I can't believe is rained pretty much for 2 weeks and then Yesterday and Today are two of the hottest days I can remember. I went out to do a few things on my car and it was just unbearable. Anyway enough of my bitching.
Today the PSP launches in Japan, and a new portable console war begins. The Nintendo DS and the PSP will now go head to head in a market that for years has been dominated by Nintendo. Is there room for two portables in the market? Sony seem to think yes. As a gamer you can't not get excited about this sort of thing. A now hardened console veteran going up against the king of handhelds, it's what makes gaming so exciting.
I for one can't wait, I would have purchased an import PSP but my funds are kind of low with Christmas and all. However if the gaming press are right and the launch date for the PSP in Europe/Australia is March 25th, well it's not all that long away. Just 3 months, probably the shortest time between a Japanese launch of a console and a domestic one.
I haven't been so excited about a new console in a while and I really think Sony are on to a winner here, well as long as the battery life is ok. The thing with the PSP is, it offers so much and yet doesn't cost a fortune. I'm willing to drop $300 - $400 on a portable game console, if it's decent, and the PSP seems to be shaping up that way.
I'll be honest, I haven't owned a portable game console since the very first Gameboy, yeah the brick one. The Gameboy Colour and Gameboy Advance just didn't do it for me. I nearly bought a Gameboy SP because it looked great, but still I don't want to drop that kind of money on a handheld just to play games with SNES graphics.
Now you have the Nintendo DS, which to be honest just seems like a gimmick. The games look ok, but all have to be designed to include another screen and at times the touch feature, which I can't help but think is strange. Sure it's different, but just doesn't seem right. Plus from what I've read regarding both of them, aren’t really implemented very well. If you don't need two screens for a game why have them? I don't have anything against Nintendo, but I think they have become a little lazy.
The other strange thing is that Nintendo keep stating that they don't see the PSP as a threat to their handheld business. Why then do I see an article nearly every few days about Nintendo harping on about something or just bashing the PSP. Shit I just checked Evil Avatar and saw this, crazy.
Maybe it's that Nintendo have been on top of the handheld business for so long now that they think they can say anything. I just think they might be in for a shock. Look what happened when Sega with the Saturn went up against newcomer Sony back in the day. Sure the Saturn was going well in Japan, but just got washed out everywhere else (Mostly fault of Sega America and Sega Europe).
I know the above may seem like I am very anti Nintendo, which is quite the opposite. I have much respect for them as a game company. Through everything they still carry on, they still have a game console on the market, which is more than Sega. Plus they have a thriving handheld market and many, many loyal fans.
But Wipeout Pure does look the business.
