Cool Tech Reviews

Bill Ray at The Register:

Newly launched website GameJump.com is to provide mobile games free of charge.

The service, which went live on Wednesday, makes money from pop-up adverts that appear for a couple of seconds when the game starts and ends.

Select a game on the site and you’ll receive an SMS with a link to the download (if you’re in the US). Otherwise, you can download the game to your PC and install it yourself. No registration is needed, and if you choose to download the games directly, you don’t even have to give out your mobile number.

As the site’s FAQ puts it: “We think mobile games should be like the web and like TV: free and supported by advertising.”

When you load a game it connects to the Internet to download new ads, so it isn’t completely free, but nearly so. I’m not really a fan of playing games on a cell phone, but it seems to be increasingly popular and I’m always in favor of free.

The Sony PlayStation Portable may be the Rodney Dangerfield of handheld entertainment since it “gets no respect” compared to the iPod, but it still seems to be a solid, if stolid, hit. Lisa Baertlein at Reuters:

Sony Corp. is on track to double the number of PlayStation Portable video game players sold in North America to around 6 million at the end of its first holiday season this year.

The sharp screen on the paperback-sized video game device has won over movie fans, fortifying a solid debut though not a runaway success along the lines of Apple Computer Inc.’s iPods.

Analysts predict that the PSP’s long-term prospects are good, but where the iPod is praised for its stunning ease of use, some PSP players have told Reuters that games are slow to load on the device and that its left thumb-operated mini joystick can be awkward to master.

“Clearly there is not the intoxication or hysteria that there is with the iPod,” said Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey, who is among those betting on the PSP’s success.

The PSP was launched in N. America in March 2005 and 6 million in the first year isn’t shabby at all. I think the impression that it is merely a handheld gaming device, when in fact it is a general purpose audio and video player as well, detracts from its visibility as an iPod competitor. The retail price of approx. $250 may also be a problem according to the analysts mentioned in the article although, again, that’s in comparison with handheld game machines like the approx. $130 Nintendo DS. There are also complaints that getting your audio and video content on the system could be much easier, but Sony is happy for you to buy movies on the proprietary Universal Media Disc which is becoming more common.

Some reviews:

ZDNet/CNET says audio and video usability could be better.

CNET has minireviews of several games

PC Magazine loves the 4.3″ TFT LCD screen as does most everybody. Dislikes the proprietary Sony media formats and the lack of audio/video features.

See also The Gadgeteer and DesignTechnica.

Reuters:

U.S. retail sales of video games in October fell to $365 million, down 24 percent from a year earlier, when publishers released a slew of blockbuster titles, analysts said on Friday.

Citing figures from market researchers NPD Group, analysts said October console game sales were around $294 million, while sales of handheld games were about $71 million.

Analysts are closely monitoring sales as the industry heads into the holiday season, which accounts for roughly half of its revenue.

It must be hard to predict when half the volume is in one chunk at the end of the year. Actually the numbers say that 2005 is slightly ahead of 2004 at this point, but the analysts are mixed on the end of the year, particularly with new consoles on the way.

I guess we all knew that, Michael Singer at CNET has some projections that spell it out:

Demand for portable MP3 players is booming and expected to hit record levels in the next four years, according to an IDC report published on Thursday.

Led by devices such as the Apple iPod, the analyst firm predicts, shipments of MP3 flash memory music players will surge to nearly 124 million units in 2009. That is a 370-percent increase from the 26.4 million units shipped worldwide in 2004.

The report also explored the revenue potential of three other portable devices that play back compressed audio: DVD players, mobile phones such as the Motorola Rokr and gaming devices such as Sony’s PSP. This category of “other” portable play-back devices is expected to exceed 700 million units shipped with an estimated $114 billion in revenue in 2009, IDC said.

Combined with the MP3 player category, all compressed audio players are expected to reach 945.5 million units shipped and $145.4 billion in revenue worldwide by 2009.

As you can see, the numbers are heavily in favor of the multipurpose gadgets although it’s hard to judge the revenue numbers since they undoubtedly include the whole price of the multipurpose products, not an apportioned value of the audio component. Hit the link for more details including the related technology issues (e.g. flash memory).

Ben Kuchera at Ars Technica does the honors for the Nintendo Game Boy Micro which has just been released in the USA.

Sony’s PSP is incredible looking and challenging Nintendo’s supremacy in portable gaming. With the iPod, Apple redefined consumer electronic chic. The Game Boy was a ton of things, but it was never sexy. With the Game Boy Micro Nintendo wants to give us what Apple gave us. They wanted to sex up the Game Boy line.
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After playing everything from shooters to RPGs, I have very few complaints about the screen. On the other hand, the rest of the unit combines some great decisions with some not-so-great ones. It’s fairly hit or miss to be honest.
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While I don’t think the Micro will be a huge seller, I do think it will expand Nintendo’s dominance over the portable market. It’s easy to use, inexpensive, and has a huge library of games. If you walk into any store right now you can find a ton of great GBA games, and often at pretty low prices for the older titles. If this is your first Game Boy product you have a lot of catching up to do, and like any late adopter you can buy the games for pennies on the dollar from when they were new.

More by following the link.