Sony needs to remember who their fanbase is. It's not hipsters like Apple, it's not geeks like Microsoft. It's average Joe's for their middle end gear and real connaisseurs for their high end gear. None will run out of their house to buy a new phone that plays games because it's Sony, because both are either tight with their money or too knowledgeable to fall for hype.

This really is madness, and I think nobody should try to run after Apple's market except Microsoft, to be a comfortable second. Everyone else will just fail.

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Hell, prior to the iPhone, Sony & Motorola were the ones competing for the Mobile Phone / MP3 player combo niche, and Sony was destroying everyone.

"Sony needs to remember who their fanbase is."

...you mean the guys who spent $600 on a gaming console? Or the ones that spent $1,500 on their HDTVs? Hell, press releases just recent from Sony (foolishly) show they want to cater to the "bleeding edge tech freaks" when it comes to the PSPGo, why wouldn't it be any different for their PSPhone?

One could even argue that Microsoft caters MORE to the 'average Joe' market with their introduction of NetFlix, Last.fm, Twitter, and Sky.fm on the 360. Sony is kinda trying to be a sophisticated Apple, if that makes any sense...making everything streamlined and shiny. Not that they're doing a good job at it, but they're trying.

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Won't disagree with you on the whole idea of avoiding it though. What makes this all weird is the fact that Sony & Apple seem to team up a hell of a lot more than Apple/Microsoft on the PS3 (or at least their publishers), it makes you wonder if they're going to pull a stunner and team up with Apple to create the "Gamer Edition" of the iPhone / iPod Touch....hmmmm....

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If they teamed up with Apple... no. Lets hope that doesn't happen. Then I'll have to hate Sony, and it all gets really complicated, and I really don't want that to happen.



I think Sony has a great image. They make very reliable, high-end products, and seem to attract a less mainstream, hipster crowd than Apple.

People bought the $600 PS3 at launch because it was a deal. The closest Blu-ray player around was still at $1,000. The PS3 was a blu-ray player bundled in with a gaming platform with GREAT brand recognition.

I think sony could get into the smart phone market, but not with a PSP branded system.

The PSP needs to continue to be a multimedia/gaming device, and that alone. They need to stop being such pussies, and just release a NEW PSP. The need to take the PSPgo, and slap on a second analogue stick, a touch screen, and slightly improved processing/video capabilities, as well as improved multimedia functionality.



That thing would sell like CRAZY... but they're too afraid to make the jump.

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Though, a device that utilizes the PS3 for server-side rendering would be interesting, but I can't see it working on a mobile level. Maybe an attachment for your computer or something.

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Remote play was also very focused on video playback, wasn't it?

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Or... I do, anyhow. Yay external Harddrives!

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Oh shut up you stupid fanboy. geez...

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But then again, I prefer not to be a brand fanboy and would rather have our technology advance forward regardless of who does it. Call me crazy, but I think the consumer wins when fads catch on and force other companies to expand their minds a bit. Who knows, maybe one day the West will be only 5 years away from Japanese phone technology...

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Now while gamers don't care so much for going through hundreds of cheap games to find the diamonds in the rough, even are prone to impulse buying that the iPhone App store and all mobile games have made millions off of.

Unfortuantly the more expensive an item is, the less likely people are to buy it impulsively

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"Now while gamers don't care so much for going through hundreds of cheap games to find the diamonds in the rough, even are prone to impulse buying that the iPhone App store and all mobile games have made millions off of."

I agree that the amount of application on the iPhone store means that finding a good one is like looking for a needle in a hay-stack, however, I do not agree that "all mobile games" have made millions, either each or combined. Certainly not if you think that the recipients of these "millions" are developers.

"Unfortuantly the more expensive an item is, the less likely people are to buy it impulsively"

While this is true to a point, you can make stuff too cheap. Paying £3.99 for a game, I think "that's inexpensive, I could spend that and not miss it." At the same time, that price carries with it the assumption of value. Drop the price to 99p and I think, "do I really want to spend a pound on something that is probably going to be rubbish, or can I live without it?" Normally, I'll come down on the side of living without it.

I think that the impulse buy sweet spot is hovering around, perhaps just under, the £5 mark. It's enough money to give the product a sense of "value" while still giving you change from the lowest paper denomination in UK circulation.

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Sony has been making mobiles that played games for years, as have many others. In Japan you can play Metal Gear Solid with more or less Playstation graphics, some upcoming PSP games started off as Mobile Phone games.

For them to start working on a mobile that does what previously made phones have done, but more suited for games isn't copying, it's competition.

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Palm's OS for their phone is far superior to Apple's. And it has apps too.

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