MS after HandHeld market?

Microsoft is developing a portable gaming/video/music machine to compete with PSP and iPOD.

Good luck - you' re going to need a lot of it and then some more.

Check some comments from Moore on IGN.

Yeah i just seen it too...

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/683/683783p1.aspx

It could be good y' know, but...Xboy? C' mon they have got to think up a better name than that!

If it' s small enough (unlike Gizmondo), looks nice, has a HD (min 4GB), has music/video playback, internet access, a decent battery lifespan and is powerful to boot, ...it' ll sell.

Portable Halo? Mmmmmmmmm!

honestly from nongamers perspective - Microsoft will never win with Apple when it comes to " normal people" - those guys want a chic ,intuitive device that won' t separate them from the experience , and instead connect them with it.

They want to get a piece of itunes market so bad - they act like they are really desperate.Loosing money on Xbox , trying to come up with some new online services for media (that noone cares about) while Apple controls 85% of music industry (that much content is being bought through itunes - the rest are: CD' s and some other services)

They Can' t win with Nintendo here , and it will be hard to fight with Sony as well.

I just hope those Windows fuckers never get to dominate GAMING+OS+MUSIC+MOVIES.

I' d rather live under Sony' s monopoly than MS' s

It would be foolish if microsoft <b>didn' t</b> try this.
As great as the ipod is, it also leaves much to be desired.
Same goes for the psp, there is so much more people are interested in doing while being portable.

I think microsoft is more interested in bringing the windows functionality to handhelds, this is what they' ve already tried a few times.
But the problem with windows mobil is it stinks for games.
The blackberry is also not the greatest gaming machine.

But the xbox is a great gaming machine, now if you use what you' ve learned from the xbox to make a console it might work out really well.

All they need to do is take the 360 pad, make it slightly wider but not bulkier, give it a screen as big as PSP' s and use mini-dvd' s for the game medium. Make it more powerful that PSP and give it a hard-drive.

Ofcourse they won' t do that though because it won' t be just a gaming machine, it' ll be shaped similar to the PSP no doubt. Still, it would' ve been nice!

A Microsoft handheld? An Xblox? Very interesting indeed! The only thing troubling me is that it would be another system to buy...

Everyone here know that MS owns the rights to the iPod correct? They make money off everyone sold I believe. It was some big screw up for Apple with turning in their patents late. They really don' t need to compete with the iTunes market that much since they are already making money off Apple.

XBL Gamertag: Rampage99

" Basically, pollute the air all you want, your just speeding up the inevitable. Our future generations are f*cked as it is and there' s really nothing we can do about it. Have a nice day "

ORIGINAL: Rampage99

Everyone here know that MS owns the rights to the iPod correct? They make money off everyone sold I believe. It was some big screw up for Apple with turning in their patents late. They really don' t need to compete with the iTunes market that much since they are already making money off Apple.

That is partially true. Microsoft filed for the patent on the scroll wheel five months before Apple did, BUT, they can' t collect any royalties YET. Apple filed a declaration stating that it invented the wheel before Microsoft filed for the patent. Since the Ipod was on the market BEFORE Microsoft' s patent application they stand a pretty good chance of winning this one.

This is the info that I got, anyways. I heard this a while ago, though, and I don' t know if there have been any more developments since then.

Hehe, I asked the question " why isn' t MS releasing a portable" in another thread like a week ago (or more) and now it seems they do have plans for one
I hope they take the name I played with " Microsoft XP" (Xbox Portable) which might get confused with Windows XP.
Someone said that MS are too smart to release a portable because they wouldn' t stand a chance against Nintendo. Well, obviously they think they do stand a chance.
But how big are their chances anyway?

Depend entirely on Nintendo' s proper sucessor to the GBA. DS is their " 3rd pillar" , and not a continuation of the Gameboy line. If Nintendo get the next Gameboy right then both PSP and whatever Microsoft dub their own handheld, ...are screwed sales wise. Nintendo knows handhelds better than anyone!

sucessor to GBA is DS - get used to it - if DS didn' t sell so good , you would have a GBA succesor in other form.

MS chances?
Depends on what they design (what kind of hardware) , but looking at their previous work I think they shpuld stay out of this.

MS and iPod Thing - I heard that to , but it went quiet after that so who knows.

DS is NOT, i repeat NOT the successor to the GBA!!! Nintendo said before DS launched that it wasn' t and they' ve said after that it isn' t.

Nintendo are, and have been working on ' Gameboy Evolution' for quite some time. Games are said to be disc based and slightly better than Dreamcast, which would put it in direct competition with PSP. Expect an announcement this year sometime.

Anyway Gangsta, how' s your DS game coming?

DS is NOT, i repeat NOT the successor to the GBA!!! Nintendo said before DS launched that it wasn' t and they' ve said after that it isn' t.

N said that DS is a trial - if it sells 50 000 it means it is succes.It sold much more and you should realize that the next big thing from N is either the DS succesor or a new system based on GB and DS trademarks.

That game is still not mine - I need to send them my work on monday and they will decide wether they want me or not.

I' ll tell you one thing though - it sucks , it' s just like work - designing those fuckin levels and every single opponent and the time he attacks and the way he acts ...

It is as boring as every other job :)

Dude, if GBA was the successor to GB then the successor to GBA would be based on GB trademarks anyway... *lost*

It definately won' t be a DS successor. DS Lite debuts in March in Japan and then everywhere else later, much like the GBA:SP did. Then towards the end of the year (hopefully at E3 actually) an announcement will be made about the Gameboy' s next incarnation (for seriously harcore gamers!!!).

See, i remember hearing of an unofficial meeting back during E3 2004 about a new Sega handheld, but supposedly the announcement was pulled at short notice because of PSP. Sega' s rumoured handheld was supposedly underpowered and underfeatured when compared to the PSP. Now when i first heard about it, it made sense, but then when i thought about it properly i didn' t believe it. But, ...rumors have continued and Sega just put out a cellphone in Japan, and it' s actually possible that they could come up with something (but that' s speculation on my part).

Still, imagine a GB Next vs PSP vs MS-XP (Xbox Portable, ...genius!) vs Sega Whatever...

Considering the success of the DS I wouldn' t expect a GBA successor in the next two years. The new portable would compete directly with the DS even though they would be different with how you control the games.
I doubt Nintendo would be stupid enough to do such a thing. There will be lots of confusion with two handhelds from the same company and sales would probably decrease giving Sony the upper hand since they only have one handheld. Also, not many would want to buy two machines for simple reasons: Money and space. It' s convinient to only have one portable with you. And you don' t want to have to choose between two everytime you' re going out. It would be a nightmare for the Nintendo fans and the N-fans are Nintendos most important audience.
So I say that NDS is the successor of GBA and GB Evolution, which we won' t see for quite a while, will be the DS successor.

exactly and who really cares for GB evolution with DC graphics? I' m having way too much fun with my DS as it is.

You really believe that after getting to all those mainstream people (old and female nongamers) N would say " Fuck you , now we' re getting back to GB" - that is so naive.

Have you heard about a thing called revolution? would you say that after that N is going to make a true GameCube succesor with really great HD graphics?

No, but Nintendo do keep talking about ' choice' . I mean, they' e not even stopping production of the original DS once Lite launches, and GBA is still on the market (and for a time there were 2 versions of that co-existing). GBA co-existed with GBC, ...etc.

Anyway, we' ll see. They need to do something because PSP will take over sales wise this year and Nintendo will lose it' s position as the leading handheld manufacturer and in turn much profit. And if MS is going handheld too then that' s even more competetion!

Nintendos previous handhelds could co-exist since Nintendo had a monopoly.
It' s different now when there are successfull rival handhelds.
If Nintendo would release a GB Evo. they would also appear to be abandoning their image of " gameplay over graphics" as well as those who bought the DS.
And if the GB Evo has DC graphics it would be inferior to PSP and MS-XP which would make it completely useless.
The only thing Nintendo can do is to put everything the' ve got on the DS. I hope they make sure to make lots of games on the Rev that has some connectivity with the DS.
I' m not sure the PSP will take over the sales this year just because some analyst says that. Especially not in Japan.

Firstly PSP although capable of more, isn' t currently outputting DC quality visuals.

Secondly, Nitendo;d image was never about gameplay over graphics, it was about how games are played, how they can be played differently, and how to get people who don' t usually play games..playing.

Thirdly, although Nintendo came out of 2005 slightly ahead in terms of handheld sales figures, DS also had a very large lead in all territories, so PSP has covered an awful lot of ground to catch up so quickly. It isn' t hard to see how PSP will overtake DS this year at all.

Forthly, this; http://www.joystiq.com/2005/12/16/so-whatever-happened-to-the-next-game-boy/ is about it (kind of), and although pure speculation (mostly), it does have a few notable points.

And bear in mind that GBA and GCN were launched exceedingly close together.

http://www.consoledatabase.com/consoleinfo/nintendogameboyevolution/

There was a lot of really stupid speculation in that joystick article. Some things almost made me laugh.
When consoledatabase.com says that the GBE will use mini-discs as media, I hope they mean discs in miniature size and not Sonys mini-discs (see the problem?).
Just another stupid speculation.
If we see a GBE this year, I promise you, I will print my words on this subject on a paper and eat it. I will use ketchup though, but I will eat it. And the text size will be at least 12.

Anyway, we' ll see. They need to do something because PSP will take over sales wise this year and Nintendo will lose it' s position as the leading handheld manufacturer and in turn much profit. And if MS is going handheld too then that' s even more competetion!

That' s stupid - People were saying the same thing when DS came out.And DS sold a bit better than " slightly ahead" .

I agree PSP is not a DC quality hardware (at least not those games that come out)

Some speculation articles are so funny and stupid:)

Majik - they didn' t prove that gameplay is more important than graphics just to make a powerful handheld after that.An d YES they did say gameplay over graphics with bot DS and Revolution.

Why do you want a new GB? Get a PSP.

I have 2 PSPs, you already know that, and i already have a DS (though i' ll still be getting a DS Lite).

Sony and Nintendo finished up last year both having around 13M units shipped, with Nintendo slightly ahead, so yeah Sony have caught up-ish...

Gangsta, they have said all along (ALL ALONG) that DS was to be their 3rd pillar, with the next Gameboy and Revolution being the other 2. Now, we don' t have to agree on this but you' ll see another Gameboy soon enough (what, do you think they WON' T attempt to develop a handheld that can do more than the competition?! Now, THAT' S niave. They are still a compay thta needs to make money right?)

And ginjirou, when they were talking about mini-discs i think they were referring to discs similar to what GCN uses.

Companies says a lot of things that really doesn' t mean anything. ANd even though DS is a third pillar, it doesn' t mean that a GBE will be announced soon. At least I hope Nintendo doesn' t release a GBE soon. Not just because I don' t like eating paper but because I' m quite satisfied with the DS as it is.
The PSP isn' t doing well just because it is more powerful than the DS, although that surely helped. The PSP has Sony behind it which means lots of exclusive handheld titles and a new GB woudn' t change that fact. Since PS2 is the most popular home console it affects the sales of the PSP since lots of PS2 owners trust Sony. Making a GBE probably won' t get them to buy a GBE.

Right now, the last handheld i got was a GBA in 2001
But, if X-box does come out with a handheld, i would buy it on these terms.
-Graphics with even slightly better capabilities than what the PSP is turning out now.
-Connectivity to 360, i' m actually planning on getting one when they get cheap-ish.
-A right thumbstick. this bugged the l-l3ll out of me on the psp, it' s a great system, it really is. but you can' t have a contemporary first-person shooter without two analog sticks.
-Finally, it needs a decent size screen. None of this N-Gage size crap.
And as for the new gameboy, i don' t think it matters what you call the DS. Does it play GBA games? There' s your answer. (in a practical sense)

Puff the Majikdrag6on is correct on some points and it' s the main reason I didn' t get a DS right off the bat, because Nintendo foolishly announced their next GBA successor as coming out not too long after the DS. From what I recall they said that if the PSP was successful and the DS wasn' t able to prevent it from gaining too much marketshare then they' d launch the Gameboy Advance successor in late 2006, if the PSP wasn' t successful then they' d launch their Gameboy successor sometime in late 2007. This was all announced BEFORE the DS was launched - which is why I didn' t bother getting one early on. According to them they' ve been working on the thing for quite some time now, even before the DS was launched.

It' ll be interesting to see whether they actually follow through with those plans or not. I' ve always said that they should have scrapped the DS project, and migrate some of its best features (dual screen, tough screen) over to the Gameboy Evolution and release that sometime this year.

Terry Bogard - currently the most Unhelpful member of the Kikizo forums.

Thanks Terry. But the puff thing?! LOL!

I don' t see why it' s so hard to see that even Nintendo will have to up their game (no pun intended) to continue competing in that market. A true successor to the GBA makes financial sense and i have no doubts that DS and GBE could co-exist (if only for a time).

We' ll see what happens at E3 in May i guess.

ORIGINAL: Majikdra6on

Secondly, Nitendo;d image was never about gameplay over graphics, it was about how games are played, how they can be played differently, and how to get people who don' t usually play games..playing.

Uh, what is gameplay if not how games are played, and how they can be played differently. I' m pretty sure it' s a big factor as far as expanding the market to non-gamers as well. Anyways...

I don' t think it' s a good idea that Nintendo will attempt to have two handhelds on the market at the same time (not including the GBA SP and Micro). I also don' t see why people don' t want to believe that the DS is the successor to the GB line. Nintendo saying that it isn' t is just lip service. The fact of the matter is that it came out after the last Gameboy, and is in the EXACT SAME market! The rest is just semantics. If they DO release a another Gameboy, while the DS is still gaining market share... well, that would just be stupid! Hell the fact that they said as much is really dumb!

Now that' s even more stupid, making a new GB with the best features from the DS and with powerfull graphics. That will make the DS worthless beyond words.
That will make everyone who bought a DS feel like a true jackass. And how will they and the rest of the industry look at Nintendo after such a move?
It doesn' t even make financial sense since Nintendo is making a fortune on the DS.
I bet they are working on a new GB and that they have for a long time but now that the DS has become such a success they would do best to save the new console for the future making sure they perfect it.
Besides, launching a new handheld with powerful graphics at a time as the PSP will have gathered tons of great titles makes it even more stupid.
Nintendo nowadays focuses on cheap consoles and a new GB would probably cost a lot more than the DS giving the PSP a better chance since the price will drop before the release of GBE.
Btw, is this " Gradius Collection" for PSP going to be any good?

Punks.

The next Gameboy (y' know, using the GAMEBOY bloody trademark), is highly unlikely to have A) a mic, B) a touch screen or C) 2 screens. And YES, it DOES make financial sense and if you can' t see that then you' re obviously DENSE!

If you don' t want to listen to me, then listen to Terry, or...ask Adam what he thinks. You can ofcourse, believe whatever you want to believe, but Nintendo having 2 completely different unit' s in the marketplace makes perfect sense since DS can' t hold off PSP forever and Microsoft are considering a handheld. Surely Nintendo would HAVE to come up with something and as Terry explained (better than i did), Nintendo have had a gameplan for ages and they' ve waited to see how successful PSP has been.

And chucking the PSP Gradius Collection in (even though we' re talking about handhelds), is obviously aimed at Terry and an attempt to change the subject. But the answer is no. Although the games will no doubt be superb themsevles, the PSP' s D-Pad leaves a lot to be desired!

Hehe you always sound so angry. (someone didn' t take his chill-pill today)
Ok if I am so damn dense then please tell me why it makes financial sense.
And why wouldn' t the DS be able to hold of the PSP?
And why would a new GB be able to do it when the PSP will have gathered lots of support?
The DS doesn' t have to outsell the PSP anyway. Nintendo will make lots of money regardless. The DS cannot possibly be completely " destroyed" by the PSP. It will do good regardless as long as the GBE isn' t released too soon.
Yes, the Graidus thing was aimed at Terry of course since he knows about games such as those but I wasn' t trying to change the subject (why the hell would I? I' m having good arguments for my speculations but you' re just calling me dense and tries to strengthen your point of view by naming Terry and Adam). I just thought it would be unnessecary to start a new thread asking that and since Terry was visiting I took the chance.

It' s not about " being completely destroyed" , but Sony will come out of 2006 ahead in terms of handheld sales for the year and Nintendo won' t make as much profit as they would have done if there was no PSP.

Now, how old is the Gameboy trademark? You' ve heard of it right? Well so have millions and millions of others. Nintendo have proved over and over that they know exactly what they are doing with handheld systems, and DS sold out right? GBA was a complete success right? and just got released in it' s 3rd incarnation and DS is about to get it' s 2nd and DS has been extremely successful so far. So wouldn' t a new Gameboy make them even more money and be a success too? Do you think Nintendo just won' t bother trying to compete with Sony and it' s PSP?

So if Nintendo have 2 handhelds out (like they do at the moment with DS and ' pick your version' GBA/GBA:SP/GBMicro), and Sony has 1 and say Microsoft do decide to take the plunge, ...then it would put Nintendo in good standing wouldn' t it?

Why is it so hard to accept that they would release a new Gameboy? What exactly do YOU think Nintendo are going to do regarding the handheld market?

Y' know, this is stupid since we KNOW Nintendo are working on it and it' s not a question of IF it' s more a question of WHEN!!!

It' s all about choice. You can buy a DS (either version), you can buy the new Gameboy, ...or you can buy both. Seeing as they' d be worlds apart in their make-up and would be played differently then the sales of one unit wouldn' t directly affect the sales of the other, especially since DS is the ONLY touch screen dedicated gaming device on the market, ...and if the GBE has similar abilities to PSP; music/video playback etc then DS would be the third pillar like they said wouldn' t it?!

And i' m not angry, and i certainly mean no offence at all (we' re all friends right...), but forums are supposed to be about discussions and not arguments as you say. Difference of opinion is unavoidable, but unless you head up Nintendo' s handheld division and you KNOW what' s going on/not going on etc, then it' s only an opinion!

2 handhelds means 2 lots of profit, hence financial sense.

I think that the Sony and PlayStation brand are so strong that a new GameBoy wouldn' t make much difference even though the GameBoy brand is strong.
And the PSP has proven that Sony is a worthy handheld manufacturer.
Even though millions of people have heard of the GameBoy, the Sony name is even bigger among casual gamers which is the main target for todays videogame companies.
The GBA was released without competition, and thus it was a success. The DS was released with unique and innovative capabilities at a low price compared to the PSP and thus it too was a success.
A new GB however will be launched at a high price compared to the PSP considering the speculated power and the closing PSP price drops.
And since the PSP will have accumulated an enormous amount of titles by the time the new GameBoy hits the market, it will be very difficult to compete.
And if the new GB is expensive it will force people to make a choice between DS and GBE. Even though we like the freedome to choose, only hard-core gamers will be educated enough to make a sure bet. Also, if Nintendo does release a GBE soon they cannot keep their focus on the DS as they have recently and the DS owners will feel forsaken and since the PSP will have a better price and library it will cause Nintendo to loose lots of customers. This will cause great financial losses as none of Nintendos handhelds will be popular compared to the competitors.
So I really don' t see why two consoles would put Nintendo in a better standing. I understand how you think and that your ideas are possible but I can' t agree.
I understand that Nintendo WILL release a new GB. And it WILL have better graphics. But I think they will do this first after the DS has lost its appeal which I think will take some time. And during that time Nintendo will make sure that the new GB is much, much more powerful than the PSP or MS-XP making it the obvious choice of handheld console.
Do you get my point? At least a little?

Ofcourse i do, but i don' t see how Nintendo could keep a sizable market share without launching a new unit.

Well that' s the difference between you and me. I see how they will manage to make enough money on the DS for a couple of years to then release the GBE.
And even though the PSP will get better sales this year, the DS will have a great year to. But the true winners are us gamers who gets all this stuff.

Btw, is this " Gradius Collection" for PSP going to be any good?

Nope not good, it' s gonna be f**king awesome! But then again I AM biased ..

Hopefully it has analog nub support for MUCH smoother maneuvering than what is allowed with Sony' s accursed D-pad! Fortunately I have Capcom' s d-pad cover that came with Street Fighter Zero 3 for the PSP, makes using the pad much much better.

Terry Bogard - currently the most Unhelpful member of the Kikizo forums.

Does Capcoms d-pad come with all Street Fighter Zero 3 packages or is it only inlcuded in " special editions" or something like that? I must have it anyway.

Does Capcoms d-pad come with all Street Fighter Zero 3 packages or is it only inlcuded in " special editions" or something like that? I must have it anyway.

It comes with the regular edition. NCS, the site I purchased it from, originally listed the d-pad cover as a being a bonus item included with the first batch of games from Capcom in Japan. Better yet I' ll just paste what' s listed on their site:

In addition to the game, Capcom bundles a special d-pad cover with every copy. On the PS2 and PSP, the D-pad is problematic for fighting games. The empty space in the center of the directional wedges creates a rift which leads to disjointed movement of the thumb as it shifts around and semi-circle movements are difficult. Capcom comes to the rescue with something that should have been released years ago... a D-pad overlay which covers the pad and removes the rift entirely. No more sliding of thumb or feeling of empty space. No more rift.

Please note that a partial shipment of SFZ3 arrived today. The remainder is expected tomorrow and Friday - all orders shipping this week will include the bonus d-pad cover. Subsequent shipments will likely not include it as supplies of the item are limited and only given away in the first batch by Capcom.

Update: January 20, 2006
Until we update otherwise, all orders for SFZ3 Double Upper include the bonus d-pad cover as shown in the photo above. We will update our product description once we run out of the d-pad cover and update the product photo accordingly.

I posted some pictures of it at the Gamefaqs PSP board, here are some images of the PSP after I attached the d-pad overlay.

Terry Bogard - currently the most Unhelpful member of the Kikizo forums.

To say that the DS and a new Gameboy are " completely different units" is retarded! They are competing for the SAME MARKET! So, one has a mic and two screens; and one has better graphics. They do the SAME DAMN THING! Play games! To say that having two systems on the market means " double the profit" is naive. It will split their market.

It' s all speculation, anyway. The launch date hasn' t been stated yet, so we' ll see. I think they' ll probably hold off for a while as the DS gains momentum. Nintendo is smart, so they' ll probably launch it when sales slow down. Hell, they' ve got the Revolution to worry about now, anyway. They will definitely want to focus on that for a while.

It will split their market.

That' s exactly why I couldn' t understand their reason/need to even mention their next generation Gameboy successor before the DS was even launched. I mean sure they' d make money off of the two units, but at some point the new Gameboy would cannibalize sales of the DS, just like the DS did to the Gameboy Advance.

I still chuckle over the non-sense spewed long ago by one of the two companies saying that the DS and PSP were not competing against each other. I' ve heard people say something similar about the GameCube vs. the Xbox and PS2.. Whether companies realize it or not, their products will compete with other similar products whether its what they intended or not.

Terry Bogard - currently the most Unhelpful member of the Kikizo forums.

It sounds and looks like that d-pad is amazing but is it any good? Or is it just a way to sell more copies of the game? How do you put it on the PSP d-pad? What keeps it on? Can it fall off easily? Is it comfortable? Anyway SFZ3 isn' t released until 24th Feb in my here.
Actually, both Nintendo and Sony has said that their respecitve handhelds weren' t competing.