Sony is due to announce a successor to their portable gaming console, the PSP, by the end of this month according to rumors coming out of Japan. The device will most likely be called PSP2, because marketing departments are ever so creative these days, and according to Nikkei it’s supposed to pack an OLED screen and built in 3G internet access. The first people to get the PSP2, the Japanese of course, will be able to surf the internet, download games, and even participate in multiplayer games using DOCOMO’s network. We don’t really know if this rumor is true or not, but if we assume for a moment that it is, we’ve got to ask ourselves: how is this going to compete with the Sony Ericsson Playstation phone?
The whole point of a dedicated gaming console is a focus on gaming. Nintendo is due to launch their 3DS portable console in the first quarter of 2011 on US shores. Not only does that system play games, but it comes with a built in camera, music player, and internet browser. If that sounds familiar to you, then think of your mobile phone, which already has all those functions. Unlike smartphones however, the games that are created for the PSPs and 3DSs of the world cost upwards of $40, whereas your typical Angry Birds or Tower Defense clone is never more than $5. Do full fledged titles have what it takes to compete with the casual games that people can already play on the device that are presently in their pockets?
When Nokia put Snake on their mobile phones, no one questioned whether they’d take away market share from the Game Boy, because Snake was pretty much the only game you could play on your phone, and it wasn’t exactly a Class A title. How will this new generation of portable games consoles compete?