I've had a gaming epiphany (DS love thread)

[Frogacuda]

Of course people play handhelds instead of consoles, you don't think people play their portables at home? People do it all the time, play their GBA's on the couch with their consoles 10 feet away.

Yeah, sometimes you get a handheld game that's too good to put down, but in general this is pretty silly and most people don't do it much. At the very least I think we can both agree that it's not what the format is meant for. They're called "portables" because that's what they're designed to do.

They do it because cool stuff comes out for it that they want to play, but how much cooler would that game be if it was developed for a home console instead? I'll take one beefy 2D Castlevania on a home console over the 3 on GBA, and I was really dissapointed to see that the new DS Castlevania doesn't really take advantage of the hardware in a meaningful way.

Like I said to shidoshi, these games simply would not exist for the consoles for a number of reasons. First, they are considered acceptable both by consumers and liscense holders on the handheld format in a way in which they are not for a console. It's not considered "niche" to make a 2D game on a handheld. Second, it is much, much cheaper to develop a title like this on a handheld, and therefore a "niche" release is more justifiable to a developer on a handheld. A team of 8 people can make a good GBA product in 9 months, and make their money back with far fewer sales.

So basically, if not for the different expectations associated with the handheld format there would be no place in the market for these games. Your dream of high production-value 2D gaming on a console is a fantasy. It's rightfully regarded as commercially unviable. Be glad you have these games at all and stop blaming handhelds for the problem.

Aside from commuting on a train, I can't think of a time where I'd be away from my home consoles and have the time and desire to play them.

And I don't have much need for tampons, but I don't resent their existance.

[1CCOSA]

Interesting and lengthy story from OPM on 1up.com regarding whether or not interest for PSP is waning:

http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3142637

[SpoDaddy]

And I don't have much need for tampons, but I don't resent their existance.

Is there a product you would love that Tampax isn't making because of their focus on tampons?

[Jeremy]

What the fuck?

[Tojo]

Silly Sony, no one will ever beat Nintendo in the handheld market.

[SpoDaddy]

Yeah, that was uncalled for. I use a PS2 as my main DVD player, and I've never felt like I was missing anything.

A dedicated DVD player (or even an Xbox) is going to play DVD's a lot cleaner than PS2 does, and in the PS2's first year of existance all it was really good for was watching DVD's and playing PS1 games while waiting for the second generation PS2 games. It's pretty much the same thing with PSP, people are watching UMD's on it and playing NES emulators on it and waiting for the games. UMD's are poor quality versions of DVD's in that the video quality isn't as high, they've usually got no special features, and they can only be viewed on a PSP. I think the concept of UMD's is cool, the PSP screen is gorgeous (even though the refresh rate should be higher), but they should have special features and/or be 10 bucks each tops.

A big reason to own a movie is to watch it with other people, check out the special features, listen to the commentary, etc. I really don't get the appeal of paying 20 bucks to watch a barebones movie on a 4 inch screen only to have to recharge the system again when I'm done. Especially when the same movie can be had for less money in a superior in every way format that can also be used on the go. Hell, some movies can't even be put on UMD's because they're too long, which means A) it won't fit on the disc at a decent compression ratio and B) the PSP can't power itself long enough to run the whole film on one charge. I was reading in a tech trade magazine that a lot of studios are dissapointed that they can't release their biggest draws on UMD format yet (Titanic, Lord of the Rings, etc), that if UMD burners ever come out you can't open the case without doing a thumbplant on the face of the disc), and that they're frustrated in general with how stubborn Sony has been with the format (one guy called it minidisc and betamax all over again). It was a really interesting read, I'll see if I can find the name of the mag (it was something like "home entertainment"). The general tone of the article was that Sony had no idea UMD would be this successful and is dropping the ball while it's hot.

Nice point on Zero Mission, my fave GBA title ever (I love being able to unlock NES Metroid for on the go play without having to buy the dumb NES GBA stand alone cart). If it'd been made on Cube at all it'd have had polys for graphics even it was "2.5D."

I think a Viewtiful Joe style gorgeous 2D console Metroid game, with the exact same game design as Zero Mission, released at the same price as a GBA game, would sell very well. I think Nintendo could release a whole line of budget priced GBA style 2d stuff on Cube with their franchise characters and rake in cash hand over fist. Especially with the costs of game development rising.

[Revoltor]

Wow, I've just had an epiphany too (but it wasn't about video games)

[kedawa]

I've always liked handhelds, but I hate the fact that the industry uses them as a dumping ground for every piece of shit game it can squeeze out of its greedy ass.

[Omni]

Like I said to shidoshi, these games simply would not exist for the consoles for a number of reasons. First, they are considered acceptable both by consumers and liscense holders on the handheld format in a way in which they are not for a console. It's not considered "niche" to make a 2D game on a handheld. Second, it is much, much cheaper to develop a title like this on a handheld, and therefore a "niche" release is more justifiable to a developer on a handheld. A team of 8 people can make a good GBA product in 9 months, and make their money back with far fewer sales.

So basically, if not for the different expectations associated with the handheld format there would be no place in the market for these games. Your dream of high production-value 2D gaming on a console is a fantasy. It's rightfully regarded as commercially unviable. Be glad you have these games at all and stop blaming handhelds for the problem.

Good point, but one still has to think of the possibilities...

I'll emulate on the big screen anyway, so I can't complain.

[George]

Wow, I've just had an epiphany too (but it wasn't about video games)

I just had an epiphany...IN MY PANTS.