They never developed handheld games for the PSP either so this is non-news really. Most likely the most we'll get from Insomniac is further collaboration with High Impact Games for Ratchet & Clank on NGP and Bend Sudio for Resistance on NGP.

I kind of expected this considering they didn'd develop for the PSP

The PSP was a viable handheld and I owned one. It was decent, though I played my DS about ten times more than the PSP.

The thing is that most big developers seemed to fare pretty badly on the PSP. So what did Sony do? They made a new PSP with increased pixel count so development costs are higher. Given the increased competition in 2011 from convergence devices, it's a bad strategy. The first PSP was far from a resounding success in a less crowded market but somehow the NGP is going to fare better at a higher price point, higher developer costs, and in a much more crowded portable gaming market? I don't think so.

It's obvious that the market has been hurt in the West. I don't know anyone who carries a portable with them anymore and I know more hardcore gamers than I can count. If my friends want a gaming fix, they pull out an iPhone/Android device and play on it, surf the web, use apps, etc. The market is getting stronger by the day and the devices are cheaper, more useful, more versatile than an NGP (not to mention that games rarely go above $10 on the devices). Sony can't just pretend that these devices don't exist and that the market hasn't changed. Unless the device has five exclusives that I'm dying to play (incredibly unlikely), there is no way I can see me or any of my friends buying one (most of whom owned a DS with several who owned PSPs).

The iPhone changed the market. Pushing forward with "teh mor3 graphiczss!!!1!" strategy at $250/350 price points is going to be a damned tough sell in 2011 and it appears that Insomniac sees the writing on the wall, just like me and my friends.

i really really hope NGP isnt all console style games, they need to be handheld style. thats why the ds is so good all games are unique

I don't think it's an issue of "seeing the writing on the wall." Western devs have been notoriously poor supporters of handhelds overall and always for one, and for two, Sony's first party developers and free affiliates like Insomniac have never given the PSP the attention they should have, hence all the second-rate versions of the PS2/PS3 greats that PSP ended up getting

The big question for dedicated handheld gaming platforms is really a matter of how much of a market there is for $20-50 games in the days where games on Android or iOS rarely ever go over $10, with the vast majority being less than $5.

This isn't even a question of comparing big budget (for a portable games) production values with something that was created by a small team in a fraction of the time, but what the majority of consumers will continue to buy and play on the go. In other words, where the growth lies.

While I think there will always be the children's market to include anyone too young to have their own cell phone, even this market is being erroded in light of all the mini-apps developed for smartphones that are targeted directly at these demographics. I see parents handing iPhones and iPods to small children every time I see a family eating at a sit down restaurant and I know there are volumes of learning apps and play apps that kids love. No need for a DS. Certainly no need for $30 games.

For dedicated gaming handhelds, one of the few remaining reasons for carrying one is to play specific franchises on the go that are platform specific like Pokemon, Monster Hunter, etc. and this particular niche of gamers will remain a niche that simply may not be able to sustain all the projects in development directed at the dedicated core gaming demographic in the near future.

In the case of the NGP, about the only potential general application use I can see offhand without a finished product, is specifically the 3G network connectivity for web browsing and smart phone type data apps (locators, GPS, maps, shopping aids, search apps, etc.). And this would largely be useful only if you weren't already a data network subscriber with a smartphone (redundant otherwise). Since these apps aren't likely to be subsidized by advertisers on SCEs closed development platform, I don't expect to see volumes of these popping up in the PSN Store either as offerings are likely to remain game centric.

I'm still buying one, but I just don't see myself taking it anywhere (same for the 3DS other than to try out StreetPass after which I'm unlikely to ever carry one around again). About the only reason to buy either of these current gen handhelds is specifically for whatever platform specific titles are available now or in the future.

Exactly. The market, at best, is stagnant. At worst, it's shrinking by the day just as Sony and Nintendo are entering it with $250 devices and $30-40 games.

I don't see a big enough market for both of these devices to survive and there may not even be enough for one device to rake in cash and stay profitable over its life cycle.

As you said, even kids are moving to convergence devices. I have three nieces and each owns a DS. Over the past year, I've seen less and less of that DS and none of them care about the 3DS because they all own iPod Touches now and the oldest (17) is clamoring for an iPhone.

So the casuals aren't going to care about these devices, the kids around me don't care about them, and my friends (older hardcore gamers) don't care about the devices. Exactly WHO is going to buy these things in large enough numbers to warrant their existence?

PS. to be clear, I think the 3DS will probably do okay. It's the NGP that I think is going to go down faster than Lindsay Lohan trying to score a free eightball.

The problem with your argument of utility and cost is that it falls short in the face of the increased utility of PCs and much lower-cost games that exist on PC (though these can't be compared to console games in the cheaper cases, neither can most of the cheapo mobile games be compared to the bread-and-butter handheld games)

We're going through the same cycle in the handheld space  now as we were in the console space 25 years ago. The question is if the handheld providers themselves provide content compelling enough to make sure the devices don't fall by the wayside when compared to the device with greater utility, but that market is at the same crossroads and most of the same arguments come into play

I can't complain, never found any game by insomniac that I really liked. Hopefully the more stronger sony first party put an effort into the NGP. 

The problem with your argument is that PCs and consoles aren't even close to the same thing. PCs are personal devices while consoles are television-based (and therefore, in the living room) devices that occupy central household space. Plus, PCs are notoriously finicky (especially back in the day) and the learning curve of having non-gaming dedicated input, hardware customization, and general tech knowledge was offputting to people.

Handhelds and modern smartphones are almost identical, except for the key fact that people actually carry smartphones with them everywhere and it's actually EASIER to spend money with a smartphone (one click purchases from anywhere). Sure, they're not as good for dedicated gaming but they keep getting better, which in turn will cause less people to care about a dedicated gaming device over the multi-function device they have in their pocket all day.