EA on powerful PSP 2: ‘A pretty compelling idea’
But analyst Michael Pachter: PSP 2 will be ‘dead in the water’
In an interview with EA chief CEO John Riccitiello, Kotaku asked one of gaming's biggest publishers to size up the impending next generation of handheld devices.
His answer is largely expected: Riccitiello wants them the 3DS, PSP 2 and mobiles alike to be successful and competitive, and wants to sell games for all of them. "My favorite outcome is a gigantic war for which we sell the bullets."
But when Kotaku argued that the app-friendly iPhone was cannibalising the more traditional games-based PSP, Riccitiello didn't agree. "Having something as powerful as a PS3 in your pocket is a pretty compelling idea," the CEO said, giving credence to rumours that the portable PlayStation successor will be an ultra powerful pocket console.
He says that high fidelity, graphically impressive games still resonate strongly with some gamers, meaning a powerful PSP 2 could still prove competitive against the 3DS and iPhone.
But Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter doesn't quite agree. The PSP "is going to be dead on arrival", the much quoted guess-man said.
He thinks that the iPod touch, specifically, has cut into the handheld market, and Apple’s cheap apps are more appealing to customers than full priced retail games.
He's not overly confident about Nintendo’s luck either. An initial sales spike, he says, but the numbers will quickly dip as Apple takes the portable gaming crown.
