The rise of the handheld console

Back in 2003 Sony's Ken Kutaragi, "the father of the Play Station", made a bold prediction.

Announcing Sony's plans to enter the portable gaming market, he claimed the PlayStation Portable (PSP) would become "the Walkman for the 21st Century".

At that time conventional wisdom dictated that any attempt to break into the handheld market, dominated for so long by Nintendo, was doomed to failure.

To suggest that Sony's console would not only make an impact on the market, but also match the success of the 1980s cultural icon that was the Walkman seemed to argue a self-confidence bordering on arrogance.

After all, Sony shipped more than 50m Walkman units in the first ten years of production, reaching a total of 150m units produced by 1995.

The name Walkman has even joined that select group of brands like Hoover and Xerox whose name defines the product.

So four years down the line has the PSP lived up to "Papa" Kutaragi's prediction? Has it succeeded in breaking Nintendo's apparently unshakeable hold on the market?

[wolfgang]

Interesting reading Outlaw.

[MikeGdaGod]

i really can't wait for the connectivity with psp and ps3. where i work i have access to wifi and a lot of time on my hands so this is a function that i could get a lot of use from.

[Torch]

I'm a huge fan of the PSP. I just hope that Sony can deliver on it's promise and make interactivity as smooth as they hype it up to be.

I tried synching my PSP and PS3 early on just for fun...and it wasn't all it was cracked up to be, as the PSP couldn't even keep up with streaming an MP3. Unless they fix the glitch (I've read of other accounts as well), how the heck do they expect to smoothly push streaming video across wifi AND the internet?

My fingers remain crossed.

[MikeGdaGod]

i connected the two together and played a whole movie with no problems and was very impressed. i just hope they hurry up and do the anywhere wifi thing and it works as good as it did at my house.

[Covenant]

I think Sony needs to redesign the system (two thumbsticks, built-in memory), make more quality games, and dump UMD movies and go to a downloadable format. For a first-generation effort, the PSP isn't bad, and has made a dent in what has been Nintendo's territory. (One can't help but wonder, however, if DS doesn't stand for "Dominates Sony." Jeez. That thing's on fire). My .02 worth.

[ReconHope]

i can't beleive i did'nt know sony made the walkman.

[ReconHope]

band-aid was what bandage was called i dins't know that it was a brand-name is that funny or am i just stupid?

[Torch]

...It just means that I must be old.