Oh yeah, Nintendo has a hand held unit coming out as well. Supposedly the case design will still undergo some revision before release which is a good thing because right now it is not impressing too many people.

This one is wireless (802.11b) as well. From the article:

In addition to 802.11, the DS will use "Nintendo's proprietary communications protocol", which in addition to yielding "low battery consumption" has presumably been optimised for LAN gaming. It also supports the (presumably secure) transfer of game code from one device to another, so that not every handheld user needs to have bought the game on a card. This is a very interesting tactic, which - if developers support it - not only removes a key barrier to players making the most of WLAN gaming, but serves a demo service for the full game.

Enjoyed the multi-player version? Then go out and buy the single-player version - and get access to all the multi-player levels too.

[T]he DS will offer a voice recognition capability, allowing Nintendo to forecast a future where in-game avatars are literally told where to go and what to do. Combine that facility with the DS' wireless capability, we wonder if Nintendo has its eye on broader voice applications, in particular Voice over IP (VoIP).

they´re also coming out with an Ipod killer...and launching an online music store...Sony is an incredibly trusted brand for music, so it will probably work pretty well.

funny, while i was looking at the PSP picture i thought, yeah, anything with a color screen has got to be a favorable playground for the Sony brand, right?

i mean, as the computer parts of the computer get smaller and the screen stays the same size (since human sight remains fixed), don´t you wanna see that Sony logo on there more and more?
- big jimmy in london (guest) 5-13-2004 12:08 am

On a related tangent, I read an interesting article in Monday's Merc about playstation 3 vs. xbox 2. Xbox will be out earlier, and MS is developing tools that allow SW to be written for PC, Xbox 1 and Xbox2. And they're lining up titles. Sony is focusing on a kickass SW architecture, but everything must be re-written.

This does not bode well for the Playstation dynasty.
- mark 5-13-2004 12:44 am

I don't mind praising a Sony product, like the PSP (or my miniDV cam which might be the best constructed consumer electronics product I've ever owned,) but I have a much dimmer view than big jimmy. (Hi how's London?). The "iPod killer" only plays ATRAC3 format files! They always shoot themselves in the foot with the proprietary standards. And don't get me started on the music store. You can only transfer the files (again, ATRAC3 files) to sony minidisc players! Bwahahahaha! That's all they support.

(Okay, you can burn them to CD, and then import and go from there - but the included burning software won't even let you select mp3 as an option.)

They are making it impossible for themselves to succeed. And I'm not the only one - The Washington Post said: "This service is an embarrassment to the company that gave the world the Walkman..."



- jim 5-13-2004 1:07 am

I've been reading a lot about both those consoles as well Mark (the PS3 and the XBox.) The complete macoids (I'm not one, really,) are following both stories since IBM is involved with developing both CPUs. Really interesting. The XBox seems like it might end up with largely the same processor as what will be in the Mac at that point in time (the systems will be very different, of course, I'm not suggesting any compatibility.)

I agree with your fears about development complexity crippling the PS3. On the other hand, I'm not convinced you need a really deep library of games - you just need the top (5 or so?) kick ass games. And they do have some very good 3rd party developers (even if not nearly as many as Microsoft would have if all Windows shops were suddenly XBox shops too.)

All I can offer is the obvious understatement: both of these machines are going to be powerful! I am expecting to see stuff at the early Pixar days level of detail. I think it will surprise people, like "Oh my god, they did it!"

- jim 5-13-2004 1:27 am

My current techno-lust: Gran Turismo (5?) on a PS3.
- mark 5-13-2004 3:14 am

Here's info on the IBM Toshiba Sony Cell processor that will power the PS3.
- jim 5-13-2004 7:17 pm

Just because I got this one prediction right I will post this follow up here to my comment above doubting Sony's chances of doing well in the "mp3" player space with a product that only played proprietary Sony ATRAC3 files. "Sony chief admits strategic mistake":

Sony missed out on potential sales from MP3 players and other gadgets because it was overly proprietary about music and entertainment content, the head of Sony Corp.'s video-game unit acknowledged Thursday.

Ken Kutaragi, president of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., said he and other Sony employees have been frustrated for years with management's reluctance to introduce products like Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod, mainly because the Tokyo company had music and movie units that were worried about content rights.

Now, Sony's divisions are finally beginning to work together and share a common agenda, Kutaragi said at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Tokyo.

"It's just starting," he told reporters. "We are growing up."

High-ranking Sony officials have rarely publicly said their proprietary views were a mistake. Kutaragi, who has long been viewed as a candidate to lead Sony, was unusually direct in acknowledging Sony had made an error and blaming proprietary concerns from its entertainment division.

Sony's music players initially did not support MP3 files and only played Sony's own format called Atrac.

Kutaragi said Sony's original spirit of innovative technology had grown "diluted."