As you’re sure to know dedicated game consoles like the Nintendo DS and PSP have seen a ton of competition from the likes of mobile platforms such as Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android. Much of this competition comes from the fact that just about everybody now a days has a smartphone and included within the application stores behind these smartphones are thousands upon thousands of games with very palatable price tags.
Well, it seems that we have our first causality from the onslaught of these smartphone platforms. According to recent reports, Sony has done away with production of the PSP Go. As of now this has not been officially confirmed but reputable retailers including Amazon have updated their PSP Go product listings to say that production for the handheld will soon be discontinued by the manufacturer.
While much of this can be attributed to mobile platforms, it can also be attributed to the fact that Sony is gearing to launch their next generation portable handheld the NGP, commonly refereed to as the PSP 2.
If these reports are true, farewell PSP Go, you unfortunately won’t be missed.
Japan may have gotten hit with a very bad earthquake and tsunami but at least there are a lot of lucky gamers that have their Nintendo 3DS to turn to. While the console doesn’t launch here in the United States until the 27th, Japanese folks have been enjoying it since the 26th of last month. While the handheld console managed to sell quite a few units on launch date, the hype seems to be continuing.
According to reports, Nintendo has managed to push an additional 200,00 units in its first full week on the market. In total, this puts Japanese 3DS sales right around the 400,000 mark – 374,764, to be exact.
Now all we have to do is wait and see how the Nintendo 3DS sells here in the United States to compare. I know I’ll be getting one, will you?
Sony came forward not too long ago to show off their second generation dedicated portable video game console codenamed the NGP or otherwise referred to as the PSP 2. This device features things like touch panels on the front and rear, true joysticks, a quad-core processor, 3G connectivity and much more. Considering this is the successor to the PSP it’s to be expected that it wold phase the device out, right? According to SCE worldwide President Shuhei Yoshida, no the two consoles will co-exist with one another.
He elaborates by blaming it on the price of the NGP which, quite obviously, wont’ be priced anywhere near that of the PSP. Below is a direct quote:
“In terms of pricing, we can’t sell the NGP for the same price as a PSP. I think the NGP needs time to mature and get adopted by users. So, for the time being, both platforms will coexist.”
If anything, this vurtally confrims that the NGP will be priced out of range for most gamers. Here’s to hoping that price tag drops at a rapid pace.
Pokemon is one of the most well known game franchises in the world with their highly popular set of portable games selling millions. However, while the games started off quite simple (not to mention 2D) the franchise has come quite a ways since. The latest titles, Pokemon Black & White, are quickly approaching with a March 6th North American launch.
In lieu of this quickly approaching release date, a new trailer has hit the streets which we’ve included for your viewing pleasure above. Luckily, this time around, the trailer is in English so those of you who can’t speak Japanese won’t have any problem following along.
Many of us can remember our first cellphones; not quite the gigantic monstrosities that are parodied in anything related to the early 90s but still sizeable pieces of technology with monochrome screens and large pixels. My first cellphone had an Othello game that I played many times, but since that time they’ve come a long ways. With more and more complex phones like the iPhone some are expecting the mobile phone gaming market to blow up, and others are expecting it’ll drive existing handhelds out of demand.
Most of the people making these predictions though either have a vested interest in saying so (like working for Apple) or aren’t involved in the industry (business analysts). Nintendo has insisted that they’re not concerned about the mobile gaming industry, saying that they in no way designed the DSi as a competitor for the iPhone or other cellphone gaming devices.
David Yarnton, general manager of Nintendo UK said that in designing the system the company left out many features they could have included, planning on keeping with their approach of letting the software sell systems. “We could have added lots of things, but then you become a jack of all trades, and a master of none. One of the things we are really honest about is that we stay faithful to our roots, of being a games company. The most important criterion is to make sure that what we’re offering can do the best games.”
He’s also warning people already that systems will be in short supply come this holiday season.
If you’re the kind that has to have every version of a console, whatever it may be, you better mark April 5th on your calenders.
Nintendo has recently announced via a press release that the latest version of the Nintendo DS handheld console, the DSi, will hit North American shelves on April 5th.
The Nintendo DSi will retail for $169.99 and come in both blue and black. Don’t know what the DSi is? It’s an updated version of the Nintendo DS handheld that includes a built in camera, updated mic, and SD slot, of course.
