MrT-Tar said:
http://www.bookrags.com/quotes/Kazuo_Hirai "Some have said that the PSP is our answer to the (Nintendo) Game Boy. Well, here�s how we view the world: PSP will elevate portable entertainment out of the handheld gaming ghetto and Sony is the only company that can do it. We happily accept this challenge and, dare I say it, the baton has been passed."
Don't misunderstand me, I'm not one of those people arguing that the PSP is a failure/isn't a success. In any context the sales it has and is achieving is very respectable. I just think that the PSP could've been a much bigger success if Sony played their cards right, it had so much going it's way and I see that this reversal in fortunes isn't entirely due to actions taken by Nintendo. I do hold the view that announcing the PSP at E3 2003 wasn't the best idea as it allowed Nintendo to in many ways rush the original DS out ready to compete with the PSP upon launch. I believe if Sony hadn't announced it until E3 2004, Nintendo would've been ever more wrong footed and I doubt have been able to get the DS out before the PSP. This would have benefitted the PSP in both 3rd party support and sales IMO. |
Well, this is annecdotal on my part but: I work at a nuclear power plant. I shouldn't admit this but.......everybody has (or had) a PSP. I've not once seen a DS. Maybe the sales don't reflect it (personally, I have SIX DS consoles in my house and two PSP's) but the PSP is (or was--we all have smart phones, now) widely accepted by most of the people I know as the mature portable console. It's an alternative to the DS which I would guess has a "Fun for all ages" demographic. Maybe the DS sells more but in a way, you could say that a lot of people that wouldn't have gotten a portable console before were sold on the idea of a more adult console that plays movies, music, and games. If that's the case, you can say that Sony DID elevate portable gaming out of the ghetto.
On the flipside, look at Nintendo's expectations: I can dig out magazines (like the Gamecube reveal in Next Gen Magazine) from my closet or scour the internet for quotes. With the Gamecube and the Wii, Nintendo states how they plan to extend their hand to third parties and how they would greatly support the console. For the most part, that hasn't happened. Does the fact that things didn't pan out exactly the way they predicted mean that the Wii was a failure? It may have failed to reach that one particular goal but, like the PSP, it was an overall success.
I'm not a Sony fanboy by any means (why do I feel the need to say that?) and I know you weren't posting that quote to call the PSP a failure. I just don't think a quote from "Crazy Kaz" is enough to disprove anything. I'm sure the man has made several bold claims in the past but he's not a psychic* like me.
*psychic? I meant psycho.
