As we all know, the Sony PSP and Nintendo DS are currently ruling the charts. The big question however is why.Most gamers will jump up at this point and shout “It’s the price and portability factor you noob!” We do agree that portability does play a big role but we have to disagree on the price part. In most countries the PSP is actually more expensive than the Xbox 360. Yeah we know the Xbox 360 is pretty unstable (we just had too) but still the console provides much more than the PSP besides the portability.Hey but wait, the Xbox 360 arcade edition is the only version that’s cheaper than the PSP correct? Next generation gaming consoles are very much like PC’s these days since you get different versions which offer well…different features. You can upgrade hard drives; add wireless adaptors, blah blah blah you know the rest. Another article we read the other day explained how customers got extremely confused with these new console features and revisions and versions and what not and most ended up walking out of the stores empty handed (probably to go do some more research). An employee from a local game store booked in a client’s new 40Gb PS3 for replacement due to the fact that it had problems playing PS2 games (yeah, read that sentence again).Your Sega Genesis was the same as mine, and the next door neighbor and so fourth and this is how consoles have operated all these years. We love the PS3 but the fact that you have to actually install some of the titles (like DMC4) kind of takes away the whole tray and play factor don’t you think. For internet freaks like us these versions and upgrades are pretty easy to understand but for the end user it’s not always the same story.Here’s an example: Jack wants to upgrade his PS2 so he runs down to the local game shop to buy a next generation console. Firsts he looks at the 360 only to be informed by the sales person that due to RROD they discontinued sales and are still awaiting new and more stable units. He then spots the nice looking PS3 to once again be informed that the 40GB version won’t run his PS2 games and that the 60GB version is discontinued. Next on the list is Wii which does not really have any titles he likes such as MGS and Gran Turismo available and the graphics seem to be on par with he’s old PS2 as well. He’s not having such a nice day and obviously the fun has been taken out of buying a console. He might end up deciding to go the PS3 route but due to the pricing he will most likely end up going home empty handed.Gone are the days of just connecting your console to your TV with standard RCA cables. It’s all about surround sound, HDMI, LCD resolutions, wireless, storage capacity, card readers, etc. and even though these features are nice to have they can get confusing to some.It’s not “Dad, I want an Xbox 360", it’s more like “Dad, I want the limited Xbox 360 Mongoose Edition or Pro Value Edition or Elite Edition but just not the Arcade Edition".If you wanted a Sega Genesis you simply just had to grab any one off the shelf, but lately people tend to ponder for weeks on what console version to buy and even sometimes end up waiting for later versions to be released with the hope that new features with be included. Now that the PSP can also connect to a television the purchase is just so much easier. “Dad, I want a PSP”….Done.Gamers are active, gamers are mobile and as we all know people want things easy in life. Handheld console purchases are just so much simpler.
