The Guardian Games Blog posted an article on the battle between Japans biggest rivals in the handheld games market, Sony and Nintendo.

“It’s clear both companies are expanding their remit, courting the massmarket – y’know the modern obessions – but they’re going about it in very different ways. Sony is being Microsoft, picturing a future of connected entertainment streams, of digital hubs and downloadable content. Nintendo is producing games like DS Training For Adults: Work Your Brain, Brain Training 2 and Gentle Brain Exercises – simple IQ games that are selling in their hundreds of thousands.”

The summary of the article is correct in one respect, that content is king. This is the same as any technology, whether its the latest DVD storage medium, a handheld gaming device, or the internet itself. Without content, there is nothing to keep people buying the product. What the article fails to take into account is that although the DS has a number of original games to its credit, it cannot do a number of things that the PSP can do very well, yet the PSP has the ability to have games developed that can compete with the DS.

The DS is also missing a very vibrant and enthusiastic homebrew community, which is adding new content for the Sony PSP on a daily basis (although not with Sony’s blessing). The DS may be ahead in the sales, and have more games in the Japanese multi-format top 10 than than the PSP, but this is more to do with its availability and time on the market compared to the PSP, and the nature of the games that the Japanese gaming community like to play.

The DS in Japan would appear to appeal to a more mature market over in Japan than it does in the UK and USA, where the DS seems to attract more game players from the pre-teen market. The Sony PSP, with its ability to store and browse photos, play music, play movies, surf the web and play games appeals to the older age group, where the ability to use the device for multiple purposes fits in with a lifestyle that involves commuting to work, free lunchtimes and cafe culture.