Individual Entry
Unbiased
I'm probably going to get a PSP when it's released here. I already have a DS. As such, it's hard for me to be biased to one or another. In the end, I'm not tipping the sales in favour of one or the other. I'm not the kind of person that either Nintendo or Sony would go for because they don't need to do anything to win me over.
My gamer loserdom meant that I was sold on these devices the minute they were announced. I have certain issues with both of them, yes. I hate the fucking UMD convergence shit that the PSP is pushing, and the DS is clunky, but the mere fact that you can plug games in and play them is good enough for me.
I mean, christ, I own a GameGear and a Wonderswan... and I haven't played either of them. (I really want a fucking "Turbo Express" and a NOMAD too.)
But, regardless, the bottom DS-bashing photo posted on John Ricciardi's game log is amusing.
Edit: I will, however, try my damned hardest to resist getting a Sony product on launch, as Sony launches with the shittiest pieces of plastic shit that have ever been shitted. The DS has had problems with dead pixels -- a minor problem, but an annoying one and one that has hit me too -- and Nintendo has promised to fix all DS' at no charge. A day into the PSP's launch, and I'm hearing about dead pixels... and dust in the screen... and air bubbles... and defective buttons... and broken UMD trays that either won't close or open arbitrarily while using the system.. and, of course, systems that won't power up at all.
Glad to see that Sony quality hasn't changed after all these years!
December 12, 2004. Gaming.
The corollary joke to that image is that two hours later, the PSP screens are dark and recharging while the loser with the DS is still playing something :)
Handheld jihad bullshit aside, I just want something that will advance the art, rather than merely being a new revenue stream for the companies involved. That means Nintendo not being full of shit about the DS offering "new ways to play games" and Sony not being as clueless about the market as they clearly seem to be.
I gotta say I'm not very hopeful that Sony's device will be anything but an application of their "make a stylish, expensive and powerful piece of electronics gear" strategy. That doesn't preclude good games coming out for the system of course, what with the new Wipeout and that Tetsuya Mizuguchi puzzler. I'm still thoroughly un-sold on the idea of highly detailed, textured 3D games on a screen that, while sumptuously large for a handheld device circa 2004, is still quite small. Everyone seems to want to pretend that they're really developing for a home console - big budgets and long, creatively conservative projects included.
Sony seems to be selling the device to our generation largely on the basis of its non-game functionality, but really all of that functionality is crap. Movies suck on a tiny screen, and they suck on a proprietary format. And there are much better options for portable music and general storage. What exactly are we supposed to be able to do with this thing that we can't do far better with other devices? Despite their wishes, they will still be competing on the basis of games.
December 13, 2004 09:26 AM. Posted by: JP.