ultra · #25here is something none have considered.ds and psp. ds is like the wii [inferior] and psp is like the 360/ps3 [superior]. why would the psp not get more third party support while the ds gets more third party support? if everything about the ps3/360 are true, then the psp should get more attention then the ds.the wii is inferior and had a gimmick motion controller concept. the ds had an inferior hardware and has a gimmicky touch screen. both wii and ds have a huge audience. but you see there is more support for the ds then the wii. so what gives?the ds is cheaper to make games and the wii has the same idea. so what gives?
Can we get over the "gimmick" mindset already? It was trendy last generation, and with the DS. The fact is that every system has one or more gimmicks -- reasons for people to buy them -- that set it apart from the rest. PS3's Home and Blu-Ray support are gimmicks. Xbox360's achievements are gimmicks. The Wiimote is a gimmick. "Gimmick" is not an intrinsically negative word. Berating one system for having a gimmick is hypocritical, because arguments that revolve around such an idea are the equivalent of saying "My gimmick is better than yours!" Sad.
Also, most businesses operate on a "good enough" basis. If they can get away with selling shit games (like many third parties are doing for the Wii), then what reason do they have to actually put forth effort, outside of gaining critical appeal? Some companies are in it only for the money. Others make games because they enjoy it, and money is a great bonus.
Something you didn't consider in your argument is the difference between the console and handheld markets. The more power you put into a battery-operated system, the shorter its battery life will be. The majority of handheld players tend to play it during long road trips or over at a friend's house, etc. During those times, they expect the system to be able to stand up to being played for a respectable amount of time. The PSP's average 6 hours compared to the DS Lite's average of 10 hours is quite a jump; enough to influence customer choice. The PSP is great in a decent amount of ways (raw power, media capability, homebrew), but it lacks in arguably the most important aspect of a handheld: battery.
That's part of why Sega's Game Gear failed: not only did it require 6 AAs over the GameBoy Brick's 4, but they didn't last as long! It was a shitty system that quickly died.
In the console market, battery life isn't an issue to worry about. Most people care more about initial cost and/or what the games look like on their screen. Some expect a huge upgrade in graphics, which has been the status quo ever since gaming has existed. Graphic improvements are going to get diminishing returns soon, as we approach the ability to closely mimic real life. After that point, consoles will have to rely on their other traits to draw consumer attention.
Image has a lot to do with it, too. Most "mature" games (which is a misnomer considering the audience that plays them) don't sell well on Nintendo systems, because most Nintendo fans prefer more light-hearted games or games with a different and interesting art style. Those types of games don't sell as well on the other two systems... so a lot of it has to do with individual console market, as well.
Current trends in gaming reflect FPS being the most popular genre, with Western RPG in close second. Many companies are blending the two together (such as Fallout 3, Borderlands, etc). People who don't like those genres generally won't buy the consoles that feature a library saturated with them (Xbox360, PS3 to a lesser extent). The same goes for the saturation of crap non-games that the Wii is plagued with too, however.
I'm starting to question the point of all this...
tl;dr version: Consoles and handhelds follow two different marketing strategies and gamers value different things in them. The current fad genre is FPS, so people go to what has more FPSes so they can follow the bandwagon and strengthen the status quo. The oversaturation of crap games on the Wii is slowly going away, and the oversaturation of FPS on the other systems will follow a similar fate as the next "cool" genre comes into the field. It's just business.