PSP availability: are they all gone yet?

I’m just wondering… did the DS sell out? or wasn’t it expected to ?[/quote]

The DS didn’t sell out opening day but it was sold out many places throughout the Christmas season. Of course it also only shipped half as many units as the PSP and, again, it was the Christmas season.

The DS sold extremely well early on in both Japan and the US. Far better than even Nintendo thought it would, supposedly. It was very difficult to find a DS until January, when sales ground to a near halt, most likely because there’s nothing to play on it.

So yeah, the DS had a very strong launch. So did the Dreamcast.

Don’t let your own PSP apologies get in the way of the obvious truth that the unit did NOT sell out as expected.

I don’t apologize for any console. But I do love a man who is loyal to his corporate brand.

:D

Is the DS more capable than the GBA, or is the sole difference the additional screen?

But that is what Sony’s been saying, and that’s what the press has been reporting. I read a pile of launch stories from different papers and they all said pretty much the same thing: “The first million is already sold, people are crazy for this thing!.” I read somewhere that production is being set at 180,000 a month, and Sony expects to sell them all as soon as they hit stores through the rest of the year.

Tom, I don’t know where you’re getting the idea that press stories have been focusing on Sony shipping too many PSPs, and pricing the system too high. Every single story I’ve read has raved about the PSP and said, pointedly, that you’d better get in line at midnight on launch night or forget about getting one till May. One softball interview with a Sony rep I read in the Ottawa Sun even discussed how Sony was hoping to outsell the PS2 and move – get this – over 100,000,000 units worldwide – by the time the PSP ends its lifespan in 2010.

Uh-huh. I won’t add much more for fear of making Tom go all menstrual again, but I will say that there are stacks of PSPs at the department stores in my area. There are a good couple of dozen PSPs at each of my local Wal-Marts, in Eastern Ontario and upstate NY.

The DS is about on par with the N64.

I believe the DS is generally somewhere near N64 level (Slightly better, slightly worse?). So more capable than the GBA, less capable than the PSP.

I believe the DS is generally somewhere near N64 level (Slightly better, slightly worse?). So more capable than the GBA, less capable than the PSP.[/quote]

Ah - I didn’t realize it was a tech step up from the GBA too. If it’s N64 level, which you say is lower than the PSP level, what is the PSP equivalent to - first gen playstation?

Not around me. As with the PSP, there were loads of 'em here, right up to Christmas Eve. Sure didn’t seem like the DS did all that well at launch, either. Like Matt says, no standout games. I was all hot to buy one on launch, and even sold my GBA SP last fall assuming that I’d be buying a DS very soon, but then realized that there was nothing for the system that I was even remotely interested in playing. I’ll buy a PSP or a DS eventually, but while I’m waiting for some better games and a price drop or two, I’ve hauled out the old Sega Nomad and some great old Genesis carts to satisfy the handheld gaming jones.

I believe the DS is generally somewhere near N64 level (Slightly better, slightly worse?). So more capable than the GBA, less capable than the PSP.[/quote]

Ah - I didn’t realize it was a tech step up from the GBA too. If it’s N64 level, which you say is lower than the PSP level, what is the PSP equivalent to - first gen playstation?[/quote]
It’s almost PS2 quality.

I believe the DS is generally somewhere near N64 level (Slightly better, slightly worse?). So more capable than the GBA, less capable than the PSP.[/quote]

Ah - I didn’t realize it was a tech step up from the GBA too. If it’s N64 level, which you say is lower than the PSP level, what is the PSP equivalent to - first gen playstation?[/quote]

I think the PSP is generally accepted to be > PSX, <PS2. In motion, I’d compare what I’m seeing on launch titles to very late PSX, or early PS2 depending on the game. No clue how much room for growth there is there of course.

I’ve been seeing NFS Underground commercials for the DS all day. There, IMO, is very little comparison between the gouraud shaded, flat-color stuff it does and Ridge Racer, but who knows which are closer to hardware limits. In a very real way, though, that question is moot anyway. I think it was the Saturn that never had it’s hardware properly tapped, so you can extrapolate how important hardware vs. software is from it. ;)

Thanks ml - wow, I didn’t realize the PSP was so capable. How the hell does it have such strong 3d video capabilities in such a small package? That’s pretty cool.

I believe the DS is generally somewhere near N64 level (Slightly better, slightly worse?). So more capable than the GBA, less capable than the PSP.[/quote]

Ah - I didn’t realize it was a tech step up from the GBA too. If it’s N64 level, which you say is lower than the PSP level, what is the PSP equivalent to - first gen playstation?[/quote]

I hear it’s closer to Dreamcast quality. Of course, it could also be argued that Dreamcast is a more powerful system than PS2 in different aspects. But that’s what I’ve heard.

The mainstream press was quoted as saying that the PSP was going to kill iPod sales, I kid you not.

Anyone know how many GBA sold on Day 1?

I’m not sure but I remember Nintendo proudly claiming that the GBA was the most successful hardware launch at the time (besting the PS2).

The DS sold extremely well early on in both Japan and the US. Far better than even Nintendo thought it would, supposedly.
Nintendo raised its hardware expectations twice. It also lowered software expectations twice. They blamed it on GBA compatibility and PictoChat.

Is the DS more capable than the GBA, or is the sole difference the additional screen?
It appears that it is more capable than the Nintendo 64 in pure numbers. But it lacks texture filtering, so we’re seeing some games with boxy PS-One style textures. The PSP is about Dreamcast quality, but looks about PS2 quality on the screen.

I believe the DS is generally somewhere near N64 level (Slightly better, slightly worse?). So more capable than the GBA, less capable than the PSP.[/quote]

Ah - I didn’t realize it was a tech step up from the GBA too. If it’s N64 level, which you say is lower than the PSP level, what is the PSP equivalent to - first gen playstation?[/quote]

About midway between the Dreamcast and the PS2. It’s more powerful than the DS to the point that comparing the two is somewhat pointless.

If it’s N64 level, which you say is lower than the PSP level, what is the PSP equivalent to - first gen playstation?
FYI, N64 > PS1 in graphics. :|

I’ve played Soul Calibur on the Dreamcast. I have no problems with setting DC approximately equal to the PS2. The fact is it’s still current-gen system or so in quality, not last gen (which I think the DS more plainly compares to).

As for how they did it, Desslock, beats the hell out of me. At the very least I would expect the thing to heat up like mad, but it doesn’t. I didn’t follow any of the tech spec info; anyone know what type of processor it’s using or the like? I’m assuming one of the smaller feature size from the same line as the PS2.

[quote=“mouselock”]

I’ve played Soul Calibur on the Dreamcast. I have no problems with setting DC approximately equal to the PS2.[/quote]

The Dreamcast couldn’t do MGS3, God of War, DMC3, or even VF4:Evo on its best day. The DC is chronologically in the same generation as the PS2, but it’s substantially inferior technology on many levels.

Yeah, it’s a pretty amazing achievement - those consoles are Geforce 2-equivalent (Geforce 3+ for Xbox, I guess) and those chips are big and really hot. Good stuff.

Oops. Yeah, I’m not exactly up on my console stuff. I forget what came out when, although I remember Dreamcast> more recent because of E3s.