screen is brilliant, except dust can gather underneath the faceplate, making it irritating watching films and playing games (at least for me, but im a perfectionist :) ).

The games in the UK vary upto £40. There are some brilliant games lined up for this year, but the cost is really off-putting, and I'm the kind of person who can't wait. And the size of the UMDs.

Battery life sucks. I have to borrow my sister's DS to play due to the immense drain from loading and playing.

Shitty Firmware - need I say more?

Lik-Sang is gone. Thanks Sony.

It isn't the pick-up-and-play console u'd expect. You need time to play it, which, coupled with the load times, battery life, memory limitations (i.e. expensive Sony crap) and UMDs make it very unattractive to most people.

What I like:
There may be a lot I hate, but there are things which I love more.

Screen is brilliant

There are some awesome games coming out this year (Burnout Dominator, FF, GT and others. Games such as Tekken: Dark Ressurection, Ratchet and Clank and GTA:VCS really bring out the best of the PSP. And yes, I'm sure there are some that do it for the DS.

Its convenient - the ability to watch/listen/play/browse is helpful when travelling as it limits what you need to take (apart from, say, memory sticks and batteries)

eBay, retailers (and trade-in shops) and Lik-Sang are our friends. No, wait, Lik-Sang been shut down. Shit.

Homebrew is awesome on the PSP, and its customizable from the physical aspect (faceplates, glowing PSPs) to the electronic aspect (Homebrew, chip mods).

Overall, the DS so far is the best gaming machine in terms of the library right now, but the PSP is fast playing catch-up. Sony have really got to work with the homebrew community if they are to succeed, and a little support for us owners WHO WANT BETTER GAMES AND LESS LIMITATIONS.

And I plan on getting a Wii and perhaps a Xbox360/PS3. Not sure which, but I'm sure people can convince me. :)

Hey Sen, you realize Lik-Sang was already weakened by previous court battles from Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft, didn't you? You also know all Lik-Sang had to do to avoid litigation like Play-Asia and Yes-Asia was quit selling the Japanese PSP during the console shortage, right? And, incidently, www.play-asia.com and www.yesasia.com both have much better customer support, cheap prices and decent sales, and.. oh yeah.. NOT STEEPED IN A HISTORY OF FUCKING PIRACY AND BOOTLEGGING.

@17

Want to cite your sources for PSP games being in the top 10? According to www.vgcharts.org, PSP games sell okay, but not in the top 10 (with a few exceptions, like the latest Tales game in Japan).

I have a DS lite and a PSP and to be honest, I like the PSP more. DS games tend to be gimmiky in my eyes.

Where is the price drop? If Sony were serious about this, they would have dropped the price by now. Since they're selling far less than the DS right now, they can't possibly make a dent in the market without a price drop.

Besides, the system has been out for awhile now and still no price drop? What's going on?

-Leshrac
http://alinktothefuture.com

@Stoli

I think he meant everyone couple of weeks there appears in the top 10 of the weekly sales. For example, Monster Hunter Portable will most likely take #1 when the results for last week show up.

@Sheppy

There is no point in trying to show liksang for what it really was. People have come to the conclusion that since it was Sony that they blamed, liksang was an awesome retailer. Had nintendo or MS shut them down, then I doubt anyone would have cared about the loss of a horrible retailer anyways.

And Capcom has 2 Pheonix Wrights, 2 Megamans, and Viewtiful Joe on the DS. Isnt that enough? Seriously, Capcom loves working on new hardware more than they do working on popular hardware. Look at the 360, the psp, the gamecube. Capcom likes challenging themselves regardless of the market standing of a system.

@ Aex

You're wrong

Lik-sang rocked, that place was head and shoulders above its rival import centers

It's not Sony hating, its hating the company that Lik-sang claimed (although a claim is doubtful, may have been looking to shift blame) shut them down, the company just happens to be a company despised by many right now

Yeah, Mr. Kahn. Lik-Sang was totally awesome. I mean, why shouldn't a company like Lik-Sang buy out entire shipments from stores in Aki district and scalp them to US and Europian gamers for a $150 profit? That's fucking awesome ethics, man!

Or suddenly stop taking preorders on DS Lite prelaunch just to send everyone with a preorder a new message stating the price of the DS Lite has just gone up an additonal $100 (when it was already $50+ over Japanese MRSP)? Badass stores, that's what kind of stores those are.

Or selling their customers used consoles for full prices, claiming it would be held to the same warranty as a new console and taking this back when the scratched to fuck handheld console dies. But hey, I got an offer of $20 off a new console that was already $70 more than Play-Asia pricing. That's a great store, man.

Or how about a store that, largely, ignored the asian culture and limited their business not only to games, but rather preferred to to avoid selling all those quirky games that importers love?

Or a store that largely avoided selling the LE sets on some of the higher profile games?

Lik-Sang was fucking awesome, man...
Or I could of course spend the extra $5-$6 (seriously, free shipping was their ONLY advantage) for shipping, get a much better variety, buy other things aside from strictly games, and even browse the clearance sections at Play-Asia.

Sony needs to stop with their proprietary format garbage.
IF blu ray takes off, it will be the only time they managed to get thier own form of media off the ground, with maybe the exception of miniDiscs in Japan.
UMDs are garbage. period.
and the problem is that people need to look at it for what it is: a handheld.
$250 is too much for a handheld, as is $200. I believe i payed $200 for my original xbox, and it was worth every penny.
While LCS and VCS have helped in the games category, you have to admit it still DOES NOT HAVE a killer app. When they deliver on that, i would bet anything 10M units will be sold.
The price and lack of a killer app is the only thing holding me back from buying one myself, i have borrowed from my friends for a bit, but never saw it to be worth $200.
I also agree that Sony overshoots, confusing consumers with hardware that does alot, but doesn't tell them how or what to do with it. Interestingly enough microsoft does the opposite, i recently bought a media center PC, and connected it, and found a whole new world of functionality as a media center PC extender.

In reality, nintendo has OWNED the handheld market for over 10 years, even when it's console business was dead it stayed profitable with handhelds, i don't see the PSP doing anything more than taking a bit of market share and being profitable along side the DS.

@ Andrew:

To each his own. I play both my PSP and DS, but I tend to play the DS a bit more, even as an adult.

Like I mentioned, If Monster Hunter wasn't on PSP, My DS lite playtime would totally eclipse my PSP to the point of the PSP collecting dust.

The PSP failed to become the portable king because it's content is too expensive

--

Convergence doesn't work, unless it's solved by software. PSP is convergence without the benefit of software.. Much like the PS2 with game/DVD capability. The problem is, the PSP is crap as a music player, yet they put it in there. It's pretty good as a video player, but of course Sony jacks up the price on the videos.

Of course, since marketshare is awful, the games are gonna blow.

I can imagine the battery life sucks too.

The psp is a nice piece of hardware. In a few years when i have money to blow, I'll buy one and watch ripped movies on the go. The ds just looks more fun (and is very fun). The Lite's are stylish, too.

I feel like the psp is the ps2 on the go. very cool, but only for people who need a ps2 everywhere they go and are willing to pay a premium for it. The ds lite is totally separate from gamecube or the wii. I can't buy a wii right now because ds lite is my main system. I have a busy life and can't do everything.

I love playing games with friends without having to buy the game, too.

I get about 4-6 hours of gameplay on my PSP with DJ Max Portable (yet only 3-4 with Hot Shots, but I digress). I get about 5-7 with my DS lite and Ouendon. If there is a battery life problem, it seems comparable from me experience.

seems to me if PSP sold 25 million is about 2 years then it should have no problem hitting 100 million in 10 years, 25x5 is 125, and once a couple price drops hit, or a new PSP version comes out there will be even more sales.

Just because the DS sells a trillion units in 5 years doesn't mean the PSP isn't hitting its target goals.

Apart from what people have said about PSP, there's this:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6387551.stm

"The Remote Play functionality in PSP and PS3 currently allows the PSP user to wirelessly access pictures, videos and audio content stored on the PS3 up to a range of around 25-30 metres.

But Sony has big plans for connecting its devices.

"We're hoping to incorporate that functionality in the very near future - from a local level at the moment to a global level probably within the next six months," said Mr Fargher.

The idea is to use the PSP to access the PS3 at home from anywhere in the world with a wireless hotspot.

"If I have my MP3 Walkman or my iPod, or digital camera connected to PS3 then I can access those devices too," said Mr Fargher."

This kind of connectivity will be beyond what Nintendo's GC+GBA has offered, and while it may not turn the tide (a price drop will help PSP in America and Europe, it's only 3mil behind in each of those regions), it's an interesting feature.

Oh and Blake, you deserve all the hate you get for that bullshit comment on how it's a safe bet to assume 25 million won't be sold in 8 years. I love how everyone's laughing at you for it.

The PSP has not sold 25 million units. The PSP is a flop.

I got a PSP for Christmas and yesterday returned it to the store (90 day return policy). The graphics by far are alot better than the DS and the driving games, in terms of control, etc are better on the PSP. But beyond that there are really no great games for it. I played GTA, Splinter cell and the controls were aweful compared to the console versions (to play these games you really need 2 analog sticks. Granted trying to control a flying ship on DS's Starfox was a disaster too.
I guess you can justify the high price of the PSP which can be used as a "multimedia machine" ala PS3 but to convert movies to PSP format takes a big chunk of memory. Twice what is needed compared to Divx. and memory sticks are not cheap.

I have a DS and a PSP.I bought a DS(fat) first 2 years ago.I replaced it with a DS lite just last year.I managed to buy my psp for $150 last November *plus* it came with a 2gig memory card.Can't beat that.I love my DS, but to be perfectly honest, I play with my PSP a lot more these days.I still get into my multi player games against friends with a DS.But I'm also getting into Tekken DR battles with 3 other friends as well.Both are good successful systems, especially in the case of the DS.I just prefer my PSP more right now.And I'm not selling it, or my DS any time soon :)

LOL the PSP is better hands down. But then i hacked it and emulated. So games for me are free. And i can play some DS games that dont need the touch screen. So yeah. Plus I can listen to music and can watch movies. Plus better graphics. If more pll know what the psp can do....they can smack nintendo into the gound. DS is just a touch screen gameboy.