Sony says the DSi is for kids, the PSP is for winners

[wraggster]

Well, chalk this up for out of the ordinary -- Sony's PR team just sent us a "Statement from Sony PlayStation on PSP and Competitive Landscape" that basically boils down to SCEA director of hardware marketing John Koller calling the DSi a kid's toy that "ignores significant gamer demographics" and has minimal third-party support compared to the library of "blockbuster" titles on the PSP. Seriously, it's so weird we're just going to reprint the whole thing:
If Nintendo is really committed to reaching a broader, more diverse audience of gamers beyond the "kids" market that they've always engaged, there isn't much new with the DSi to support that. Significant gamer demographic groups are being ignored, and there continues to be limited opportunities for games from external publishers to do well on the DSi. Compare that with the PSP platform, where we have many blockbuster franchises from our publishing partners launching this year, representing a wide variety of genres and targeting diverse demographics. Games such as Rock Band Unplugged from MTV Games, Assassin's Creed from Ubisoft, Dissidia Final Fantasy from Square Enix, and Hannah Montana from Disney demonstrate the commitment that publishers have to the PSP. From our own first-party studios, we're launching unique versions of LittleBigPlanet and MotorStorm, and we're also planning a steady stream of downloadable games -- both new titles and PSone classics -- to add to the content that PSP owners can already purchase wirelessly through PlayStation Store.
Pretty strong words in response to the fairly un-hyped US launch of the DSi tomorrow -- especially since Ninty's sold just about twice as many total DS units than Sony's 50m PSPs, hard numbers from which no amount of marketing bluster can really distract. In fact, if we were in charge at Sony, we'd be more worried about the emergence of the iPhone and iPod touch, which have sold over 30m units total and attracted a ton of buzz from game developers while the PSP seems to be stagnating in the face of endless rumors of a UMD-less PSP2. Harsh truth? Maybe, maybe not -- you tell us.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/04/s...s-for-winners/

[koh-kun]

Yeah that significant demographic that's put you on the top of the industry… Shut up, Sony.

Though I wouldn't be so worried about iPhone games because they honestly suck.

[JushinLiger]

I felt bad when I traded my PSP in but I hadn't played it since Crisis Core came out. Theres just nothing exciting happening with it at the moment unless you're running PS1 games on it, and even that gets old once you've finished FF7. Viva DS :P

[The Alpha Gamer]

perhaps they got the DSi confused with the Wii. Although it becomes obvious that it's a joke after the bit where they say about being scared of the iPhone

[Jeric]

*eyeroll*

Yes the DSi isn't going to grace my pocket anytime soon, but no I'm not going to slam Nintendo as a whole because its a region locked overpriced thing with unnecessary features (One camera I could see, two? uuuuuhhhhh wat?), and a backlash over the GBA port being removed.

[maverick777]

It's that kind of attitude that put Sony squarely in last place for this gen. Both console and handheld. This is coming from somone that has all 3 consoles and both handhelds.

FYI: The DSi is only region locked for DSiware. It's not region locked for cartidge based games.

If I was buying it new it'd be overpriced, but since I traded in my DS lite and a few games and practically got it for free, I'm not complaining.

The new finish is nice. The buttons and dpads have a nice click to them. The screens are really nice. The speakers are much louder and don't distort. And overall it feels like a nicer piece of hardware. It feels weighty in your hands and not like a cheap toy.

[ChaoticanarchyX]

As much as I have been dissatisfied with Nintendo and the way they have been doing things lately, I have had both a PSP and DS and hands down do I LOVE my DS over PSP. As a matter of fact, my PSP died (tried to bridge the fuse for the charge port, it went bad xD ) and haven't had the desire to even try to resurrect it. Sadly theres not all that much in the way of good 1st, 2nd or 3rd part, or homebrew, for the PSP as there is for the DS. I have gone through 4 or 5 DS's and the last few I have bought parts for to keep them going strong. So Sony, I'll stick to my "kids toy" HA XD

[carlitx]

I have owned both. And both my PSP's fell apart in my hands. $#@!ty ass hardware. Plus the games were good, but not great. The games for the DS I find more fun, and I can actually sit down for hours on end to play them. I can't wait to get my hands on DSi... suck ti Sony lol

[policrat]

Compelling evidence to the contrary.

[Flygon]

They all must be in a hospital, they are only wearing white.