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The Handheld War
The Escapist has an editorial up talking about the war currently raging in the trenches...and not the console war, for once. The new handhelds are duking it out for position, and he makes some interesting predictions. From the article: "Sony's stumble will clear the way for Nokia's N-Gage powered smartphones to be the #2 platform in handheld gaming. I see it developing into a PC-like platform. Think of it like this: Everybody has a PC. Everybody uses their PC for work and web. Some people also use it for gaming - enough people to make the PC, as a platform, the second biggest; it's the same concept with the smartphone."
The N-Gage is basically dead and buried. Nothing will bring it back.
This might be possible for the N-Gage if it were an open platform that other phone companies used, but by it only being in certain Nokia phones the likelihood of that happening is pretty low...
"A truly wise man realizes he knows nothing."
...this had me really going: "It's the same reason US cars are better than Japanese cars: We've been doing it longer."
What a great joke site, that's the funniest thing I've seen all day...oh...wait...that's not a joke? Oh...sad...
WASTE - The Secure P2P
It's true that cellphones are tending more towards visuals and including more games, but I doubt the kind of games that cellphone users want to play are the same as the ones that handheld console owners want. Cellphone games are mostly a way to kill time, whereas most handheld gamers are looking for a little extra.
In short: people who want to play handheld games will just buy a handheld console, and people who want to play cellphone games are content with the existing, non-N-Gage options.
He claims that the N-Gage will succeed in the fact that it will have the largest installed user base. N-Gage game compatable phones will be purchased by people who don't care, and ignorant pundits will then claim that means it's a successful console. When can we start measuring success in games sold, not consoles? It's the games where the money is made after all...
WASTE - The Secure P2P
There are 40 N-Gage games in the shops and only 32 PSP ones, therefore the N-Gage is better than the PSP. The same logic also shows that Snake is a better game than Half-Life, and ants are more intelligent than people*
* which in the case of the autuor of this article might actually be true.
A pizza of radius z and thickness a has a volume of pi z z a
Marketing and brandname are tough categories to compete in when dealing with such a tiny market. Nintendo and Sony are pretty much the only big players here.
Nokia's N-Gage came out as a joke, a well-repeated and oft-referenced comedy. Side-talkin!
They'll need to sink a lot of money into producing innovative and affordable products. But on top of that, they'll need to dish out a massive marketing campaign to remedy a terrible first impression.
If the writer envisions a multi-purpose handheld gaming system taking over the market due to integrating with other gadgets...Nokia won't be the one dishing it out.
My bet is a later generation of a Sony handheld due to the way they've been trying pack extra features into the PS3 past it's gaming features(Still remains to be seen what features survive into release...). Nintendo will probably try to stick to games and pleasing its hardcore fans.
In my opinion, integration is nice, but people are buying these handhelds for playing games first and foremost. The rest is window dressing.
I'm sorry I tried to read the entire FA, but I couldn't do it. By the end of the second page this guy must have referred to himself in the third person close to 10 times. "Steele Style" was my favorite.
This is the second post The Escapist has gotten, and so far I've found it painful to read an article half full of self horn blowing.
Seriously though, "Max Steele"? Who comes up with this shit?
Sure, nokia may sell a bunch of smartphones, but that doesn't mean that volume of sales is an automatic indicator of some level of success as a gaming platform. You have to convice consumers that the features the phone offers are valuable to them. I don't think this is a question of units sold. Its more a question of whether the person buying the phone uses the features. Working for Verizon I can tell you that many people over 30 aren't interested in text messaging, picture messaging, data services, cameras and all the bells and whistles. They want a good performing reliable phone thats not too hard to use. I think that dedicated gaming handhelds will continue to outperform smart phones as our device of choice for portable gaming.
forty-two
1) pc for work/console for gaming.
2) mobile phone for calls/gba,ds for gaming/ipod for portable music.
3) games draw way too much power from the mobile phones.
4) gaming while waiting for call=bad.
5) games on mobile phones SUCK.
It sends me into fits of laughter to see people get all hot and bothered because Nintendo is successful. Rather than admit Nintedo won, they'll support the N Gage. Pathetic.
Are poorly conceived jokes at best. These people demonstrate a lack of basic understanding in the games industry. What the often fail to mention is how profit pans out, as far as profit goes, Nintendo won this generation big time.
If you want a much better (and funnier) view on where gaming has been and is going, read JiveMagazine.com's interview with Penny-Arcade's Gabe and Tycho. The author of the Jive article doesn't keep referring to himself in the third person. Max Steele reminds me of the Simpsons where Homer changed his name to Max Power because it sounded cooler.
http://www.tomandemily.com
I'm one of the three people who actually own an N-Gage, so I feel qualified to comment on its chance as an opponent of the DS and the PSP.
It has no chance.
The N-Gage sucks. The screen is too small and tall instead of wide, which makes it useless for most games (Sonic N actually doesn't use about 30% of the screen, which means it's even smaller than most N-Gage games). The buttons are crap. The directional pad is crap. It sounds worse than the cheapest Radio I've ever heard. It's capable of 3D graphics, but not of usable 3D graphics, so most 3D games are pretty much unplayable, and since people don't seem to want 2D games anymore, most N-Gage games are 3D. Even though you don't have to take the battery out to switch the game, you have to tell the N-Gage that you want to switch the game, wait for it to confirm that, open the N-Gage Game slot thingie, switch the game, wait till the N-Gage acknowledges the game, start the game. Turning the N-Gage on takes at least 30 seconds and took me up to 2 minutes in some cases. It has no shoulder buttons, and the button placement makes it really hard to use more than two or three buttons. The N-Gage actually needs a SIM card, otherwise you can't even turn it on. It is so slow that it can't emulate classic Gameboy games at decent speed. Zelda is playable, but you can forget about action games. The N-Gage is a pretty decent phone, and I like the button placement, but it's too big, and it has no touch screen, which would be useful for the phone interface.
And these are only some of the problems I've been having.
Of course, some Series 60 phones can play N-Gage games, but the button placement is even worse than on the N-Gage.
Nokia might become a serious player in the handheld gaming segment, but not with this hardware.
The same logic also shows that Snake is a better game than Half-Life
Only if the snake is solid.
In case you didn't know, Microsoft hasn't shipped 360 versions of xbox yet either.
It appears you're not counting each firmware change (as part of the anti-modchip cat-and-mouse game) as a "version".
Games will cost similarly for both systems for the consumer, but in the case of optical storage, fabrication costs _much_ less
Fabrication of Nintendo DS game cards isn't as much cheaper than fabrication of UMD discs as you'd think, given that Nintendo will soon be moving to new cheaper OTP memories manufactured by Matrix Semiconductor for Nintendo DS game cards. Given that Nintendo could afford to give away DS cards containing the Zelda: Twilight Princess trailer at E3 2005...
The games that _do_ use optical storage get much more storage space as well, offering the gamer more media content, like longer videos, better music, higher polygon models, better textures, key aspects of many modern games, giving developers more degrees of freedom. The only tradeoff is load times
The other tradeoff is that games that use PSP features cost more to produce in the first place, and in the game console software business model, the cost of making the first copy is spread across the purchase price of each of the first million copies or so. Compare Lumines for PSP ($40) to Meteos for Nintendo DS ($30), or any of the high-end games for PSP ($50 each) to any of the high-end games for Nintendo DS ($35 each).
which most gamers will already be used to.
Not necessarily. Gamers who have already owned a handheld system are used to handheld load times, which are rarely if ever more than 5 seconds on the GBC, GBA, or Nintendo DS. On the other hand, one high-profile racing game for PSP is said to take 70 seconds to load a race track that takes 150 seconds to complete.
Ultimately, the PSP will have a bigger library of games than the DS.
The set of PSP titles has to compete not only against the set of Nintendo DS titles but also against the set of GBA titles, as the Nintendo DS hardware plays 99 percent of GBA titles. About 2100 GBA titles have been released (counting multi-region releases as multiple releases).
the business model of selling razors and blades [is] not a proper analogy. A better analogy, at least in this context, would be between the business model of the game industry and the business model of the auto industry (cars and gasoline).
Car companies don't intentionally lock out competing car companies' brands of gasoline, unlike Gillette and Schick that produce razors compatible with only the manufacturer's own set of blades. Given the lockout mechanisms on video game consoles, which have been in place since the Atari 7800 and NES, how does this figure into your analogy?
Really, the higher capacity offered by PSP discs is useful more for things like long, epic RPGs with lots of cut scenes and the like. While this is a definite advantage on consoles, I don't know of anyone who would want to produce an epic RPG for a handheld. After all, it would sell better and have more freedom on a console in the first place.
You also fail to take into account the fact that handheld games are meant to be 'pick up and play', not deep, involved affairs that require load times. They should offer a quick burst of fun for when you have no console around and nothing to do. People may be willing to invest time and energy into sitting down and playing a console, but few would do the same for a handheld. Load times may make all the difference.
Gamertag: WyleType
Ultimately, I don't really care. DS games were made to be fun, not to look pretty, even though Mario Kart DS does. They were made for FUN, which the PSP does not have, Mr. Graphics Whore.
1. DS is teh kiddeh!!11!!1
~Care to prove this one for once? 2. PSP will get success from having lots of ports.
~Again, that ps2 games can be ported to psp doesn't mean people will buy them. 3. Ngage gaming on consumer phones will make ngage #2.
~This one is possible, but not remotely a sure thing.
True genius is grasping a situation like a peice of fruit, and peircing it just right so that it drains dry.
The way it sounds coming from you is that Nintendo is actually going to make money off there old GBA titles which isnt true.
Nintendo will continue selling GBA software as long as it sells GBA hardware. The GBA SP and GBA Micro hardware won't be phased out at least until the next non-third-pillar handheld from Nintendo comes out.
Sure, the DS may have TWO screens, one of them being a touch screen, allowing developers to get a bit creative, but it's just a matter of time for the novelty effect to wear off and for people to realize that these features do not actually enhance the gaming experience by much.
I dunno man, I own a DS and the touch screen is a real pleasure to use. When I go back and play GBA games, I almost feel out of place playing without using the touch screen. Try playing Pac-Pix and you'll understand.
Shouldn't You expect more from your DJ?
"Sure, the DS may have TWO screens, one of them being a touch screen, allowing developers to get a bit creative, but it's just a matter of time for the novelty effect to wear off and for people to realize that these features do not actually enhance the gaming experience by much."
A touchscreen is much more efficient for any menu-based game, any game requiring a virtual keyboard, games with user-created content, "hands-on" games like card games and board games, and any PC-based genres like RTSs and FPSs. The second screen, while not entirely necessary, will nevertheless be useful for displaying stats, navigating menus, providing a map, and many other functions that would clutter the HUD in a typical game. Not only that, but the built-in mic will be almost necessary for online communication, provided that Nintendo utilizes it. Between the mic and the onscreen keyboard, the DS lends itself to networked games far better than the PSP does. Now it's up to developers to support it, but with Nintendo finally taking some initiative, third-parties will join in time.
I agree with the comments everyone else has made: namely, the author is on crack and the N-gage is dead. However, I'd like to point out that no one has mentioned the demo Nintendo did at E3, where they used DSes to make VoIP phone calls. In other words, if Nintendo ever feels like releasing the software for it, you'll be able to make free call to other DSes and possibly computers and phone lines at any WiFi hotspot. So basically, it's a portable phone that makes cheap calls.
Score one more for the DS.
Nintendo is still projected to ship more DSs than Sony will PSPs in the next twelve months.
Also, I would like to point Mr. Steele to the Japanese sales figures.
Two titles have been released in the past couple months that are very interesting: "DS Training for Adults: Work Your Brain" and "Gentle Brain Exercises."
Both of these games are tearing up the charts. This ain't kiddy fare. They are aimed squarely at gamers older than 18-24 years old. "Gentle Brain Exercises" was number 2 for the week ending the 10th. In it's second week out it sold over 75,000 units and beat the newly-released "We Love Katamari" which came in third.
Nintendo is not trying to cater simply to the children. They see the gaming population becoming older, but unlike Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo sees gamers aging past college age.
Actively courting all ages may lose them some sales in the trendy young adult market, but I think this strategy is the best chance Nintendo has to maintain their sales and expand upon them. Though some won't admit it, there are a good deal of gamers (myself included) that are tiring of cookie-cutter Sci-Fi FPSs as we age beyond our early 20s. This population segment is only going to increase. Don't get me wrong, I like a good FPS as much as anyone, but when I have Unreal Tournament, Goldeneye 007, and Serious Sam, I don't see why Halo 2 should excite me.
I just think it is very wise to look at everyone as a potential gamer.
To an extent, I disagree with you.
I am very excited about the possibility of long, epic RPGs for the DS. I want to play though Crystal Chronicles. I hear there are remakes of vintage RPGs coming to the DS: Super Nintendo Style Final Fantasy, ChronoTrigger, Earthbound, etc. Many of these qualify as "epic RPGs", and many of these I look forward to playing on my DS>
On the other hand, I agree with you. I will not suffer through of PreRendered Motion Crap. Its a different story on my console, but not on my handheld.
Deja Vu
n. 1. The sensation that you've read this very article before.
Sounds like you may have an American sense of humor?
When the policeman of the tie, rule you violate, hello punishment of the kitty?
Go, right now, and find a store with a DS demo. Play Kirby: Canvas Curse for 10 minutes, and come back here and tell me the the gaming experience hasn't changed by much. That thing is a triumph, an experince that just wouldn't be possible on any other hardware. It's the most innovative, fun thing I've played in years. I've brought it on two road trips, played half hour segments at home, and I'm just about to roll over to 20 hours played, and the "Holy Wow" factor is still there.
SAILING MISHAP