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Nintendo Talks DS, Zelda, PSP Threat
Thanks to IGN Cube for its interview with Nintendo VP of corporate affairs Perrin Kaplan, as she comments on the Nintendo DS' backwards compatibility ("I think the initial appeal the DS gives you is that you can start with a library of 500 games"), on the new realistic-looking Zelda title ("We knew that people were going to say, 'Oh, is the new Zelda because you made a mistake with Wind Waker?' You don't make a mistake when you sell something in the millions and millions"), on the battery life of Nintendo's forthcoming handheld ("Very similar to the [Game Boy Advance] SP and I think very different from the PSP. I'm not quite sure why Sony said "Two to 10 hours" [for PSP's battery life]. That must mean that it's two hours"), and on rivalry with Sony's PSP ("I think Sony has developed a very nice looking screen. I think that having a system with claims to all the multi-functionality is a big question in our minds. Pricing is a huge question.")
Battery life is the most important aspect of a handheld/portable device. I applaud Nintendo for trying hard to match the SPs battery capacity. IIRC, the SP is 10hrs with the backlight on, 18hrs with it off.
Compared to an estimated 2-10hrs for the PSP, the DS is looking good.
I don't understand why a "realistic" Zelda game is a good idea. Wind Waker was awesome because it looked and felt like a cartoon. I'm still going to buy it when it comes out, because Nintendo doesn't make bad Zelda games. Despite the down grade in graphics, I'm sure the game play will be top notch as always.
On the plus side, fighting from the horse seems like an awesome idea.
So, having a backlight on ONE screen halves the SP's battery life, what will having a backlight on TWO screens, powering TWO processors, along with Wi-Fi, which ALSO drains battery life do to it?
to quote homer_ca, on a topic about Wi-Fi on Cell Phones: "Toy is right. Besides the problem of roaming, power consumption is a huge problem with Wifi. 802.11b is a high bandwidth, long range (compared to Bluetooth at least) protocol. It consumes a lot of power just maintaining a link to the AP. According to this it consumes 800mW while idle with a link up, 950mW while receiving, and 1400mW while transmitting. Wifi might be practical for outgoing calls, but not the other way. You'd drain your battery ust sitting at a hotspot waiting for a call."
Nice try Nintendo, but you'll have to tell us how many hour(s) the DS can run before you can criticize the PSPs battery life.
http://www.eurogamer.net/file_service_files.php
Asian Wall Street Journal story: http://tinyurl.com/2mqoj
What's more, Sony's decision to put out a machine that plays movies as well as games has some creators scratching their heads.
"Will it be a game machine or a video Walkman?" asks Michihiro Sasaki, general manager of corporate strategy at Japanese video-game maker Square Enix Co. "We're still not sure what Sony wants to do with it -- that's a problem."
Mr. Sasaki says Square Enix, known for its Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy games, eventually hopes to provide content for the PSP but wants to hear more about the PSP's business model before deciding what to prepare.
Still, some game developers worry that it may be hard to balance competing technical demands -- as well as figure out the price and audience -- for a gadget that combines the functions of a Walkman, video player and game machine.
"It would be better if [the PSP] were just a game machine," says Kazumi Kitaue, executive in charge of video games at Konami Corp., which puts out the popular Metal Gear Solid series. "It's silly to talk about watching movies anywhere anytime; you want to concentrate."
Mr. Kitaue says that Konami has started developing games for the PSP and that he has high hopes for the machine. But he worries that the product release could be delayed in Japan -- as it was in the U.S.
I don't think Nintendo's all that worried about the PSP.
I think it's a sad reflection of the state of the games industry when people immediately conclude "Windwaker was a mistake" from "We're not doing it exactly the same this time".
Trees can't go dancing
So do them a big favor
Pretend dancing stinks!
The obvious use of the touch-sensitive screen is to provide a point-and-click interface to RPGs. Games like Final Fantasy Tactics Advance have a very convoluted menu system. An actual GUI could make those games substantially more accessable to new players.
Real-time strategy games could also benefit greatly from a point-and-click interface, and arguably a screen and stylus solution is easier to use than even a mouse + monitor once you're used to it.
Also, games could rather easily add customization options, where a player could draw an image to be mapped on the hood of his car, or paint his spaceship, or come up with a crest for his kingdom, or draw a character portrain 1st Edition D&D character sheet style.
And naturally, creative software like Mario Paint also seem like a natural -- indeed, a Mario Paint-like app with an export function, making use of wireless connectivity to save images to a computer's filesystem, could be *extremely* cool, and could make it possible to use a DS for -- dare I say it?? -- real work.
I'd pay real money for a Palm-like productivity card for the DS if it was also filled with fun Gameboy Camera-style features, and with its generous default feature-set it almost looks as useful as a PDA. And imagine using Animal Crossing DS with the wireless connection to send *real* e-mail, to people in other towns? Or visiting other towns, over the internet, and actually meeting the people living there in-game?
Here's how it broke down:
Sony sold 100,000,000 PS1s.
Nintendo sold 30,000,000 N64s.
Now the funny thing is that Nintendo sold only a small percentage more SNESs than they sold N64s.
So... what happened? Sony GREW the market... A LOT. Nintendo kept their fanbase(and continues to keep them into this generation), but didn't get too many new converts.
Also, going into the N64/PS/Saturn era, Nintendo was not dominant. They shared the thrown with a player called SEGA because they were horribly late to the 16-bit party with the SNES.
Comparing the modern console market to the modern handheld market doesn't hold up either. There are different considerations that buyers take into account when buying a portable versus a non-portable product.
Battery-life is a big one, and one Sony appears to have lost(regardless of their claims that they get 8 hours of life, I don't see how it's possible they get more than the 2-2 1/2 hours they claim to get with video in real life with the current model). If they can't wring 6 hours+(minimum, no exceptions) out of the thing, it's dead in the water.
The key to the enjoyment of pop music is to replace any instance of "love" with "C.H.U.D."