Stand-up console plays Nintendo DS and Sony PSP games, somewhat defeats the purpose

[Via Technabob]
DS posts






Nintendo's Wii, while thoroughly trouncing the competition in overall hardware sales, is way behind both the PS3 and Xbox 360 when it comes to media playback. Nintendo is about to take a step forward there with its Wii no Ma Channel, which will offer a variety of on-demand video including cartoons and other family programming -- in other words lots and lots of Pokemon. Now Nintendo President Satoru Iwata is indicating that he wants that video to come to the DS, too, saying "If the Wii and the DS are connected, it should be possible to download video through the Wii and take it with you on the DS." He also said Nintendo is "going to do it differently in a Nintendo-like way." Given the "different" way that Nintendo handles online play compared to the competition, expect to be punching in 16-digit codes in every time you get an urge to watch someone else catch 'em all. [Warning: Read link requires registration]

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 classics -- to add to the content that PSP owners can already purchase wirelessly through PlayStation Store.Pretty strong words in response to the fairly un-hyped US launch of the DSi tomorrow -- especially since Ninty's sold just about twice as many total DS units than Sony's 50m PSPs, hard numbers from which no amount of marketing bluster can really distract. In fact, if we were in charge at Sony, we'd be more worried about the emergence of the iPhone and iPod touch, which have sold over 30m units total and attracted a ton of buzz from game developers while the PSP seems to be stagnating in the face of endless rumors of a UMD-less PSP2. Harsh truth? Maybe, maybe not -- you tell us.








