Sony PSP man slags off Nintendo DSi

By Tom Bramwell Published 6 April, 2009

Third parties struggle, for kids, etc.

Sony's John Koller has issued a ranty missive accusing the DSi of missing out key demographics and being rubbish for third parties.

In a statement apparently issued late last week (thanks Kotaku), US hardware marketing man Koller wrote: "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."

Guess where Koller reckons there are opportunities for games from external publishers to do well? That's right - on the PSP.

"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," he wrote, listing Rock Band, Assassin's Creed, Dissidia Final Fantasy and, er, Hannah Montana, which sounds like a kids' game to us.

"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."

The DSi, which launched on Friday in Europe for GBP 149, amassed tons of pre-orders and introduces new hardware features (including a sped-up processor and more memory) and a game download service in a reshaped dual-screen format.

Speaking at GDC, Nintendo's US boss Reggie Fils-Aime said that the company's competitors like to talk up "an inability for others to succeed on Nintendo platforms", but said, to cut along story short, that he thought that was bollocks.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (31) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • jonsaan #1 3 years ago

    Handbags!

  • Wastelander #2 3 years ago

    Sony PSP man in "shitting his pants in ph33r of the DSi" shocker!

  • Dizzy #3 3 years ago

    Wow... I guess denial is a good way to handle PR.

  • Gnort #4 3 years ago

    I preferred it when fanboy rantings and flame wars were carried out by petulant forumites, not senior staff from the companies involved.

  • roz123 #5 3 years ago

    what a complete load of crap

  • GamesConnoisseur #6 3 years ago

    DS is doing far better than Sony would have liked and Sony were used to the reversed position. Also more publishers are ignoring PSP when doing multi platform games.

    That doesnt seem like the trend is growing for third parties games on the PSP?

    DSi I got, simply cos I m WEAK! But its still a canny piece of kit and allow me to lazy up on my bedside as on hols this week and browse Eurogamer and BBC news on bed! PSP can do the same but find DSi easier to type in texts and so on.

    I hate very much the 'phone handset' type keyboard on PSP and in real life I always get a qwerty mobile phone cos I cant be buggered to press key '3' 3x to get a F and so on!

  • sanctusmortis #7 3 years ago

    Sour grapes by Sony, whodathunkit...

    In all seriousness, I agree the DSi is child-centric - but the sales will say otherwise as ever. All they need is some camera-based exercise game and that'll be that.

  • Gaol #8 3 years ago

    Good luck browsing on the DSi if it is anything like the old Lite cartridge. It's so slow, it's painful, not that the PSP is much better.

    In any case, both formats have their problems. The DS has a large library of shit software that is *massively* overpriced. The PSP has that stinky disc drive and no one releases stuff on it because of piracy.

  • DaM #9 3 years ago

    Surely it's just about as easy to run pirate stuff on the DS - Ok some extra hardware involved, but that's probably easier for you average pirate in the street than all the shenanignas involved in keeping the PSP cracked open?

  • Rangerwave #10 3 years ago

    all i want for xmas is psp?

  • spookyzombie #11 3 years ago

    I'm finding the DSi Opera software incredibly slow. The Eurogamer main page takes ages to load up.

  • Goodfella #12 3 years ago

    From reviews I've read they said the browser in the DSi was terrible. The DSi at £150 in general is just a total rip off, imo.

  • des #13 3 years ago

    So PSP is going to get its arse whipped once again by DS(DSi) and this is the best thing that Sony can come up with??

    lol

  • CaptianScarlet #14 3 years ago

    15 seconds it took the eurogamer to load in just then.

    To be honest I don't have a problem with the slower browsing. after all it's just an extra feature on what is a game playing device. What I find more annoying is that the Opera browser still has no flash support because the DSi just doesn't have the memory.

    DSi is just DS 1.1 for gadget lovers and Nintendo fans anyway. Nintendo have never claimed this as their next hand held and I for one am very happy to pay out for a DS with some additional features, especially for the DSi shops. That's where the DSi will come into it's own (assuming they put good stuff out on it that is! :) )

  • lcmnick #15 3 years ago

    Just when you think, *just* when you think Sony is beginning to show a bit more humility, some idiot comes out and makes you realise why Sony currently have a bad rep at the moment.

    I'm surprised it's Koller though, he's been talking some sense lately, unlike that idiot Tretton.

  • varsas #16 3 years ago

    @Coin-Op: Did you forget that you need an HD TV too for the 360? Clearly an Xbox tard.

  • penhalion #17 3 years ago

    Did anyone actually buy a DSi?

    I went to game to get cryostasis (they didn't have any) and didn't see a single person buying or asking about DSi. So I'm curious as to whether these mithical pre-orders actually translated into sales of any kind.

  • suicida #18 3 years ago

    Never had a DS before, got a DSi on Friday for GTA:Chinatown Wars and Chrono Trigger. Fucking love it... I never bothered replacing my PSP when it got nicked. That says it all.

  • chessboxer #19 3 years ago

    DS is shipped, PSP is sold, not that it make a huge amount of difference...

  • menage #20 3 years ago

    There's loads of stuff for adult gamers on DS, (if you like JRPG's:D.)
    And even more for kids.

    PSP, has indeed got some more hardcore titles, shame the shops over here seem to think it's a load of crap cause the amount on shelves is absurdly bad. And kid titles, not so much.

  • makeamazing #21 3 years ago

    To be honest the DSi is a total rip off... but still bad sony for ripping into Nintendo, even if there is some truth to what he says.

  • callum9999 #22 3 years ago

    Varsas: You can actually play the xbox on a normal tv, which you also need for the wii, so they both require the same thing...

    I personally think the DS is childish and I much prefer the PSP, but I can't deny Nintendo are doing a brilliant job with it.
    Edited by 1 at 06/04/09 @ 13:21

  • Santino #23 3 years ago

    ds is not childish in the slightest. how hard is it to see that it is a machine that is targetting as many different audiences as possible, meaning it cannot just be shoved into a category as simple as childish or mature. the only way someone could actually believe that ds is for kids is if they take some delusional and desperate PR guys word as truth, which would be extremely stupid.

  • menage #24 3 years ago

    Yeah, the DS has tons of great software for older gamers. From Chrono Trigger to Dementium, Peggle to GTA, etc. So these claims are complete BS.
    Edited by 1 at 06/04/09 @ 14:06

  • rockstar1984 #25 3 years ago

    It's actually hard to get a grasp of what point he's trying to make.Sounds like a jealous schoolboy if you ask me.

  • kangarootoo #26 3 years ago

    /rolls eyes

  • schnide #27 3 years ago

    Still, just having first party games on your console is better than having none at all, eh?

  • callum9999 #28 3 years ago

    They aren't claims that its childish, its my opinion on the console. Obviously, many people don't think its childish as adults buy it too.

  • toy_brain #29 3 years ago

    If he's going to spout crap like that, the least he could do is back it up with some nuggets of info about the next PSP revision.
    I'm still playing my PSP1000, I still like it but I'd like to swap it out for a newer model. The PSP3000 sadly has a bad rep, so its time they refreshed the hardware again.

    I'm genuinely supprised Sony didnt try to counter the DSi's release with some sort of announcement, then again, they were never that great a PR anyway...

  • varsas #30 3 years ago

    @callum: I didn't know that but that completely negates one of the selling points of the 360.

    Re: coin-op's post - if sales were due to just nintendo fans then both wii and ds would have only done as well as the gamecube.

  • varsas #31 3 years ago

    @callum: I didn't know that but that completely negates one of the selling points of the 360.

    Re: coin-op's post - if sales were due to just nintendo fans then both wii and ds would have only done as well as the gamecube.