By Michael Jordan

How the hell is this going in to my pocket, I yell in to the sky as Sony unveils its next generation hand held. This NGP or Next Generation Portable has sparked quite the synapse storm for me. While the thought of Sony’s new hand held being as powerful as a PS3 shows they understand the movement of gaming trends in Japan, however it does little to inspire me here in the States. Larger than the original Playstation Portable, which was barely able to fit into my pocket to begin with and was quickly dumped for store credit when I figured out that Sony’s support for their device was next to nothing.

While the impressive list of features that will be in Sony’s NGP seems to far outweigh the 3D of the 3DS, The NGP has not seen an official statement about its price as of yet, with most people hoping it is not over $300.00 USD. The 3DS itself is an impressive piece of hardware on its own, but in a different way. Sporting a $250.00 price tag in the US, and having the solid backing that Nintendo gives its handhelds, we know that Nintendo will be lining this next iteration of the DS with all the Intellectual Properties (IP) that we know and love from Nintendo. After I played the 3DS myself, I was quite taken with it, even though I thought it was a missed opportunity to provide 2 thumb sticks. Just the idea of 3D photo taking is a big draw for me, and I bet will be for many of you. We can guess that while the 3DS will have games priced from $30-40 USD, that Sony’s NGP, with all its power, will be seeing much larger release, that will be priced as more along the lines of its console big brother, for around $50-60 USD.

For most of you that have not lived in Japan, you might be missing how huge the PSP is over there, and it was almost solely spurred on by one IP, Monster Hunter. While the DS has bigger roots in foreign markets, (hence being revealed in at E3 2010 in the United States, rather than in Japan) PSP has exclusively done well in the larger metropolis areas of Japan. Add in the fact that the majority of PSP titles are more Japanese-centric in nature, leaving behind the most of the western audiences in a puff of confusion, and you have a system that is shunned by a market that is much larger then where it caters to. Now we can already see that Sony has learned from its past mistake by putting Killzone, Uncharted, and many more recognizable franchises in the forefront of its gaming announcements for the NGP, but this also leaves gamers to wonder, would they rather have these experiences in a handheld or on their home entertainment center.

That brings us to the next start in the lineup, Apple. With its huge adaption rate here in the US and around the world, the iPod Touch as well as the iPhone are now one of the biggest contenders in the handheld space with literally no gaming backing from the company that makes it beside a really shoot achievement structure known as the game center. How did this happen? With Apples entertainment divice giving total touch control, easy to program for, not to mention cheap as dirt releases, many consumers find themselves looking to a game like Angry Birds, which has the minimal price of $0.99 to the price of a $30-60 home or hand console experience. Not to mention you can just download any game from a wi-fi hotspot anytime you want. This ease of access and low pricing is exactly what Nintendo and Sony need to think about with their platform, even the heavily acclaimed Infinity Blade is less than $10.00 on the App Store, and it has to be one of the best games I have played on a hand held in a really long time. Apples iTouch starts around $249.99 and offers extensive support, but most apple users will have to come to grips that they will most likely be outdated every year by Apples obsessive need to dick over there audience by releasing a new version of all there hardware every year, where Nintendo and Sony tend to only do this every two years, and they are not entirely needed changes that will effect there games performances. Even with this obvious downside to buying in to Apples products, it also must be seen that the iPhone is one of the dominate phones on the market, effectively making one of the most needed items in this day and age, the most effective at delivering you the content you want without having to lug around another portable, add in to the equation that it is also the smallest of all three of these devices and its ability to reach out to the market through the fact that it is also used as a music/video player, internet browser, as well as an easy to us camera; you got one hell of a package to beat.

With all of this, it is no wonder that Nintendo is keeping their eyes fixed on Apple as their main competitor for dominance in the handheld space, leaving Sony standing on stage showing off another potentially extremely expensive product, that most will ignore for lack of money in an economy that lacks money to spend.

So with what we know about each product, why don’t we look at something things that could harmonize all three?

Nintendo 3DS:

The first problem is that having its main focus on 3D, this feature drains its battery life at an excessive rate. As stated by Nintendo it will on have three to five hours of battery life compared to the battery life of the NGP which is stated to be around 5 hours plus and the Apple iOS products that can last longer the 6 hours depending on what you’re doing with it. This has to be one of the major mistakes that this handheld will have made, not only with the world stage but the heavy Japanese audience that is in a constant state of motion, traveling by train and subway. Nintendo really needs to think of how this will affect them in the long run.

The fix: Make an upgrade available that does not require users to buy a new system, don’t be Apple….

Second problem is that the lack of online connectivity and ability to access the web is something of a blunder that Nintendo has always dealt with. Everything that Nintendo does when it comes to its products online functionality is somewhat insulting to most users. That is not to say that with the announcement of a singular friend code system that will allow you to add your friends in to a sort of XMB system that Nintendo has incorporated is not a giant step up, because it is, it is just very, very late on the part of Nintendo, who needs to realize that their original audience has grown up and catering to the youth of today in the eyed of protecting them is a lost cause when 10 year olds are running around with a smart phone and a laptop.

The fix: If you’re still worried about online use of your systems and player to player interaction, Parental controls are there on almost all devices, use them! Don’t make the rest of the users suffer; adapt a Facebook style system of recognition that allows users to see who exactly they are playing with and have each player do a forum of registration online to verify their online tag.

Sony NGP:

Sony, I love you so much, but why must you leave me hanging all the time. You’re like and expensive date that never puts out when it comes to your hand held. This encompasses both of Sony’s problems. We know that the system and games is going to cost an arm and leg, and most of us will not be able to afford it. If the handheld is anything over $300.00 it WILL go bust, it will be the Playstation 3 problem all over again, not to mention that you are coming off a failed system. People are already wiry of this release because of the poor treatment of the releases of the PSP and PSPgo.

The fix: Watch you pricing Sony. No one cares if the thing has the amount of raw power to summon the god from spaces if no one can afford to buy it. If you wanted to undercut your biggest completion, match pricing with Nintendo’s 3DS and Apple’s iPod touch of $249.99, everyone will know you are taking a loss, but if you wanted to make profit of the system or break even, then you should have R and D tone down the specs of the hardware. No one really needs the power of the PS3 in their pocket, which is why they bought a PS3 in the first place. You are now in direct completion with yourself sans the Blue Ray or possible 3D on the larger entertainment center you have been boasting for.

Second problem is support, let it be known now, that if Sony does not support this handheld, and repeats what it did with the PSP and PSPgo, they will lose an even bigger portion of their customer base. There is only so much your consumers will take before jumping ship, leaving you to sink. Be well prepared and you might just recover your name on not only your handheld space but in the gaming space.

Apple’s line of iOS products:

Now while I have no right to make claims against a company that has single handedly roped everyone in to a cycle of perpetual buying of their products, I will. Some sort of D-Pad and button system that could plug in to your iOS products, that are backed by developer tools would be huge. It is cheap, easy and most of all marketable. This is the only thing that holds many people back from the iPhone or iPod touch when it comes to gaming.

The fix: The touch controls are great, and I am not saying to change a thing, but if we could get a small attachment that would allow use to use buttons and two analog sticks, just think of the experience that would be available to everyone that owns your products. This just seems like a win win situation.

Second problem is that Apple is less then friendly to its press and its consumers.

The fix: Try to be a little nicer. We know you’re a massive power house of money now, but you don’t have to act like the kid that got picked on in school his whole life and now has authority. Just saying…

With all this said, I would like to point out that I would love to be in a position of owning all three, and would gladly walk around like a big tech piñata if I could, but at the end of the day I have to think about price and point for these items verse food and shelter, much like most consumers. But until then I can always dream………