"But there's still very good business to be done on the less glamorous platforms - look at PlayStation 2, it's still selling bucket-loads of consoles and bucket-loads of games, though they've got to be the right games for the right platform."

He noted that the PSP is "kicking the arse of pretty much every other system out there" in Japan because the right games have come out - with a bit of luck, he thinks that some of those games will come out in Europe and be just as successful.

Seems to me, though, that as the most technically sophisticated handheld on the market, it's no compliment at all for the PSP if one of its mainstay UK developers is comparing it to a last-gen console.

PSP has a good few years left in it still, says Kingsley [GamesIndustry.biz]

With the enormous popularity of the iPhone and the phenomenal success of the iPod, anything handheld from Apple seems like a sure fire hit. But on the other hand you have Apple's inability to bring a lot of quality games to their platforms. If this gaming device does come to fruition, will it end up being the next DS or just another Gizmondo?

Apple Trademark Application [TARR via Trademork]

"There are a few things to do, and it will be a while before that happens," Murphy continued. "But yes, the product has been recovered from the liquidators and we are bringing it back to market."

Gizmondo is coming back - it's official [Eurogamer]

Maybe the Blair Witch games missed out. Because the mechanic could be interesting—a fixed (be it wobbly) camera system following a first or third person game could be a fun, novel way to limit a player's perception (because, face it, even when we're forced into a perspective we're generally still actually seeing more than most real-life scenarios). Of course this "fun factor" point is arguable, but let's move forward for the sake of the topic.

Could you stand the experience? Does watching a film like Cloverfield or Blair Witch make you seasick? And do you think that being in a virtual video game would exacerbate the effect, or minimize such issues? Because I have a nagging suspicion that those reports of people puking in theaters are written by an older generation of reporters who haven't been accustomed to games like UT3, or even shows you see on MTV.

And if you answer those questions, then sure, you can feel free to rip the mechanic to shreds.

"Well! There you go, prophetic," Bach said enthusiastically. "In fact it has been a role reversal. We were on first this time like they were last time, we had a product that was more price-competitive this time, and we had a higher attach rate."

The article goes into a great deal of specifics as far as the profitability of his division within Microsoft versus the much more profitable software division, citing that Halo releases have been the only time the E&D group have actually posted profits, but Bach is keeping his eyes firmly on the long term.

Towards the end of the article, Edmonton Journal writer Steve Makris ponders the possibility of a Microsoft handheld gaming device sometime in the near future.

"We don't talk about what we are doing, but generally when I look at the hand-held space, we haven't seen anything there that says, 'gosh, we wanna go make a big investment there.' It's a fairly tough area, a place where Sony and particularly Nintendo are doing a pretty good job."

A two-inch color LCD display isn't very big, no matter how you slice it (though it's large enough for Nintendo to make a jeans pocket-sized game system around, its Game Boy Micro). The clarity of the 320-by-240 display is remarkable, and the brightness is also quite good. Still, I can't quite get past the size. It's too small to see a lot of detail in the games. I was already a bit put off by Ms. Pac-Man's tiny dimensions on the larger iPod's display; here it's almost to the point of being ridiculous... Because of the overall tiny dimensions of the new iPod nano, I found my hand cramping up during long gaming sessions — it was just a tad awkward to have the iPod nano perched in my hand with my thumb on the Click Wheel all the time.

"The Handheld Learning Conference and Exhibition brings together so many thought-leaders it is natural that Nintendo gets involved with this important educational conference," said David Yarnton, Nintendo UK's general manager. "As the biggest supplier of handheld entertainment, Nintendo is already driving learning across all age groups with its products, in particular the Touch Generations series, including Dr Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old is Your Brain? and Big Brain Academy." Graham Brown-Martin, managing director of Handheld Learning added, "The majority of gaming devices - and particularly those by Nintendo - all feature local and wide area networking capabilities, which are exploited by its software titles to enable positive social interaction and networks. Whilst the world has been focusing on the $100 laptop Nintendo had already developed one in the form of the Nintendo DS."

More information on the conference and exhibition can be found at the Handheld Learning 2007 website. [via Next Generation]

Fortunately for those of you who don't know how good you got it *pounds desk* John Sadowski has collected a non-exhaustive but often amusing list of the weirdest to worst early electronic handheld games. From Touch Me by Atari to Pythaligoras, it's a retro parade of sleep inducing gaming.

Any list that starts with Naughty Squirrel demands your attention.

15 Strange Early Electronic Handheld Games [John Sadowski's Blog via The In-Between]

We're going to let Sony and Nintendo beat the hell out of each other [in the portable arena]. When you launch a portable device, you are launching a new platform. So, you're fighting a war on two fronts.

Nintendo has taken a similar approach in the past with its music/toy/thing Electroplankton only available via online retailers. While that decision may not have registered well with some Nintendo fans, this seems like a smart move. The market for a DS-based browser is probably small enough as it is, with two versions of a very similar looking product side-by-side on store shelves sure to sow customer confusion.

The Opera-based browser is due this June for an MSRP of $34.99. Great for extremely tiny porn on the go! Michael McWhertor

Original DS browser only available online [Gamespot]

The Atari Lynx was not only the company's first handheld, but it was as the first portable device to feature a full-color LCD screen. The portable was shown at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Summer 1989. At that same show, Nintendo introduced the Game Boy, and the rest is history. Sleeping on this pillow is so bound to cause nightmares set to Tetris music. Brian Ashcraft

We are all itchy for Electronic Arts' latest cash cow, Spore. It was assumed that the game will be spawning only on PCs and handhelds next year. Not so! says the game's creator Will Wright:

We're looking at all the platforms for Spore, because we're thinking about Spore as a franchise, not as a PC game. We're going to do the PC game first, but really, what we're trying to launch is an entire franchise that will be all across platforms.

All platforms, handhelds and PCs? This is Will Wright and EA's way of saying you will buy Spore, you will play it and you will love it. No excuses! Brian Ashcraft

More Here [VideoGamesBlogger]

Update: EA says it ain't so, at least not yet.

We are looking at various ways to bring more to that [handheld] space. There is a lot yet that hasn't been done.

Gates also compared the 360 to the PlayStation 2, saying that that the smaller and cheaper Sony console came out before huge-assed first Xbox. He then talked about how great Xbox Live was and probably felt very, very smug inside.

Isn't that picture from the conference just horrible? Brian Ashcraft

Full Post Here [PC Mag] Thanks, Andy!

Earlier, we reported that the a research firm called the Diffusion Group believed Microsoft would be entering the handheld market in 2007 or 2008. Luke over at 1Up talked with Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Morgan Securities, about the prospects of a Msoft portable.

Pachter mentions that his basis for such conjecture is the reorganization of the Home Entertainment division, combined with Bill Gates saying Vista will allow for convergence of 360, PC and mobile devices. But what kind of device?

I believe that the company is interested in turning the Xbox 360 into a media hub, and they are interested in offering a handheld device that will allow downloading of movies, television programs, music and games. Sort of a reverse-engineered iPod. Although the iPod form factor is exceedingly cool, I think that Apple would have preferred to make the device more game friendly.

Granted, all this is speculation, and the only thing that separates it from mere fanboyism is Pachter's job title. Brian Ashcraft

More Here [1Up]

A security guard at a nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania was caught playing a handheld video game by the Department of Environmental Protection during an unannounced check last Friday. Even though no violation occurred and employees are allowed to engage in mind-simulating activities like reading or using the computer, the department now wants to ban video games. According to DEP's Kathleen A. McGinty:

The issue is not the guard's use of the video game, because current procedures don't specifically prohibit those games. The real issue is that his complete absorption in the game distracted him from noticing the repeated approach of our inspector. And that shows why this procedure needs to be changed and these video games disallowed.

So... Think it was a DS or a PSP? Brian Ashcraft

More Here [Yahoo] Thanks, Jason!

iRiver's PSP killer (almost dead, sorry) has been kicking about since last fall. Dubbed the G10, the multimedia device has 3D graphics processing and a purdy 262k color screen. Korean electronics site AVING.net has pics up of a very slick working model. The portable drops in Korea this August. Bring on the Kart Rider!

More Here [Aving.net] Thanks, Torokun!

Sega is working with Kenichiro Mogi, a senior researcher at Sony Computer Science Research Lab, on a thinking-based game for Sony's PSP handheld.

And Bandai Namco is looking to integrate the action-orientated gameplay of its Point Blank arcade titles into a new brain game.

If you're looking for the details of the upcoming Sudoku Deluge, the Beeb hooks you up.

Brain Games Aim to Boost Your IQ [BBC News] Thanks, bob tism!

Sega's getting back into the handheld market says French gaming site Inpact Virtuel. The leaked info says the former console maker is planning a portable that would be able to play games from the Master System, the Genesis, the Saturn and the Dreamcast.

The portable would be cartridge-based, have USB ports and enable a PC connection. The device would also accept Compact Flash and SD card storage. There is possibility the portable will have DivX video playback as well.

The code name for this device is the "Sega Hedgehog" (yeah, we know) and will be outfitted with a 566 MHz Samsung processor, 128 MB nVidia graphics processor based on the GeForce 3D 4500 and a LCD display with touch-screen capabilities.

Utter and complete bull malarky? Geez, because the portable market is so competitive, its likely. Also, with pictured concept art (above) for a portable that looks like it was designed by Salvador Dali and Hello Kitty for Batman, this "scoop" seems more suitable for shoveling poo. Recently, we spoke with Sega about returning to the console market, and they insisted that the company was focusing on only game software. Keep in mind Sega continues to sell the Dreamcast through their online store.

Full Piece Here in English [Racketboy]
Full Piece Here in French [Inpact Virtuel] Thanks, Nick!

Gizmodo hunted up what they believe to be some pictures of the still not unveiled Origami device from Microsoft. The thing is basically a smallish tablet PC with some cool extra gizmos built into it. (Surely the formula for portable gaming doom.)

The Origami site is still spewing out nothing but non-information, but Gizmodo thinks that Intel will be doing some unveiling today. We'll make sure to update you if they do.

Is This Origami? [Gizmodo]

Game Jobs [Game Dev]

The mechanically-inclined one of the Gawker family, Jalopnik, has some more from Gizmondo exec Stefan Eriksson's Ferrari crash. By "more" we mean grisly automobile destruction shots. Don't worry no blood, just car guts.

More on the Enzo Incident [Jalopnik]
Gizmondo Exec Crashes Ferrari

Remember the Rod Stewart song "Some Guys Have All the Luck"? It couldn't possibly be any less true for Gizmondo exec Stefan Eriksson. Erikksoon plowed his Ferrari Enzo into a lightpole in Malibu. Thankfully, he's fine, but his Enzo is in about as good of shape as the Gizmondo handheld.

Thanks, Gizmodo.

Gizmondo Exec Crashes Ferrari, Creates Crappy Handheld Gaming Device [Gizmodo]
Swedish Games Mogul Smashes Million Dollar Ferrari [The Local]

Eurogamer has a bunch of information on the upcoming Killzone title for the PSP. Currently planned for release Nov. 3 (yes, both in the U.S. and Europe), Killzone: Liberation is expected to have challenge modes, multiplayer and co-op play. More information available on the handheld Killzone coming this May.

New Killzone PSP Details Leak [Eurogamer]

Killzone for PS2 on sale for $19.99 [Amazon]

Business Week confirms that Microsoft has formed a research team to look at the possibility of developing its own iPod-like digital music device. However, it's not all about nicking the iPod. The article maintains that were Microsoft to bowl into the .mp3 fray, "any Microsoft media device would have to leverage the company's most significant consumer strength, video gaming." You know what that implies, right? A handheld.

The Bug in Microsoft's Ear [Business Week]

Next Generation reports that a SIG analyst has predicted that Sony's PSP will build a huge lead on Nintendo's DS. The lead is chronicled in this quote: "It points out that in its first year both PSP and DS managed around 13 million units each, with DS slightly ahead. Year two cumulative stats give PSP 25 million over DS' 22 million. In Year Three the difference rises to ten million (38m to 28m). In Year Four, PSP's lead has stretched to 15 million and to 20 million by Year Five." In order for the PSP to sell through these units, we're going to have to see a whole lot more in terms of software from the handheld.

Analyst: PSP Will Increase U.S. Lead Over DS [Next Generation]

Reader James emailed in a link to AVING that asked: "How come no one is reporting on this?" The "this," dear readers, is the image we posted from AVING's page. Details on the Polaroid Gaming system are sparse (in an N-Gage sales kind of way), with most people wondering if the system is even going to find its way to the States. We're wondering, too.

CES 2006, Polaroid PMP 80G [AVING]

Yahoo reports that Nintendo has sold 13 million units of its DS handheld worldwide an updated statistic of the 10 million that Perrin Kaplan suggested had been sold. Those are pretty hot sales figures, anyway you look at it.

Nintendo: 13M DS Systems Have Been Sold [Yahoo]