Mr. O'Rourke explains himself

The name might not be too familiar, but Mr. O'Rourke is the man responsible for the PSP-bashing report he created for the analyst group In-Stat. In an interview with Gamasutra, O'Rourke explains his reasoning behind Nintendo's continued success in the handheld market. Here are a few excerpts:

• "The DS's shipment advantage has been overstated somewhat."

• "The key to a successful handheld is not necessarily graphics. Several of Nintendo's challengers over the years (e.g., Atari, NEC) have had superior graphics performance. But they did not succeed. More important is strong software support, and recognizable characters, that appeal to what has been primarily a pre-teen, early teen demographic. This is what Nintendo has understood well, and has executed on."

• "Sony does not have the same number of breakout titles for the PSP as Nintendo has created for the DS. In addition, the PSP costs substantially more than the DS ($199 vs. $129 in the US)."

• "No, publishers will not move away from the PSP. Sony is selling too many of them. Publishers are not in the business of throwing away revenue opportunities."

I think the man's on-the-money with his analysis. While it's clear that the DS is "winning," that's not going to stop publishers and developers from delivering games to us. And in the end, that's what we fanboys want (more than a victory in the handheld "war").