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DS vs PSP - Developers, Press Sound Off
Sean O'Neill writes "Over at GCAdvanced.com, we've got a large feature interviewing handheld developers and gaming press about the Sony PSP and Nintendo DS. Marc Nix of IGN says: 'I think a lot of system fans and game reporters are gearing up for a big Portable System War of 2005, but the problem is, gamers traditionally haven't cared all that much about handhelds.' However, it's also pointed out that 'incredible features for the new handhelds... will undoubtedly elevate their appeal' - the article then gets responses from more than 20 developers/press on their views of the conflict to come."
I think the winner will be the one who comes up with a new technology in handhelds actually worth noting - I, for one, would love to see massive multiplayer handheld combat over a small area in your neighborhood / town - but it's probably just going to be rehashes of old games, since all the new ideas are in the, well, newer fields.
I have been having some fun in the palm of my hand, err, developing for PDA's. I use several models daily, and they suck!
However the potential for a mobile PC with camera / peripherals, and more importantly, instant, fast, GPRS or local connectivity (WiFi) that can easily be built into games (and lets not forget GPS) will make a whole new breed of gaming.
This is already happening, and the whole of Tokyo is host to the first (?) real life MUD, where people can walk around the city using GPS to reposition themselves in the game, and taking different commutes to work to fight new monsters.
Pocket PC's are shockingly cheap now, and except for thier bland input keys, the stylus mode of input can be used as an analogue stick (by orbiting around a fixed center)
Quake2 plays nicely on my Axim30. Of course, this is about 'console' handhelds. As the price barriers blur between the two, it is hard to say what is what.
A sony and nintendo will have something that PPC will not have - a distribution chain. Even though we want digital distribution, cartidges will probably still be developed, or a mini dvd disc.
Perhaps games will come on SD cards in the near future, bringing their costs down for all other users.
The good thing about OTA distribution is the ability to on the fly encode some DRM (yuck!) that would disable the full game if copied onto another device, unless the person 'transfers' the license somehow....
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The DS is a guaranteed winner. In the very best situation it rocks, has a lot of games that rock and everything is awesome. At the very worst it ends up like virtual boy, and you get to be the cool kid on the block who has a virtual boy.
Remember back in the day gameboy vs. game gear? Even Nintendo admits openly the game gear was superior technically. But gameboy won because it had Tetris. It had portable games. The PSP is going to have console games. Taking PlayStation games and making them portable will fail for the same reason that taking PC games and putting them on console systems fails so miserably. Just because you can take a game with you in the car doesn't make it a portable game in the same way that playing Quake 2 on the N64 doesn't make Quake 2 a console game. You get it? Nintendo is the only company that seems to understand this. Look at advance wars, that's a portable game. It wouldn't work any other way. But it looks like Sony is just going to try to miniaturize the playstation, and it wont work for the same reason the game gear didn't work.
Nintendo knows this. Nintendo is making portable games. Sony is making a really small console.
You can read it here, straight from the horses mouth.
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As someone who goes alot of game development, I think the DS offers more for developers, and is MUCH more appealing to program on. At first all the stuff looked gimicky, but it's really starting to grow on me. It should also be easy to program on, it's based off the same architecture as the other gameboys, which is fully documented on the internet and very easy to understand. On the other hand, anything sony has made has been difficult to program for, ask ANYONE who has, you spend way too much time reinventing the wheel and doing more micromanagment then you would think possible. They haven't said if the architecture of the PSP is the same as the PS2 yet, but I'm willing to bet it is.
I mean after all, the Nintendo DS is supposed to come out before the Xmas 2004 buying frenzy, while Sony's PSP is supposed to come out early 2005. After all, wasn't it Sony who used the "get it out early" tactic to win the current generation's console war? Technical superiority (which the PSP undoubtedly has) doesn't always win the war, its all about the games.
IMHO the DS is gonna beat out the PSP. Grant it it will be a close race but the DS has the games. I'm sure there are loads of parents who will look at the DS for little timmy over the PSP just because he has 50 games to play for it already. I don't have the cash on hand to pay $150 for a console than another $50 just for something to play on it. I'm far more inclined to get the DS just for Castlevania and the other Vania GBA games I already have that it will be able to play. Its just not gonna be a total slaughter on either side. Just my 2 cents. ... and no I don't know how to spell
Imagine if the /. effect sent everyone to the same location... the whole universe might suddenly be replaced with something even more inexplicable.
Some say this has already happened.
'Tis a wild thought!
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Interestingly, while there's a lot of focus on the PSP vs the DS, in my opinion it's a three-way fight. If the PSP is equivalent to a portable Playtation and the DS a portable NES, then the cell phone is your portable PC.
Like the PC, cell-phone games are a little trickier to build (for the same reasons: multiple platforms and standards) but also like the PC in the 90s, it has a major advantage over the "consoles": connectivity. You can play your buddies (even if they're not in the same room, which is as much as you get for connectivity with the PSP and DS. Add to that over-the-air delivery of games, and you've got something going on. And everybody will own a cell-phone anyway...
And sure, the first Ngage sucked hardcore, but they'll fix it. Unlike Nintendo or Sony, Nokia is used to changing and improving their products yearly, and you better believe the other cell-phone makers are working on gaming handsets too.
Just you watch, the major feature of the PSP2 and/or DS2 will be more robust online and over-the-air access, but by then they'll be playing catch-up (kind of like how the PS2 and XBox are trying to catch up to the PC in terms of connectivity).
Sure is an interesting time to be a gamer...
From the article: "Dave 'Fargo' Kosak of GameSpy.com predicts: Here at GameSpy the general consensus is that the Sony handheld will blow the market wide open -- our editors often consider it to be the "iPod of Gaming," the must-have peripheral that'll make portables cool."
I'd take this more seriously if it came from a source with a shred of journalistic integrity. These are, after all, the people who listed such classics as Donkey Kong Country, Halo, and Quake 2 in their "Top 25 Most Overrated Games of All Time" list. Considering the fact that all three of these games are generally considered to be excellent by most gamers years after their release, they're obviously not overhyped. This is compounded when you consider, as Penny Arcade aptly notes, that Gamespy plays as much a part in the hype machine as anyone else. It's rather obvious that they were picked by Gamespy to create controversy instead of presenting a list of games that deserve the shame of being called overhyped. It seems to me that the "iPod of gaming" remark is yet another of these gambits, aimed more at ushering more hits their way than providing any useful information.
How is focusing on gameplay backwards? Without new gameplay mechanics the industry will stagnate. Every game will just become a remake of the last, just with slightly prettier graphics. And while, as Hollywood has shown us in recent years, remakes have a certain appeal, people will get sick of playing the increasingly pretty versions of the same games over and over again. Without a constant flow of new ideas, people will just get bored with video games and the industry will crash.
In all likelihood it will end up being the DS because they'll use the same model that Playstation itself used (and Gameboy for that matter). Backward compatability. This gets you the first months when new games are slim and all the early adopters pay prime dollar to get the latest and greatest. Out of the gate, PSP will only have the games available at launch.
Plus wouldn't you rather play something like WarrioWare rather than Madden 2005 on a portable? I'd rather view Madden on a big screen.
Also, who cares?
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They said the PSP played mp3s. Wow. Talk about a giant misstep. Sony has not embelish at ALL about the major features of the PSP. It plays MUSIC FILES on MEMORY STICK DUOs. We know NOTHING more about it. My bet? It only plays ATRAC3 files to save on licensing and because it'd help keep the price down, just like the Clies in Japan or that new iPod-ripoff. If someone isn't clever enough to notice that the PSP isn't going to play mp3s, they don't deserve my time.
The PSP, playing your mp3s, dvds and PS2 games in a handheld, but you'll need to buy them all again.
I'd like to see you justify either of those claims, that Sony is "more onwards" ("looking forward" perhaps?) or that Nintendo is going backwards.
Sony is certainly going forwards, they've got improved graphics, wireless, new media, and the ability to play music and movies in some format. However Nintendo is also going forwards, they've got improved graphics, wireless, new media, two screens, and touchscreen capability.
They're clearly pointed in related but slightly tangential directions, Sony towards the all-in-one entertainment device, and Nintendo towards a more dedicated gaming machine. It would be hard to argue that either one is more "onward" than the other, and certainly Nintendo is not moving backwards.
One could attempt to argue on the basis of graphics that Sony is more "onward." However even ignoring the "it's the gameplay" argument, better graphics do not necessarily indicate a better console. Not only can other factors be a limitation (the N64 had better graphics capabilites than the PSX, but was limited by the media format) but if he technology needed for the better graphics pushes either the price or the battery life outside the tollerance range of the consumers it will not be considered a step forward in the long run (see GameGear and NeoGeo.)
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The PSP won't be anything new. It won't be able to do anything that the PS2 can't, at least not game-wise. The DS on the other hand will be able to take games that can't be done on the normal consoles - not even the up-and-coming Revolution, PS3 and XB2 will be able to play certain DS games, because of the touchscreen. I don't care about two screens, that's just one screen at twice the size. With a bit of thought any games that use two screens could be done with just one. You may have to shrink each one a little, but it's nothing big. The touchscreen is going to be revolutionary. It may already be used in PDAs and things, but they aren't gaming platforms. The touchscreen will allow controls not possible with any other input system. The IPod's rotating disc thingy could be implemented with a touchscreen, but nothing else could do it. It brings your radio tuning slide, your speakers' volume knob, just about every input device ever devised can be shown off with a touchscreen. Think that Submarine game that was demoed at E3. That's what the DS is about, the two screens just gives it a cool name.
As a sidenote, although I said that two screens are no better than one, that's only theoretical. You could have two viewpoints of the same area with a single screen, but splitting one screen across the middle for single player hasn't been done before. I don't know why. With the DS you may effectively only have one screen twice as high, but it won't be used like a single screen much. There's nothing to stop developers putting a 'second screen' in console games, but on the DS they -will- do that. The two screens really just tells them, 'Hey! You know what would be cool? Instead of choosing between camera angles, if you could use both!' - whether or not they'll realise that any time soon remains to be seen.