Is PSP about to out-hip the iPod?
March 18, 2005 by Mike Wendland
Sony sure hopes so. And even though I don’t play games, I have to say that the PlayStation Portable is one very cool gizmo. I think having movies to watch on a portable device is going to be much hotter than a lot of people think. We already know how popular gaming is. This unit brings a brilliant screen to play games, watch movies and look at pictures. And it does a fine job with MP3 music, too. It’s going to be huge and, I predict, the next must-have hip device for the look-at-me crowd. Sony Gears Up for U.S. PlayStation Portable Launch
Yeah, I agree Sony could really take the spotlight with this product. The price and features all point to a killer combo. Apple is now on a pace to certainly keep the iPod line fresh, but Steve might be surprised how many people enjoy portable movies. I’m sure Apple will watch Sony’s success very closely. I was ready to buy a Video-iPod a couple years ago…
The two aren’t even close to being in the same category. The PSP is a great game machine, but a multi-purpose item is never as good at each individual task as a dedicated item. It will be hip, and it will sell like crazy, but not at iPod’s expense. A PSP could never replace my iPod.
I dont think so. I already have a portable movie player - called a Laptop and if someone thinks that watching a tiny 4″ video screen is ging to be a lot of fun - then they should board an international flight and watch one on the seat screen. It plain sucks - especially movies with special effects etc.
Has anyone considered, how much battery power the PSP will need to play a movie for a few minutes - leave alone for 1 to 2 hours? Movie clips perhaps - but not full length films.
I dont see adults walking around with Game Boys or Playstations playing games in public - its mostly kids of the age 8-12. If playing video games in public has become cool - then I guess its not happening in Chicago.
Finally, Music binds to life like no other media does. It can be shared, played again and again and owned. Apple (and the consumers) long figured it out that we want a device that does ONE thing well.
Good lukc to SONY - but I’m not buying their shares! (Dont have Apple shares either!)
AM
The PSP is going to be big, but watching movies on a portable device is more of a novelty than anything.
You need to remember that the movies are going to run $15-20 each… the same price as a dvd. A small portable dvd player can be had for half the price of a PSP.
The the PSP doesn’t make much sense as a serious MP3 player because of it’s size and limited storage. 512mb and 1gig Memory Stick Duo’s aren’t cheap. Could you really picture yourself going to the gym with a PSP? It’s too nice to risk getting scratched or damaged.
However, for gaming I predict that Sony will eat Nintendo’s lunch. The DS is a cool concept, but it’s too big and underpowered in comparison.
So, in my humble opinion, Apple shouldn’t feel threatened by the PSP in any way.
Regardless, I’ll be in line Thursday morning trying to get my hands on one. It will compliment my 30gig iPod and 512mb iPod Shuffle quite nicely.
I think the product will succeed or fail as a portable gaming machine.
It does not have a hard drive, and the movie and music storage options are proprietary Sony formats. And kooky formats at that!
But the real issue is: portable video seems cool, but besides a DVD to babysit the kids in the back seat, there is no market. For instance, Casio and others have made miniture, portable televisions for about 25 years, and they never caught on.
GameBoy: look out. iPod: keep rolling towards world domination.
The Atari Lynx and the Sega Gamegear were more powerfull than the original green-screened Gameboy, and both had Color screens. Remember who won?
The PSP is three times more expensive than the DS (450$ vs 150$). So sure it’s more powerfull and smaller, and Sony probably loses money at this price.
Nintendo sold tons of DS last holiday season and has hundreds of developers working on games (and they still sell tons of Gameboy Advance). Also this situation is nothing like what happened with the N64 vs the PS1. If anything, the PSP will reach people who would have never bought a Nintendo product in the first place (because there is not enough games with beheading on Nintendo consoles I guess…).
Anyway to stay on topic: the PSP will never have comparable space for audio than a same price iPod, it’s just simple logic.
The PSP will fail. Too expensive, proprietary disc format, no hard drive, games will be rehashes of previous releases and no way to create your own movies discs (legally or otherwise). Complete waste of money. You want portable games? Get a Gameboy for $79. The DS is crap too.
Buzzy has his pricing wrong. The PSP is $250.. not $450. Some places are just forcing people to buy huge bundles with a bunch of el-cheapo accessories.
However, brick-and-mortar stores like GameStop, Best Buy, and CompUSA aren’t forcing bundles. My local GameStop still had 10 units available for launch-day pre-order.. so I jumped on the chance to get one without having to get up early or wait in line.
And yes, they sold lots of DS units, but look at the demographic that’s playing that system. It’s the pre-teen to mid-teen group. The PSP is targeted at the 18-34 demographic, though lots of teenagers are undoubtedly begging their parents for one as I write this.
The DS still has a bright future, but like the original PlayStation did 10 years ago, the PSP is going to blow Nintendo out of the water, regardless of the added cost.
Nintendo was king of the console hill for a decade, until Sony came along. Now they’re a distant 3rd place in all regions except Japan. And the PSP is outselling the DS like hotcakes there. I wouldn’t want to be a Nintendo stockholder right now.