Forum > Gaming Discussion > Sony PR at it again: Says DSi nothing new, still for kids...claims PSP reaches a broader audience
Sony PR at it again: Says DSi nothing new, still for kids...claims PSP reaches a broader audience
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Sun, 05 Apr 2009 04:29:27
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http://kotaku.com/5198631/sony-gets-chippy-on-eve-of-dsi-release

"If Nintendo is really committed to reaching a broader, more diverse audience of gamers beyond the "kids" market that they've always engaged, there isn't much new with the DSi to support that. Significant gamer demographic groups are being ignored, and there continues to be limited opportunities for games from external publishers to do well on the DSi.

"Compare that with the PSP platform, where we have many blockbuster franchises from our publishing partners launching this year, representing a wide variety of genres and targeting diverse demographics. Games such as Rock Band Unplugged from MTV Games, Assassin's Creed from Ubisoft, Dissidia Final Fantasy from Square Enix, and Hannah Montana from Disney demonstrate the commitment that publishers have to the PSP. From our own first-party studios, we're launching unique versions of LittleBigPlanet and MotorStorm, and we're also planning a steady stream of downloadable games — both new titles and PSone clas-sics — to add to the content that PSP owners can already purchase wirelessly through PlayStation Store."

Lately, I've been loving my PSP a lot more than my DS, but even I think this is a foolish statement. I know from experience that the DS is not just for kids and has a awesome library that satisfies anyone of all ages. I'm sure everyone who has a DS agrees with me here.

Also, isn't it funny how he mentions Hannah Montanna games? Doesn't the DS and the Wii have them too? And I'm sorry to say that as a PSP and DS owner who love both systems, the PSP doesn't reach a broader audience.

And finally, I just have three words in response to this latest Sony PR statement: Dragon Quest IX

Anyway, your thoughts.

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Sun, 05 Apr 2009 04:53:41
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Assassin's Creed DSFinal Fantasy: Ring of Fates
Hannah Montana DS

And close enough to Rock Band:
Guitar Hero DS

Also, way to hype PSP downloadable games, when that's a new feature to the DSi that you just had had no good new features.
Edited: Sun, 05 Apr 2009 04:54:03

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Sun, 05 Apr 2009 06:45:00
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Did he just imply Hannah Montana was aimed at the 'core' game demographic? LOL

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Sun, 05 Apr 2009 07:04:48
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Foolz said:
Did he just imply Hannah Montana was aimed at the 'core' game demographic? LOL

Not to defend Sony's idiocy, but it's rather clear the implication that they have a library to please all demographics.

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Sun, 05 Apr 2009 10:36:09
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Yodariquo said:
Foolz said:
Did he just imply Hannah Montana was aimed at the 'core' game demographic? LOL

Not to defend Sony's idiocy, but it's rather clear the implication that they have a library to please all demographics.

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Sun, 05 Apr 2009 11:41:23
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"...Hannah Montana from Disney demonstrate[s] the commitment that publishers have to the PSP."

Enough said.

And yeah, that's an easy shot. But I have about 100 PSP and 100 DS games and I'm happy with what they provide (except for the FPS genre).

The DSi is nothing great, it won't add much to gaming, in fact I just bought my third DS just so I could have another GBA player before that's no longer available.

Edited: Sun, 05 Apr 2009 11:45:26

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Sun, 05 Apr 2009 15:23:53
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aspro73 said:

"...Hannah Montana from Disney demonstrate[s] the commitment that publishers have to the PSP."

Enough said.

And yeah, that's an easy shot. But I have about 100 PSP and 100 DS games and I'm happy with what they provide (except for the FPS genre).

The DSi is nothing great, it won't add much to gaming, in fact I just bought my third DS just so I could have another GBA player before that's no longer available.

Frankly I'd prefer a new GBA player for the Wii over the DSi.  Or even better yet somehow build a DS player for the Wii.  That's just crazy talk though.

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Sun, 05 Apr 2009 16:05:14
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"If Nintendo is really committed to reaching a broader, more diverse audience of gamers beyond the "kids" market that they've always engaged, there isn't much new with the DSi to support that. Significant gamer demographic groups are being ignored, and there continues to be limited opportunities for games from external publishers to do well on the DSi.

I thought we were past this old PR BS. This is the kind of crap that flew back in the late nineties. Now its just lame. How many times are they going to roll out the same old kiddie argument?

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=21247

Exclusive: Sony PSP Versus Nintendo DS - The Sales Showdown

The figures reported by Game Informer make crystal clear just how many more releases the Nintendo DS has received, and shows that those Nintendo DS titles enjoy higher per-title average sales.

Total Software Sales and Tie Ratios

However, we can also use the figures above to give a somewhat different perspective on the handheld software market. In particular, we can compute the total software unit sales for each platform.

total-ltd-software.gif

Through a greater number of titles and greater per-title unit sales, the Nintendo DS has moved twice the volume of software that the PSP has in its lifetime.

Moreover, we can use total software sales and total hardware sales to get an estimate of each system's tie ratio. (Recall that a
tie ratio is the total software unit sales divided by the total hardware unit sales. It serves as an average software units per system sold.)

The tie ratio for the Nintendo DS appears to be around 4.8, while the ratio for the PSP is around 4.2. For the sake of comparison, the tie ratios for the current generation of consoles range from 8.1 on the Xbox 360 down to 5.4 on the Nintendo Wii.

Given that a system with particularly strong hardware sales can see its tie ratio drop, the Nintendo DS tie ratio estimate is quite strong given how well it has sold, historically.

On the other hand, the lower PSP tie ratio is in keeping with that system's robust hardware sales with weaker corresponding software sales.

Each title in the PSP top 5 is a third-party title and, moreover, not exclusive to the PSP. While the GTA titles each started out exclusively on the PSP, they were each later ported to the PlayStation 2.

Conversely, the titles on the Nintendo DS list are all published by Nintendo (i.e first party titles), and most of them are exclusive to the system.

Super Mario 64 DS is a port of the earlier Nintendo 64 game of nearly the same name, while Mario Kart has had iterations on four Nintendo consoles.

Furthermore, the best-selling PSP title still has lesser sales than the fifth best-selling title on the Nintendo DS.

In fact, the Game Informer article elaborates on the scale of Nintendo DS software sales, explaining that 20 games have exceeded 1 million units in sales; by comparison only the three PSP titles shown above have sold over 1 million units in the United States.


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Sun, 05 Apr 2009 21:54:09
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In fact, the Game Informer article elaborates on the scale of Nintendo DS software sales, explaining that 20 games have exceeded 1 million units in sales; by comparison only the three PSP titles shown above have sold over 1 million units in the United States.

Wow.  Those would have to be God of War and the two GTA games.  I'm playing Chinatown right now, and am enjoying it, but I wondered (for a hundredth of a second) why it was on the DS and not the PSP... ah yeah INSTALL BASE.  It is a much better game than the PSP iterations, but I think that is mostly due to the changes Rockstar has made to the GTA series in general more than the platform.

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Mon, 06 Apr 2009 02:32:37
PSP is selling like hotcakes in Japan, but I bet without Monster Hunter, the PSP would've fell into obscurity about now over there.

I'm hearing some people saying the PSP's software is almost dead. I'm not sure how well Little Big Planet, Assassin's Creed, or the new Motorstorm game will do, but in my opinion, the last great PSP release was Resistance Retribution and the upcoming Final Fantasy Dissidia. Other than those two titles, unless Sony pulls a hat trick and announces crazy titles in this year's E3, I think it's all downhill for the PSP from here on out.

As for the DS, it's still going strong. With the new Zelda coming and Dragon Quest IX, and new DSi-only software plus the DSiWare VC potential, I think the DS will still have a fruitful life for more years.

Sony needs to get the ball rolling with the PSP. Last year, I don't remember any important titles coming out for it. Before Prinny and Resistance, there really was nothing! But all Sony needs to do is do more stuff from their popular franchises like that new rumored ReadyatDawn God of War game or maybe Sony can do Uncharted portable and another Killzone PSP game. Sony also needs to get third party devs to support it with more quality games as well.

Although I love my PSP I do admit I'm disappointed with it also. Where are all the original JRPGs that could've come out for it? Where is a original Metro-vania type of Castlevania game for the PSP? Where is Marvel VS Capcom 2 or Third Strike? Where is Devil May Cry? Where is Resident Evil? What about Gran Turismo Mobile? Wasn't that game like the show piece for the system when it was coming out and they still haven't come out with it?! Where's Suikoden 2 on PSN? Why don't they give Square-Enix some money and put Chrono Cross, FFVII, VIII, or IX on the PSN as well!?

What gives Sony!!!

A lot of missed potential. The PSP could've been greater than it is now, but I think Sony messed up.

Edited: Mon, 06 Apr 2009 02:34:03

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Mon, 06 Apr 2009 02:37:28
I'm very surprised that Sony is talking up Rock Band for the PSP.  They've already said that it'll be WITHOUT instruments.  Essentially it's Amplitude.  Not that it's a bad thing, but come on - that game's appeal was a wide as something that's extremely tiny (shut up it's late and I'm stuck for a metaphor).  
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Mon, 06 Apr 2009 10:05:28

ASK, Capcom dont seem to like PSP, DS or Wii. They are all about the next gen power at the moment.

Sony is doing well with PSP the hardware is selling well, but the software just isn't doing enough and its not cheap enough to do proper games on it for the little niche publishers to jump on board like the DS is. DSi will compound that problem.

Aspro, I think those sales comparisons are for NPD north america only as well.

The DS has a ton of million selling titles. Of course Nintendo dominates that chart. But in terms of volume of shifted software units, it's leagues ahead of PSP.

Sony is doing a great job at the moment trying to focus more on their portable platform, LBP and Motorstorm etc. Its what they needed to do a few years ago though, not now that the PSP has proved itself and PS3 isn't buttering their bread.

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Mon, 06 Apr 2009 10:54:56

I love how the press are reporting this story, not just here but at Eurogamer and CVG too.

http://www.edge-online.com/news/102/sony-launches-dsi-tirade

SCEA’s John Koller has apparently opened an extraordinary attack on Nintendo’s latest handheld, the DSi.

According to a press release issued to technology blog Engadget, the SCEA Director of Hardware Marketing said that “if Nintendo is really committed to reaching a broader, more diverse audience of gamers beyond the ‘kids’ market that they've always engaged, there isn't much new with the DSi to support that.”

Koller’s position seems to mirror that of the vocal Wii consumer-base, who have in recent times slammed Nintendo for drawing away from its core fanbase.

“Significant gamer demographic groups are being ignored,” he said “and there continues to be limited opportunities for games from external publishers to do well on the DSi.”

Koller, of course, chose to make favourable comparisons between the DSi and Sony’s own handheld. “We have many blockbuster franchises from our publishing partners launching this year, representing a wide variety of genres and targeting diverse demographics.”

Following this, Koller listed of some promising upcoming PSP titles, such as Rock Band Unplugged, Assassin's Creed and Dissidia Final Fantasy. He added that the handheld will see its own LittleBigPlanet and MotorStorm titles, “and we're also planning a steady stream of downloadable games, both new titles and PSone classics, to add to the content that PSP owners can already purchase wirelessly through PlayStation Store.”

The validity of the outburst remains in dispute, as the press statement has seemingly only been sent to a single news outlet. The validity of the release is also questioned due to its method, as such barefaced criticisms of competitor hardware is surely another insult to a gaming demographic which is in dire need of being freed from the shackles of puerile, meaningless one-upmanship.

SCEA could not be reached at the time of going to press.


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