haha sony
Date: Jul 12th, 2004 9:04:53 pm - Subscribe
Mood: happy
current music: the cheers of thousands of ds fans
got this from http://ps2.ign.com/articles/529/529720p1.html good news to hear,
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PSP Lacking Games?
Delay of dev kits cutting into developers' time.
July 12, 2004 - The future of the PSP is looking hazy lately with the lack of final details for the PSP or final development kits for the game companies. According to Bloomberg.com, this could lead to a lack of games for the system at it s launch, potentially hurting sales. With the four largest independent gamemakers making no new content for the console, this won't provide as much incentive for gamers with PS2s to buy a new system other than for its portability.
Sega is concerned that there won't be enough time to finish games in time for launch since no final technical details have been announced. "We don't know if we'll meet Sony's schedule,'' said Sega spokesman Hirofumi Otsuki in Tokyo. "PlayStation Portable details still seem to be in development.''
Industry analysts are also concerned about the last-minute operations. "Sony is cutting it very fine,'' said Amir Anvarzadeh, director of Japanese equity sales with KBC Financial Products based in London. "I don't think game developers are generally very happy with the way Sony has approached PSP.''
According to Yoshiko Furusawa, a spokeswoman with Sony Computer Entertainment in Tokyo. Sony has yet to send any development kits to outside developers. In comparison, when the PS2 was at the same stage of development, kits had already been sent out before its March 2000 launch.
The four largest independent gamemakers, Konami, Capcom, Square Enix and Koei, are all working on releasing versions of existing games on the PSP or not at all. Konami will be repackaging games, including a version of Frogger. Capcom will be releasing a few games, including a Vampire Chronicles title while Koei is working on a Dynasty Warriors title. So far, Square Enix is not planning on developing any games for the system. "We are going to wait and see,'' said Michihiro Sasaki, general manager of Square Enix. "We don't know what kind of console it will be.''
Despite it all, Sony has not changed any official plans and according to Sony's Furukawa, "We are aiming to launch the PlayStation portable in Japan by the end of the year." At a recent press conference, Sony announced that there will still be three million units shipped in the first three months in Japan. Also announced was that the number of developers for the PSP has grown from 34 to 59. But without any development kits, it's curious as to what these newly signed on developers are actually working on.
-- Ed Lewis
Comments: (1)
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david - December 23rd, 2004 |
