| M.U.G.E.N said:
You never know tho :D I mean it's their first attempt in the handheld market and I would say they did pretty well....and the leader changes all the time...people say how the might have fallen looking at Sony now but they always seem to not think of the possibility of the same thing happening to Ninty in the future...not saying it will 'definately' happen or anything..but just saying anything could happen ps: have owned like 30 or so psp games so far....I just personally want them to make the type of games they have been making so far...I have the DS for the types of games it is good for already |
They did okay, but pretty clearly undershot what they intended. In 2004 the PS brand was impenetrable, Sony wheeled out this sleek, huge screened PS2-level handheld that basically everyone thought was going to take over, with AAA 3rd party games galore, and decimate Nintendo similar to how Sony upended the console market a decade earlier. PSP was supposed to be "The Walkman of the 21st Century" and bring portables out of "The Handheld Ghetto". Not just victory, but dominance was assured, especially given Nintendo's response seemed to be some ugly dual screen N64-ish oddity, who's killer apps consisted of puppy sims and edutainment.
To say Sony did well for their first time feels a bit tinged with revisionism. This was an impossibly impressive handheld from the biggest brand in videogames with almost universal industry support. No one else has ever had a "first attempt" with so much potential, Nintendo included. I wouldn't say PSP was a total failure or anything, but it's not exactly a rousing success either. It has impressive hardware sales but pathetic software sales. It's managed more marketshare than any non-Nintendo handheld previously, yet Nintendo now sits in stronger position that they ever have as well. It's these sorts of simultaneous wins/losses that make it feel like PSP's treaded water more than sink or swim, so to speak.
Really though, I think PSP's greatest sin is that it's badly positioned itself for a successor. The blade/razor model doesn't work well with handhelds, and neither do premium pricepoints, which sort of limits a generational leap over PSP1. Moving sideways into the phone market would just bring them into arguably greater competition and a likely losing battle with Apple. And worst of all, plenty of 3rd parties have gotten burned badly on the platform, meaning PSP2's road to getting support is going to be dramatically more difficult than the first time around. The platform's already winding down too, with no successor in sight, and looks to end with a whimper rather than a bang. Like you say anything can happen, but considering Nintendo just unveiled their own almost impossibly impressive handheld, with even more AAA 3rd party support upfront than anyone has had since PS2, it's understandable when people say "Sony are screwed". Because from most vantage points, they are. 3DS basically marries the best from DS with the best from PSP, and does it in 3D, there's just not too many options left on the table for Sony here...
