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25 Dumbest Moments In Gaming Concluded
Thanks to Gamespy for finishing up its 25 Dumbest Moments In Gaming set of articles by picking their Top 5 mistakes of all time. We ran a story on these articles earlier in the week, and congratulate Slashdot commenter Saige for correctly guessing Gamespy's No.1 pick, Atari passing on producing and distributing the NES Stateside. Plus, well done to, uhm, pretty much everyone for guessing a certain long-haired FPS designer might make it into the Top 5 somewhere.
Based on this series, its appearent that noone has actually succeeded in the console game market, just some people have failed less. And those that do get ahead do it through sneaky and sometimes illegal means.
GG everyone.
My point? The GBA, as it stood, ran for $99 when it was launched. It only takes two AA batteries and it lasts for ages on it.
I think battery life was (one of) Nintendo's main concern with the GBA. However, the technology for white LED's should have been well known to them, and I don't understand why they didn't end up using it... it would mean a relatively small increase in price, possibly a slightly larger product, and have maybe a few hours less battery life. I think that's a small price for a better screen. That being said, I actually prefer my normal GBA, since the SP is much too small for me... I have enough carpal tunnel worries as it is.
As for the buttons, I can't imagine what they were thinking... Adding two more buttons would have been trivial from a hardware standpoint, and would have opened so much more possibilities (imagine perfect SNES gameplay). Hell, I would have settled for just four face buttons and none of these stupid shoulder buttons. The only possible reason I can think of that they might decide not to do this was because they thought it would make the machine too complicated... Thanks for assuming I'm an idiot Nintendo.
--Zero
-"One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man." -EH
". The only possible reason I can think of that they might decide not to do this was because they thought it would make the machine too complicated."
Actually, I think it had to do more with the little room they had for them. As it is, people find the unit too small. Gotta admit, tho, it's damn mobile. I think Nintendo's the only company that's ever made a true pocket-sized portable system. I haven't messed with a GP32 or Neo Geo pocket before... More buttons would have been nice, but I'd want a bigger system if they did that.
One other possibilty comes to mind, which touches on your point: Nintendo's lately been focusing on making games more direct. The Game Cube is a good example. It has a bunch of buttons, but it's got that big red A button smack in the middle. Zelda, for example, stopped using a jump button back in Ocarina of Time. Why make the user jump in an adventure game? Just have the system know where to jump. Mario Sunshine was all about jumping, and that's what the A button did. The rest were secondary functions.
I don't think it's because Nintendo's assuming people are idiots, but rather because they'd rather the games be more enjoyable by demanding less from the user. That sorta make sense? Game design really affects Nintendo's controller designs. (as opposed to making a controller with a lot of buttons and hoping developers make good use of them. *cough*Jaguar*cough*)
"Derp de derp."