Slashdot Mirror
On The State Of Handheld Videogaming
Thanks to GCAdvanced.com for its mammoth 30+ page article interviewing developers and journalists about the state of the handheld videogame industry. Highlights include Karthik Bala of Vicarious Visions on why wireless matters for handhelds ("We've done plenty of multiplayer game modes for our GBA games, but the need for a link cable really limits the number of players who will play them. Our first N-Gage title supports Bluetooth multiplayer and we'll also be supporting the upcoming GBA wireless adapter in [an] upcoming game"), and Steven Kent's predictions for handheld market share by the end of 2005: "My guess [in descending order]: GBA, DS, PSP, N-Gage QD, Zodiac."
I'd place bets that the PSP will greatly outdo the DS. If it didn't have the Nintendo name attached to it, the DS would be dead in the water. The DS won't enjoy the third-party support the PSP will and the DS indirectly competes with the GBA.
I feel the marketplace wants to find a good competitor to Nintendo in the handheld market. The PSP is currently the best shot in a long line of failed other attempts.
Ok heres my take:
The One who has an obvious advantage is nintendo since they have the lead with the gameboy but the whole Dual screen idea looks more like a novelty than an actual feature. Even before launch developers have showed themselves a bit esceptic on it taking off. Nintendo had always said that their advantage would be their price, but now that the DS is rumoured to have a 3d chip it would affect it directly. Parents and gamers wont mind buying a GBA at $100 but a DS at $200+? with less than half the battery life?(speculative price) why not just buy a GBA instead?
The PSP is the second most important contender, while many think that is a sure bet as the handheld king, sony has actual little to no experience in the handheld market, and actually had a flop in their past (the pocketstation). The biggest problem according some analists is its price which would range around $200-$300 and that the product will not be targetted at kids-teens but at the teenage-adult market (just like the PS according some) while teens and young adults have always been haldheld consumers the adult market is a niche that has never been touched. In order to achieve this the psp will have MP3, MPG and rumored MiniDVD and TV playing capabilities (plus other apps like a personal agenda and even a digital camera with an add on) it will be advertised as a multi task device instead of a handheld. The problem still persits: will gamers be willing to expend the extra cash in a "multi device" when all they want is a handheld?
The N-Gage 2, with the history of n-gage is easy to discard this one of the list as a contender at all, while N-gage 2 will fix a good part of the designs problems that make the first one a joke, Nokia still has the problem that they dont develop any games and that not many 3rd party companies will be willing to risk to partner with them (again) after their big flop. Technical problems aside, the pricing, useless user packages and complete lack of support were also terrible and none of them seems to have been tackled off for its succesor.
In my opinion this "war" was already over before it started, Sony and Nintendo will each take a section of the market and "share" it somehow. Nintendo will hold most kids, some teens a small group of young adults and their old fanbase. Sony will get a small group of kids a good part of teens, most young adults and their old fanbase. Even if both systems turn out to be flops they will still offer better quality and game libraries than their competition. (ngage2, zodiac and cell phones) So basically (unless something unexpected happens) it is a no brainer.
p.s. About the article: seriously do you think is a good idea to hear handheld predictions from a guy who greenlighted a N-gage game?
Thanks for reading fellow slashdotters, peace!
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Slashdot needs 2 new modifiers: -1:Frantic fanboy and -1: Compulsive whinner. Unfortunately I get the feeling everyone (including me) would get modded -2 practically all the time
Go ahead MOD my day!
More opinions here
Some ex-Palm employees get together and finally make a good gaming Palm and people start thinking it's doomed?
I got one for my brother and he loves it. Of course, he wired Wi-Fi and Bluetooth into his car, so the Zodiac also works with wireless internet in there and controls Winamp through the computer in it, but he enjoys it nonetheless.
It'd be one thing if I heard people bagging on it like the N-Gage, but everyone I know loves it aside from the early analog stick problems. Heck, the thing isn't even fully launched yet. They don't have enough ready to ship to stores.
People can be so quick to judge.