I heard the PSP would be as powerful as 100 Pentium 4's. *snickers at people who still believe in Sony's specs*

if the game cartridge format is as cheap as cd or dvd, then all the game companys will be all over it, just like the ps1 and the psp will kill the gameboy

I disagree that it will "kill the gameboy" but it will hurt it quite a bit. Sony has been planning their strike for quite a long time (see article at http://www.pspinsider.com) and they are going to make sure they do it right.

What I find extremely funny is that this battle has been fought before. Nintendo didn't want to come out with a disc system so Sony did and took the market. Remember? Scary that it is happening again.

On the lynx I loved Chips Challenge, Blue Lightning, Gauntlet, Electrocop, California Games, Gates of Zendacon (what a great shooter!).. all pretty much launch games (the lynx didn't go far :( ). It was really marketing, and the fact that it was just so NOT a portable console (I always played mine with the AC adaptor ;) ) that caused it to die. Gameboy had a mario title at launch which is always good...

Chris

Wow! if those specs are true then N is going to be thrown for a loop. actually they will be in for a loop either way. I really like nintendo and have had every Game boy but this looks really promising.

However, I honestly wish that Sony wouldn't do this. I still seek refuge from the ongoing video game wars in Nintendo's small wonder. I am really tiring of the console wars and wish it would not spread to the handheld market I don't want to own more then one handheld at a time.

$200 will not fly. And they are doing this on Mini Disc type cartridges? That is funny. I have a MD player and love it but it has hardly taken the world by storm. Maybe they could format this new disc for audio for the MD. A gig. disc. that would be cool.

I would love for this to come to fruition. There needs to be a little competition in the portable market. There are too many good GBA games coming out that I want but I don't want to spend $40 a pop on. ;)

From what I read, it sounds like a proprietary minidisc will be within a cartridge... I don't think production costs will be that much lower as a result. (Edit: I just saw the pictures and changed my mind.) A year ago I bought a PSOne and have been catching up on all the great PlayStation games I missed, and unless there are must-have exclusives, I will probably ignore it.

I can't wait. Finally I can buy portable games that feature blood and tits so all my school chums can see how mature I am.

Sony just announced they plan to ship 10 million (!!) of these PSP's before the end of 2004. This leads me to believe that it will launch sooner than Christmas 2004 since that is an absurd amount. Makes you wonder what they've got up their sleeve?

http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/...0514/psp01.jpg
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/...0514/psp02.jpg
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/...0514/psp03.jpg
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/...0514/psp04.jpg
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/...0514/psp05.jpg
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/...0514/psp06.jpg
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/...0514/psp07.jpg
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/...0514/psp08.jpg
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/...0514/psp09.jpg
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/...0514/psp10.jpg

cool! but no pics of the actual device?

It's a big cocktail napkin.

They haven't made the actual device yet... patience, young skywalker.

My thoughts exactly. LOL.

Even if the system does not live up to it's specs, and even if Sony comes out with something equivalent (not superior) to the GBA, I think Nintendo should be worried. People don't buy the GBA because it's the best portable system out there, they buy it because it's the ONLY portable system out there (Wonderswan doesn't count). Competition is good for consumers. Discs are cheaper than cartridges.

If PSP has decent support and ties into whatever Sony has planned for the last year of PS2 and introduction of PS3 then I think you'll see some big changes in the portable landscape.

Scoff right now if you want, but wait and see.... ;)

I still think that kids will be the key.

I'd love to see actual numbers, but using anecdotal evidence I've seen a lot more kids carrying around the various GB incarnations over the years than I have adults. The sales of games like Pokemon, Yu Gi Oh! etc. provide some backing for this as well, as those are clearly games marketed primarily at kids.

So IMO, the question is can Sony beat out the GB franchise in kids eyes. Can they beat Pokemon, etc.

I also think a lot of older casual gamers (largest part of the market) don't give a crap about portable gaming.

So right now I see Sony selling it to hard core gamers that want to be able to game on the go as well as at home, and then having to rely on getting kids who love their GBs to beg their parents for a PSP.

har har
Funniest thing I heard all day!

When competition comes, yes, the GBA ends up being the best out there. That's why it always wins. Comeptition is survival of the fittest, or best, and Gameboy has beaten out Lynx, GameGear (twice), TurboGraphix, Game.com, 2 Neo Geo Pockets, 2 WonderSwans, Dreamcast VMUs, Hartung Game Master, R-Zone Headgear (from tiger), Watara Supervision, Nintendo VirtualBoy,Sega Nomad, and all those Tiger Handheld games.

It's leading the race in portable gaming against PalmOS and PocketPC platforms and it can be easily argued that more people buy Gameboys for games than Cellphones for games.

And it looks to easily overtake the N-Gage, and the korean FreeON (who knows about the Sony one at this point).

So tell me... with all these "choices" or all this "competition," why else did the Gameboy last the longest, sell the most, have the most games- and continue to do so? Which ones did you buy instead of the Gameboy?

There was plenty of choice... choices by some of the leaders on portable devices around the world. So don't say there wasn't or isn't any choice. It's consumers that make a monopoly, not Nintendo.

Whoa tiger. I didn't say anything about a monopoly, nor did I imply the GBA was a poor system. The competition you mention always had something going against it that worked in Nintendo's favor. Almost all of those are color systems that came out way before Li-on batteries and low-power color displays came out. Incidentally most of them were either bulky or had poor battery life or both. I bought an Atari Lynx if you must know (two of them actually).

My point is that none of those portables are what I would call "viable competition". Atari's Lynx was released during the company's downfall, the Turbografx was never that popular as a console to begin with, and the Game Gear was alright, but again was too early for a color portable. All the other systems you menation weren't released by what I would call big-name players. Now, the time is right, and the technology is there as is the $$. Gaming was still somewhat in the fringe when the original portables came out. Now that there is big money involved, you can bet your butt that Sony will throw some clout behind the PSP.

You think with nearly 100M + Playstation users that there wont be a market for this? I'm not saying it will dominate, but the first real competitor for the GameBoy will be good for us as consumers.

The thing is they want how many millions of units out by the end of NEXT YEAR?

Umm....we are already almost in June and they can't show us the slightest design on the PSP. What's going on here?

What does PSP stand for anyways?

The thing I find funniest about this whole thread is that people are convinced that since Sony is using a disc format that they will kill the Gameboy or that the games will somehow be better simply because they're on a disc.

:lol:

PSP= Playstation Portable.

Of course it will be better. Castlevania can be in its superior 3D version on the PSP. :lol: