NGP (PSP2)

Sony made their big announcement and it was definitely interesting. First off, its all about the games - the hardware is powerful enough to basically be a no compromise game system. Is it powerful and hard to develop for? Is Sony neglecting the causal/simple/Angry Birds trend? Do gamers want their mobile gaming experience to be the same as their console gaming experience? The biggest obstacle for Sony might be their target market...

Kids are going to buy the 3DS in droves - Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, etc MOVE units, they have that market LOCKED. Yes, kids have iPhones but there are still a lot of parents who either refuse to buy their children cell phones or who refuse to buy them expensive phones - more like a Nokia and a DSi rather than an iPhone 4. Plus you have the loyalists/purists like me who will always buy Nintendo because that's where Mario, Zelda, and Metroid are - they got me hooked. That's not even mentioning the people who will be swayed by the gimmick (glasses-less 3D).

Sony is going after the more mature gamer, with their own disposable income. Sony is a tougher sell to the masses because the masses want to carry 1 device. the PSPphone might be the answer but it is clear that the NGP/PSPphone is NOT an iPod Touch/iPhone4 kind of relationship. The tradeoff between the 2 "sister" platforms is going to be huge and the strategy is different.

So in a lot of respects Sony is going to have a battle on 2 fronts and most likely going to have to endure this battle being the last handheld out the gate.

It's going to be interesting...