Analyst: Sony's Xperia Play Could Beat Out 3DS

[Greg Tito]

Analyst: Sony's Xperia Play Could Beat Out 3DS

Jesse Divnich thinks that Sony's new handhelds could be the dark horse that overtakes Nintendo and Apple.

A lot of hype is flying around the internet about the Nintendo 3DS, along with some deserved criticism of the device. We also can't deny the trend towards a more general kind of computing with tablets like the iPad and iPhone being used for games, taking a bigger piece of the handheld pie. But even with those two frontrunners gaining steam, Jesse Divnich from Eeedar thinks that we can't count out Sony's entries, next week's Xperia Play or the forthcoming NGP, from quietly taking the lead because of their superior technology. Still, Nintendo's heavy-hitting franchises might still win them the market share.

"Only one portable gaming system has the likes of Mario, Donkey Kong, Pokemon, Link, and many more," Divnich said. "At the end of the day, it all comes down to content, and in that domain, Nintendo is king."

Given all of those immediately recognizable brands, who will beat out the 3DS? "If any product could do it, it would be the Xperia or NGP," Divnich said. "Both are amazing pieces of technology that truly evolve the mobile and portable gaming markets."

I'm in the market for a new phone as I'm due for an upgrade, and I'm seriously considering the Xperia Play instead of buying a 3DS. So I think that Divnich has a point, but it's really those ads starring Kristen Schaal [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/108672-Sonys-PSP-Phone-Ads-Rival-Kevin-Butler-on-Hilarity-Scale] that bring it on home for me.

After rewatching those today? Yeah, still freaking hilarious.

Source: NowGamer [http://www.nowgamer.com/news/5398/sony-could-dominate-handheld-market-analyst]

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[RA92]

I still think Ericsson should have let the Xperia be named PSP2 and let Sony merge NGP and Xperia into one project. That would have been a killer.

Imagine PSP2's dual analog sticks on it...

 

[Korten12]

Might be getting this, looks awesome!

 

[True Nero]

i don't doubt that it will good, i think it will do ok but saying it will oust the 3DS is a big claim to make

 

[gigastar]

"Only one portable gaming system has the likes of Mario, Donkey Kong, Pokemon, Link, and many more," Divnich said. "At the end of the day, it all comes down to content, and in that domain, Nintendo is king."

Slight slip of the keyboard mashing there.

Xpeira is basically a miniturised PSPGo with a phone crammed into it. It should do well for itself.

PSP2 (I refuse to call it NGP) is supposed to be the best in terms of processing power and graphical details, and it has 2 analouge sticks. Personally i look forward to wasting another 2000 hours of my life playing the next Monster Hunter on it.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

Saying it will overthrow the 3DS? That's a mighty bold statement there, but while I take that statement with mountainous grains of salt, we shall see how this all turns out, I think the Xperia will do well, but that not THAT well.

I might be getting that though, but my contract ends in September...

 

[Lt. Vinciti]

Exciting...

The decent sized 3DS will be beatout by the tiny to small for my hands PSP2

/Sarcasm

 

[mjc0961]

Beating out the 3DS? Yeah, good luck with that. 3DS is already setting sales and preorder records out there, meaning it's already a beast and it's not even out in the entire world yet. No phone is ever going to touch that.

The NGP on the other hand... Well, let's just say that I'm not excited yet. All I saw of it so far is a PS3 port machine, and I already have a PS3.

I still think Ericsson should have let the Xperia be named PSP2 and let Sony merge NGP and Xperia into one project. That would have been a killer.

Imagine PSP2's dual analog sticks on it...

That wouldn't have been possible in the form the Xperia Play is in, though. Didn't Sony say that they wanted to make it have that smaller form with the sliding screen, but couldn't because of heat issues? Or was that some of the devs who got early dev kits that had the sliding models that would overheat on them? I can't remember who, but apparently the NGP needs to be in that bigger, bulkier form that probably wouldn't go over well for a phone.

 

[Worgen]

meh, I doubt it, really the only way sony would win is if they are at the same price point or lower

the npg can certainly do some good graphics but really a hand held only needs to look so good and the better the graphics the more publishers only want the shiniest and best and the more the games will cost to make and the fewer risks they can take etc etc

I just hope the 3ds doesnt end up with tons of shovelware that crowds out all the good games like what ended up happening with the ds at the end, Shantae couldnt find a publisher so it ended up on dsware (whatever) because of that

 

[Assclown_King]

The problem with this entire argument is that they said the same or similar things when the original PSP first came out. It was a stronger system than the DS from a technical standpoint, but people preferred the software that the DS offered. Like every console that has come out since the dawn of time, it ALWAYS comes down to what software a given hardware can offer, and in terms of mass-market, the DS won despite the PSP technically being a better system in terms of power.

I plan on owning both a 3DS and an NGP eventually (probably the NGP first, because...) but I'm going to wait on Nintendo's, cuz I know 6 months - 1 year from now, there's going to be a smaller / new colored / better backwards compatible version of it. NGP might change the look, feel or size, but the system itself will still technically be the same.

 

[JediMB]

I'm getting both.

I hope the Xperia Play will perform better than the Xperia X10, though. The X10 can be a bit problematic, as much as I love having it.

 

[SelectivelyEvil13]

I don't know, do brands really matter much if it's just rehashed material on a small, albeit 3D, screen? I know, I know, sales-wise, yes, it's as safe a bet as any. But personally, the premise of Nintendo properties running the 3DS's show more than originality or multi-functions is a rather uninspiring one.

Although I am openly not a fan of Apple products, I will say that the iPhone would win me over the 3DS based on its numerous capabilities and flexibility. As for Sony's projects, I am interested to see what they offer. So far Nintendo has done nothing to intrigue me with a single purpose device (gaming), but I think it would be cool if Sony pushed in a direction that wasn't so "safe."[footnote]Safe would be referring to Nintendo constantly banking on their N brand characters and games.[/footnote]

 

[Jumplion]

Eh, the Xperia looks more like a phone that just happens to play games. I'm pretty sure an essential device to every day life, like a phone, would outsell a luxury item, like a handheld, any day unless people aren't using their iPhones as phones anymore.

NGP looks far more interesting, but as I am not a handheld gamer, I doubt I'll be getting either 3DS or NGP/PSP2/Xperia/Whateverthefuck Sony wants to name it (With their recent fetish for Q's, like Qore and Quriocity, maybe the Qake? Or Qactch-eria?)

 

[RevRaptor]

Really? Sony beating Nintendo because it has superior tech. I feel like this race has been run before. Oh wait it has the psp stomped all over the DS hard ware wise, yet totally bombed. I see history repeating it's self.

 

[Merlark]

Yeah they were optimistic of the PSP too but it was like the Titanic hitting an ice cube, if they took from nintendo's market share, no one noticed.

Without having a 3DS in my hands it would be impossible to declare that this is going to be "IT" for pure portable gaming. but the 3DS has allot going for it, the huge momentum of the DS for starters, unbelievable 3rd party support, backwards compatibility and the same awesome touch screen design and classic clamshell portable look.

It is REALLY tough...really really tough to break out fresh in the hand held market, nintendo has always backed up their chips with the wide arsenal of its predecessors success. Sony is going to be fighting with a limited clip of ammo when it comes to games despite having the hardware.

It's going to be tough to knock the 3DS off its perch, even with its higher price point. its not impossible but company's really need to stop swaggering that their toy is 'better' just because of its hardware. Nintendo has thumped every competitor because of their crushing game library and something for everyone user base mentality.

Of course the hard core gamer always wins, even if the sony stuff doesn't become the next big thing, its still awesome hardware and there are bound to be a few awesome games.

Win win if they both succeed.

 

[Johnnyallstar]

Sony may have superior tech, and a phone on it, but remember the Ngage had a phone, and the Game Gear's performance was well ahead of the GameBoy. Nintendo handheld systems tend to eat the lunch of any competition. Hell, my little brothers are on vacation and left me to pick up their 3DS on sunday.

Besides, aren't we implying that the Sony just has Nintendo to compete with? It's a phone, so it also has Apple, HTC, Samsung, Motorola, and a few other very high level smart phones to compete with. Not many people are going to buy a Sony Xperia while they still have their iPhone or Android smartphone.

Honestly, I think Sony is going to get the stuffing beat out of it on this one. Because if Sony approaches it like a console, or handheld, then they're going to get way behind on the phone side by next year. Phones are mutating, evolving, and improving every week. Sony will have to consider really investing into the market if they expect to make any lasting impact.

 

[TheAmazingHobo]

Wow,
you know, it is good that we have analysts who can give us such deep and meaningful insight.
I would have never thought about how Nintendo has good IPs but might be maybe beaten BY THE ONLY OTHER HIGH-PROFILE HANDHELD CURRENTLY IN EXISTENCE.

 

[Krion_Vark]

Might be getting this, looks awesome!

So did the N-Gage.

I don't really think that phones as they are now can work as a good console. because like Johnny said it will get behind as a phone or it will get behind as a gaming system. And I really don't think that any out of house development will go on for the thing since it seems like a HUGE risk.