Sony says 'DSi is for kids' @ Gaming Target

Written by John Scalzo on April 06, 2009

News: Also, DS games don't sell well.

With yesterday's release of the Nintendo DSi, Sony has decided to fight back by sending a strange press release to Wired. How strange? In the press release they claim that the DSi is only for kids and that Nintendo ignores significant portions of the population with their kids-only strategy. They also claim that thirds party publishers are unable to sell their games on the PSP. Finally, they proceed to plug their 2009 PSP lineup including Rock Band Unplugged (which is more or less comparable to the DS' Guitar Hero: On Tour, Assassin's Creed (which was released on the DS in 2007) and Hannah Montana: The Movie (which will be released on the PSP over the Summer, but the DS version was released today.

When someone says something stupid, most people will accept that they accidentally put their foot in their mouth and move on. But what Sony has done is more like deliberately swallowing their whole leg.

Here's the whole press release, in all it's idiotic glory:

If Nintendo is really committed to reaching a broader, more diverse audience of gamers beyond the "kids" market that they've always engaged, there isn't much new with the DSi to support that. Significant gamer demographic groups are being ignored, and there continues to be limited opportunities for games from external publishers to do well on the DSi. Compare that with the PSP platform, where we have many blockbuster franchises from our publishing partners launching this year, representing a wide variety of genres and targeting diverse demographics. Games such as Rock Band Unplugged from MTV Games, Assassin's Creed from Ubisoft, Dissidia Final Fantasy from Square Enix, and Hannah Montana from Disney demonstrate the commitment that publishers have to the PSP. From our own first-party studios, we're launching unique versions of LittleBigPlanet and MotorStorm, and we're also planning a steady stream of downloadable games -- both new titles and PSone classics -- to add to the content that PSP owners can already purchase wirelessly through PlayStation Store.

- John Koller, Director of Hardware Marketing for Sony Computer Entertainment America

It's sad to see one of the titans of the industry fall so far, but if you didn't believe it before, you have to believe it now. Sony has officially lost it.