Sony exec dismisses Nintendo DS as "irrelevant"

A top Sony executive has dismissed the Nintendo DS as "an irrelevance" when it comes to predicting the success of the PSP, describing the handheld's touch-screen feature as nothing more than a "gimmick."

Speaking to trade magazine MCV, VP of studios Phil Harrison said: "The idea of a handheld rivalry with Nintendo is an irrelevance. Those formats donât appear in our planning."

"It's not a fair comparison; not fair on them, I should stress. That sounds arrogant, maybe, but it's the truth."

Harrison went on to suggest that the DS can't compete with the PSP in the hardware stakes, telling MCV: "It's fair to say that Nintendo stepped out of the technical race and went for a feature differentiation with the touch screen."

"But I fear that it won't have a lasting impact beyond that of a gimmick - so the long-lasting appeal of the platform is at peril as a direct result of that."

"Nintendo knows its target audience, because it has really narrowed that down; and it's pretty much defined by a boy or girl's ability to admire Pokemon," he added.

Sony is anticipating high demand for the PSP when it launches in Europe on September 1, priced at GBP 179.99. However, it remains to be seen whether the handheld will overtake the DS to become market leader - more than 6.65m consoles have already been sold worldwide, including 300,000 in the UK.