If Sony Computer Entertainment America CEO Jack Tretton was aiming to stir a hornet's nest with his comments last week that Nintendo's handhelds were a "great babysitting tool," he succeeded.
Gamers around the web seemed incensed when the consumer press picked up on Tretton's assertion that "self-respecting 20-somethings" are "too old" for Nintendo's portable.
But at the same time, his comments were thought-provoking on the nature of a hardware-platform's "identity" and how its market positioning correlates to the audience it addresses.
Past platform wars were often just muscle contests where the highest-performer won (if the price was accessible), but this generation has seen a significant stratification in the market, making it advisable for each hardware manufacturer to attempt to address an ever-widening audience from a slightly-different angle.
For example, Nintendo made it clear early on that it would largely bow out of the race for high-fidelity and sophisticated online features, focusing instead on a friendly, approachable market position that highlighted all-ages content and innovations on the hardware side, from the Wii's motion controls to the DS's touch screen.
Microsoft drove adoption of its Xbox platform by driving squarely for the core market, developing early on the sort of multiplayer infrastructure that made it the preferred home for the traditional player. Later, it redoubled its efforts on the "media center" billing that aimed to position it as a lifestyle hub. It finally aimed for Wii-style marketshare with the addition of Kinect.
Sony took an entirely opposite tactic, banking on the idea that consumers would desire a high-priced "lifestyle console" -- at the launch of the PlayStation 3, many gamers even felt that Sony, with the PS3's Blu-ray drive, focused too much on multimedia at the expense of gaming itself. That decision would prove costly to the company early on in the hardware cycle; the PS3 wasn't able to make its most meaningful push into the market until its price was significantly lowered and the content lineup became more compelling.
The "ten year plan" for the PS3 has been part of Sony's marketing strategy from the beginning; one could translate it as "we'll get there," building a feature-rich foundation and only later evolving on the specific vertices that its rivals went for directly from the get-go.
There's now much more overlap in the audience for the Big Three's platforms than there once might have been. Although Wii made its sales primarily in the mass market -- where it's since peaked -- while leaving a perpetually-unsatisfied core consumer to grumble, Nintendo's portables have benefited widely from a social climate where gaming in general is more prevalent and more socially-appropriate.
Much is made of the iPhone and Android platforms supposedly stealing away the audience for portable play, but perhaps that perspective gives little credit to the broad nature of the "core" label -- you don't need to be the kind of gamer who primarily plays matches of Halo and Call of Duty to feel that a game like Angry Birds isn't persistent or rich enough for you, either.
But ride the subway to work or stand in line at the bank and you'll see lots of very casual players engaged in some light "snack gaming" on the iPhone. And that kind of environment makes it much more common to see adults who want even just a smidge more sustenance holding Nintendo handhelds -- or even Sony's own PSP, for that matter.
And they've stopped feeling so childish about it. Night after night, everyone sees commercials for Kinect that show adults jumping and dancing in front of their TV to play video games -- and having a grand old time of it. They don't care if they look silly. People feel Kinect looks futuristic and cool, Wii's influence is inescapable, and mobile gamers are suddenly everywhere you look.
It's more and more rare that having a video game system immediately brands you as a basement troll tapped out of the real world. New consumers now look at the industry and start to see a place for them. Gaming in public and on the go is rapidly becoming mainstream, and the person playing Cut The Rope is unlikely to look at a peer with a DS and think, "how childish." That's where Tretton's wrong.
The strategy Sony's tried to use in the market positioning against its rivals in the past -- the high-end, grown-up alternative to the little-kid boxes everyone else is buying -- didn't work so well in the past, and it'll be even less effective now. "Self-respecting 20-somethings" are increasingly less self-conscious about playing portable video games, and about gaming in general.
No doubt Sony is setting up to angle its sleek, feature-rich NGP as a more mature, more capable choice than the DS platform. And to gain meaningful penetration, they'll have to persuade some percentage of the audience that it's worthwhile to replace that old DS, to "trade up" not to a 3DS (whose ability to inspire awe at first sight for gamers of all ages should not be underestimated) but to an NGP.
Gamers might be eager to shed the "dumb toy" image of years past, but social evolution's helping them do that already, and the NGP will launch to a market newly settled into relatively pricey portable hardware -- 3DS and smartphones -- that people may be hard-pressed to convince are worth spending to enhance.
And by implying that there's some kind of immaturity to those users of the most common portable platform -- at least the one most popular among gamers who actually like to spend money on retail hardware and software -- Sony actually risks alienating a key portion of its potential audience.
Sales numbers this gen have proven it: People care less about being "high end", and no one is very worried about their image anymore, either. They care about whether a piece of hardware has the content and features that they want, and that's it.
Of course, when Apple now famously unveiled its iPad, no one believed that anyone would shell out so much cash for something people mocked as no bigger than an upscaled iPhone (without the calling feature, no less). Those people have since stopped laughing, and have now started gazing lustfully at iPad 2s. That success was one part Apple's inimitable grace in commanding brand loyalty and desirability, but the other part was that the company saw a new market -- a device that lies in between the phone and the computer -- and seized it.
The NGP could do something like that, too. With its control scheme and innovative back touchpad, it certainly promises more than just better graphics; not only does it look gorgeous, capable of piquing true gadget-lust, but rumblings from developers suggest games on the device have tons of potential, from interface to performance. Sony's marketing lines should focus on that, and not on the dated practice of setting up one-to-one rivalries with other platform-holders.
Nintendo's players aren't being babysat, they're being engaged, and instead of sassy talk, Sony should start planning how it's going to distract them.
They will have a market as long as the price doesn't top or surpass $300---even that is too much... I am intrigued--and would like to buy it but it cost 350/400---it'll have to wait for the first price cut or maybe even the second.
Although I'll agree that Tretton seems out of touch, I do not agree with some of the assertions made, or at least not with the rationale offered.
As always, software drives hardware sales, not the other way around (with the exception of a small percentage of people who always want any new gadget and have the funds to get it).
That being said, many people do not own smartphones or Apple products because there's nothing on them that is compelling for the price (not to mention the prison cell mentality of Apple as far as not supporting standards such as Flash). I don't see many people around my area with iPads or other Apple products except for the various versions of the iPod, but even those are only with selected individuals because there are plenty of alternative ways to carry digital music with you. I'm on a university campus in the midwest, by the way, so it's a fairly diverse market. Consumers also don't appreciate being ripped off, and companies like Apple releasing a product at a high price point ($600 for an iPad when you can have a full featured laptop for the same price? No thanks!) and then turn around a few months later and say the original product is outdated (Nintendo does this, too, of course) are not exactly endearing themselves to the majority of consumers, especially in the current economic climate. Even if people would like to replace their hardware so frequently, most people simply cannot do so due to lack of financial resources.
I own a Nintendo DS because of the research I do and because of a couple of games that were offered on the system. I own a Sony PSP for the same reason. I do not own a Wii because there is no reason to own one as far as the software is concerned (although the Wii Store with the classic HudsonSoft titles is a temptation, but I still have my PC Engine Due and my classic games, anyway). I bought an Xbox 360 first, but I bought a Sony PS3 with the release of Star Ocean International (again, due to the software, not the hardware). I do not need or particularly want a new DS of any kind, new Xbox 360, or new PS3. There's no need, and the newer DS units, including the 3DS, has nothing that interests me at all. The same logic applies to 3D gaming and 3D movies. Maybe someday, but there's nothing there right now that justifies the ridiculously high price tag for the necessary hardware. If the price comes down out of the stratosphere, I may reconsider.
Frankly, I find the PC to still be far superior to consoles as a game machine, and not because of hardware (although that can play a part). The major reason PCs are better as far as I am concerned is because they do not have games that have the ridiculous limited number of saves and checkpoint systems that continue to plague consoles today. Hey designers of console games, if I want to have 200 saves for Star Ocean International, that's my business, okay? The console has plenty of storage room, so stop putting needless restrictions on how I save my games and you'll sell a lot more units. Same with checkpoints; they have no place in gaming because I need to be able to save whenever and wherever I need to save due to other obligations in life that crop up.
Anyway, all of this is pretty typical, even for PC gaming. The usual consumer viewpoint is, "This looks good, I want to play it, so what hardware do I need to do so?" It is much less common for consumers to look at hardware and think, "This looks cool, I wonder what software will be made for it?" and shell out the money for hardware that may wind up being an expensive paperweight (or doorstop, for bigger hardware).
Bottom line: if Sony wants to sell the NGP to me, they need compelling software that appeals to my tastes. That's true for most people, but of course tastes vary. However, all that that means is that they have to offer a variety of software to appeal to a broad audience. This has been something of a problem on the current consoles compared to prior generations, at least in the North American market. The import dealers have been doing quite well, though, and unfortunately so have the pirates.
I kind of agree with you, once I saw Heavy Rain, I started looking for PS3 deals. As well once the new Splinter Cell came out I was thinking of buying a 360, I decided to just get the PC version instead though...
Though that is not what David Reeves (Sony CEO) thinks, "The first five million are going to buy it (PS3), whatever it is, even [if] it didn't have games."
I agree with your bottom line. I had to have an XBOX when I saw a preview for KOTOR and heard that Morrowind would be ported, and I had to have a 360 for Oblivion and Gears of War.
You also invite speculation on what will game in development will be leaked to drive anticipation for the next home consoles, and when that will be revealed. My guess is just prior to E3 2012 (where the next console from MS and/or Nintendo will be revealed).
I think it's pretty hilarious seeing all Sony has done with the NGP (PSP2) is take Nintendo's ideas (which in my opinion ruin games for me...) like Touchscreen & Accelerometer gimmicky input controls... Not to mention they stole the Wiimote as their own Move controller... wake up Sony.
Don't get me wrong... I'm not a fan of the 3DS at all... So I'm not taking sides... I enjoy both my DS and PSP equally. But these companies are being ridiculous.
Why wouldn't they do that, though? Consumers want feature parity, and with the NGP, the player isn't going to feel like the machine lacks features that its competitors (particularly iPhone) have.
Sony shouldn't worry about the iPhone as being a competitor unless they want to start making all their games $0.99. Personally I buy an iPhone to call people and I buy a PSP to play games. Most iPhone "games" would be FAR better suited to using Buttons & D-pad. Maybe 1% of all the games I've played that use cheesy touch or movement as input are worthwhile...
Right, but, again, why wouldn't they include feature parity in case people want to port their iOS and Android games to PlayStation®Suite? It gives developers options, so how would that be a bad thing?
It's a bad thing when developers FORCE those controls upon people. If I'm given the option of using the D-pad instead of FORCED to "Tilt my PSP" then I have no problem with those controls being included... it becomes a problem and a burden when people aren't given "options" and Sony forces people to use those control schemes.
This is also why I can't stand the Wii... I'm not given a choice to play with a Classic Controller, I am forced to waggle my Wiimote instead of press a button.
Sadly gaming has become a better looking, more mature, graphic intensive, raw power. I still think the rating system is to blame for the hardcore mess that has become marketing in gaming these days.
I'm glad I don't feel too old for my DS and Pokemon White, or I would have missed one of the most fun gaming experiences I've had in the past couple of years. And I'm sure my coworkers who put dozens of hours into it as well feel the same way, despite us all being "Self-respecting 20-somethings" and Pokemon being a "kids' game". I can't believe that appeal-to-arbitrary-rules-of-maturity is still a practiced rhetorical tactic beyond high school. How can a self-respecting 50-something like him resort to such childish peer-pressure tactics to try and eke out his platform's share of the market? Let the games and the technology speak for themselves, until then Jack you are less mature than the 20-somethings you deride.
This is a really good outlook on the state of mobile gaming. A lot has been said about the 3DS and the $40 price tag for new games for the system competing with $1 games for the iPhone. This is one of the first articles that throws aside that comparison, which seems based on the premise that all games are created equal. "Snack sized gaming" is a great way to describe games like Fruit Ninja or Angry Birds: they are a lot of fun, but I'm not going to get much out of them in the long run or play them for longer than my metro ride.
Also, I attended the first of many to come 3DS StreetPass events in DC this past weekend and I can tell you that most of the attendees were "self respecting 20-somethings."
Not only does it describes game content that can be consumed quickly, it also conveys some of the modern negative connotations of snack food: if you're looking for content that's truly nourishing (and maybe even good for you), you'll need hardware that's capable of running more substantive games.
Does that take the analogy too far? Or does it not go far enough?
Remember though, that words out of a exec's mouth are usually (not always!) well rehearsed positioning, rather than genuine sentiment. You never hear a CEO come out and say "wow, that's it. We're totally beat". They'll always try to exude confidence and position their current product strategy as sound.
Whether or not they are behaving differently behind the scenes is another matter.
The one thing I generally CAN take away from these things is that I've found that the more hostile or mean-spirited they speak of the competition, they more frightened they really are.
Am I the only person who's put his DS away when children pull their DS out? I've stopped taking my DS with me on trips altogether (because I have an iPhone) (and I've stopped taking a laptop, in favor of the iPad as well).
- Are people really excited to take their 3DS around and get into some faceless interaction with schoolkids? streetpass wha?
* I think the analysis in this article is wrong.
- "...the person playing Cut The Rope is unlikely to look at a peer with a DS and think, "how childish." That's where Tretton's wrong."
Tretton is talking about the hardware, not the software. The person playing with an iPhone is VERY DEFINITELY going to look at a shiny blue plastic 3DS and think "how childish." the whole DS design resembles a tonka toy laptop for baby hands.
- "Sales numbers this gen have proven it: People care less about being 'high end,' and no one is very worried about their image anymore, either."
Huh. I'd bet people with money still care about their image, and probably always will. This is part of why they buy "high end" gizmos - they want to be current, and see where things are going.
Kinect is the definition of a high end gizmo. I would thank the games more than the commercials.
Sales numbers don't speak very clearly. but what I hear is : everyone wants the hot new gizmo. if there isn't any software there to keep interest, the sales numbers will fall off.
I think this is why PS3 struggled for it's first few years. and why 3DS will struggle. Kinect is staying afloat due to crafty PR (that makes various hacks sound like content), but if they can't deliver a must-have game by Christmas (even if downloadable) kinect will drop off too.
Sony needs a must-have game for NGP.
But in the mean time, they're just sticking to classic Sony strategy: making the story about hardware design.
"the whole DS design resembles a tonka toy laptop for baby hands."
Uhh, it looks like a miniature MacBook.
"sticking to classic Sony strategy: making the story about hardware design."
Their biggest winners were the PS1 and PS2 which both had the weakest hardware - the latter didn't even have antialiasing, a feature which the much older Nintendo 64 had.
Consumers didn't care, and the SGI-built Nintendo 64 which did have these features was not a winner.
The PS3 strategy differs and reminds me of the Pippin.
The same "it's more than a console!" pitch and $600 price tag, and somewhat bizarrely it initially had the same banana controller.
These strategies were not necessarily winners and Sony had come in with less sales, far less profit and in order to do this, took out backwards compatibility, multi-OS and other features that it turned out people really didn't care so much about.
"I'd bet people with money still care about their image"
I get this, I just don't agree that the DS really looks bad.
And ironically the people who do care most about x-treme features and tend to respond to Nintendo with revulsion are the same people who either don't care how they look or think it'd look cool to dress like Sephiroth or Neo.
Joe: I'm sorry I wasn't more clear about " hardware design".
I think sony wants to be known for their products "stylish appearance" and "reliable guts". They never look silly, and they don't have high failure rates.
I'd bet they think about how their NGP will appear in relation to Sony TVs, cameras, latptops, etc. This what I meant by Sony brand being about good "hardware design." (I didn't meant to address how software uses the hardware, for AA or whatever).
p.s. I admit I was thinking specifically about the initial DS design, and the new 3DS launch design. oops.
however, even thought the middle DS design iterations went for a slicker macbook-ish style, the fact remains: they fold open like a lil' baby laptop.
People don't often talk about this. But I'd bet Nintendo is proud their DS is a cute little laptop for kiddies (with it's little chatting tool and it's little photo tool and it's little mp3 player tool - little baby versions of adult laptop tools!).
My point is : the PSP doesn't look or feel like a little baby laptop.
(It feels like ... dunno. I actually don't own a PSP. ... a big screen? ... My friends who do own PSPs mostly use it to watch downloaded tv shows/movies when traveling. Soo, I think of it as a classy portable screen. Which is now irrelevent thanks to iPad).
* ... separately, I'm curious about the design and concept of the upcoming NGP, because the pinch control is a weird unique idea. If the back panel can tell how your fingers are clenched while holding it and pressing buttons, that might be a crazy cool new input concept for mobile devices. (like biometrics. maybe it'll let the device tell how big the hands are that are holding it. and how stressed the player is, by their pressure. and then integrate it all into the game play loop).
Hoping someone will knock socks off, with a cool game or software, that uses this gimmick. Just holding my breath so far though. I think the flaw with sony's "hardware design" pride, is the lack of system selling software.
You put your DS away when a child pulls their DS out? Really? Either you're enjoying the game or you're not. If someone else playing a DS causes you to put yours away, then you seem too concerned with some sort of perceived image.
When Disney's Tarzan was released I went to see it in theaters because I'm a Tarzan fan and I enjoy Disney movies. However, I was surrounded by kids and their parents. I was a lone 20 something, the only one that I could see. By your logic I should have walked out of the movie at the point.
I specifically pulled out my DS on a business trip (to E3) - while waiting at an Airport gate. Told my coworkers I was going to see if anyone else around here had a DS - hoping to play or chat with a stranger. Then a family with some kids sat down about 10 feet away and the little girls pulled out their DSs. So i put mine away, and my coworkers ridiculed me endlessly for being a pedo.
I wouldn't stop playing a great single player game because of other people.
But I don't seek to play with or discover small kids.
I think this is a key problem to Nintendo's "kid-friendly" image.
And I don't think the idea of StreetPass works in American adult's mindset (walking around your neighborbood, getting a little thrill out of accidentally playing with whoever has a DS. schoolchildren maybe? wee!). Might be neat for school kids passing each other in the halls. but a potentially creepy feature for adults.
I put my DS away for a little while, then Nintendo released a bunch of games for mature audiences (Brain Age, Advanced Wars, etc.). Games that reward thinking instead of just reflexes.
"Soo, I think of it as a classy portable screen. Which is now irrelevent thanks to iPad"
I was thinking of bringing this up but I decided my post was getting long. Basically they seem to be wanting to pull the "it's more than a computer" trick but it's really not competitive with an iPad for those purposes and unless they have a complete iTunes store equivalent, not so competitive with iPod Touch or iPhone either (the latter of which comes subsidized with contracts.)
The DS (and Wii, 3DS) seem to be filling a role effectively by having focus on gaming and quality control that the iPad doesn't. The NGP risks being the F-111 of the lineup, excellent at nothing, next to an A-10 (flying cannon) and F-15 ("not a pound for air to ground").
"... and my coworkers ridiculed me endlessly for being a pedo"
GREAT story. Hahahah. I'm so sorry.
This feature does seem a bit ill-conceived when you bring it to the Americas with the sparser population or Europe where in some countries they just don't buy so many consoles in some countries, and worse where yes you're going to meet a lot of kids if anyone.
This article is loaded with inferences, but the core argument of Trenton undermining gamers is somewhat hard to argue with. The article does, however suffer from an easy and widespread misconception that the casual gamers associated with the mobile and social game boom have a large overlap with "core" gamers. FarmVille gamers are not the same as those playing COD, nor will they be converted into COD players( or any core game) anytime soon. The game market has rather ingeniously expanded horizontally, encompassing non gamers who shall remain in this casual bubble.
Trenton, and hopefully by his estimation, doesn't want to attract these people, they are providing a differentiated product aimed at a core audience, one who likely will resonate with his comment and rally around this "damn right we're not kids" attitude. The NGP is going to be expensive and tech-rich and will likely turn its back on the casual market. It is incorrect to assume that simply not pandering to the majority is going to hurt the company if Sony can make a proper financial plan to capture a passionate portion of the market
Aesthetically and as something to pull out in public, I agree-- the 3DS feels childish to me but still it's damn fun. Streetpass is really what made it work as it's just smart tech that engages the user to actually carry it with them. Nintendo saved me from getting rid of my 3DS with that.
This is exactly what Tretton wants you to think. That you should not play the games that you like "because these are for kids". The purpose of the 3DS and NGP are the same. Portable Game consoles in which games can be played. If gamers had any self-respect, they would play the games they want, not the games that will make others notice they are "mature" or "cool".
As always, software drives hardware sales, not the other way around (with the exception of a small percentage of people who always want any new gadget and have the funds to get it).
That being said, many people do not own smartphones or Apple products because there's nothing on them that is compelling for the price (not to mention the prison cell mentality of Apple as far as not supporting standards such as Flash). I don't see many people around my area with iPads or other Apple products except for the various versions of the iPod, but even those are only with selected individuals because there are plenty of alternative ways to carry digital music with you. I'm on a university campus in the midwest, by the way, so it's a fairly diverse market. Consumers also don't appreciate being ripped off, and companies like Apple releasing a product at a high price point ($600 for an iPad when you can have a full featured laptop for the same price? No thanks!) and then turn around a few months later and say the original product is outdated (Nintendo does this, too, of course) are not exactly endearing themselves to the majority of consumers, especially in the current economic climate. Even if people would like to replace their hardware so frequently, most people simply cannot do so due to lack of financial resources.
I own a Nintendo DS because of the research I do and because of a couple of games that were offered on the system. I own a Sony PSP for the same reason. I do not own a Wii because there is no reason to own one as far as the software is concerned (although the Wii Store with the classic HudsonSoft titles is a temptation, but I still have my PC Engine Due and my classic games, anyway). I bought an Xbox 360 first, but I bought a Sony PS3 with the release of Star Ocean International (again, due to the software, not the hardware). I do not need or particularly want a new DS of any kind, new Xbox 360, or new PS3. There's no need, and the newer DS units, including the 3DS, has nothing that interests me at all. The same logic applies to 3D gaming and 3D movies. Maybe someday, but there's nothing there right now that justifies the ridiculously high price tag for the necessary hardware. If the price comes down out of the stratosphere, I may reconsider.
Frankly, I find the PC to still be far superior to consoles as a game machine, and not because of hardware (although that can play a part). The major reason PCs are better as far as I am concerned is because they do not have games that have the ridiculous limited number of saves and checkpoint systems that continue to plague consoles today. Hey designers of console games, if I want to have 200 saves for Star Ocean International, that's my business, okay? The console has plenty of storage room, so stop putting needless restrictions on how I save my games and you'll sell a lot more units. Same with checkpoints; they have no place in gaming because I need to be able to save whenever and wherever I need to save due to other obligations in life that crop up.
Anyway, all of this is pretty typical, even for PC gaming. The usual consumer viewpoint is, "This looks good, I want to play it, so what hardware do I need to do so?" It is much less common for consumers to look at hardware and think, "This looks cool, I wonder what software will be made for it?" and shell out the money for hardware that may wind up being an expensive paperweight (or doorstop, for bigger hardware).
Bottom line: if Sony wants to sell the NGP to me, they need compelling software that appeals to my tastes. That's true for most people, but of course tastes vary. However, all that that means is that they have to offer a variety of software to appeal to a broad audience. This has been something of a problem on the current consoles compared to prior generations, at least in the North American market. The import dealers have been doing quite well, though, and unfortunately so have the pirates.
Though that is not what David Reeves (Sony CEO) thinks, "The first five million are going to buy it (PS3), whatever it is, even [if] it didn't have games."
You also invite speculation on what will game in development will be leaked to drive anticipation for the next home consoles, and when that will be revealed. My guess is just prior to E3 2012 (where the next console from MS and/or Nintendo will be revealed).
Don't get me wrong... I'm not a fan of the 3DS at all... So I'm not taking sides... I enjoy both my DS and PSP equally. But these companies are being ridiculous.
This is also why I can't stand the Wii... I'm not given a choice to play with a Classic Controller, I am forced to waggle my Wiimote instead of press a button.
Sadly gaming has become a better looking, more mature, graphic intensive, raw power. I still think the rating system is to blame for the hardcore mess that has become marketing in gaming these days.
Also, I attended the first of many to come 3DS StreetPass events in DC this past weekend and I can tell you that most of the attendees were "self respecting 20-somethings."
Not only does it describes game content that can be consumed quickly, it also conveys some of the modern negative connotations of snack food: if you're looking for content that's truly nourishing (and maybe even good for you), you'll need hardware that's capable of running more substantive games.
Does that take the analogy too far? Or does it not go far enough?
Remember though, that words out of a exec's mouth are usually (not always!) well rehearsed positioning, rather than genuine sentiment. You never hear a CEO come out and say "wow, that's it. We're totally beat". They'll always try to exude confidence and position their current product strategy as sound.
Whether or not they are behaving differently behind the scenes is another matter.
The one thing I generally CAN take away from these things is that I've found that the more hostile or mean-spirited they speak of the competition, they more frightened they really are.
It certainly doesn't help them win more fans.
I was hoping that this era of Sony was behind them, the ignorant trash talking of the PS2 early PS3 days.
Am I the only person who's put his DS away when children pull their DS out? I've stopped taking my DS with me on trips altogether (because I have an iPhone) (and I've stopped taking a laptop, in favor of the iPad as well).
- Are people really excited to take their 3DS around and get into some faceless interaction with schoolkids? streetpass wha?
* I think the analysis in this article is wrong.
- "...the person playing Cut The Rope is unlikely to look at a peer with a DS and think, "how childish." That's where Tretton's wrong."
Tretton is talking about the hardware, not the software. The person playing with an iPhone is VERY DEFINITELY going to look at a shiny blue plastic 3DS and think "how childish." the whole DS design resembles a tonka toy laptop for baby hands.
- "Sales numbers this gen have proven it: People care less about being 'high end,' and no one is very worried about their image anymore, either."
Huh. I'd bet people with money still care about their image, and probably always will. This is part of why they buy "high end" gizmos - they want to be current, and see where things are going.
Kinect is the definition of a high end gizmo. I would thank the games more than the commercials.
Sales numbers don't speak very clearly. but what I hear is : everyone wants the hot new gizmo. if there isn't any software there to keep interest, the sales numbers will fall off.
I think this is why PS3 struggled for it's first few years. and why 3DS will struggle. Kinect is staying afloat due to crafty PR (that makes various hacks sound like content), but if they can't deliver a must-have game by Christmas (even if downloadable) kinect will drop off too.
Sony needs a must-have game for NGP.
But in the mean time, they're just sticking to classic Sony strategy: making the story about hardware design.
Slick solid hardware is what Sony is known for.
Uhh, it looks like a miniature MacBook.
"sticking to classic Sony strategy: making the story about hardware design."
Their biggest winners were the PS1 and PS2 which both had the weakest hardware - the latter didn't even have antialiasing, a feature which the much older Nintendo 64 had.
Consumers didn't care, and the SGI-built Nintendo 64 which did have these features was not a winner.
The PS3 strategy differs and reminds me of the Pippin.
The same "it's more than a console!" pitch and $600 price tag, and somewhat bizarrely it initially had the same banana controller.
These strategies were not necessarily winners and Sony had come in with less sales, far less profit and in order to do this, took out backwards compatibility, multi-OS and other features that it turned out people really didn't care so much about.
"I'd bet people with money still care about their image"
I get this, I just don't agree that the DS really looks bad.
And ironically the people who do care most about x-treme features and tend to respond to Nintendo with revulsion are the same people who either don't care how they look or think it'd look cool to dress like Sephiroth or Neo.
I think sony wants to be known for their products "stylish appearance" and "reliable guts". They never look silly, and they don't have high failure rates.
I'd bet they think about how their NGP will appear in relation to Sony TVs, cameras, latptops, etc. This what I meant by Sony brand being about good "hardware design." (I didn't meant to address how software uses the hardware, for AA or whatever).
p.s. I admit I was thinking specifically about the initial DS design, and the new 3DS launch design. oops.
however, even thought the middle DS design iterations went for a slicker macbook-ish style, the fact remains: they fold open like a lil' baby laptop.
People don't often talk about this. But I'd bet Nintendo is proud their DS is a cute little laptop for kiddies (with it's little chatting tool and it's little photo tool and it's little mp3 player tool - little baby versions of adult laptop tools!).
My point is : the PSP doesn't look or feel like a little baby laptop.
(It feels like ... dunno. I actually don't own a PSP. ... a big screen? ... My friends who do own PSPs mostly use it to watch downloaded tv shows/movies when traveling. Soo, I think of it as a classy portable screen. Which is now irrelevent thanks to iPad).
* ... separately, I'm curious about the design and concept of the upcoming NGP, because the pinch control is a weird unique idea. If the back panel can tell how your fingers are clenched while holding it and pressing buttons, that might be a crazy cool new input concept for mobile devices. (like biometrics. maybe it'll let the device tell how big the hands are that are holding it. and how stressed the player is, by their pressure. and then integrate it all into the game play loop).
Hoping someone will knock socks off, with a cool game or software, that uses this gimmick. Just holding my breath so far though. I think the flaw with sony's "hardware design" pride, is the lack of system selling software.
When Disney's Tarzan was released I went to see it in theaters because I'm a Tarzan fan and I enjoy Disney movies. However, I was surrounded by kids and their parents. I was a lone 20 something, the only one that I could see. By your logic I should have walked out of the movie at the point.
I specifically pulled out my DS on a business trip (to E3) - while waiting at an Airport gate. Told my coworkers I was going to see if anyone else around here had a DS - hoping to play or chat with a stranger. Then a family with some kids sat down about 10 feet away and the little girls pulled out their DSs. So i put mine away, and my coworkers ridiculed me endlessly for being a pedo.
I wouldn't stop playing a great single player game because of other people.
But I don't seek to play with or discover small kids.
I think this is a key problem to Nintendo's "kid-friendly" image.
And I don't think the idea of StreetPass works in American adult's mindset (walking around your neighborbood, getting a little thrill out of accidentally playing with whoever has a DS. schoolchildren maybe? wee!). Might be neat for school kids passing each other in the halls. but a potentially creepy feature for adults.
I was thinking of bringing this up but I decided my post was getting long. Basically they seem to be wanting to pull the "it's more than a computer" trick but it's really not competitive with an iPad for those purposes and unless they have a complete iTunes store equivalent, not so competitive with iPod Touch or iPhone either (the latter of which comes subsidized with contracts.)
The DS (and Wii, 3DS) seem to be filling a role effectively by having focus on gaming and quality control that the iPad doesn't. The NGP risks being the F-111 of the lineup, excellent at nothing, next to an A-10 (flying cannon) and F-15 ("not a pound for air to ground").
"... and my coworkers ridiculed me endlessly for being a pedo"
GREAT story. Hahahah. I'm so sorry.
This feature does seem a bit ill-conceived when you bring it to the Americas with the sparser population or Europe where in some countries they just don't buy so many consoles in some countries, and worse where yes you're going to meet a lot of kids if anyone.
Trenton, and hopefully by his estimation, doesn't want to attract these people, they are providing a differentiated product aimed at a core audience, one who likely will resonate with his comment and rally around this "damn right we're not kids" attitude. The NGP is going to be expensive and tech-rich and will likely turn its back on the casual market. It is incorrect to assume that simply not pandering to the majority is going to hurt the company if Sony can make a proper financial plan to capture a passionate portion of the market