The recent launch of the Sony PS Vita means there are now a variety of options to choose from in the mobile gaming market.
With this in mind, we’ve put together a table below showing off the current mobile gaming solutions, comparing standard features and price across the board.
| Sony PS Vita | Nintendo 3DS | Apple iPad 2 16GB WiFi | Asus Transformer 16GB WiFi | Sony PSP – E1000 | Nintendo DS lite | |
| Price | R2,999.95 | R1,999.95 | R3,999.95 | R4,184.94 | R1,199.99 | R999.95 |
| Screen | 5 inch (960 x 544) | 3.53 inch (800 x 240, 400 x 240 effective) / 3.02 inch (320 x 240) | 9.7 inch (1024 x 768) | 10.1 inch (1280 x 800) | 4.3 inch (480 x 272) | 3.12 inch (256 x 192) |
| CPU | Arm Cortex A9 | Nintendo proprietary ARM | ARM Cortex A9 dual-core 1GHz | ARM Cortex A9 dual-core 1GHz | MIPS R4000 333MHz x 2 | ARM 9 67MHz + ARM 7 33MHz |
| GPU | SGX543MP4+ | PICA200 | SGX543MP2 | Nvidia Tegra 2 GeForce | Sony GPU, 166MHz | Unknown |
| RAM | 512MB | 128MB | 512MB | 1GB | 64MB | 4MB |
| Controls | Touchscreen, touchpad, sixaxis, D pad, 12 buttons | D pad, analogue stick, buttons | Touch screen | Touch screen | D pad, analogue stick, buttons | D pad, buttons |
| Standout features | PSN backwards compatibility | 3D glasses free gaming | Camera, tablet OS + apps | Camera, tablet + apps | UMD disc | Dual screens |
The first thing you’ll notice is that two tablet devices are present in the above table. This is because Android and iOS are in a strong position to challenge mobile gaming stalwarts Sony and Nintendo. I wrote about it here – PS Vita, 3DS, you’re screwed – and others are thinking along the same lines.
The recently released PlayStation Vita and slightly less recent Nintendo 3DS feature in the table. These are the latest offerings from the two big names in the mobile gaming industry, and serve as successors to the original PSP and DS consoles. They have beefed up specifications which include bigger screens, faster processors and more unique features.
Apart from these latest offerings from Sony and Nintendo, we’ve also included older generation models in the form of the PSP E1000 and DS Lite. Both of these are low cost versions of previous generation mobile gaming console, and are still being sold at greatly discounted prices.
We can see from the table that each of devices (old generation, current generation, tablets) target a different price point.
The older devices target the entry level price point of around R1,000 as they are old technology. They do however have the benefit of a wider catalogue of games, and well as a cheaper price for games.
The next generation consoles occupy the R2,000 to R3,000 price bracket. The premium is justified thanks to beefed up specifications, new features and “future readiness”.
Finally, the tablets are priced from R4,000 upwards. They are more expensive than the dedicated gaming consoles, but are also capable of doing a wide variety of tasks. Their sales numbers also give a strong indication of the relevance of tablet PCs in the market today.
Cost of games
Buying the device is only half of the investment however. One will also need a catalogue of games to play on the device, and there is a large pricing disparity between the various consoles.
Below is a table showing off some select pricing of games on the various platforms:
| Sony PS Vita | Nintendo 3DS | Apple iPad 2 16GB WiFi | Asus Transformer 16GB WiFi | Sony PSP – E1000 | Nintendo DS lite | |
| Price of top rated game | R399.95 (Rayman Origins) | R499.90 (Zelda Ocarina of Time 3D) | R37.86 – $4.99 (World of Goo HD) | R7.45 (Draw something) | R117.00 (God of War: Chains of Olympus) | R195.00 (GTA Chinatown Wars) |
Understandably, the latest generation PS Vita and 3DS have the most expensive games on offer. AAA titles such as Rayman Origins and Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D can cost R400 or more locally, which means massing a large catalogue of games can prove to be a pricey experience.
The older Sony PSP E1000 and Nintendo DS may not be as powerful as their successors, but games are much cheaper. Coming in at around a third of the price of PS Vita and 3DS games, building up a collection of games will be far easier.
The real standout however are the tablets. The most expensive games on iOS and Android are still much cheaper than even the older generation PSP and DS games. Beyond that though, most tablet games cost around R20 to R70. They aren’t as in depth or well rounded as the other consoles’ games, but that doesn’t necessarily make them less entertaining. Angry Birds, World of Goo and Draw Something are all very basic games that have become quite popular on the platforms.
For the price of Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D on the 3DS, one can buy more than 10 games for the iPad 2. While this will lead to the debate of quality versus quantity, it does highlight just how much cheaper tablet games are.
Conclusion
The current flagship mobile gaming consoles from Sony and Nintendo are under pressure. Not only do they have to compete with their own competitively priced mobile consoles of yesteryear, they also have tablets (and to an extent mobile phones) to worry about.
Previous generation consoles cost less and have access to a large catalogue of games. These games are also cheaper, and while they may not be as graphically impressive, they do offer great levels of immersion and entertainment.
Tablets have a higher initial purchase cost than current generation consoles, but this is offset by the relatively cheap games found on these platforms. Tablets are also multifunction devices, and have a high consumer penetration rate of current sales figures are to be believed. This poses the question; will anyone with a tablet device buy a dedicated mobile game console?
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