123

Will handhelds take over the gaming market?

PSP Blogger takes an interesting look at the future of handhelds and consoles. Will the high prices and growing complexity of consoles force the average gamer to turn to handhelds? Or will gamers stick to their beloved consoles, no matter how expensive or complex?

PSP Blogger believes that in the future, gamers will purchase a PSP or DS, rather then choosing between many different (and expensive) versions of the Xbox 360 and PS3. Handheld purchases are just so much easier.
As we all know, the Sony PSP and Nintendo DS are currently ruling the charts. The big question however is why.

Most gamers will jump up at this point and shout “It’s the price and portability factor you noob!” We do agree that portability does play a big role but we have to disagree on the price part. In most countries the PSP is actually more expensive than the Xbox 360. Yeah we know the Xbox 360 is pretty unstable (we just had too) but still the console provides much more than the PSP besides the portability.

News Story attached to:
20 comments | go to source (www.pspsa.com) | send to friend | add alt source
Register as a member to subscribe comments.

Comments with -5 or lower "thumbs" are removed from display.

  • 0 thumbs!
    MusiKon | April 21, 2008
    I think the biggest sign of this possibly happening is the announcement of Dragon Quest IX for the DS. Usually handhelds get either a previously released edition of a popular franchise, or a spin off to it. But for once, a major console franchise has its initial release on a portable. Could this be the start of a trend?
  • 0 thumbs!
    theundertakergonzo | April 21, 2008
    That article is so true, it was stupid of Sony to discontinue the sales of the 60GB PS3 but it does show bias to the kid being a somewhat sony kid. But the thignslike DS and PSP are takign over 'cause you can take and play them anywhere. Great for traveling around.
  • 1 thumbs!
    StarJet | April 21, 2008
    Lolwhut? Taking over now? Handheld gaming consoles have taken over the market since the release of the original Gameboy!!!
  • 0 thumbs!
    chautemoc | April 21, 2008
    quote
    In most countries the PSP is actually more expensive than the Xbox 360.
    What the heck countries are they visiting? Import, hellooo.

    Great question though. I for one got a DS and a DS alone for this reason..and the reason I'm looking at both a Wii and a PS3 is because..the Wii is fairly cheap. I'm also wary of the Xbox 360/PS3 because they're so inconsistent. Too many models and versions and options and things included/excluded..the 360 is known for all kinds of problems..etc. I wish they'd just pick one or two models, stick with those, and make sure they work. The DS has done this and its part of the reason I made sure to pick one up.
  • -1 thumbs!
    BANDITO ATTACK | April 21, 2008
    the DS might. the PSP wont.
    • 0 thumbs!
      MusiKon | April 21, 2008
      I think they mean handhelds in general, not any specific one.
  • 0 thumbs!
    Final Blade | April 21, 2008
    I don't think handhelds will take over completely, but i do see Consoles and handhelds being even.

    There's still things the current consoles can do the handhelds can't. And it will always been that way.
  • 2 thumbs!
    xsynergyx | April 21, 2008
    Handheld are simply very convenient, but I'm not sure on this matter. In the long run, consoles will be handhelds anyways!
  • 0 thumbs!
    Donnelly | April 21, 2008
    There will be a point in time when graphics simply cannot get any more lifelike. At this point the focus will be on getting consoles smaller and smaller until, you guessed it, they're handheld.

    They'll just offer AV output and the ability to connect more controllers. It'll, effectively, be like a console combined with a handheld.
    • 0 thumbs!
      tallteen86 | April 21, 2008
      Pretty much what I was going to say, actually.

      Yep, eventually they'll hit a point that the graphics just can't get much better (on a level detectable to humans anyhow). The interface devices (likely some sort of Neural interface of some sort, with direct to brain video streaming, or something) will be about as good as you could want.

      If you've seen it, think the .hack game stuff.

      Most likely once a graphically awesome portable game console comes out at a reasonable price, home consoles will become the niche market (like high end PCs for those that just want every last bit of processing power they can afford).

      At that point, the 'new' consoles that come out, will likely be like PDAs, a PDA is a PDA, each year the new model gets tweaked and streamlined a bit, the look is improved, some power increase, and that is about it.
    • -1 thumbs!
      Final Blade | April 21, 2008
      Thats still long off to be honest. while graphics are getting extremely good there's still improvement that can be done.

      Its going to be a long time before handhelds even come close to consoles and even then, i don't see it ever being the standard. Games nowadays need to have a big HD to play most and games and etc. Handhelds are still out of its league.

      Handhelds are just convenient. Nothing more.

      Besides why need consoles when in the future, when virtual reality will happen, and you yourself will be in the game like physically.
      • 0 thumbs!
        Donnelly | April 21, 2008
        Who ever said it was going to happen soon?

        I think the fact I said "there will be a point" made it pretty obvious I was looking far into the future.
        • 0 thumbs!
          tallteen86 | April 22, 2008
          Aye, I never said 'soon' either, I said 'eventually'....

          @Finalblade. Did you not read what I said? TVs (which is what I assume you meant by "HD") won't be necessary, the visuals would be directly streamed to your brain's visual cortex....Just requires a compact headset type thing, probably (eventually they'll make those input devices very small, like that neural interface in development now, is already small and easily wearable, and it works)....

          Also, who thumbed me down, and why?
        • -1 thumbs!
          Final Blade | April 23, 2008
          NO tallteen, reread my post:
          quote
          Games nowadays need to have a big HD to play most and games and etc.
          HD=hard drive, not High Def.
        • 1 thumbs!
          tallteen86 | April 23, 2008
          Learn your tech term acronyms properly then. HD now means "High Definition", HDD = Hard Disk Drive (AKA Hard Drive). Can't blame me for getting it wrong. You used the wrong shortform, AND you have a reputation of saying dumb things.

          And NO, games DON'T need a big HDD to play games. 360 games don't do it. PC games do it, but they've always done it (or rather, they started doing it a long time ago). The space required has grown along with HDD sizes. Back when HDDs were around 50GB or so, games were usually only a couple GB or less. Now that HDDs are usually starting at about 160GB (that is laptops, and usually laptops are horrible for gaming), game installs are several GB and up. Now, the PS3 has installs, but it does't NEED them (either the user has an option, or devs COULD do away with it). They are there to improve load times and framerates in some cases. A lot of games could do away with the installs if the coding was more efficient...It is there as a feature that can help out devs, not as a necessity. And installs can be delete when you no longer play the game, and reinstalled if you want to play it again....

          In any case, you made a moot point.

          Finalblade, are you thumbing down my posts, hmmm?
        • -1 thumbs!
          Final Blade | April 27, 2008
          My point is actually that, in 10 years, we will have game consoles that has 600GB of space. And the game will be ALOT bigger. Also tell me can PSP handle MGS4 or HS which uses 20GB of space?

          No didn't think so. Again Console > Handhelds, its only for convenience not a substitution.
        • 0 thumbs!
          MusiKon | April 28, 2008
          The PSP? Of course not. The PSP2? Who knows. It just might. But we don't know for sure.

          Maybe in 5-10 years, the handhelds can match the console power (of course that means they will be hella expensive). But if that means I can have a properly running Midnight Club with me wherever I go, I say it's worth it.
        • 0 thumbs!
          Donnelly | April 28, 2008
          Finalblade, whoever said the PSP could handle MGS4. The PS3 barely can.


          Me and tallteen are talking about some distant future, not the PSP and DS.

          LERN 2 REED.
  • 0 thumbs!
    Jeterocks | April 27, 2008
    Final Blade, how can you compare something you say will happen in 10 years time to something now. Who knows, in 10 years time maybe they will have handhelds that can handle a game like MGS4. You just don't know.
  • 0 thumbs!
    tallteen86 | April 28, 2008
    Final Blade's 4th dimensional thinking is lacking....It seems he is only capable of thinking on the 'now' scale...

    In 10 years, I wouldn't be surprised if there is portables as powerful as the PS3 (or at least comparable) >_> The PSP itself, is capable of 333MHz speed, and is somewhere around the PS 1.5 level of capability....So if they release a PSP2 (probably not for a few years at least), it would likely have about half the PS3's power, which isn't something to sneeze at, for a portable console >_> It would likely also use Blu-ray UMDs, or mini blu-ray disks. /speculation (just my guess at what will be)....

    Some qualities might not be as good as certain consoles, but the benefits of portable over home console by then, will likely exceed the negatives.

    And as far as consoles and handhelds becoming so powerful, that it is difficult to tell which one looks better, well, that probably wouldn't happen for 20 years AT LEAST. More likely 50 years. Eventually game consoles will be able to mimic realistic graphics, and once handhelds become good at that, there would be less benefit to having a home console....

    Remember, the visual output/input in 20 to 50 years would likely be some 'direct to visual cortex' device...And control will likely also be done via the brain. That leaves your hands free, and decreases the need to be around a device with better tactile input (in other words, game controller would no longer be hand based, which is one of the reasons people prefer consoles, for the better game controllers)....

This news story is archived and is closed to comments now.

Submit Newshelp

Recent Forum Threads

Top Contributors

This Month
Gothic Girl 319 pts
chautemoc 262 pts
Deathsythe 198 pts
Silver Mir.. 147 pts
Tyranitar24 115 pts
Akira_EX 112 pts
Coltrain 74 pts
bbb7002004 69 pts
Agrias 50 pts
All-Time
Gothic Girl 14578 pts
Krunal 11813 pts
Linkin Par.. 9920 pts
Final Blade 8638 pts
xsynergyx 8079 pts
mistermostyn 7868 pts
Silver Mir.. 7333 pts
chautemoc 6714 pts
ITANI 6350 pts
Storm 5633 pts

Stats

Today
Published News: 26
Comments: 137
Points Given: 364
Users Registered: 0
This Month
Published News: 106
Comments: 746
Points Given: 1674
Users Registered: 5
All Time
Published News: 9785
Comments: 65120
Points Given: 156523
Users Registered: 480

Conventions / Trade Shows

(0.2910/d/aeon)