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State Of The Handheld Industry 2005
Jack writes "The State of the Handheld Industry 2005 is back. The yearly feature includes roundtables with journalists and handheld developers. A report by GCAdvanced indicates that this year it is a 4-day feature at Nintendo Insider. The developer roundtable is already up. It talks about not only the GBA, DS, and PSP, but the Gizmondo, N-Gage, and mobile phone gaming. GCAdvanced also reports there is an interview with Nintendo's Perrin Kaplan. Although she seems to dodge some questions, it gives new information about the Game Boy Micro faceplates and Nintendo DS online with the Wi-Fi connection." To provide some first hand opinions, The Game Chair has a piece on the meaning behind handheld gaming.
Why even bother mentioning the N-Gage for that matter...
"A truly wise man realizes he knows nothing."
As technology continues to evolve so will handhelds. I find it remarkable how much functionality they cram into them (and cellphones). No wonder consoles have to have such off the chart specs. Onwards and upwards.
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. - Martin Luther King, Jr.
You may not think that Nintendogs is a killer app. That's because you're a gamer. Nintendogs is aimed at non-gamers, and in Japan, it's definitely moving loads of DS consoles. Nintendogs is very much a killer app for the DS, because it makes non-gamers and casual gamers buy consoles.
If you think Nintendogs is not a killer app, you're fooling yourself. It may not be a hit among traditional gamers, but it's definitely shifting DS boxes in huge numbers.
A report by GCAdvanced indicates that this year it is a 4-day feature at Nintendo Insider. The developer roundtable is already up. It talks about not only the GBA, DS, and PSP, but the Gizmondo, N-Gage, and mobile phone gaming. GCAdvanced also reports there is an interview with Nintendo's Perrin Kaplan.
Yeah, that sounds totally unbiased to me.
Go ahead MOD my day!
More opinions here
I don't doubt that at all, but the real disapointing thing is that the Gameboy and Gameboy Advance were excelent places for a small companies (ie. start-ups). This may be the death of the indie-developer as we know it; about the only way I can see indies surviving is if Nintendo (or the other console manufacturers) creating a 'virtual platform' (ie. emulate old crappy hardware) for indie developers to create games for. Many people may not want to play old-school 2D or simple 3D games, but if a developer produced an interesting enough game it would probably give them enough of a boost to keep going.
Just to throw numbers at the idea:
If 5% of console owners would be interested in paying a nominal fee (ie, $10 or less) to download a less-than graphically impressive independent game (ie. game produced at a graphical quality slightly better than that of the SNES or N64) then if the Revolution had a similar user base to the Gamecube (20 Million give or take) you would have ~1 Million potential customers; if the developer got 1/4 the money and you assumed an average cost of development in the 250,000 range they would only have to sell 100,000 copies to break even.
The numbers are far too optimistic but I think they demonstrate the general concept; if only a small portion of the small portion of users that are willing to pay a small fee for a independant game buy your game, you could still have a very profitable company.
"No one wants an expensive, delicate portable game system..."
I can't speak for the PSP here, but I've dropped my DS off a 6' dresser, ejecting the cartridge, and it's no worse for wear, save for a small nick on the outer casing. I've been carrying it around with me for the past month, and it's continued to function as well as it always has. The DS is hardly "delicate".
As for the games, they're coming. If you remember, the GBA had a pretty lackluster launch as well, but its backward compatibility helped sell units for a while. And unlike the GBA, developers will need a little more time to get used to the DS and PSP. The PSP is almost a miniature console, so former GBA developers are having to deal with 3D graphics, disc input, WiFi, and heavier battery consumption. The DS's new features like the touchscreen, microphone, and WiFi introduce a completely new standard for games, making it a lot harder for developers to simply port older titles or make cookie-cutter sequels.
But this holiday season seems to be the first big wave of titles for both consoles. The DS has Metroid, Advance Wars, Nintendogs, and a wave of WiFi games like Mario Kart and Animal Crossing. The PSP will see the new GTA, Madden, and Infected, to name a few. If you can't see anything you like in the remaining 2005 lineup, maybe handhelds aren't for you.
Sure, two massive easily scratched screens doesn't make it delicate at all. Just because *closed* your DS took ONE fall and survived they must be built like heavy-armor tanks. oh, and all the delicate electronics in the PSP must also be able to handle small-arms fire too.
Put a GBA and either a PSP or DS up against each other and see which one lasts. Your a fool to think either new portable is more durable. Hinges, large screens, delicate optical drives, yeah I must be crazy to think the way I do.
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