Handheld video games are important to us because they offer profit with minimal development costs. If a console title costs 10 million dollars but two years to make, the seemingly large profits come at a very high cost. Handheld games take a fraction of the development time, a fraction of the development cost and can still sell millions of copies.
The new generation of consoles is currently delighting gamers across the globe, but where are the new handhelds? Through my business contacts, I have been lucky enough to uncover the next generation of handhelds. So read this over and then put your marketing team to work.
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Sony PSP2 — Sony has finally stopped pretending the PSP is for new titles and delivered what consumers really want — a portable PS1. The beauty of the PSP2s design is it accepts PS1 game discs right out of the box so players no longer need to wait for the games to be ported.
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Microsoft Xbox 180 — Still focusing on connectivity, the new MS handheld comes with a mini wireless tower to keep you always connected to Live. The backpack also doubles as a hard drive carrier so there will be no need for inconvenient memory cards.
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Nintendo NP — The new Note Pad comes with a blue pen (black pen sold separately) and over 80 different blank pages. The concept is a little too “innovative” (risky) for my tastes, but Nintendo promises a free range of stylus writing on both front and back of the system’s lined pages.
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Gameboy Pico — In this newest iteration of the Gameboy, Nintendo has really honed in on the essence of the system. Free of the intrusive screen and D-pad, the Gameboy Pico will fit in any pocket or sock. The A and B buttons can be pressed in infinite different combinations so the fun is sure to be endless.
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Sega Vagabond — Sega return to the hardware business with the new Sega Vagabond. Building on the success that was the Dreamcast, the handheld takes standard GD-ROM games and puts them on the road. Now you can play Blue Stinger any time, any place.
I think Sega could really fill a certain void in the videogame world, other than a new portable player. How about they start making the sequels to ALL games, on all systems, and for all developers!? That way, other game companies can focus on these innovative ideas. Sega can make a few quick bucks off the “fanboy” base of whatever game they choose to make a sequel to, and other brilliant companies don’t have to waste their time making the latest “roster update” ’07. Imagine a RPG made by EA! (I am salivating too folks!) But here is the catch, Sega HAS to make the sequel’s graphics and game play two years older than they should and make the games incredibly crappy. I mean it has been there winning strategy all along and look how good they are doing! Brilliant, no?
[…] specultes on MS handheld The Marketeer already broke the news that Microsoft was entering the handheld […]