@ ED
I would have to disagree that they are 2 different markets for the same point Gadgetoid raised which is very true. People already have a smartphone, you're asking a proportion of them to also buy a gaming console. Thats the short of it. Its a hard ask when there smart phone is more powerful than any gaming console they could be considering. Don't get me wrong, as a long time gamer (or old crustie as Prometheus called me
) I love gaming consoles. Heck I even own a Gizmondo (Now thats hard core - lol) and boxes of handheld consoles.
Take this example, I was looking at buying the 3DS, They had them at Kmart for $199 , which is cheap for Australia. Before I shelled out my money I looked at the game prices which were about $68 US. I thought holy shit thats a fortune, but I guess thats what games cost so I was about to buy it. However, I got my wifes iphone touch 4th gen, I thought I'll load a game on it, decided on Nova (2?). It was free, but you dont get the full game. Ok lets see what it's like, It's awesome, and I mean graphically awesome and awesome in every way. Heres a game that's like Halo running smoothly with rich featured graphics on my ipod touch. I thought I'll buy the full version. expecting $68, but no, it's about $10. My wife says $10 wow thats expensive for a game, im like what the. As I found out most games are well below that mark and there are some awesome games. Thats the huge disparity that exists at the moment , why the F would you buy a gaming console with less power to buy games that cost 10 times as much when as Gadgetoid said you already own something better in your smartphone or ipod touch. Answer, becuase you want full game controls or you wouldnt.
SONY has got it right in there strategy which is obviously shifting towards the smartphone ie Experia Play, PS Suite on Android and of course buying out Ericson also has a small role in this strategy. At the same time they are also covering all there bases by giving the dedicated game console one more huge crack with the Vita. Will the Vita be successful, I think so, at least initially. When Other devices come out straight after it with Tegra 3 chips, that will be a telling story, especially if any come out with real game controls (Experia Play 2 perhaps) to differentiate themselves in an already crowded market (you would think some will go down this path just to be different from the pack).
Also, on the point of comparing smatphones with EOL consoles, the 3DS isnt EOL, its current and its not doing that well. I doubt Nintendo will be making much on it now that they have lowered its price. Given that they have already made there first loss in 30 years , and its a big one - $1 billion, it's worrying. What worries me most about Nintendo, is they dont seem to have a strategy to compete with smart phones/ipod touch's and the like in the coming future. They don't seem to have any strategy at all and that worries me. Personally I have liked there products (I own a GBA SP, Micro and DS Lite) so it's sad for me to say Im worried about them. I want them to succeed , but they need to get a strategy together quick.
