Sony Designing Mobile Phone/PSP Hybrid to Better Compete Against iPhone?

[neiltc13]

Best example that I can think of off hand is EA Mobile. They've invested quite a but now into the iPhone / iPod touch.

Yep, they've invested more than some of the others but the EA games being released for iPhone aren't a patch on the PSP efforts. They either lack the depth that a PSP game has (The Sims 3, SimCity) or the controls fail the gameplay (NFS Undercover).

While it would be nice to see some decent, in depth games coming to iPhone, it's never going to happen while Apple allows developers to price their applications at 59p - there's just no room in the market for better things.

 

[RAGING DEMON]

Why wouldnt Sony use the SNES controller as a basis for the DualShock? Its not that Sony copied Nintendo there, they just used what worked. Just because Nintendo had it first doesnt mean Sony was reverse-engineering everything they did just to copy it.
Nintendo officially announced the wiimote in april 2006, and sony announced the sixaxis in october 2006. The sixaxis was known about long before that though. Do you really think that Sony heard nintendo's announcement and scrambled to redesign and manufacture new controllers in those 6 months? Im not saying they didnt, but it seems very unlikely.

SONY ASKED NINTENDO TO BUILD THE CONSOLE OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, BUT HALFWAY THRU THE PROCESS , NINTENDO DECIDED TO GO THRU THE PAPER WORK AND REALISED THAT PRETTYMUCH EVERYTHING NINTENDO DID, WOULD BE SONYS OUTRIGHT, WITH NO ROYALTIES , THATS WHEN NINTENDO PULLED OUT AND SONY TOOK WHAT WAS COMPLETED SO FAR AND MADE IT INTO THE PLAYSTAION! SOMETHIGN LIKE THAT!!

http://nintendo.joystiq.com/2007/06/07/original-nintendo-sony-playstation-prototype-found/

http://www.huguesjohnson.com/features/nintendo-cd/

 

[0098386]

each to their own but the VAST majority of wii owners have their for the sports games. I would also like to point out that the wii is not cheap by any stretch of the imagination. £179 for the console. If you use it for family games and need another 3 sets of controllers that's an additional £135 then if you want wii fit that's another £70 and now if you want motion plus that's an additional £20 per player.

First off I'd like some links to prove these points, and then I'd like to know why sports games are any less of a game than others and why it's different to any other consoles sports games.
The console can be bought for a lot less than that. Asda were selling them for £139 recently. A full controller (wii controller+nunchuck) can cost around £40. Whilst you're looking these up do a pricecheck on a DualShock 3 controller.

So again... Why is it any different to any other console? A Playstation 3 with 3 DualShock 3's would cost £387.97, and that's before games.
A fully kitted out Wii would cost £254 and you at least get Wii Sports with that.

 

[0098386]

The PSP wasn't made to only play games, that's why its called a multimedia device (hince movies, music, limited web surfing and other things like GPS and camera, (when modded) emulation and so many other things the PSP can do.

Yes, that's what Sony says it is. But the photo function is useless (needed an SD card slot), music is okay but lacks playlist features (handles like an MP3 player from circa 2000), video is the best function but also limited, internet is useless.
It's primarily a games machine that has a few thrown in extra features. If they wanted a real multimedia device it wouldn't be so limited and use more common media types.

 

[applecultvictim]

Apple should be really worried here and scared...

Rumor has it that what with the r&d and ingenuity that goes on in Sony these days we are in for a staggering new product.

edit:

***ALERT***, leaked photos of the new crossover psp/phone by sony, this is big...

and the bottom horizontal part makes for a nice iphone stand.

 

[Stargaze]

so now that apple has released its 3rd generation of its iPhone

Sony has finally decided "maybe we should put a sony ericsson in our PSP??"

that seemed so second nature from the release of the first iPhone im afraid it might be too little too late for the Playstation Phone..

 

[Mattie Num Nums]

I hate the term "iPhone Killer". Its like if another company dares to make a smart phone its now an "iPhone Killer".

Apple is the newest to the game of Smart Phones, Sony has been making handheld devices for a very long time. The thing is the iPhone set new standards and companies are now forced to adjust and innovate to those. Now Apple has been pretty stagnant with there iPhone and I love the competition because this will just make the Smart Phone realm better.

 

[Colrath]

There is definitely a MacRumors culture to hate everything non-Apple so I'm not even gonna comment on the topic.

However, I can tell you this about their "cheap hardware":

I bought a PS2 in 2002, still working.
I bought a PSP in 2006 (first version), still working, never had a XMB crash or a game crash.
I bought a PS3 in 2008 and I had 0 problems so far, even with the free online play.

I've actually had quite a good experiences with Sony's various gaming platforms and, although my iPhone is certainly enough for some quick gaming sessions, it's an exaggeration to say that "SONY SUCKS" IMO.

This.

Sony has developed some quality products. The issue is their target audience.

 

[NoSmokingBandit]

I swear to god, i have that exact phone hanging in my stairway. The first thing i thought when i saw your post was "how the hell did he get in my house?"

 

[*LTD*]

From Jon Gruber:

That Sony is only now “considering” this epitomizes everything that’s wrong with them. They’ve been making both cell phones and handheld video game systems for years, and yet it didn’t occur to them to fuse the two until after the iPhone became a smash hit. It’s as though they learned nothing after watching the iPod kill the Walkman.

Exactly.

And ultimately, who the hell cares?? Sony is a follower.

 

[Virgil-TB2]

Reminds me of just before the release of the PSP and all the Sony fanboys were proclaiming it would kill the iPod. They clamored that it would eviscerate the iPod in features and in sales. Slightly over five years later only 51.6 million PSPS, and iPod with its almost eight years at some 206 million. ...

It's because Sony doesn't look at the market but at what the market "should" be. They have also never really understood the non-Japanese consumer very well.

Outside of Japan, PSPs mostly appeal to a very young crowd of mostly boys who don't have much money and are not very social. It's going to be harder to get that demographic to buy into the idea of having a phone in their PSP than it is to get the people with the cool iPhone to buy into the idea of using games in general.

The kind of kids into hard-core shoot-em-up games are not the kind of kids that are into buying heavy phone contracts. It's a niche market at best and won't affect their overall sales. It will just be a handy extra feature for those already buying into the PSP ecosystem, whereas the iPhone is the exact reverse.

The iPhone demographic is much much broader and for them, the addition of games is the "extra feature." It's a safe bet that the relative size of the two markets and the two demographics will remain constant despite the addition of the extra features.

The only way the PSP w/phone will eat into the iPhone market is by morphing into a multi-function device similar to the iPhone. In other words, by changing from a gaming machine to something else entirely.

 

[alexacker]

Actually, this makes a lot of sense to me...

As an iPhone 3GS user and Apple brand ambassador, the one thing that iTunes is missing is alot of very high-quality brand name games designed for the hardcore "gamer". Yes, iTunes has a lot of great stuff and I've hundreds of dollars buying them, but PS3, Xbox and Wii have the market cornered on high-quality brand name games . If their phone GUI is brilliantly designed as the iPhone, they've got the best shot at being the famous "iPhone killer" more so than the Pre or any Android phone.

 

[applecultvictim]

Sony has been making handheld devices for a very long time.

Sure, Sony has been making by and large crap phones for a long while, that's why apple that hadn't been making phones for a long while kicked their butt and now they are invisible in the smart phone market.

 

[RiCEADDiCTBOY]

SONY ASKED NINTENDO TO BUILD THE CONSOLE OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, BUT HALFWAY THRU THE PROCESS , NINTENDO DECIDED TO GO THRU THE PAPER WORK AND REALISED THAT PRETTYMUCH EVERYTHING NINTENDO DID, WOULD BE SONYS OUTRIGHT, WITH NO ROYALTIES , THATS WHEN NINTENDO PULLED OUT AND SONY TOOK WHAT WAS COMPLETED SO FAR AND MADE IT INTO THE PLAYSTAION! SOMETHIGN LIKE THAT!!

http://nintendo.joystiq.com/2007/06/07/original-nintendo-sony-playstation-prototype-found/

http://www.huguesjohnson.com/features/nintendo-cd/

actually, at the convention when nintendo was going to display and discuss what the sony partnership meant and what to expect for the nintendo platform - nintendo blindsided sony and announced an (ill-fated) partnership with phillips. sony then took what they had already done with nintendo and continued development and it evolved into the playstation.

 

[RiCEADDiCTBOY]

I hate the term "iPhone Killer". Its like if another company dares to make a smart phone its now an "iPhone Killer".

Apple is the newest to the game of Smart Phones, Sony has been making handheld devices for a very long time. The thing is the iPhone set new standards and companies are now forced to adjust and innovate to those. Now Apple has been pretty stagnant with there iPhone and I love the competition because this will just make the Smart Phone realm better.

thank you.

 

[Eidorian]

actually, at the convention when nintendo was going to display and discuss what the sony partnership meant and what to expect for the nintendo platform - nintendo blindsided sony and announced an (ill-fated) partnership with phillips. sony then took what they had already done with nintendo and continued development and it evolved into the playstation.

It's nice to see someone else remember that.

I get what you are saying but the iPhone is good enough at so many things, that it makes me regret buying other things. My DS is better at portable gaming than the iPhone. Bit I don't use it anymore because my phone is always with me, and it's good enough.

Shovelware ahoy!

 

[applecultvictim]

From Jon Gruber:

That Sony is only now “considering” this epitomizes everything that’s wrong with them. They’ve been making both cell phones and handheld video game systems for years, and yet it didn’t occur to them to fuse the two until after the iPhone became a smash hit. It’s as though they learned nothing after watching the iPod kill the Walkman.

Exactly.

And ultimately, who the hell cares?? Sony is a follower.

Excellent find LTD (as per usual), and excellent quote by Jon Gruber.

Kinda sums up why vision, in life as well as in technology, surpasses everything.

 

[RiCEADDiCTBOY]

It's because Sony doesn't look at the market but at what the market "should" be. They have also never really understood the non-Japanese consumer very well.

Outside of Japan, PSPs mostly appeal to a very young crowd of mostly boys who don't have much money and are not very social. It's going to be harder to get that demographic to buy into the idea of having a phone in their PSP than it is to get the people with the cool iPhone to buy into the idea of using games in general.

The kind of kids into hard-core shoot-em-up games are not the kind of kids that are into buying heavy phone contracts. It's a niche market at best and won't affect their overall sales. It will just be a handy extra feature for those already buying into the PSP ecosystem, whereas the iPhone is the exact reverse.

The iPhone demographic is much much broader and for them, the addition of games is the "extra feature." It's a safe bet that the relative size of the two markets and the two demographics will remain constant despite the addition of the extra features.

The only way the PSP w/phone will eat into the iPhone market is by morphing into a multi-function device similar to the iPhone. In other words, by changing from a gaming machine to something else entirely.

iphone isn't popular in japan and most japanese cell phone users don't find it interesting compared to whats available in japan.

 

[BongoBanger]

Excellent find LTD, and excellent quote by Jon Gruber.

Kinda sums up why vision, in life as well as in technology, surpasses everything.

Actually Gruber, as usual, has it wrong - Sony saw the complete mess that Nokia made of merging games with mobile phones and rightly held off. Of course times have changed since then.

As for gaming the iPhone is a fine device but it's an auxiliary function and as such will never be as good as a dedicated device.

 

[Eidorian]

iphone isn't popular in japan and most japanese cell phone users don't find it interesting compared to the whats available in japan.

The feature set and the hardware need to catch up to cater to the Japanese market. It's interesting to see how "American" products fare there. I can say the same for other countries.

3G internet was being pushed quite hard in Mexico the last time I was there. You didn't hear a peep stateside until many months later.

Actually Gruber, as usual, has it wrong - Sony saw the complete mess that Nokia made of merging games with mobile phones and rightly held off. Of course times have changed since then.

As for gaming the iPhone is a fine device but it's an auxiliary function and as such will never be as good as a dedicated device.

N-Gage we hardly knew ye.

 

[X38]

The greatest weakness of the iPhone is the lack of buttons for gaming. As great as the touchscreen is, you need a D-pad + 2 buttons to get quality controls. The lack of feedback makes most games frustrating to me, particually the ones that try to be more traditional.

Since access to the dock interface for third party hardware has been added to the SDK now, can't somebody just make a game controller that plugs into the dock for those who really want it?

 

[BongoBanger]

Since access to the dock interface for third party hardware has been added to the SDK now, can't somebody just make a game controller that plugs into the dock for those who really want it?

True but once you get into peripherals to perform mainstream functions on a handheld device it becomes a bit pointless.

 

[RiCEADDiCTBOY]

i will never (well, maybe not never...) take the iphone/ipod touch seriously as a gaming machine. why? the inherent lack of physical buttons is a major no-no for me. there are a few genres where it works - and some work superb. be that as it may...motion control and an onscreen d-pad is not the answer for everything. lets try playing street fighter with an onscreen d-pad and see how much of a headache that will be trying to do the d-pad movements...

now i can't be entirely negative because recently released games such as world of tunes, zenonia, and real racing have colored me impressed. world of tunes feels like a game that nintendo could have put out for the ds. zenonia is a great rpg and for the price i paid...it was a bargain of a deal. it was like having another chance to enjoy an old school zelda game. real racing...well i think for the most part we can already agree that racing "works" on the platform it has with iphone/ipod touch.

the problem is what plagued the wii. every developer initally felt that motion control had to be included in everything. not every game or genre for that matter should be played touchscreen or motion control. this is what will keep the iphone/ipod touch from truly succeeding in winning the hearts of many.

Actually Gruber, as usual, has it wrong - Sony saw the complete mess that Nokia made of merging games with mobile phones and rightly held off. Of course times have changed since then.

As for gaming the iPhone is a fine device but it's an auxiliary function and as such will never be as good as a dedicated device.

bingo.

but, i would be wary of saying the iphone will NEVER be as good sa a dedicated device. apple had no immediate desire to promote gaming on the iphone. once developers took charge and released "inspiring" gaming apps...thats when apples "lightbulb" turned on and helped market the app store.

with that said...with each new iphone revision...i believe eventually the iphone would be a decent dedicated device.

Since access to the dock interface for third party hardware has been added to the SDK now, can't somebody just make a game controller that plugs into the dock for those who really want it?

yea...how appealing would that be to have to balance the iphone in your lap while using a controller in the subway?

and if you say it could be directly attached to the iphone...what about games that play vertically or only in landscape mode? i don't want dongles and adapters galore for my iphone/ipod touch...

 

[iankrissanto]

So, when this gadget realize?

mygadget

 

[windywoo]

I can't see the iPhone as a serious gaming device because of the limitations others have already mentioned. However, many people do not really want a serious gaming device and just like the idea of being able to play games on their phone.

I don't see the iPhone as competing with PSP or DS because the market for those is younger. How many parents would buy their child an iPhone?