Giving back some credit : PSP sales

February 9, 2007

With the recent global success of the Nintendo DS, there has been a very positive outlook put on the console from video game websites and community forums. Too many times will you read of the complete sales insanity in Japan or the non stop sell outs accross the globe. But with all of this going on, little light has been shon on the consoles competitor; the Sony Playstation Portable. It too deserves some credit for its success in the market place and hence this article shall highlight its success.

The facts

*NB: I have taken my sales data from Wikipedia

Theres no doubt about it the DS is taking the world by storm both in the hardware and software areas. Sales data from Wikipedia states that the Nintendo DS has sold 35.61 million as of December 31, 2006 and Sony have shipped 22.94 million units as of September 30, 2006. The 2 consoles have been the only real players in the handheld gaming market for the last 2/3 years.

You gotta say it the PSP is quite hawt baby

Now lets assume that over the Christmas break Sony sold the PSP that have been shipped and a few more in the past month or so and the same said for the DS in the past 2 months. So lets estimate the numbers at the current time to be something like DS : 36 million and the PSP : 24 million. Now this actually works out nicely for my market share estimate which I shall get to later.

We also need to take into account the release dates of the 2 consoles. Since there is at least a year difference in region releases for each console, I’ve roughly worked out average release dates for each console.

And to round off my collection of data I’ll throw in the best selling game for each console.

Console : Market Share : Average release date

DS : 60% Feburary 2005
PSP : 40% May 2005

Behind the facts

Now with the facts listed, lets take a closer look. The first obvious point is that the DS was released several months before the PSP therefore the DS got a little bit of a head start. Also when you look at the release dates the DS was released at more important times for the consumer, being just before Christmas in some countries. We all know that a good launch is important to get the ball rolling.

One of the biggest hurdles that the PSP has had to overcome is that before its released the general public perception of handheld videogames is that they are made for young children and teenagers. Now the Playstation audience is somewhere in the 18-30 year old market. Therefore when Sony release a portable console its inevitabal. They have two choices, fight public perception or change the perception. So there’s was no easy option for them.

Its been quality software like MGS PO selling PSPs and not the GPS or goggles

In addition to the stereotypes of portable consoles, Sony also have had to face a similar hurdle. Being that the the public relate handheld gaming to the Gameboy. This is because the Gameboy has never had any real competitors until now. Fortunately with the DS taking the Gameboy’s limelight this hasn’t been too bad.

Now despite these hurdles in which Sony has had to over come they have still managed to take 40% of the market share from Nintendo. This is what too many people seem to overlook. People tend to think that the PSP is failing because it isn’t level with the DS in sales. But this is not the case. 40% of the market for a new competitor is fantastic. This 40% market share certainly is a slap in the face for Nintendo and their whole “invading the market” stratergy. As Sony have come in and invaded some of their own market.

Well thats my spill on the whole situation. I hope that this restores some faith back into the PSP fans out there.

Sources

PSP Wikipedia
DS Wikipedia

Posted in Video Games | Comments (0)

Yoshi Touch and Go Review

January 24, 2007

Ready, Set, Touch and go! Nintendo DS

Graphics 7.4/10
Gameplay 8/10
Sound 7.4/10
Lastability 6/10
Overall 7.3/10

Yoshi Touch and Go is a charming little game based in the Yoshis Island universe. If you’ve ever played any of the Yoshis Island games before then you’ll notice the similar presentation right away. The game looks and sounds like the games of the past. That is 2D sprites and pleasantly cheery tunes.Much like the other games in the series this is a platformer-esque title but what sets it apart from the rest is the different play mechanics and the full touch screen controls. Yoshi(and Baby Mario) constantly walk through the stage, you control Yoshi’s jumping and the environment around him to so that he can keep out of harms way. This is all done via the DS touch screen.You can tap on Yoshi to make him jump and flutter in the air. Tapping anywhere in the environment makes Yoshi throw an egg in that direction. Sliding the stylus around the screen creates temporary cloud platforms which Yoshi can walk over. You can also use these platforms to block of enemies. By drawing circles with the clouds you can create bubbles, if you do this around an enemy they turn into coins and then you can throw the bubble around the screen but preferably at Yoshi. To remove the clouds just blow in the DS microphone. So there’s plenty of variety in how you can play.The levels are also spread across 2 screens, so the top screen displays the sky area and the bottom screen shows the ground area. This works nicely as flying enemies like to dive down and attack you which keeps you on your toes.

Level design is what you’d expect of Nintendo but nothing spectacular. The levels themselves are based around worlds from previous games. This means you’ll be seeing world based enemies as well which makes the game constantly feel fresh. These levels progress at a steady pace and it doesn’t get too hard too quickly.

At the start of each game you don’t actually play as Yoshi(and Baby Mario), you play as Baby Mario falling from the sky. The gameplay here is similar to the main gameplay, except Mario cannot fire eggs and jump. This is all done in a vertical perspective as Baby Mario drops downwards. Fortunately Baby Mario has 3 balloons to help him land safely. Every time you hit an enemy you lose one of these balloons.

Touch and Go has several different play modes, 2 which you need to unlock by getting the high scores in the other modes. To begin with there is Score Attack, where you play for a single level(one Mario and one Yoshi) and try to get the highest score. Marathon where you try to travel as far as you can. Once you finish a level the Yoshis swap over, so its like a medly race. Time attack is where you have to rescue Baby Luigui from the toadies(flying baddies), so you have to move through the level and also try and save Luigui. Challenge mode is a mix time attack and Marathon, you have a set time limit to get as far as you can but scoring points adds to your time. Time attack and challenge mode you need to unlock.

Despite the number of modes available there isn’t a lot to do beyond getting the high scores. This is the biggest letdown as the game is great fun to play but you can beat the high scores after a day or so of playing. I would have like to have seen a full fledged platformer out of this. So picking up this title doesn’t really feel like getting your moneys worth.

Graphically the game looks fine. The sprites are only a small step up above the GBA but still look nice. There’s a bit more depth and shading to them as well which adds a nice touch. The animation is also well done, characters bounce around and everything in the game shows a good amount of character. The sound is what you would expect, typically familiar tunes from the old games and a few new but familiar songs that fit nicely. The sounds effects complements the music nicely, Yoshi and Mario have a few grunts here and there.

Closing Comments

Yoshi Touch and Go is a tidy little game. It makes great use of the DS’ features and is one of the reasons why the DS exists, for fresh new ideas like this. Unfortunately there’s not much beyond getting high scores which makes the game rather short. Despite this its still an enjoyable little romp. Pick it up at a reduced price.

Posted in Video Games | Comments (1)

Wii Impressions

December 21, 2006

3 weeks after the console has been released down here in Australia and I am writing impressions for it. Yeah I’ve been rather busy in the last few weeks. Its only in the past 4 days that I’ve been able to sit down and have a complete blitz on the console.

The whole bundle was quite a desirable one. Wii Sports and a carry bag included. Unfortunately the carry bags ran our straight away so I only received mine about 6 days ago. I’d wished that I’d pre-ordered at JB as they had an official bag and wrist/head bands for Wii Sports. Its also great to be receiving a case for Wii Sports as the Americans didn’t.

These Wii condoms have been selling quite well, 2 of my friends have a set each.

Inside the box where 2 smaller ones which had cute icons to say what was in each one. You certainly get plenty in the pack. Beyond the regular console items you get a stand, a stand for the stand, your sesnor bar, 2 manuals and a quick manual.This actually took much longer than I initially thought. Its like setting up a normal console but you also have to:

stick batteries in the controllers
sync the controllers
calibrate with the sensor bar

And from there move thru all of the options, including setting up a name for the console. Then you probably want to create a Mii.

A sample taken from the Joystiq mock up

Chris and I started off creating our own Mii characters. I already knew what I was going to do for my Mii as I used the flash program that Joystiq made mimicing the system. My character turned out just like the one I planned on the computer, although the hair is a little dark and I may change that.

Games

Wii Sports

The initial impressions of Wii Sports were somewhat negative by myself and my brother. I think that its due to not understanding the controller very well. After a few hours of play we started to pick it up and it was actually really fun. I was surprised at how bad the graphics were. I mean I knew that they were going to be bad but Nintendo could have spent maybe a day of work and have made it look substatually better. Take the prerendered trees in Wii Tennis for example.

Wii Boxing and Tennis

I enjoy the game much more now though as I have a much improved technique. I most like Tennis and Boxing. Chris and I love to play boxing matches. Its incredibly imersive and frantic. But it certainly does hurt your arms after playing it for a few hours.

Wii Play

We then moved to Wii Play. Which is a collection of 9 games that are meant to tech you how to use the Wii remote. I reckon that Wii Play is probably better than Wii Sports its just so addictive. I don’t think that any of the games are duds at all, if I had to choose a worse one it would be the cow racing but even that is really fun.

My favourite games are:

Tanks
Fishing
Target Shooting
Table Tennis

Chris and I can’t stop playing the table tennis game, we could play it for a whole day straight and still want more and I’m not kidding. Its the king of twitch games. I haven’t been able to stop playing the tanks game, its so challenging.

Ah yes fishing, very addictive

The only faults with this game collection is that it is only a 2 player game and that some of the medals are much harder to get per each game. Some I could get Gold on my first try others I’ve wasted hours trying to nab that medal.

Super Monkey Ball Bannana Blitz

By now Chris and I wanted to play a ‘real’ game, so we put on Super Monkey Ball.

There’s not much to really say about Monkey Ball. It’s just like the other great games in the series but the single player uses the Wii remote and you can jump. There are also 50 mini games for the multiplayer component.

I haven’t had enough time on the single player game to say if the Wii remote feels better than the analogue stick. So far though I like using the analogue stick better just because it is easier to keep the stick still than the Wii remote. Which is handy for those tight corners. But the Wii remote gives you more satisfaction once you have completed a course than the analogue stick. My impressions on using the remote improved greatly rather quickly so I’m hoping that with more practice it will only get better.

One of the 50 mini games for SMB

The multiplayer is a bit of a mix bag. Out of the 50 games about 20 of them are good to great. But not as good as the original games like Monkey Race and Monkey Target. Which bugs me greatly as I loved playing those games with my friends and now I can’t get the same experience but with the Wii remote. Still need to try out the games more though.

Zelda Twilight Princess

I started playing this game about week after the release. Yes I must be crazy. But I wasn’t quite in the mood to play it right off the bat. I’m still only up to the first dungeon. What I have played has been really good. It seems very mixed up from the regular formula. Just when everything seems peaceful and back to the cliche it isn’t.

Graphically there is plenty of detail and does what Metroid Prime did for the Metroid series for Zelda TP to the Zelda franchise. The sound is also pretty neat. The music for the first time you enter Ordon village is very reminiscent of Lufia 2, which I rather enjoyed.

Red Steel

From reading the reviews that were on Game rankings I thought that this game would be garbage. After playing it for 15 minutes it seemed just like that. After sitting down with it for a bit longer it started to work. It just has a steep learning curve as well as a hide then shoot sort of method. I don’t think that people were expecting this.

Re-reading some of the reviews that slam the game I think that the people must have only played the game for a short while because I absolutely loved it. All of these comments like the controls are set up in a weird fashion and comments just stating that the controls don’t work are completely garbage. If I had to think of how to play Red Steel before I played the game then it would have been just like how the game plays. Point with the Wii remote and straft with the nunchuck. How is that weird?

Some of the nice effects for shooting different surfaces, the explosions are prerendered

The game is a pretty hard one, I must have died at least 4 times per mission. Some of the end missions I would die all the time. It is a particularly hard game, due to the amount of damage the enemies take off. Its a good thing that they have the health regeneration or else it would still be stuck on the early missions. The health regeneration actually helps the game play more like a hide and shoot kind of game.

Saying all of this there are some minor glitches with the auto aiming and controls, the action feels a bit scripted, there are some low res textures and the sound can be a little bit repetitve. But I love Red Steel so much for being such a challenge and working well for the most part.

That will wrap me up on the Wii for now. I might post a bit more on particular games later on.

Posted in Video Games | Comments (0)

« Previous Page — Next Page »