Is portable gaming going the way of the dinosaur?

Will simple (and much cheaper) games available on the iPhone/iTouch eventually kill off portable gaming as we know it today? Will systems such as the PSP become a thing of the past? PS3Center has an interesting article on this topic.

Now here is the point of this article, what does Sony absolutely need to worry about in order to stay in this game? Firstly, make it easier for developers to make games for the PSP Go. A lot of developers are flocking towards the iPhone, because it’s so simple and easy to make money off of. Secondly, make sure to pay attention and listen to the fans when the time comes for PSP 2. We definitely need two joysticks, touch screen is almost a must, tilting the PSP via SixAxis of some sort is also very much needed, but to top things off it needs to stay portable like the Go.

Of course Nintendo is Nintendo; there will always be a GameBoy/DS type platform. Mario and company will live on forever. As for the rest, I wonder how long Sony will be able to maintain its current model. I have written often about how f’ed-up their decision was to do give a discount for games available via digital distribution. I thought that was going to be the hallmark of the PSPGo. Little did I realize that Sony would not see the light. If Sony is going to continue to find itself in the portable gaming market, they do have to make some changes, but before even considering a PSP2 they need to get their pricing model in line with gamers ever changing expectations.

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One thought on “Is portable gaming going the way of the dinosaur?”

  1. I suspect the PSP has always been a distant second.

    They sold a good number of units over the years but the software sales haven’t matched it.

    Part of the appeal was that the specs were so superior and it was sexy gear at the time.

    It just seemed that superior capabilities would result in better games. Yet in retrospect, we saw portables from Sega and the Atari Lynx fail, despite specs advantages.

    It could be that other than Nintendo, the market won’t support a handheld system with $30-40 games.

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