iOS and Android-based devices are chipping away at sales of DS and PSP systems, according to a new report by research firm Interpret. The report found that mobile phones (44 percent) are the handheld device of choice for gaming (up 53 percent from last year), while DS and PSP usage declined by 13 percent during the same time period. The data comes from a report called "The Phone Gaming Revolution: Do the DS and PSP Stand a Chance?."
Approximately 27 percent of consumers who indicated that they play games on their phones only also own a DS or PSP, but do not actively use the devices.
"The proliferation of highly multifunctional smartphones and messaging phones is a very real threat to the dominance by the DS and PSP of the handheld gaming market," said Courtney Johnson, Manager of Research and Analysis at Interpret. "Devices which satisfy a variety of entertainment and utility are fast outstripping single-function devices as consumer favorites."
"The Phone Gaming Revolution: Do the DS and PSP Stand a Chance?" is available from Docstoc.com for $795.00. I misplaced my wallet.
Comments
Re: Report: Smartphones Beating Out PSP, DS
I used to remember a time when a phone was a phone, and a gameboy was a gameboy. Why is this even a "report"? Do mobile phones have an expansive library of games that require many hours of gameplay to complete? Or are they watered-down pick-me-up-then-drop-me-off mini-games that people play while they're waiting at the lobby of a dentist?
If I want a video player or music, I'll bring the iTouch. If I want some good gaming, I'll take the DS or PSP. If I need to make a call, then I have another pocket for my cell-phone. But I won't spend a crapload of money on a fragile device that does them all with half the amount of battery charge, and certainly not because a "report" tells me their do-it-all piece of shiny technofuck is "a very real threat".
Re: Report: Smartphones Beating Out PSP, DS
The smartphones outsell the consoles simply because in this day and age everyone needs a phone and more are wanting do-everything smartphones. I have an iPhone 3G, but I still regularly go to my DS Lite for portable gaming, but I can't take my DS everywhere all the time, while I do with my iPhone.
Eventually I think some super-tablet device will supplant the smartphone and portable console to become the go-to computer for communication and gaming on the go.
Re: Report: Smartphones Beating Out PSP, DS
I laughed when I saw this article on Yahoo! He calls the DS & PSP single-functional? LOL! Obviously, defending our handhelds here would be preaching to the choir, so I won't bother. But this guy...he he he...does he know anything about games?
Re: Report: Smartphones Beating Out PSP, DS
The Wii hasn't exactly killed the 360 or the PS3. The casual games market IS a major development that's not going to go away, and it's likely to eat into the traditional games market, but it's not going to destroy it.
(I say this as a guy who's been gaming since the late 1980's and currently games on a PC, a Wii, and a DS -- plus a lot of old consoles still lying around the house. And doesn't own a smartphone or understand why people would spend five minutes typing something with their thumbs when they could just SAY IT ON THE PHONE. So I'm not exactly part of a major demographic.)