1UP asked Shane Kim, Microsoft Corporate VP, about the possibility of Microsoft games appearing on handhelds. His answer? "We do it today. We don't publish those titles directly ourselves, we are creating intellectual property that have great appeal to customers of handheld devices. Whether you're talking about mobile or the DS -- you probably won't see it on the PSP, though."

Why the Nintendo love? Well, Microsoft wants to target the kids that seem to shy away from Xbox's older demographic. Get those kids hooked on their properties on the DS, and then hope to reel them over to the 360: "Nintendo's fine. Particularly when you talk about some of our titles from Rare. A Kameo or a Viva Pinata on a DS makes a lot of sense in a lot of ways from a franchise perspective."

However, wouldn't one of Microsoft's more mature properties, like Halo, fare better on a handheld that not only has better tech, but has an audience that would be interested in such a product? Unless Microsoft has handheld ambitions of their own ...

After reporting some pretty disappointing losses, Sony is desperately trying to restructure its games division to at least break even. After stating boldly that they will not give up on the PSP, Sony will now seriously push the multimedia capabilities of the system. They've already started developing partnerships with media providers, such as amazon, but it looks like Sony is looking for even larger partnerships.

According to MarketWatch, analysts are predicting Sony will partner up with "at least one big ISP, such as Yahoo." Such tie-ins will promote the PSP's ability to download movies, television shows and PlayStation games. The PSP is technically capable of doing a lot, but the goal is to get the word out to the mainstream.

"It was pretty much a competition issue with the Nintendo so we have to fight back by introducing more attractive applications [for the PSP] by using the network," Nobuyuki Oneda, Sony's CFO, told the Financial Times.

[Thanks, nav! Via paidContent]

Sony seems to be having a bit of a problem. They have a portable system that is a success, but not by any means their main product. Then they have a new console that desperately needs games any way it can get them. Obviously they need to compete on the high end next gen game front, but they also need to compete against the Virtual Console and Xbox Live Arcade. Without the backlog of games like Nintendo or the head start of Microsoft, they seem to be turning to a questionable source for their downloadable games; the PSP.

The obvious issue with PSP games going to PS3 is that it begins to negate the reasons for a consumer to own both. Sure, right now it's a Gripshift and a Tekken, but what happens if the trend just continues? Sure, this would strengthen the PlayStation Network, but at the cost of PSP exclusives. This is just not acceptable when the PSP still has a long way to go to establish itself.

If Sony does insist on continuing to take games from the PSP library to the PS3, than it needs to change how it does so. Microsoft announced Live Anywhere quite some time ago, but we're still waiting for the day when we can play Xbox Live Arcade games on the go. Part of the reason is that Microsoft doesn't yet have a portable gaming system, but Sony does. Why not have it so if I download Gripshift on the PS3 I can download it to my PSP as well free as charge. For games that require progress, it would be great if I was able to share saves between my PSP and PS3. Maybe this is part of Sony's eventual plans anyway, but until I can buy Tekken on my PSP and continue it on my PS3 or vice-versa, it seems like a missed opportunity.

It could just be that this is a temporary solution and as more developers jump on board the PlayStation Network, Sony will stop relying on PSP games as downloadable content. Even if this is the case though, it still seems like a dangerous road for Sony to travel. It could just be that I'm overreacting though. What do fellow PSP owners think of this development?

Sales figures and stock prices are important to any fanboy's repertoire. For some reason, there's a strange assumption that higher sales of a system means better games (something that I'd like to disagree with ... RIP Dreamcast). However, considering how we're all invested (mentally) in the industry, it's still fascinating to see how gamer perception reflects upon stocks--and Digital Battle did the research for us.

Sony fanboys know that Sony hasn't done as well as they could've this year, with both the PSP and PS3 launches. Nintendo has been on a roll with the Wii and the DS, and it appears the stock reflects that nicely. However, considering how Sony is a mega-conglomerate corporation, one can't assume the poor performance of the video game devision is to blame for their fiscal stagnation: I'm sure exploding batteries haven't helped them one bit.

[Via digg]

Mercury News has some fighting words from Microsoft's Robbie Bach. The President of E&C goes on record saying that Sony is unable to successfully compete in the upcoming generation as Sony must focus its efforts across three platforms: PS2, PS3 and PSP. "I think Sony, frankly, suffers a little bit from this problem, which is they're spread really thin across all these areas. And trying to do PSP, competing with Nintendo, PSP to DS; competing with us, 360 to PS3, I think it does strain -- it would naturally strain any organization."

It's interesting to point out that Microsoft, a company with quite possibly the largest monetary battle chest in the world, has avoided the handheld market, simply because the battle against Nintendo would be too resource-draining. While two-front wars have never been too successful, the consumers should feel comfortable in knowing that at least Sony puts dedication behind its products, unlike Microsoft. I'm confident that Sony will support the PSP for years to come, just like they have with the PS2. And that's something millions of currently abandoned original Xbox consoles can't vouch for.

[Via GameDaily]

Sorry for the lack of updates. Joystiq & engadget hit the scene at NYC's Wii launch party (coverage continues throughout the next few days). At the after-party at my place, we were horrified to see how pathetic the selection of Virtual Console games were (Where the heck is my Gunstar Heroes? When do Mario RPG and Super Metroid come out?). I'm glad to pay my hard-earned dollar on retro games, but damn it--I can't do that if they're not being offered right now!

Interestingly, if I so chose to embrace the Dark Side, I could use [e]mulator, from homebrew developer "e". This application includes emulators for a wide variety of systems: Wonderswan, Lynx, PC Engine, Neo Geo Pocket, Game Gear, Game Boy, and Famicom (NES). If one is so inclined, they can visit the site, download the file, and use a program like WinRAR to extract the files. Don't worry, there's a very Engrish read-me that should theoretically walk you through the process.

[Via PSP-Vault]

Nintendo boldly claimed that the DS was outselling the PSP by a 3:1 margin. Ha! We proved them wrong! They're only going to outsell the system by a 2:1 margin! At least, according to Sony's and Nintendo's projected sales figures. Sony recently lowered its shipment target 25 percent, from 12 million to 9 million. Nintendo, on the other hand, raised its shipment target from 17 million to 20 million.

Due to battery explosions, and sluggish games sales, Sony expects a 62 percent drop in profits.

[Via Joystiq]

Remember that song, "Who stole the cookies from the cookie jar?" Yeah, it was a classic, wasn't it? Well, I've adopted the song for Sony and Nintendo representatives. It goes like this:

Who sold marginally less handheld systems?
Sony sold marginally less handheld systems!
Who me?
Yes YOU!
Couldn't be!
Then, who?

Who sold marginally less handheld systems?
Nintendo sold marginally less handheld systems!
Who me?
Yes YOU!
Couldn't be!
Then, who?

Rinse, and repeat, folks. Rinse and repeat. If you couldn't tell, I'm somewhat sickened by this constant use of sales figures to somehow prove a system's superiority. Once it starts affecting me as a gamer, I'll start worrying. In the latest round of executive fanboyism, Nintendo product manager James Honeywell spoke out about the success of the DS, and how it's theoretically affecting the PSP: "Up until the end of last year sale between the two formats were fairly evenly matched, with DS slightly outselling PSP," he said. "Since the beginning of the year, with our stellar line-up of releases, we have pushed our sales through the roof. Then with the fantastic launch of DS Lite in June we have begun to pull further and further away."

"Right now, with the combination of DS and DS Lite we are outselling the competition by a ratio of 3:1. This increase in hardware sales has also driven an increase in DS software sales, moving ahead of PSP in the total number of units and also, more interestingly, we have now seen that the same third party titles are selling more on the DS than on other formats. We are seeing publishers start to rethink their strategies switching development from other formats to the successful DS platform and, more importantly, creating bespoke titles that fully utilise the DS features rather than simply porting content without taking advantage of the great things you can do on DS."

Once again, I haven't really seen third parties run away from Sony's handheld. Once quality games stop coming for my system, that's when I'll start to get worried. Until then, I'll enjoy my underappreciated PSP, just as much as I've enjoyed my Gamecube and Dreamcast (I have a real knack for choosing underdogs, huh?).

[Via DS Fanboy]

We might as well call today retro-Thursday what with all the old-school news that has been posted on the site today. I always was more of a Nintendo gamer back in the day, so I don't feel so terribly noobish that I haven't played Decap Attack, which is one of nearly 30 retro games in Sega Genesis Collection. Hell, to be perfectly honest, I've never even heard of it before.

Well, I've done me some research and learned the game's protagonist is Chuck D. Head, an aptly named mummy who throws his decapitated head at his enemies. In the game, you must travel across a skeleton-shaped island throughout beautiful locales like Abdomainland and Armington to battle it out with the evil Dr. Frank N. Stein.

See also:
Virtua Fighter 2, Sword of Vermillion and Bonanza Brothers
Phantasy Star 2 and Golden Axe
Kid Chameleon
Ecco the Dolphin and Columns

There's not a whole lot I can say to make us feel better this week. Last week, we were able to take solace in the fact the PSP made a nice jump in sales, but it actually dropped this week.

- DS Lite: 134,885 21,045 (18.49%)
- PS2: 34,189 14,307 (71.96%)
- PSP: 26,995 2,146 (7.36%)
- GBA SP: 2,330 226 (10.74%)
- Game Boy Micro: 1,244 557 (30.93%)
- Xbox 360: 928 166 (15.17%)
- Gamecube: 630 66 (9.48%)
- DS Phat: 478 580 (54.82%)
- GBA: 27 14 (107.70%)
- Xbox: 7 2 (40.00%)

The PSP got obliterated by the DS Lite, which sold more than 100,000 units. If that's not an ass whoopin', I don't know what is.

However, I believe Nintendo isn't the happy, happy company many people think they are. I believe something evil and sinister is lurking in the upper echelons of Nintendo, much like in Halloween III. Could it be the DS Lite actually uses subliminal messages to make people fall in love and buy it like crack in the ghetto? Yes, I know it may sound far fetched, but it's the only logical explanation.

[Source: Media Create]

Seeing Alex Kidd was good and all, but now we're talking with new videos of Ecco the Dolphin and Columns that will be crammed into Sega Genesis Collection.

I know there are a lot of young gamers around these days and some of you may not be old enough to have experienced the greatness of these two games. That's why I'm so excited Sega is releasing this collection of almost 30 Genesis games.

It's kinda funny because Sega's old slogan - "Genesis does what Nintendon't" is so fitting. You see, Sega has put all their classic games onto one disc, while Nintendo forces gamers to buy all their NES games separately. For shame!

If you're a member of the anti-PSP port camp, then I have some bad news for you – Myst, a 13-year-old game, is making its way onto the PSP sometime next year. And to make you even happier, IGN has just posted some new screens of the game in "action."

Unlike some ports, developers Hoplite Research/Cyan Worlds, Inc. isn't resting on its laurels and just porting the ancient game to the PSP. The port will have "new adventure scenarios, as well as updating the game's visuals for the PSP's widescreen format," according to IGN.

I'm actually pretty excited about this game. I played the hell outta it back in the day and to get it on the go, has me salivating.

Oh, and I have a question for you port haters. Why aren't you complaining about the ports on Xbox Live Arcade and Nintendo's Virtual Console, but are always bashing any old-school game or port released on the PSP?

(Via IGN)

Wedbush Morgan is one of those places where people sit around in a dark room, pondering the future. They make up numbers that predict future sales, shoot lightning out their hands, and they have three heads. Michael Pachter is one of those men. While he was optimistic for Sony's handheld at the beginning of the year, he seems to be reconsidering his position: "We are lowering ... our forecast for PSP sales from 8.5 million to 7.4 million, and increasing our expectation for DS sales from 6.5 million to 8 million."

This isn't really too bad: even if PSP isn't number one in sales, it still has done much better than any non-Nintendo gaming handheld in the past. Regardless, the analyst had tons of good things to say about Nintendo, and not so much about Sony: he decreased his 2006 PS3 hardware sales estimate by 1 million units (to 3 million) and increased his 2006 Wii hardware sales by 500,000 to (4 million). Of course, it's not just the analyst that sees good things for Nintendo: the shareholders do as well.

[News via Gamespot]
[Sales chart for US. DS has a few weeks extra data due to an earlier launch. Via VG Charts]

NOTE: This editorial is the opinion of Andrew Yoon, and does not represent the opinion of PSP Fanboy, Joystiq or Weblogs, Inc.

Every video game convention, there's a "winner" of some sorts. It's pretty safe to say that the Nintendo Wii "won" the last E3, proving that waving around our hands can be fun. Not only did the Wii prove that the control scheme works, there was an amazing list of exclusives, from Nintendo's own Mario to third party efforts, like Red Steel. Nintendo wowed the crowd at E3 because of the amazing quality and potential of the games for its system.

Did Nintendo pull the big win at the Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany this year? No. Did Microsoft? No. Sony took the win for this year's show, but not because of a great showing of PlayStation 3 goods (there were none at the show), but because of Konami's absolutely excellent lineup of upcoming PSP games. Yes, you heard me right: PSP "won" Leipzig.

Those damn Japanese are at it again with their never-ending obsession with the Nintendo DS Lite. Last week, it seemed the PSP was possibly staging a comeback, but a surge in DS Lite sales that almost topped 200,000 nipped any thought of that in the bud.

- DS Lite 196,719(19,866)
- PSP: 41,289(1,315)
- PS2: 26,547 (96)
- GBA SP: 3,051(822)
- Gameboy Micro: 2,031(265)
- Xbox 360: 1,204(1,042)
- Gamecube: 940(99)
- DS Phat: 934(596)
- GBA: 23(14)
- Xbox: 6(5)

I'm tired of thinking of reasons to why the DS Lite is handing the PSP its ass. Sony is going to have to do something to turn the momentum back in its favor very quickly, or any thought of winning in Japan will be lost. Maybe Sony can start by getting some games on its system that will compete with the DS Lite's. Oh well, there's always next week, right?

(Via PSP Advanced)