PSUni writes "Over the course of the last twenty years we've watched, as gamers, as Nintendo completely dominated the handheld market. Not only did Nintendo dominate with no competition, but when competitors decided to step up and introduce rival platforms like the SEGA Game Gear, Nintendo held its ground and sent its competition packing -- that is, until the PlayStation Portable."
For Southeast Asia, new price changes.
Prices effective starting May 1st, 2026.
Replies(1)Looks like PlayStation took a hit with Marathon and is now quietly adjusting prices worldwide to recover the losses
Lets be honest raising prices doesn't do that when no one's buying it. I imagine the profit it greater selling 10 times more at a lower price
LMFAO Your comment alone says a lot more about you than anything else. When has one game not selling 10 million copies made a company raise the prices of their console? Then Xbox would be costing $5000 by now lol. You remind of the crazy drug addicts on the street rambling on about conspiracies. xD You sure you don't need a hug, buddy?
One game that Sony payed $200 million for. lol
Also, you sure were quick to get triggered. Maybe your the one who needs a hug?
If nothing else, we should be united against the real issue here. AI and unnecessary tariffs that are effecting all gamers.
The price increases are due to the RAM demand associated with AI and the US-Iran war. You can look to any business news website and local news to see that. Heck, even the 2026 Asus Zenbook Duo I've been eyeing has faced delays and has had a price increase of $400; that laptop has two specs. Asus is doing a staggered release with per-orders for the lower spec now and shipping in May and pre-orders for the higher spec that I'm eyeing starting in June. Basically, all computer manufactures are affected. It'll most likely start affecting smart phones too if it hasn't already. I can't remember the last time any major console maker (Nintendo, Sony, Sega, etc) increased the price of their console mid cycle outside of Microsoft just to make more profit.
War is causing gas prices to rise. Transport of everything requires gas so the prices of those items go up as well. So it does have an impact
The blockage of the Straight of Hormuz due to the US-Iran war has affected raw components used in semi-conductor manufacturing such as bromine, aluminum, and helium. Iran had attacked the liquified natural gas (LNG) plant in Qatar which is a large producer (1/3 globally) of helium which is used in semiconductor etching. So it's the both the war and the RAM crises.
Former Xbox executive Ed Fries comments on the early days of Xbox, the opinion of Japanese game companies, and more.
Replies(2)I dont think that'll ever happen. But i must say back in the day, they were definitely trying because they were more cash rich than their competitors.
I think MS were and still are the richer company. They tried to acquire Sega back in the day (and considered doing so again more recently), they obviously bought exclusivity to Halo which was originally shown as a Mac title. I don’t think as a company MS can claim the moral high ground here. It’s a wilful lack of self awareness.
Of course Sony would try exactly the same if they had the resources, but when the PS2 dominated the industry was in a much healthier place with an abundance of great third parties.
This has been a depressing generation as far as first party decisions are concerned. The fact we are debating business plans rather than which game is better is a sad reflection of the state of things.
There was Nintendo as well, Sony wouldn't have had a monopoly. In fact, the world would be better today if Xbox never existed in the first place. They pretty much brought all bad practices we have today. We might have gotten all of it either way, but not this early. In term of franchises, I don't think there is anything Microsoft released that would actually be missed if it didn't exist. Even Halo the world wouldn't notice if Halo didn't exist.
I think almost everyone will agree that a monopoly is not good for the industry. But that being said, the competition needs to be smart and strategic with their business. Simply buying up publishers and traditional third-party studios just to keep them out of the other companies reach is not a sustainable practice. That goes for all parties so don't think I'm just referring to Xbox.
I'm no business guru by any stretch of the imagination but I firmly believe that the best way to drive consumers to your software and hardware is to invest smart in your first-party studios. Give them full support and guidance in making unique, fun games that are only available to play in your ecosystem and the gamers will come.
But first party studios aren't enough. They only make up a small portion of the industry. Without 3rd party there would be no industry for Microsoft or sony.Developing games take time and money and sometimes you gotta make moves to stay competitive.
Nah, I never said first-party was enough. I said it’s the ‘best way’ to drive gamers to your platform. 3rd-party is a free-for-all and there’s no guarantee that gamers will use your hardware to play the game. If you want to push your own software and/or hardware you need first-party, or at least exclusive deals with third-party studios.
Then why be so emotional and continue to talk about it. Xbox will never die be ause it stays in so many people's head.
How can you even see him being "emotional" in that comment?
If anything, you're the emotional one, constantly trying to go at anyone that says anything against Microsoft. So when you call him emotional, it comes off as deflection
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The rejection is non-final (and even when such rejections are labeled as “final”, the process is far from over, given that there can be, at minimum, an appeal to the Federal Circuit).
Good, as they should! A game mechanic like that shouldn't be locked behind a patent, and Nintendo didn't invent it either.
Nintendo wants to keep wasting money on bullshit lawsuits, real smart in this economy. They should put that money aside for other game projects. On the other hand, I don't care if they waste it all either, and they are screwed in the future maybe that will teach them a lesson.
i think sony have learned that gamers want AAA games and not timed exclusives, timed dlc, billion dollar advert campaigns and shoddy hardware.
but will these fanboy sites ever learn?
I don't want Sony to be like NiN, i don't want last gen or earlier tech in my handhelds and home consoles just so they can sell it cheaper than the competition to try and get an edge. Sony has always been about top of the line technology and you pay more for that, yea it's not going to fly well at first with the younger kids and their parents at first with a higher price point but for the somewhat older (aka have money of their own to spend) they will see the pretty graphics and the franchises they love to play at home and figure "hey i'd like to be able to play those on the go". Then when the price goes down the younger kids will be able to talk mommy and daddy into buying them one if it has games that interest them.
Besides we all know the main attraction for NiN consoles and that's Mario, you put a mario game on a gaming device and it'll sell massively and that's how NiN has always dominated the handheld market.
PSP should be different from the DS. If both are the same, what is the point of buying one over the other? With a PSP/PSP2, I can have my shooter/adventure game on the go. With a DS/3Ds, I can play casual games and RPGs on the go.
If the rumors are true then I want something like remote play version 2. I have two PSPs as well and I love the little media machine. 299 for what their going to offer you over the long run is nothing. I'm pretty sure most phones these days cost alot more.....I do realize that this will not have phone capabilities but I was just using that as an example. Even if you get it subsidized it still cost alot over a period of time. Shit I payed a little over 500 for my touch pro 2 when it came out. It can do alot but not 500 dollars alot. I just didn't want to be locked into a contract. So the PSP2 might not be for everyone but I want it and they haven't even announced it yet. I'm just going by my feelings about the psp. Alot of good games on that system. Anyways end ramble
The PSP 2 Wont "Fail" Per se as seen with the First PSP but it wont achieve the world renown or commercial success as the 3DS provided the entirety its user base doesn't go blind