Starting from February 12th through February 25th, Sony is dropping the prices of select PS4 Slim bundles in the US to $249. You can get the Uncharted 4 and Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare bundles with the updated Dualshock 4 and 500GB HDD at that price. No info so far on a price reduction in Europe.

The Nintendo Switch launches on March 3rd in the US for a suggested retail price of $299.

Source

 

[thorasgar]

I got a idea, no one buy it and then see if sony drop price on the pro system.

Better idea. Everyone buy it on 24-25th and then return it after picking up your Switch.

/jk

 

[Foxi4]

Seems SONY is afraid, lol!
Could this be another "Wii" hit? they are thinking....

It's time for something else, something different, it;s time for a switch!!!!!

Something else, something different, a... tablet with HDMI Out? C'mon now. They have a 50 million unit lead over Nintendo, they have nothing to fear - even if Nintendo gains a substantial market share, developers will still develop for a userbase that large, and with games come unit sales. They're simply trying to cut the branch the Switch is sitting on.

 

[Deleted User]

Something else, something different, a... tablet with HDMI Out? C'mon now. They have a 50 million unit lead over Nintendo, they have nothing to fear - even if Nintendo gains a substantial market share, developers will still develop for a userbase that large, and with games come unit sales. They're simply trying to cut the branch the Switch is sitting on.

.... and two HD rumble dildos with extra- smooth vibrations

srsly tho the switch is worse then a shitty tablet with hdmi- the tablet has android with its huge library and popularity (DONT TELL ME HOW SHITTY THE SMARTPHONE LIBRARY IS, most ppl dont care)

 

[foob]

Sony, I know Vita is just a recent death, but please get back into portable gaming with a MicroSD-based unit.

It's so odd to see the manufacturer that has pushed visuals & sound quality improvements in portables more than anyone (ever since the Walkman & then the PSP & then the Vita) not make gaming portables in 2017. Besides, the card-making King Of Love Hotels needs some healthy direct competition.

 

[Deleted User]

Sony, I know Vita is just a recent death, but please get back into portable gaming with a MicroSD-based unit.

It's so odd to see the manufacturer that has pushed visuals & sound quality improvements in portables more than anyone (ever since the Walkman & then the PSP & then the Vita) not make gaming portables in 2017. Besides, the card-making King Of Love Hotels needs some healthy direct competition.

The portable console market is pretty dead- only 2% of gamers game on them. Compare this to smartphone, which iirc has 35% including tablets, and you get the picture that its not that smart business wise to make another portable console...

 

[Saiyan Lusitano]

PS4 has an amazing library of games so this price drop will just make it even sweeter for newcomers who're pondering between a PS4 or a Switch. I really want to play Crash Bandicoot but haven't bought a PS4 yet.

 

[foob]

The portable console market is pretty dead- only 2% of gamers game on them. Compare this to smartphone, which iirc has 35% including tablets, and you get the picture that its not that smart business wise to make another portable console...

The latest Australian statistics show 15% (but yes, dropping).
http://www.igea.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Digital-Australia-2016-DA16-Final.pdf

4 euro countries range from 8% (GB) to 16% (France) according to these guys:
http://www.isfe.eu/industry-facts/statistics

It can't be just 2% overall wordwide, can it?

 

[Foxi4]

The portable console market is pretty dead- only 2% of gamers game on them. Compare this to smartphone, which iirc has 35% including tablets, and you get the picture that its not that smart business wise to make another portable console...

Simple fix - make the portable a smartphone. And I don't mean like the Xperia Play, I mean a full-on console with phone functionality and AAA titles. It's really not that hard. The reason portables are dying is because smartphones are taking their place - merge the smartphone with the console and you have an unbeatable deal.

 

[foob]

merge the smartphone with the console and you have an unbeatable deal.

How? Outside of disappearing/collapsible thumbsticks and disappearing tactile controls, I don't see any gaming portable matching the convenience of any phone that slips in your pocket (without protrusions) or that slips in a thin tablet case. So the question to me is: how would they do it while maintaining the physical dimensions of the typical phone or tablet. No wider. No fatter. Just a convenient. Yet with tactile controls that a 'true gamer' will demand?

Otherwise it's just another phone / tablet.

 

[Deleted User]

Simple fix - make the portable a smartphone. And I don't mean like the Xperia Play, I mean a full-on console with phone functionality and AAA titles. It's really not that hard. The reason portables are dying is because smartphones are taking their place - merge the smartphone with the console and you have an unbeatable deal.

problems-
1. people would buy samsung s(something) and hack nintendo stuff there then buy a nintendo smartphone. and it is inevitable unless ninty will make some dual boot or something. also unlikely.
2. someone who buys a phone and isnt a gamer wont buy a handheld but a simple smartphone, and play on it.

but other then that thats exactly what I think... but for some reason I dont see it happening...

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

The latest Australian statistics show 15% (but yes, dropping).
http://www.igea.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Digital-Australia-2016-DA16-Final.pdf

4 euro countries range from 8% (GB) to 16% (France) according to these guys:
http://www.isfe.eu/industry-facts/statistics

It can't be just 2% overall wordwide, can it?

actually in china and Africa the gaming consoles are pretty unpopular afaik, and smartphone and pc- the only option. and considering that they have large populations that could decrease it to 2% overall...
sad but true

 

[Foxi4]

problems-
1. people would buy samsung s(something) and hack nintendo stuff there then buy a nintendo smartphone. and it is inevitable unless ninty will make some dual boot or something. also unlikely.
2. someone who buys a phone and isnt a gamer wont buy a handheld but a simple smartphone, and play on it.

but other then that thats exactly what I think... but for some reason I dont see it happening...

That's not a problem if your dedicated software is hardware specific instead of coded for Android, which is entirely doable. If the games require a specific chip to run and the OS reports that chip as missing, there's nothing anyone can do about it, and since consoles run on dedicated SoC's, it'd be easy to achieve. Tegra exclusives are a good example here. Android allows you to code specifically in C++, using the Android wrapper as a booting mechanism for your native binary.

How? Outside of disappearing/collapsible thumbsticks and disappearing tactile controls, I don't see any gaming portable matching the convenience of any phone that slips in your pocket (without protrusions) or that slips in a thin tablet case. So the question to me is: how would they do it while maintaining the physical dimensions of the typical phone or tablet. No wider. No fatter. Just a convenient. Yet with tactile controls that a 'true gamer' will demand?

Otherwise it's just another phone / tablet.

Clearly you've missed the 3/DS line entirely then. Or the PSP Go for that matter. Analog sticks can be very easily hidden inside inside case indentations to allow for a slider or clamshell design, it's a matter of case design, hardly an issue. Besides, a console phone would have to be a console first, a phone second - the main purpose is still gaming.

 

[Clydefrosch]

they just need to get rid of the left over oldps4 stock

 

[Foxi4]

they just need to get rid of the left over oldps4 stock

Those are PS4 Slims, they're not the old-style PS4's.

 

[Deleted User]

That's not a problem if your dedicated software is hardware specific instead of coded for Android, which is entirely doable. If the games require a specific chip to run and the OS reports that chip as missing, there's nothing anyone can do about it, and since consoles run on dedicated SoC's, it'd be easy to achieve. Tegra exclusives are a good example here. Android allows you to code specifically in C++, using the Android wrapper as a booting mechanism for your native binary.
Clearly you've missed the 3/DS line entirely then. Or the PSP Go for that matter. Analog sticks can be very easily hidden inside inside case indentations to allow for a slider or clamshell design, it's a matter of case design, hardly an issue. Besides, a console phone would have to be a console first, a phone second - the main purpose is still gaming.

- tegra software on non tegra hardware.
Im not a specialist, but if they make a conventional processor/gpu, then people will find out how to run it on non-nintendo devices. also out of interest- about the android software, does it run directly on hardware and different architectures just cant run the games or on a software layer? if the first is true then how do normal android games run on tegra deevices, and if the second is true- then why the performance isnt so bad?

also clamshell/slider designs arent popular nowdays, and arent as convenient as the "one-block" design (idk the real name). that will make them a lot more thick or make the controllers less convenient (yes the 3ds thumb stick aint that great)...

 

[foob]

Clearly you've missed the 3/DS line entirely then. Or the PSP Go for that matter. Analog sticks can be very easily hidden inside inside case indentations to allow for a slider or clamshell design, it's a matter of case design, hardly an issue. Besides, a console phone would have to be a console first, a phone second - the main purpose is still gaming.

Several ways tactile controls are an issue:
Putting them in requires room & also adds weight to do it reliably. You either make the screen(s) smaller to fit them in (3DS) for a certain size of device or you have to make a sliding mechanism (PSP Go). Both are less than ideal and both aren't used by 99.99% of phone/tablet users today (let alone desired). A design like this is not ideal for both gaming and practical phone usage - it's a mish-mash of compromises as we can tell from the 3DS analogue sticks and the PSP Go's control design. Plus they are both thicker. A clamshell design and sliding design all adds to thickness of an equivalently-sized phone or tablet.

Size, shape and weight all influence convenience and whether or not something is slipped into your pocket (or not) versus another device that's just more practical (even if it has all the phone and communication apps, any gaming console with tactile controls loses out on convenience). It may not be an issue for some enthusiasts, but I think it's an issue for most of the population.

 

[Bonestorm]

The portable console market is pretty dead- only 2% of gamers game on them. Compare this to smartphone, which iirc has 35% including tablets, and you get the picture that its not that smart business wise to make another portable console...

Absolute nonsense.

The 3DS will sell over 70mil whens all said and done. How exactly is that "pretty dead"

Do i need to list the amount of exclusive games that can only be played on 3DS/DS/PSP/VITA systems?

The people who buy crappy cell phone games are not the same people who buy actual games for portable consoles

 

[Deleted User]

Absolute nonsense.

The 3DS will sell over 70mil whens all said and done. How exactly is that "pretty dead"

Do i need to list the amount of exclusive games that can only be played on 3DS/DS/PSP/VITA systems?

The people who buy crappy cell phone games are not the same people who buy actual games for portable consoles

1. do you really compare the 3ds' sales to smartphone sales? really? it runs for 6 years already and sold 70mil units... please dont compare...
2. I meant the design is dead for mobile phones, nobody will buy a slider/clamshell smartphone nowdays, that will be very thick and heavy... or smaller screen.
3. as all of us can see, the portable gaming is dying. compare the sales of both 3ds and psvita to ds alone if you dont believe me. or to gba. sad but true...
4. even "REAL GAMERS" have different considerations when buying a phone and when buying a console. not everybody will buy a smartphone which is only good for gaming and worse in any other respect...

 

[Bonestorm]

Yeah nothing your saying is making any sense.

A phone is a phone...i have a phone and i've never played a single game on it and i play games everyday. No i don't see portable gaming dying at all actually 70 mil sales is fantastic because those 70 million people are actual gamers who buy software with actual money. The DS sold so much because it had a "gamer" base and a "casual" base the casual base is gone and were left with the 70mil number which is fantastic. Every portable Nintendo releases is not going to sell 150 mil that's completely unreasonable.

Every portable besides the Vita has sold very well historically...i don't buy this theory at all

 

[Deleted User]

Yeah nothing your saying is making any sense.

A phone is a phone...i have a phone and i've never played a single game on it and i play games everyday. No i don't see portable gaming dying at all actually 70 mil sales is fantastic because those 70 million people are actual gamers who buy software with actual money. The DS sold so much because it had a "gamer" base and a "casual" base the casual base is gone and were left with the 70mil number which is fantastic. Every portable Nintendo releases is not going to sell 150 mil that's completely unreasonable.

Every portable besides the Vita has sold very well historically...i don't buy this theory at all

again, compare the 3ds to (pretty much) any portable gaming console that nintendo ever made.... the GBA beat it, and it was running for far less years

 

[Bonestorm]

again, compare the 3ds to (pretty much) any portable gaming console that nintendo ever made.... the GBA beat it, and it was running for far less years

I don't think you understand what i'm saying so let me break it down for you.

Smart phones weren't a thing when the GBC/GBA/DS/PSP were around so a large amount of the "CASUAL" base bought and played on those because what else are they going to play on? now phones are a thing so portables have lost that crowd but the foundation the actual "gamers" are still around. 70 mil sales is fantastic any way you cut it, i understand your trying to compare it to the DS phenomenon but like i just explained that comparison makes no sense.

Nintendo is about the release the strongest portable ever.