We're entering that exciting phase of the birth of a new generation of consoles. No, of course I'm not talking about consoles "table" - despite the U.S. Wii has been made at E3 last week, he is still far away from reaching our room (when neither price nor release date are announced, you can be sure that the business will still take you out).
Moreover, it is apparent that the mission of Sony and Microsoft with its peripherals that detect motion is to extend the life of their consoles offering them as an alternative to casual gamers. If the strategy will work as expected is impossible to predict, I am a little skeptical, but everything indicates that we will not see a successor to the Xbox 360 or PS3 for a few more years.
But the front is now entering the handheld next gen. After many redesigns of the current generation of portable, Nintendo and Sony finally decided to move the technology forward pocket. With Nintendo, we 3DS, with Sony, the newly appointed PS Vita.
And I think this will be the battle of the islands most interesting and unpredictable in recent generations, largely because the status quo of portable gaming has changed dramatically in recent years.
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Historically, Nintendo has always dominated the handheld market. The original Game Boy has sold nearly 120 million units worldwide and essentially became a symbol of 80 years. And consider that it was the debut of Nintendo in the handheld industry, before the Game Boy, the Game and Watch her series also dominated the public's interest.
The tradition has remained for several generations. Like the Game Boy many years ago, the Game Boy Advance and DS also led the category by a wide margin over the competition (which, until the advent of the PSP, was represented by video games completely obscure). And even the giant Sony could take the throne from Nintendo as the clear leader in the handheld market. And look what they tried hard.
We approach the end of the life cycle of both consoles, the DS has reached 146 million units sold around the world - more than double the 67 million PSPs sold. Considering that both consoles have been placed on the market at about the same time (the difference was in Japan a month, the U.S., four), is a huge disparity.
This not to mention the difference in almost humiliating games sold, 839 million to the DS, a huge contrast compared to the humble 251 million of the PSP. Analysts call this proportion games (games sold for each platform) to attach rate. The attach rate of PSP was 3.74 (on average, bought a PSP owner of less than four games). The ratio of DS is 5.74, considerably higher if you take into account the amount that means.
Ultimately, the situation turned into a PSP negative feedback loop: the console sells a few games, which developers lost interest, which results in fewer games for the platform. And games produced just less meaning less games sold. It's a vicious cycle that no doubt contributed to the position of the PSP as the eternal torch of this generation.
Nintendo 3DS: slider controls the intensity of depth in 3D images
This, of course, is part of the past. Although the legacy of Nintendo is the total domination of the portable podium, in this generation so she started a little disappointing. The 3DS sold far less than expected, according to Nintendo President Satoru Iwata, was forced to grudgingly admit. With a battery life fair (the maximum reported that the reviews were four and a half hours of play) and a hefty price tag, is not so surprising that adherence to the 3DS has been slow.
And above all, the flagship of the island - the three dimensional effect that does not require special glasses - is completely dispensable, with many reviews saying that getting the option to turn off the 3D effect is the best of any console. When the main appeal of a product (ie, the one feature that is important enough that is attached to the name of the device) is considered redundant and sometimes annoying, there is a serious problem.
With so many defects, the 3DS is not convincing the public and makes the PS Vita seem a better alternative even before it was released.
Another factor that may explain this reversal of values is that the public consumes portable gaming has changed a lot in recent years. The popularity of smartphones and online stores (either the App Store or Android Market) games placed in the pockets of the world. I'm being hyperbolic, yes, but the numbers do not lie: the minigames of 99 cents definitely stole a little of the "thunder", so to speak, the traditional handheld consoles.
And perhaps here lies the reason for the apparent initial failure of 3DS. The Nintendo DS has dominated the ecosystem of their time because consumers did not have a cheaper alternative or more convenient access to the most casual sort of game that has always been the flagship of the platform. Nowadays, a considerable portion of the target audience for Nintendo DS have an iPhone or iPod Touch with a system of buying games that only requires the touch of a virtual button.
It is possible that the public has decided that only need a casual console in your pocket - inevitably, they will choose what is cheap and convenient. And few things are as cheap and convenient as games for 99 cents that can be purchased by the device with just one click.
There will still be, as is always the case, players who are not satisfied with casual games push buttons on the LCD screen. And more demanding in that niche, I believe the PS Vita will offer a more robust option that 3DS because most users will only see 3D in the same name.
PS Vita
As I said initially, this will be a competition more interesting than the historical dominance of Nintendo in the pockets of gamers. View a handheld console Sony's top-selling Nintendo bitter while the dwindling numbers would be a paradigm shift almost unacceptable.
But we also never thought I'd see Mario and Sonic in the same game, right? Time will tell.
