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Sony PSP man slags off Nintendo DSi News

PSP DS News by Tom Bramwell

6 April, 2009

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.

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Comments: 1-34 of 34 in total

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jonsaan
06/04/09 @ 09:16
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Handbags!
Wastelander
06/04/09 @ 09:18
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Sony PSP man in "shitting his pants in ph33r of the DSi" shocker!
Dizzy
06/04/09 @ 09:19
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Wow... I guess denial is a good way to handle PR.
Gnort
06/04/09 @ 09:20
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I preferred it when fanboy rantings and flame wars were carried out by petulant forumites, not senior staff from the companies involved.
roz123
06/04/09 @ 09:29
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what a complete load of crap
GamesConnoisseur
06/04/09 @ 09:35
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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!
trebell
06/04/09 @ 09:37
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Someone's throwing his teady out of his pram watching his platform die onthe shelves. Diddums.
sanctusmortis
06/04/09 @ 09:57
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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
06/04/09 @ 09:59
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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
06/04/09 @ 10:08
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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
06/04/09 @ 10:10
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all i want for xmas is psp?
spookyzombie
06/04/09 @ 10:14
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I'm finding the DSi Opera software incredibly slow. The Eurogamer main page takes ages to load up.
Goodfella
06/04/09 @ 10:21
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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.
marronthered
06/04/09 @ 10:24
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this generation is shite for hardware!
des
06/04/09 @ 11:09
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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
06/04/09 @ 11:16
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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
06/04/09 @ 11:31
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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
06/04/09 @ 11:32
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@Coin-Op: Did you forget that you need an HD TV too for the 360? Clearly an Xbox tard.
penhalion
06/04/09 @ 11:34
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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
06/04/09 @ 11:38
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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
06/04/09 @ 11:48
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DS is shipped, PSP is sold, not that it make a huge amount of difference...
menage
06/04/09 @ 11:51
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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
06/04/09 @ 11:58
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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
06/04/09 @ 12:20
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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 1 times, most recently on 06/04/09 @ 13:21
Santino
06/04/09 @ 12:43
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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
06/04/09 @ 13:06
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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 1 times, most recently on 06/04/09 @ 14:06
rockstar1984
06/04/09 @ 13:19
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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
06/04/09 @ 14:14
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/rolls eyes
schnide
06/04/09 @ 14:22
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Still, just having first party games on your console is better than having none at all, eh?
callum9999
06/04/09 @ 14:30
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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
06/04/09 @ 15:50
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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
06/04/09 @ 15:54
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@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
06/04/09 @ 15:54
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@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.
Goatboy
06/04/09 @ 16:37
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Handheld titles are a hit and miss affair, you can't guarantee a title on a handheld will be comparable to the console equivalent. I like both platforms, I don't want to play Ridge Racer on my DS and I don't want to play point-click adventures or anything too platformey on the PSP, so both serve a function.

The DS still gets used because people can try a game before they buy it using an R4, which always works. So they know Chinatown Wars is worth the thirty quid many spent on it because they were able to check first that it wasn't another GTA Advance or Liberty City Stories square peg in a round hole. The PSP on the other hand needs the firmware buggering about with while Sony try and undermine attempts to use equipment the owner's way each time one sticks an original game in it by virtue of firmware updates, most of which do nothing more than nuke freed PSPs. As a result, the PSP goes back on the shelf - anyone with a choice of 'pick up and play' consoles will use the one they can just pick up and play.

So this latest outburst is just another PR idiot. They do this constantly, the consequence is always that neutrals and Nintendo fanboys laugh and forget about it, whilst the Sony fanboys, not unlike our chum Coin-Op here, manage to take valid points and undermine them by spouting unnecessary vitriol, which again makes the silent majority who read this stuff just associate Sony even more closely with angry foolish pricks.

Sony started out by saying "Look, this is a proper games console, in your hand. It's flashy and powerful and shiny and is basically a Playstation 1.75 spec machine in your hand." I'd see loads of them all over the place. Never see them now, and I reckon Sony should have stuck to their guns and focused on the positives of a direct and honest sales pitch. Nobody except those who landed themselves with a Wii as their main console care about lack of TP support for Nintendo machines, apart from this PSP guy.

I used to aspire to own a PSP and look jealously at other computers over the edge of my hinged lid, stylus in hand. Sony could have worked with that feeling. And they could have given up alienating people from their platform with pointless firmware updates to prevent piracy.

Still, Nintendo got to the top of the tree, behaved like shitbags, then found themselves with a couple of generations of generation-leading hardware that nobody bught compared to the alternatives, partially for these reasons. Third parties deseted Nintendo post SNES because the big N had them by the balls, they'll desert Sony because they've scared everyone away from buying or using their current gen machines. Maybe after a fall, they'll stick in the market and return acting somewhat more like human beings.

Comments: 1-34 of 34 in total

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