PSP2 will be 'dead on arrival,' says Pachter
Just like the PSP claims the vocal industry analyst.
Video games analyst Michael Pachter believes Sony's rumoured successor to the PSP has no chance of success, stating he believes the handheld will be "dead on arrival".
"I think the PSP was dead on arrival and I think the PSP2 is going to be dead on arrival," Pachter explained on his Pach Attack show.
Pachter believes the traditional handheld gaming market as a whole is on the cusp of a major change, with Apple's iPod becoming increasingly more important.
"We're approaching saturation in the handheld market," he added. "We're starting to see DS hardware sales crack, the iPod Touch is cutting into the handheld market. It looks to me like young kids are just as happy playing with the iPod Touch.
"The 3DS will prolong the handheld market for manufacturers, but ultimately I think handhelds are in trouble. What's the difference if you play Tetris on an iPod Touch or on a DS? Well, you pay a buck on the iPod Touch and you pay $20 on the DS."
Pachter concluded: "After the 3DS has had its little rush I think the handhelds will continue to decline."
Via MCV
VideoGamer.com Analysis
Pachter's opinions have certainly been wrong before, and we think it's too early to write off the PSP2, but we have to agree about the move away from what we perceive to be handheld gaming devices to the iPod touch/iPhone.
Not only are Apple's devices seen as cool, but they offer a huge selection of games at a fraction of the price handheld games typically cost. Even bigger budget releases such as Rage and Infinity Blade will cost gamers around a fiver for the pair.
User Comments
Gordo01
Woffls
It doesn't take long to acknowledge the limitations of an iDevice, even in a context so simple as Tetris. The interface is one big screen, and that is used for interpreting everything, so if you get an input slightly wrong, that can mess things up quite a bit if you're trying to move an L brick and end up getting it caught between two tall I bricks (via @ChrisVideoGamer).
Of course, this hasn't stopped it becoming popular, and by the same token nor has the exact same flaw in the Wii's remote prevented it from success. The difference here is the distribution method, and iOS can survive purely on small cheap games that last you maybe a couple of hours. For this, it is undeniably king of the hill.
And this is where Pachter's opinion is lost on me. PSP2 isn't going for that market, Sony have barely given it any attention at all. The Tetris example is fine, but what about Ridge Racer? RR fans will know the precision you need to drift around some corners, and the iDevice input just isn't reliable enough in my experience. For some gaming applications, you really do need buttons and sticks.
That said, I don't necessarily believe PSP2 will be particularly successful either because 3DS will have taken over the world by then! :D