why hasnt microsoft attempted a handheld system?

[quote name='whoknows']I believe it was the first month the PSP Slim was out it outsold the DS in Japan, so no, not really dismal. Sales continue to be steady and it's selling well. The GC and Xbox sold nothing in comparison to the PS2, does that make them failures and make their hardware sales be considered "dismal"?[/quote]

But that's almost irrelevant to the argument because while the gamecube did come in last place last generation, it still made nintendo money because profit was > than cost.

M$ on the other hand, as I stated in my earlier post, lost some 5 million last year alone on hardware. So yes, the XBOX can be considered a failure, but at the same token, sony is milking the ps2 for all it's got left because of the enormous amounts of money they've lost on the ps3. So by logic, the ps3 can be considered a failure for now.

but this is all completely off topic and has nothing to do with M$ entering the handheld market.
 
Sorry to derail the enthralling PSP and DS talk, but...

Isn't MS either turning a profit or about to be turning a profit on the 360? Microsoft wants everything - home, office, and in-between. If they stay strong for the rest of this generation - and all indications are that they will - don't be surprised if they bring out some kind of Uber Zune that plays games.

Heavily, heavily, DRM'd games.
 
I own both, as do many people I know, and just about all of them have the same feelings...
PSP suffers from two problems, one lack of games, and two, completely unusable nub of an analog joystick they attempted to incorporate...
To be honest of the three handheld units I currently own, I'd say I play the Neo Geo Pocket even more the PSP, because of its near perfect analog stick...
In fact the only thing that has me using my PSP recently is PS1 downloads from the Playstation store and the fact that I got a 4GB Pro Duo on Black Friday, that and the Sega Genesis Collection...
Maybe if they spent more time on actual games, and less time on making it slimmer (which IMO isn't even needed, maybe shrink the system down a bit including the screen, but slimmer???), they'd be going somewhere...
About Microsoft and a handheld, I just don't think they feel comfortable enough to produce a handheld, being that one of their main issues is the fact that they've tried to win the console wars with sheer power, and there isn't much power you can pull out of a handheld (without disgustingly high prices that is)...
-Goatman
 
[quote name='SL4IN']
And not all 3rd party devs are left high and dry on nintendo's stuff, one of the main companies that does a lot of work with nintendo (atleast in the handheld market) is Capcom, and they've got a really good track record themselves as an independent company (one of my favorites atleast).[/quote]

That's good and all but I wish Nintendo would help 3rd parties on developing their own games, instead of outsourcing Nintendo IP's to them, like they did with Capcom, Sega and Namco. Also Capcom is my favorite independent company period. It seems they just got a good track record without anyone's help.

[quote name='Sleepkyng']
but if i had more money would i buy a psp and play Final Fantasy Tactics - you betcha.[/quote]

I have a DS too. Add time as a factor and add Crisis Core, Tekken, Metal Gear, and FF Dissidia to FFT.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']So yes, it sells dismally in comparison.[/QUOTE]
Exactly, don't compare the numbers to the DS numbers and the PSP is selling pretty well. Far from a failure.
[quote name='goatindaruffness']one lack of games[/QUOTE]
Maybe 2 years ago, I can't believe people are still saying that.
 
[quote name='KaneRobot']
Isn't MS either turning a profit or about to be turning a profit on the 360? Microsoft wants everything - home, office, and in-between. .[/QUOTE]

I can't imagine they are. Wasn't the cost of extending the RROD warranty to three years estimated to be $1 billion?

Factor in that they lost a good bit on every 360 sold for the first year or so, and it's hard to imagine they'll be profitable already.
 
[quote name='whoknows']Exactly, don't compare the numbers to the DS numbers and the PSP is selling pretty well. Far from a failure.[/QUOTE]

Never said it was a failure. I said is told dismally in comparison. Others may have said it was failure. They would be wrong.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']Never said it was a failure. I said is told dismally in comparison. Others may have said it was failure. They would be wrong.[/QUOTE]
What I'm trying to say yes, it sells dismally in comparison to the DS, but look at the numbers without looking at DS numbers and one can see the PSP is selling pretty well.
 
[quote name='whoknows']
Maybe 2 years ago, I can't believe people are still saying that.[/QUOTE]


I think people mainly just mean "lack of games I want to play" when they say "lack of games."

As I said above, it doesn't offer much outside of the same types of games I can get on the PS2 or another console, and I'd prefer to play those on my 50" HDTV.

I only have a DS as it offers games I can't get very much on a console (touch screen games, stuff like Picross, 2D platformers etc.). I don't really need a portable console, as I seldom take it outside the house. And I'm not going to play it at home if I'm just going to play the same type of games I could be playing on my TV.

PSP has gotten a bit better in that regard, but is still lacking for me.
 
[quote name='whoknows']What I'm trying to say yes, it sells dismally in comparison to the DS, but look at the numbers without looking at DS numbers and one can see the PSP is selling pretty well.[/QUOTE]

Don't care. I'm just saying it's selling dimsally in comparison to the DS, and the software is selling even worse.

And as such MS sees that and is smart enough not to bother with a portable system as they know it would be tough to turn a profit on one.
 
Everything is selling dismally compared to the DS aside from the Wii, but since when did the PSP have to outsell the DS to be considered a success?
 
The PSP has only SHIPPED 25 million units, and only SOLD 14 million. I don't think that's that impressive for a handheld that's been on the market for 3 years already.
 
[quote name='whoknows']Everything is selling dismally compared to the DS aside from the Wii and maybe PS2, but since when did the PSP have to outsell the DS to be considered a success?[/QUOTE]

This thread is about WHY MS DOESN'T PUT OUT A PORTABLE.

The reason is that they need to turn a profit as the X-box and 360 have bled money for them, and the outlook isn't rosy when they see that the DS has absolutely fucking ass raped the DS and sales, and that software (which is where companies make money) has sold even more like ass on it.

If you want to call the PSP a success, then fine.

I see it as a dissapointment (though wouldn't call it failure) as:

1. It's not even competing remotely with the DS on hardware or software front.

2. Games play like crap due to the d-pad and analog nub sucking.

3. Software same old shit you can get on a console, and littered with ports and remakes.

4. Battery life.

It is a nice multimedia machine though.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']
1. It's not even competing remotely with the DS on hardware or software front.[/QUOTE]
I guess
2. Games play like crap due to the d-pad and analog nub sucking.
Click to expand...
Opinion, I think the D-Pad is great, analog nub could be in a better place though.
3. Software same old shit you can get on a console, and littered with ports and remakes.
Click to expand...
Both systems have tons of shit on the systems, ports or not. Sure, there are PSP games you COULD play on a home console, but they just aren't on a home console so tough luck there. Besides that, some games that are on home consoles are just better suited for a portable aka Disgaea.
4. Battery life.
Click to expand...
Battery life is pretty good on the Slim, and Sony is releasing a battery that has double the battery life. Even the battery life on the original PSP is more than enough, I can't think of many cases who plays the PSP from full charge to dead in one sitting. Do anyone really need more than the 4-5 hours the battery lasts?
It is a nice multimedia machine though.
Click to expand...
It's not bad.
 
The PSP's a failure? I guess if you can only see the handheld market as a win or lose situation it could seem that way. Coming into a market that Nintendo had a death grip on, taking about a third of the marketshare in their first try, and selling very well consistently is certainly not a failure to me. Just because you're not the Patriots, it doesn't mean that you're the Dolphins.
 
[quote name='whoknows']
Both systems have tons of shit on the systems, ports or not. Sure, there are PSP games you COULD play on a home console, but they just aren't on a home console so tough luck there. Besides that, some games that are on home consoles are just better suited for a portable aka Disgaea.[/quote]

Note that I said same type of games, not same games explicitly. If I'm going to play a portable, it needs to offer a lot of games I can't get anything similar too on the consoles. All the PSP games that interest me, I can find a substitute on one of the consoles. Not so for stuff like 2D platformers like New Super Mario Bros or stuff like Picross Brain Age etc.

[quote name='whoknows']
Do anyone really need more than the 4-5 hours the battery lasts?
[/QUOTE]

When I travel, I travel light with a VERY cramped carry on bag. Prefer to not have to bring an ac adapter with me if I can help it. Thus having a battery that can last all I want to play on two cross country flights is a plus.
 
doesnt pirating play a role aswell? i mean in my school everyone who has a psp pirates all the games and make homebrew and what not. not to mention there are thousands of site devoted to pirating for the psp making its game sales decline.
 
There's tons of pirating on the DS as well. All one has to do is buy one of those card reader things and then download roms.
 
*comes in*

The DS, like the Wii, has an appeal to a broader audience compared to the PSP (and most likely whatever handheld MS could come up with). It's not just the games people, popularity plays a huge part. Don't forget that a large majority of consumers will buy whatever is considered the hot thing.

*runs away*
 
They havn't even made profit with the 360 because they've spent so much money trying to fix the red ring (billion +) so why would they try something else
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']It is a nice multimedia machine though.[/QUOTE]
I definitely disagree with that statement. Maybe the improved battery life and lowered weight on the new models makes it worth it if you can find UMD movies for like $1 or something, but other than that it does nothing your iPod can't do much better, and for much longer.

However, I'd disagree with most on this forum about its qualities as a gaming device. I think there are plenty of great games on the system. Obviously I'd rather play my DS, but you can no longer say the PSP doesn't have any great titles.
 
i have both, PSP/DS..maybe i'm not a big portable gamer, but both were collecting dust for awhile. i only used my PSP for internet. it would help if i got new games too. DS i didnt use it for awhile until i got the r4, but their games are very time consuming.
 
[quote name='mykevermin']As someone else pointed out in picture form, MS is still pushing the Zune as an alternative to the iPod. Apple owns the portable music player market in ways that Nintendo *used* to own the handheld market; that's not stopping MS. I think that's an easy excuse, and also an incorrect one.

The thing the handheld market lacks right now is consistency: making an iPod "killer" is easy: the standards are mostly set. To enter the handheld market, should they go the way of the DS, with simplicity in technology and innovation in the software? Or should they go the PSP route, with the "as close to console as possible" approach? Both have upsides and downsides, and as seen by the DS, one more than the other.
[/quote]

Speaking of Zune, the price is another factor: for the price of a Zune you can get some variation of an actual iPod. I'm not sure M$, or Sony for that matter, understand the concept of value or being competitive. They come out with a similar product and expect the full price of their competition.
 
[quote name='PyroGamer']I definitely disagree with that statement. Maybe the improved battery life and lowered weight on the new models makes it worth it if you can find UMD movies for like $1 or something, but other than that it does nothing your iPod can't do much better, and for much longer.
[/quote]

Yeah, I wouldn't buy one for that as I'm very happy with my creative vision m. But it does have a better screen (bigger and widescreen).

[quote name='PyroGamer']
However, I'd disagree with most on this forum about its qualities as a gaming device. I think there are plenty of great games on the system. Obviously I'd rather play my DS, but you can no longer say the PSP doesn't have any great titles.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, it definitely has some solid titles. I'd be more interested if I played outside the home more. But as I said above, since I don't it just doesn't really offer anything to get me to play it instead of my PS2, Wii or 360 on my HDTV since it offers similar types of games as the consoles, just in portable form.

DS I play instead sometimes as I can't find stuff like New SMB, touch screen games like Kirby Canvas Curse, or odd shit like Picross etc. on the consoles.
 
I don't know if this has been posted already, but I remember seeing a picture of a Microsoft handheld mockup in a magazine somewhere. It was just an idea of what it could look like, but it was still interesting.
 
I think the relative inability of the PSP to compete was more or less the deciding factor. If people are far and away choosing the DS over the PSP, why give them another option?

Microsoft, as much money as they have, isn't keen on losing more than they have to. At this point, they need to get their consoles upright, and then maybe they can worry about portables. This generation will also play a big factor. Let's say that things actually pan out the way they're looking now, with the Wii in first, 360 second, and PS3 third. I think if the 360 does well enough that there is significant consumer support going into whatever the next generation is, they'd feel they have the credibility to release a handheld.

Let's remember here, we're dealing with a company that only entered the gaming market last generation... you know, the one that only ended about a year ago (or is still going, if you look at the PS2). Sony, before releasing a handheld, was WELL into a BLOCKBUSTER second generation console offering, giving them the market credibility required to actually go after the big N in the handheld department. Let's be fair here, too... if Sony, who was far and away the leader of last generation couldn't even come close to anything other than 'second by default', what chance would Microsoft have?

Now, what's the other deciding factor? Whether or not Microsoft is going to focus on the Western markets as opposed to the Eastern. Japan is essentially making a huge shift from console gaming to handheld gaming, which leaves Microsoft out in the cold. However, since they're already not making any sort of dent in Japan anyway, they may just decide to give up. It's one of the interesting questions of this generation, which is whether Microsoft can have a dominate position (either first or second, depending on how high the Wii flies) in this generation without, basically, the support of the entire Japanese market. They are, technically, achieving that right now, so it's a question of how confident they are in their ability to pull it off. It's going to take a miracle to turn Japan around on Microsoft and, honestly, a handheld would be the only thing that may do it with the current Japanese gaming climate. The question then remains whether they care enough to do it.

As it stands, they don't seem to be in much trouble, and I think staying out of yet another market is probably the best idea for them at the moment. The DS is innovative and simplistic, and the PSP is a complex multimedia giant, which really only leaves Microsoft making the 'in-between' handheld (unlikely) or copying one of the existing ones, from hardware to capabilities, which also is a losing proposition for them.

I guess the basic answer to the question is 'because Microsoft doesn't yet want to'. They aren't a shy company, when they want to do it, they will, no matter the financial loss it may take to get it off the ground.
 
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