PSP Vs. GBA Part 1
Laptop Battery In its current conceptual state it may seem hard to imagine Sonys PSP as being a threat to Nintendos time tested GBA (especially after what became of the N-Gage.) This isnt to say that the PSP wont be successful; it every well may be the next Walkman that Sony claims it to be. The main difference between the GBA or the Gameboy series and Sonys new PSP will likely be the target audience.
The past battles between Segas ill fated Game Gear and Nintendos Gameboy; Neo-Geo Pocket and the Gameboy Color have suggested that gamers seek software and hardware popularity, compatibility, a convenient price tag, and efficient hardware rather than raw processing power. Battery life, hardware price and the fact that raw processing power is useless unless the game developers know how to use it have always swayed the majority to buy into the Gameboy Franchise.
PSP seems to be targeted towards a broader financially better off audience. The PSP specs indicate that it will be a multimedia entertainment device that will not just play games, but movies, music and maybe even telecommunication as well.
Although Sony claims their PSP will support Dolby 7.1 multi-channel audio, 1.8GB of storage in its optical media, support MPEG4, 16:9 widescreen and process 33 million polygons per second, I cant see it as a handheld that would fully support its own hardware. The 480 x 272-pixel LCD seems ridiculous and incapable of doing justice to all the PSPs functions. Who will use surround sound while gaming on the go? Most of the PSPs functions are of no use to a handheld, but maybe thats the point. Although not officially announced, perhaps Sony wishes to incorporate these functions with the PS3 or maybe they will use it as a portable movie or other type of media player. Perhaps the PSP really is Sonys next generation Walkman. If this is the case, the Gameboy has nothing to fear as Nintendo has never had much competition from Walkman or similar products in the past. As a matter of fact, the Gameboy Advance may be taking more potential customers from the PSP as new multifunction such as movie and music players are now being developed in Japan for the GBA.
The fact that region coding will be used sets the PSP at an even more disadvantage to the GBA. Like the Playstation series and most Sony DVD players, users will start modifying their system. This may cause further favor towards the Gameboy Franchise. The GBA has much more games that the PSP will have (at least for a very long time.) Sony will either be developing new software for their system or are already starting to port classic Playstation titles. The new optical media shows potential, but production cost may divert developers.
I see the announcement of the PSP a smart move by Sony, who may be able to use it to link to the PS3 much like the GBA and Gamecube. Although starting as what seemed to be a gimmick, the increasing numbers of 3rd Party games that use this feature have proven that it does promote game sale. I see the potential price and small game software library as an obstacle, but the PSPs many other features may be what save it. Nothing can currently compete with the GBA, but the PSP may survive and even experience huge success, but it wont be in the handheld gaming market.
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