You can see the idea – the PSP is for ‘real’ games, and the iPhone is for ‘bite-sized gaming’. Show some great looking PSP games and have some crappy simul-screen on the iPhone, and you’re good to go!
Here is the main thrust of the video as noted at Engadget:
Marcus reminds viewers that the iPhone is built for things like “texting your grandma and calling your girl,” while the PSP is “built for big boy games,” some of which can be had for as little as $9.99.
So what is the problem? One of the main points of the commercial is showing off the AWESOME PSP games … and they can all be had for $9.99! Well, the ones they showed are, anyway. So what did they show? Here are a couple of the images:
and another one:
In total three games were shown: Twisted Metal, Buzz Master Quiz, and Hot Shots Golf. All of these games now cost $9.99 … but these are not new games. Twisted Metal is a launch game – yes, that means it is more than 5 years old! It is a solid game with plenty of flaws that were common for games that came out right at launch.
Buzz was a mediocre game back in 2008 when I reviewed it! I am surprised that it is only just hitting $10 now! On most platforms a game of this caliber would be in the $1.99 bin by now!
And while I professed my love for Hot Shots Golf in my review of Hot Shots Tennis, but once again, this is a 5 year old game that got solid but average scores in 2005!
So why don’t they talk about Madden? About how a $12.99 iPad game does 90% of what a $40 PSP game does, and with better visuals (but worse animations)? Or how the same Final Fantasy I & II cost twice as much (3x with the current AppStore sale!) on the PSP as they do on the iPhone? Same thing with GTA Chinatown Wars and many other feature-identical games that cost less on the App Store … MUCH less!
They are treating us like we are stupid. Last night I showed the commercial to my kids when deciding whether to comment, and they remarked ‘i dunno … the games look as good on the iPod Touch as they do on the PSP’. They have played games like Final Fantasy I & II, GTA Chinatown Wars, Fieldrunners, and so on. They KNOW that the core graphics are not dissimilar, and that the ad is a crock.
Personally, as I have said before I prefer the PSP, basically because I prefer real controls to virtual controls. It is the same reason I love having my keyboard dock for the iPad – the tactile feel. But I also like keeping my money, so I keep finding myself increasingly frustrated with Sony. I love my PSP Go, but getting games means dealing with PSN: and as constantly reported, PSN games are more expensive than retail games.
Heck, even the recent blog announcement adding more titles to the $9.99 favorites line (from which these games were picked) was a clap in the face! How? Many of the titles, including two I would have bought immediately – Dungeon Siege: Throne of Agony and Sid Meier’s Pirates! – remain UMD only.
So Sony … thanks for yet another example of marketing ineptitude! I would LOVE to support you and your platform, but what I really need is for YOU to start supporting ME! Use your leverage to get more older games into the PSN store – and at lower prices! When you have a sale – do it for REAL, like Steam or Direct2Drive or GamersGate.
And stop insulting out intelligence with these pseudo-macho commercials – you have some great hardware, not put it to good use! The attitude that ‘real gamers’ use your hardware and ‘little kids and people fooling themselves’ use either Nintendo or Apple has proven itself well: you dismally lost to Nintendo, and you have now dismally lost to Apple. Nintendo no longer considers you a competitor in the handheld space – for good reason. And I wonder if Apple ever has?
Source: Engadget