PlayStation head: Nintendo DS is just a 'babysitting tool'
updated 12:50 pm EDT, Fri April 8, 2011
PlayStation chief says Nintendo DS trapped to kids
Sony's US PlayStation CEO Jack Tretton in a chat published Friday dismissed the Nintendo DS as competition. He thought of the lineup as perpetuating the "Game Boy experience" and only really tailored to kids. The PSP, and especially the upcoming NGP, were meant to keep handheld gaming relevant for adults that wouldn't want to even admit to owning a DS, he told Fortune.
"It's a great babysitting tool, something young kids do on airplanes, but no self-respecting twenty-something is going to be sitting on an airplane with one of those," Tretton said. "He's too old for that."
The executive also reserved harsh words for the Wii's longevity, and to a lesser extent the Xbox 360. Both were designed to be cheaper than the PS3 was when they launched in 2006 and 2005 respectively, but the conservative design may have backfired as they went later into their lifecycles. The PS3's Blu-ray drive and hard drive meant it could take in very large games that still fit on one disc and support downloadable Internet content.
Wii owners faced the worst of it as the Nintendo TV system didn't have a hard drive at all and had motion gaming where they couldn't move their arms more than "six inches" to have an effect.
Tretton was more aligned with Nintendo on 3D and said people "have to experience it" to understand why it's important. This year would be a breakout year for it, he said.
