NGP,PSP,3DS,DS

Sony’s successor to the PSP, known to the gaming world as the NGP, its under-development name, is starting to get momentum behind it. It’s confirmed that the NGP will support a variety of game engines, and also its level of technology that has never been seen in handheld consoles before is truly a step above what will be its major competitor, the 3DS.

Yet, it’s fairly easy to see how this can go wrong for Sony. Much like the Playstation 3 featuring technology superior to the 360 and Wii, poor decisions lead the PS3 to become one of the biggest let downs of the 7th generation consoles. It’s even easier to see why- technology doesn’t come cheap. And Sony launched the console at a rather infamous 599 U.S Dollars. Sony president has said however that they will not make the same mistake twice, and that they have kept the NGP affordable.

What’s interesting is that they have also said the NGP will not replace the PSP in its early years. While only a few good SQUARE ENIX games actually are on the horizon for the PSP, it will remain supported by the company, and the NGP will be backward compatible with all PSP software currently on the Playstation Store, as long as you’ve bought it, it’ll work on the NGP.  Sony has even reduced the cost of brand new PSP-3000’s to 199 dollars, a rather cheap price for a console as diverse as the PSP.

Sony seems to have the direction of the NGP correct- they’ve focused on using current technology to create a top-end system, something that they didn’t do with the PS3, and with graphics that rival the ps3 itself, Sony might just have the bulk of the developers. This is what might get Nintendo’s new 3DS to shadow the problem the DS had against the PSP. The DS’s hardware limited it’s capability- it was really a console that made sprite games look terrific, but 3D horrific. Developers might find themselves making better games on the NGP simply because the hardware can do better. This isn’t to say that Nintendo hasn’t done a good job.

Nintendo can trace its roots back to the handheld market- in fact, if anything, they created the market. The DS only lost its lead in sales right in the last stage of its life, after an impressive 6 years of rebrands. No doubt the console also made it possible for fresh new companies to create some games. What Nintendo have done with the 3DS is looked at the trends, and looked at what they can improve. They also didn’t try to create new technology, but found a way around the hurdle of No-Glasses 3D- reverse the depth. Nintendo continues the innovation with the 3DS, and there are big developers out there for the console already.

Will it fall into the trap of its predecessor? Having little range in the games available, and being trapped in the same visual-style of each game since the first, or will it’s early launch give it the head start that will see it into the 8th generation? Nintendo treaded on fairly recognisable ground when developing the 3DS- The Company has tried 3D before, and saw why it failed. They worked around it. The company saw that the DS may have lived out longer then they thought, so the technology was retro, and they seem to have gotten around that too.

The NGP and the 3DS’ success will depend on brand loyalties, Game exclusives, and the right decisions.