BUS 449 Post 4

The Battle of Mobile Game Consoles

Greetings again! As you all know college is a place where people go nuts all the time and seek ways to let off some steam. A lot of people do this with games and since there are a lot of geeks on campus I’ll provide my thoughts on one of the greatest arguments that emerge around gamers – when it comes to portable game consoles which one is better: Sony’s PlayStation Portable or Nintendo’s DS?

Let’s start with the true facts: comparison of the specifications and the physical design of the two consoles.

Here PlayStation takes the lead with its 2GHz quad core processor, 512MB RAM and the 5 inch multi-touch capacitive OLED display. Compared to this Nintendo offers just 1GHz dual-core processor, 128MB RAM and two smaller screens with worse resolution. The battery life of the two is pretty much similar (5-6 hours for PlayStation and 5-7 for Nintendo) as well as the lack of internal built-in memory (only Nintendo comes with a gift memory card).

Sony also takes the lead in terms of connectivity with its 3G option as well as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth built in while Nintendo lacks both the 3G and the Bluetooth options.

The bigger variety of buttons on the PSP is also an advantage for Sony with the two analog sticks and the more comfortable location of the buttons. The difference between the two consoles comes from the option of a 3D screen and video taking of Nintendo’s platform. Some adore this while other people complain that it ruins the experience. Because of that Nintendo has built in a button that shuts off the 3D effect.

But the biggest difference, though, is the price which appears to have enormous effect on buyers. Nintendo is 15% cheaper - $169.99 (www.nintendo.com) while PlayStation, even discounted, is still $199.97 (store.sony.com).

In terms of design I will be a little biased. The design of the PlayStation seems more compelling to me because it just feels better in the palms of my hands. Sony excels with their design making their product a lot more stylish than Nintendo’s. The lack of moving parts (the second display of Nintendo) makes it more reliable and the feel of the device is much better. The screen provides a better experience to the player and the place of the buttons is much more comfortable for intense games.

But, nevertheless my opinion, the true facts speak for themselves. Nintendo has blown away Sony in terms of sales – 41 3DSs for every PlayStation Vita sold. This trend continues due to the much lower price of Nintendo and Sony is preferred only by gamers who are either true to the PlayStation brand or can afford more expensive consoles. If we go further up, we would enter the world of serious consoles such as Microsoft’s Xbox, Sony’s PlayStation and Nintendo’s Wii.

Even though Nintendo is preferred by most people because of its lower price and simpler games, hard-core gamers prefer PlayStation’s console because of the better and more complicated experience this console offers. Now grab that console and break away from the real world!