Sony attempted to compete against Apple (with the iPod) and Nintendo (with the GBA and DS) when they launched the PSP, and (even though they had a lot of advantages due to the unblemished track-record of the Playstation brand) they were easily beated by both companies ...

Right now, Nintendo and Apple are stronger brands then they have ever been before and have earned more respect from third party developers than they have ever had before ... At the same time the Playstation brand has never been weaker and Sony has lost a lot of influence with third parties because neither the PSP nor the PS3 are the same monsters that the PS2 and Playstation were.

While I can't tell Sony what to do, I would personally suggest that they focus on producing a system that wasn't (necessarily) in direct competition with both Apple and Nintendo and to focus on producing a system that appeals to an under serviced market.

1) I do not recall communicating Sony had no brand recognition so what exactly were you trying to dispute?

2) And the topic of the thread implies the PSP 2 will possibly be an "Iphone beater." You are really losing me with the direction of your argument.

3) I do not need you to accept anything. When is the last time the Walkman brand received widespread consumer attention and hype/anticipation from the media? Everyone is always talking/speculating about the current and future position of the iPhone/iPod. LOL As I have said, I have not seen the Walkman outside of a store shelf in at least ten years and I very rarely ever see a PSP. And the demographic seems to be young adolescent boys (age 12-15). Accept it.

4) It's funny that you give this implicit illusion that Sony mp3s (the Walkman) are such hot commodities. I cannot even recall the last time I have heard the Walkman in real life discussion other than on this site by Sony enthusiasts. I really am just completely flabbergasted that you are giving the Walkman so much credit.

5) When the PSP 2 launches, lets see if the game software sells will be comparable to that of the iPhone/iPod.

Remember, you responded to my post first...ill-prepared, I might add. I do not need to edit my posts. I communicate what I intend the first time.

The PSP was not a response to the iPod so I'm not sure what you mean there. But anyway, Apple took nearly seven years to sell a 100m iPods and Sony took four years to sell 50m PSPs; do the maths - it's not a huge difference, pro-rata. And given that portable music is hugely more popular than portable gaming, I'd say the difference is meaningless. But again, you are talking about two different markets. PSP can play music on the go? So can a laptop. Are laptops in the same market as an iPod?

The PSP was not a response to the DS either, given that it was developed around the same time and released only two weeks later. Indeed, I believe the PSP was announced six months before the DS (the former in May 03, the latter November 03)!

Yes, Nintendo is much stronger today. But before the Wii and DS Lite, Sony handed their asses to them on a plate every day for a decade. After entering the videogame market from scratch in 1994 they have sold in excess of a third of a billion (actually, about 360 million) PlayStation devices. Some people have short memories. And Apple is not even in the same league as Sony in gaming, which is the matter under debate.

And the reason Nintendo have earned the respect of third party developers is because the latter can make huge bundles of cash for both of them pushing out hundreds and hundreds of ****ing diabolically bad games, and Nintendo couldn't give a toss so long as the cheques keep coming. Shovelware for bored housewives and ten year old girls makes Nintendo very happy, but makes fomer SNES owners like me very sad.

Sony sold the PSP as the "Walkman of the 21st century" and spent as much time selling the PSP based on its media capabilities and talking about how they were going to beat the iPod as they did talking about the Nintendo DS, so I don't see how it isn't a response to the iPod. Beyond that, as of September 2008 Apple has sold over 170 Million iPods which is a massive difference from how the PSP has sold ...

Now you can bash the games on the DS as much as you want, but Nintendo's understanding of what people want from a portable gaming system led them to produce the software people want on a handheld ... While you might think Brain Training is far worse than Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories the fact is that Brain Training is a far superior game in the 5 to 15 minute play-sessions typical of a handheld gamer.

Nintendo is a marketing guru just like Apple. Both put out crap and coat it in gold. I have an 2nd gen Nano, and My wife has the video version. How many get used? zero. What does get used? My PSP. Why? because it is much easier to deal with and does not need itunes to work. I also have a Wii. Does my son play the freakin thing? No. Did he beg me and beg for the the POS? yes. Did he do the same for his GBA and DS? yup. Does he use them? nope. He sure does use the hell out of my PS3 and PSP though. The Wii is hooked up to the same TV and is just as easy to turn on as the PS3, but does he ever use it? no.

Bottom line is both are similar in the fact that back in the day they were great. I loved both Apple and Nintendo. Apple has gone from uncomplicated and easy, to frustrating and annoying with there OS, its compatability and the propriatary crap that they pull with all of there stuff. Not to mention they are sooo sloww. They are generally feature lacking now. They used to be a company that had the most features and pushed the envelope.

Nintendo is much of the same. They started out great. There problem is they havent changed much.The new console is a lot like the last one but with a different remote. It still has some terrifically horrible games though and for the price is lacking some serious features, not to mention a decent resolutional output. They have sold outstanding though, as have Apple due to that "must have" attitude they portray in there ads.