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#11086 03/22/06 01:26 PM
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Microsoft readying PSP challenger, reports say
By James Niccolai, IDG News Service

Microsoft Corp. is designing a new handheld gaming device that can also play music and video in a potential challenge to market leaders Sony Corp., Nintendo Co. Ltd. and Apple, according to published reports.

The company has assembled a crack team of engineers from its Xbox division to work on the product, which may take a year or even two years to reach the market, the reports said.

The project is being led by game executive J Allard and directed by Greg Gibson, the system designer behind Microsoft?s Xbox 360 console, according to a report in Monday?s San Jose Mercury News. Microsoft reorganized its gaming and entertainment divisions to assemble the team for the project, an indication of how seriously it is about building a successful rival to Sony Corp.?s PlayStation Portable (PSP), the paper said.

The Mercury News, and a similar report in Tuesday?s Wall Street Journal, cite unnamed sources familiar with the company?s plans. The Journal story said the device could possibly ship by the end of the year, although the Mercury News said it would be a year or two before it is ready.

Microsoft declined to comment on any plans for a new product.

Rumors of a new Microsoft device have been circulating for months, in part because chip company Transmeta Corp. confirmed it was providing design services for a new, unspecified Microsoft project. Transmeta?s chip technologies help reduce power consumption, an important consideration for portable devices.

Microsoft recently took the wraps off of one secretive effort, its Origami project to build ultramobile PCs. The new gaming device appears to have a more purely entertainment focus, the reports said. Microsoft trails Sony?s PlayStation2 in the home console market, and Sony and Nintendo?s market leading products in the portable gaming market. The company also has yet to come up with a reply to Apple?s iPod music player.

Trying to build a device that combines both gaming with music, and even video as well, may not be the answer, said Daren Siddall, a principal analyst with research company Gartner Inc. The trend in music players is towards small, while gaming machines need to be big enough to accommodate comfortable controls, he noted.

?When you start converging the devices it becomes much more experimental. You have to compromise somewhere,? he said.

Paul Jackson, a principal analyst with Forrester Research Inc. in Amsterdam, said the music-playing functionality is more likely to be an extra ?nice to have? feature, rather than a core selling point of the device, which is likely to focus on gaming.

Apart from the Xbox, Microsoft doesn?t have a great track record designing hardware products, he noted. The video-playing Portable Media Centers it helped design and which are sold by partners like Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and iRiver America Inc. are relatively expensive and locating content for the devices could be easier, he said. ?They haven?t really set the world on fire,? he said.

link: http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/03/21/microsofthandheld/index.php
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sounds kick ass...
~MysteriousStranger~


i am who i am, none can change that.

Take pride in your self, you are you, and nothing anyone can say will affect that.
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#11087 03/22/06 04:17 PM
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Microsoft has yet to create a decent gaming product.

Xbox is great yet has a crappy controller and limited games because Microsaft has yet to really lure any big gaming software companies away from Sony. Every gamer I know only wanted Xbox to play Halo on. As for as the PSP goes, every gamer I know played with it for a month and then got bored. I doubt Microsoft who is known to overdo and overbug everything will have better luck. Oh, and the PSP you can play movies and that has not helped it much either.

#11088 03/22/06 05:56 PM
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Wow!!1 Where exactly to you get that from? I know plenty of gamers and not a single one has mental health problems, they are all very cognizant of reality, have good if not excellent social skills and their brains have not collapsed.

Water seeks it's own level, if people are using games to escape a bad reality then games can become a problem, if their home life is good then gaming is not an issue.

Once again, people blame a product not the source for the problems in society.

#11089 03/22/06 05:57 PM
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My son told me he daydreams sometimes when he plays playstation. Kind of like I do when I drive my car, I guess.

I thought that was kind of funny.


~Justine~
#11090 03/22/06 06:11 PM
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I guess gaming can be like sewing, frees the mind to daydream and keeps the hands busy.

I agree it can become a serious issue when someone plays it constantly for hours on end, but it can be fun as well. I got hooked into the Online Game City of Heroes for awhile, it was fun creating the characters and meeting people on line to team with.

I got bored eventually and am now looking at getting D and D online.

#11091 03/22/06 08:14 PM
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Just because a few people were highlighted on Discovery Channel does not mean that it is a widespread issue. One should not generalize from sensationlized examples.

As far as hard objective research, one has to be careful of sources as there are many parental reactionary groups that want to blame their kids emotional issues on a video game. As I said in my experience of 20 + gamers, not one has ever had issues.

If video games caused that many emotional issues they would have been banned years ago, believe me.

Action games are no more violent then movies, reality TV, "Professional" wrestling or shows like "24". Trust me violence in media has nothing to do with violence in kids. It is a much deeper societal disconnect issue that no one wants to face.

#11092 03/22/06 11:30 PM
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Chaoslillith wrote - "I got bored eventually and am now looking at getting D and D online."

See - I knew you were really a guy smile

I am one of those sad muppets that actually plays the pen and paper D&D occasionally. Online D&D looks awesome.

I would recommend Guildwars though. Incredible fantasy online game with no monthly fees.

You will just walk around at times marvelling at the beautiful scenery. Incredible acheivement.

Regards,

Blacknad.

#11093 03/22/06 11:53 PM
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Hehe, no the gamer mentality finally broke through all my defenses. It was a case if you cannot beat them join them.

I still play paper D and D with the right group. It is awesome.

I hear good things about Guildwars, may have to investigate.

#11094 03/24/06 04:13 PM
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Back in high school, I found my home in the D and D books smile The companions trilogy, especially.

Never played a whole paper game.

Most video games frustrate me..I get too stressed. But I did really enjoy Final Fantasy IX to the point of obsession...what a great winter. A big mug of hot minty tea and my son on a big comfy lazyboy until we eventually beat the game.


~Justine~

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