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Sony Takes on iPhone's Growing Mobile Gaming Popularity in New Ad

Mad City Court said:
~giggles~ You would be amazed at what you see in the waiting rooms of doctors offices these days. Don' read the magazines anymore they are fully of germs from sick people. Better to use your own iPhone, iPad, iTouch or other gaming device. Many doctors offices even have wireless access set up for patients. :) I've seen elderly adults with an elderly nintendo playing the original version of Mario Brothers. I currently use my iPod Touch. 2 gen at the doc office and surf.
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Oh I've seen what's available for patients;)
We've owned two (4 at one point) dental practices for over 20 years.
 
I've actually owned a PSP since it launched, whenever that was (many years ago).

The thing flat out sucks. It has been collecting dust for over 2 years.

The controls are terrible. They are actually worse than using a touch screen, even for games that aren't well suited to the touch screen.
I honestly have never really enjoyed using the device, it feels like work, not fun.

I realize it's a matter of opinion but IMO Sony got lucky with the PS1 and PS2. They really don't have a clue when it comes to understanding gaming and gamers.

Apple got lucky in this space too, they didn't cater to gamers at all. Apple at least designs good hardware and software though.


SockRolid said:
In more recent history, do you remember when the PSP was the coolest portable electronics gizmo? That was just a few years ago, but it looks like Sony has dropped the ball again.
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It really never was. The only marginal buzz it ever got was due to the firmware getting hacked, not exactly the kind Sony would want.
 
I think Sony doesn't get it at all. Both Nintendo and Apple outdid them in the portable market. Big time. There isn't a battle to be fought here, Sony. You've lost this round.

nintendo, meanwhile, is trying something new with that 3DS. Dunno if it will be any good, but it has some serious horse power.
 
The controls are terrible. They are actually worse than using a touch screen, even for games that aren't well suited to the touch screen.
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The controls are bad but give me a break, they are nowhere near as bad as a touch screen. Have you played GTA China Town Wars? Its HORRENDOUS.
 
ChrisGonzales90 said:
Remember when Nintendo was the lead? The 64 was the highlight of my childhood. (and the NES and super nintendo for those born in the late 70s and early 80s)
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Remember when? Nintendo is in the lead now in the gaming space and has been for the last few years, due to the DS and Wii.

In the era of the 64 they were struggling actually, and not in the lead at all. (I say that even though the 64 was personally my favorite console at that time....well along with the Dreamcast if you consider that the same generation).
 
stainlessliquid said:
The controls are bad but give me a break, they are nowhere near as bad as a touch screen. Have you played GTA China Town Wars? Its HORRENDOUS.
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Not really arguable since it's a matter of opinion, but no I have not played that.

However I do have the first GTA game for PSP and it is trash.

The controls on my PSP are completely non ergonomic.
Have they changed them since launch? I own a launch PSP, but haven't cared enough to follow recent developments.
 
jmpage2 said:
It's a cute ad, but just shows that Sony is frightened.

The hardware in the iPhone 4 can out power the PSP, no bones about it.

Not to mention the "$9.99 sucker" tag line. There are many high quality games for the iPhone available for $4.99, $2.99, etc.

Not to mention convergence. It might be fun for a kid with a backpack to carry a separate media player, game playing device, phone, pager, sketchbook, etc, but "big boys" only want to carry one mobile with them.
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haha. you said pager.
 
Yay... Buzz, some golf game and a war game compared to an iPhone game that doesn't even exist... isn't that verging on false advertising?

Not to mention they paid some black kid to talk like an idiot in sorta mock gangsta speak.

Good luck Sony...
 
Well the 3DS is going to kill both in gaming anyway.

Also can't really compare the power specs of a deivce like the PSP and iphone. One is using 5 year old tech and the other is updated every year. Still The 3DS is going to be more powerful then both for a long while.
 
shingi70 said:
Well the 3DS is going to kill both in gaming anyway.

Also can't really compare the power specs of a deivce like the PSP and iphone. One is using 5 year old tech and the other is updated every year. Still The 3DS is going to be more powerful then both for a long while.
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3DS may be very successful, but it won't kill the iPhone for gaming.
 
pooryou said:
Remember when? Nintendo is in the lead now in the gaming space and has been for the last few years, due to the DS and Wii.

In the era of the 64 they were struggling actually, and not in the lead at all. (I say that even though the 64 was personally my favorite console at that time....well along with the Dreamcast if you consider that the same generation).
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Re read what I wrote. I'm not talking about now, i'm talking about then.
 
ChrisGonzales90 said:
Re read what I wrote. I'm not talking about now, i'm talking about then.
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I addressed now and then. What did I miss?

Of course, there is more than one 'then'.
You mean in the era of NES-->SNES? Yeah they were in the lead then.
Atari screwed the pooch bigtime, and Nintendo helped bring console gaming back from the brink.
Funny thing is Nintendo originally wanted to license to Atari and Atari passed....oops.
Then later Nintendo repeated the exact same mistake with Sony and the PS1.
 
All In One Device

For the same reason of the iPhone's "need" ... and partially for its continued success is the fact that its users carry one single device, not two.

Yes, if you have an iPhone, you need not carry an iPod as the iPhone includes an iPod as an application.

OK, so in the case of Sony's PS2, one should look at the number for kids that have mobile phones. Right now a kid who has a mobile phone and a PS2 is carrying two devices. If they (upgrade) to an iPhone, that's one device to carry around.

I believe the market will show that smartphones are going to (continue) to serve as the device that kills off most others. No longer do you need to carry a beeper and PDA, nor an iPod and a mobile phone, ... nor a mobile and hand-held game device.

Just as the personal computer made it possible to have many applications on a single device -- though largely "landlocked" by staying on a desktop -- the smart phone is doing the same for clearing the "need" to have several hand-held devices. Carry one!

OK, yes, a laptop is not landlocked, ... only recently have laptops sold out over desktops. Still, one device, not a separate device for spreadsheets, another for work processing, another for....
 
The new PSP Go doesn't even have a UMD drive and (gasp) has expandable storage capacity in the form of a memory stick slot. The arguments about having to carry around disc media is not really applicable.

This whole line of argumentation is pretty moot IMO. Gaming on a device like PSP or DS is infinitely better than on the iPhone or iPT because they have physical hardware buttons. There is simply no comparison for a serious game when using hardware buttons vs. a touch interface. The touch interfaces are clunky, not sensitive enough, and require you to cover the gaming screen with your hands and touch interface overlay. It only works well with casual games.

Which leads me to my point. People who are looking for "real" gaming on the go will never look to the iPT or iPhone. For that experience, the PSP and DS are and always will be superior. It's the casual gaming market that goes for the Apple devices instead, and it is not likely any of them would have ever purchased a PSP or DS anyways. I see this ad as Sony trying to convince some of that casual gaming market to give it a try.

As was stated earlier, price is the PSP's main problem. It has sufficient graphics capability, and a pretty good library of titles. But the PSPGo is far too expensive, and the download games again too expensive (IIRC, not actually any cheaper than the UMD versions) for it to work out.

P.S. iPod killed the walkman? Get real. The walkman was dead long, long before the iPod was even a dream in SJ's sleep. Long before. And besides, the walkman still does something that no iPod can do out of the box- receive FM radio. The discman is likely what killed the walkman, and it can be argued that mp3 players (not the iPod) are what killed the discman. The iPod came after all this happened and has been very successful since.
 
I have a rule when it comes to game consoles. I don't buy the console unless it has five exclusive titles that I really want. Eventually, I ended up with a DS, 360, PS3, and a Wii, in that order. To this day, I roam the video game aisles at various stores and can't find any games for the PSP that interest me. I don't like the controls for racing games, I don't care for sports games and I have plenty of FPS games at home.

The iPhone, in my opinion, is doing well because of what it offers. If I'm on the road and I want to play Monopoly or Words with Friends I can. Or a racing game. Or Angry Birds. Or an FPS. Or I can efficiently browse the market until I find something that appeases me. And much like the DS does, the App Store offers a lot of "play and pause" games. You can kill time in the dentist's waiting room and not ask them to wait for you while you finish calling a play or ducking enemy fire.

Sony really needs to rethink their strategy here, or they'll have the same effect on me as those car manufacturers who keep talking about how much better than the Toyota Camry their car is. All I come away from the commercial remembering is "Camry".
 
PSP is a better gameplay device to me, since the joystick usually gives me better control. But this ad is just terrible. I wonder why the ads of other products become so awful, when they are positioning at apple products. Look at the PC hunter ads, several phone ads, now here comes PSP.
 
What I like about iPods ipads and iPhones is that everything is software on the device. Dozens of games, hundreds of books or thousands of songs... not with these portable devices where you have to have a bag for all yor disks or carts and styluses, etc. Who is the big boy? The kid with the backpack or the guy who can have a great experience waiting for his wife while he plays Words With Friends (great game btw).
 
pooryou said:
3DS may be very successful, but it won't kill the iPhone for gaming.
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I'd have to diagree with you. You have the nintendo Fanboys who are gonna purchase day oen then its going to have that wii effect after its shown on TV.

Even if it doesn't beat the iphone in games i think that it will have better quality games. Also i know people don't like to carry mutiple devices but i know people who wouldn't mind carrying mutiple devices as they have one for certian tasks.

Still i've alwys wanted apple and nintendo to work together on a device.

Nintendo= Apple of the gaming industry.
 
pooryou said:
Remember when? Nintendo is in the lead now in the gaming space and has been for the last few years, due to the DS and Wii.
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Really? I don't know what the numbers are right now regarding this, but I can tell you that in the gaming community, Nintendo is far from being taken seriously. Period.
 
This ad just shows that Sony continues to lose touch with gamers and people in general. They lost touch years ago. It amazes me how people forget this is the same company that said "We want people to think 'I will work extra hours to be able to afford one" in regards to the then unannounced PS3 price.

Not only has Sony lost touch, but they're getting desperate. If you look at actual sales numbers of both hardware and games, you'll see that nobody is buying Sony hardware for games. The PSP averages 4 games sold per unit.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10470102-37.html

In just a matter of months, Apple was able to come along and overtake the PSP's market share by an extremely large margin.

With that sad, gaming on my iPhone 4 and iPad leaves a lot to be desired. It always makes me want more. I can't help but think how much better some games would be if the device had actual physical controls.

But it would be stupid to buy either a PSP or DS at this point. The 3DS is just around the corner. The PSP is coming up on 6 years old. it is in desperate need of an entire hardware upgrade.

Sony can't be trusted to do a hardware refresh right anyway. Look at what they did with the PSP Go. Shrunk it, removed the UMD drive, and charged more for it. The PSP go is another example of Sony going back on promises. They promised a way to get your already purchased UMDs on to the PSP go. Then they backed out. They promised backwards compatibility for the PS3. Went back on that. After a list of going back on promises for the PS2. Let's not forget the "Other OS" option for the PS3.

Oh, and the games for the PSP were too freaking expensive. $50 for portable games? No thanks. Games for PSP, DS, etc. need to follow the old Game Boy pricing, $30 or less.
 
Not surprising, what makes iphone/ipod touch stand out is the crazy amount of apps and games..
 
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