With the DS and ... that other handheld having sold a combined total of almost 100 million units, you'd have thought that Microsoft would be like a bear on honey when it came to the portable gaming market.
Well, apparently not. See, they're not all about cash, those Redmond billionair -- okay, we can't say that with a straight face. Truth is, they are all about cash. It's just that Nintendo (and, if we must, Sony) has done such a fine job of covering handhelds that it's going to be pretty awkward for Microsoft to join in the fun.
Those aren't our words either, but the verdict of Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft Entertainment and Devices: "... When I look at the handheld space, we haven't seen anything there that says, 'gosh, we wanna go make a big investment there.' It's a fairly tough area, a place where Sony and particularly Nintendo are doing a pretty good job."
We've heard about Microsoft's non-interest in the handheld arena before, yet we're also familiar with Microsoft's fickle nature -- Xbox, anybody?
[Via Go Nintendo]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-09-2008 @ 7:33PM
ArmorForVictor said...
i own a psp and i think it's good at what it does. GOD OF WAR: CHAINS OF OLYMPUS need i say more? http://youtube.com/watch?v=4vstxVSMnHo
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1-09-2008 @ 8:13PM
chispito said...
Do you also have a DS, and if so, do the loading times bother you on the PSP? The load times stuck out in my mind more than the great graphics or the big screen when I've played various games at PSP kiosks. It made me appreciate the simple open up and play functionality of my DS.
1-09-2008 @ 8:42PM
Safiel said...
I've got both systems. Both have their own different strengths and weaknesses, but yeah the load time on the psp sucks. I picked up a psp2000 a few months back and the UMD drive is quite a bit louder then my older psp. It's really a shame that sony didn't go with some kind of solid state storage to store their games. I believe that there are some ds games out there that are around a gig (FF4?) which is getting pretty close to the max size of a umd disk.
They could have used the extra space for the UMD drive to put in a bigger battery :)
1-09-2008 @ 11:03PM
Silver R. Wolfe said...
Safiel, there is not a single game on the DS that has come close to the maximum capacity of a UMD.
It currently only supports cards up to 2Gb (gigabit), not 2GB (gigabyte). 2Gb translates into 256 MB (megabytes).
A UMD can hold 900MB on a single layer disc and 1.8GB on a dual-layer disc.
And some games are becoming downloadable via the PC-based PSN store. Wipeout Pure can be bought for $15 and downloaded directly to a memory stick. Some original games are being released there too like Beats.
1-09-2008 @ 8:15PM
chispito said...
Oh yeah, more on topic: this is a no brainer for M$. The PSP is ganing momentum and the DS is losing exactly none of its already ridiculous momentum.
The real question is: Where's my Halo DS already?
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1-09-2008 @ 10:47PM
Roogie said...
Microsoft already has a portable...Any of the millions of laptops that run a Microsoft OS. Vista or XP anyone?
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1-10-2008 @ 9:09AM
Jtenma said...
Not neccessarily, those are just software you named....or Operating Systems(OS).
1-10-2008 @ 9:18AM
Alien said...
Wow ... Microsoft actually stated that Sony is doing a great job ^0^ Thats big :D
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1-10-2008 @ 9:39PM
Duo said...
Considering that M$ has published games on the DS before, I see no reason why they have any need to enter the handheld market. Why take the risk?
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1-11-2008 @ 5:12PM
nintendolover said...
Even though the XBOX 180 (XBOX handheld) won't happen, the picture is a great representation of what it would be like.
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1-11-2008 @ 5:23PM
ArmorForVictor said...
To #2
only on some games i own the load times suck ,but i mostly stick with first party games or third party games that have gotten high scores and their load times seem to be great.
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1-11-2008 @ 5:23PM
ArmorForVictor said...
To #2
only on some games i own the load times suck ,but i mostly stick with first party games or third party games that have gotten high scores and their load times seem to be great.
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1-11-2008 @ 5:25PM
ArmorForVictor said...
oh and yes of course i own a ds ,White DS Lite :), who doesn't?
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