GameSpy's witty Fargo has been gracing gamers with his Thought of the Day in the GameSpy Daily newsletter. Fargo's often the source of some keen insights into the industry, usually fueled simply by his love for gaming fun.
Today's GameSpy Daily was of some notable interest, as Fargo shot down a group of industry analysts who actually expect the PSP to pull ahead of the DS by a sizeable margin within 5 years. Fargo's response? "O RLY?"
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Fargo of GameSpy.com
According to this news report, the Susquehanna International Group (an industry analyst firm) released a study today comparing the market growth of the Sony PSP to the Nintendo DS over the next five years. The firm states that "As the class of gamers seeking console-like gaming grows, the PSP will be the only serious alternative to Nintendo portables," and predicts that the PSP will sell 20 million more units than the DS over the next five years.
Whenever I hear reports like this, I always turn on my crap detector and compare them to my experience "out in the field." Over the holidays the combined DS/GBA aisle in stores was always packed. I gave my wife a DS for Christmas and happily pointed to those two shelves, sprawling with titles, and told her "you can play anything here." She wasn't the only one bouncing with newfound euphoria over Nintendo's handheld -- we were jostled shoulder to shoulder with other new Nintendo handheld owners. As for the quality of the games, Mario Kart DS was nearly GameSpy's Game of the Year, and it won our best mutliplayer game award. The PSP didn't even get a game into our top ten.
So, when I see analysts banking on big growth for the PSP, I have to think: it can only happen with a big shift in the PSP product line. I don't buy into the assumption that everyone wants 'console-like gaming' on a handheld -- frequently gamers are looking for a quicker, simpler, more casual experience in a handheld, something that they can pick up and play for short periods. Nintendo may not have the sexy hardware or the proprietary movie playback, but when it comes to handhelds, they've got a lock on the fun...
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Well said my friend, well said.