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What Makes The DS So Popular?
Next Generation is running down the reasons why the Nintendo DS is so popular in Japan, by analyzing an article on the subject from Famitsu. From the article: "In any department store in Japan, there are DS demo stations. Usually the screens are scratched to high hell (I can't imagine what people are DOING with the stylus), and lately, there are a lot of games to choose from. On the launch day of Xbox 360, I recall seeing a line eight persons deep to play Super Mario Kart DS, and not one person even looking at the 360. This was in Shibuya Tsutaya, statistically the most foot-trafficked game retailer in all of Japan."
Online play.
Huge library of GBA games (RPGS! FUN!).
No loading times. Not that expensive.
Kinda looks like a PDA.
You don't realise how much a PSP is missing a touch screen until you use a DS.
You don't realise how slow UMD is until you buy DS.
You don't realise how time consuming transcoding video is until you buy a PSP.
The one area where the PSP kicks the DS is graphics. The graphics on the PSP are incredible for a handheld system, but they come with a heavy price: game loading time and battery life. Whats worse is that once its loaded your still left playing with an analogue stick and 6 buttons. Its a platform thats been done to death.
Cartridges make a lot of sense for a mobile platform. Low battery consumption and instant on are what gaming on the move is all about. Having two cartridge slots was a work of genius. Not only do you get a huge back catalogue, but you also get an explansion slot. How long will it be until you can buy a DS game that comes with a tilt cart, or a rumble pack? Thats simply not an option for the PSP.
As for games?
I haven't been as consumed with a gaming system since I got my first console, a NES. Mario 64 took a while for me get into, but now I'm hooked. Mario Kart is genuily the best in the series and Nintendogs is the most bizarly addictive game I've ever played, it really snook up on me. I'm looking forward to the port of Viewtiful Joe, Mario Soccer and the inevitable Pokemon game. I think, as a platform it shows a lot of promise.
However, I only know of one other person with a DS, everyone else owns PSPs... so what do I know?
Scared of flying, pointy things snce 1979!
I think the reason the DS is so popular is a simple one... It's fun to play with.*Gasps* There have been alot of fresh games come to the market that really showcase how bland gaming has become lately. It's these games that give the DS such appeal. Gamers want something new, even if they say they don't. I think the article points that out very well.
Not to mention that people who don't play video games want the DS because it looks like something manageable. It has a simple interface and looks like fun. Little kids are starting to want it because of games like Nintendogs, The Urbz, The Sims 2, Mario Kart, etc. For somebody like me, a hardcore gamer, there is just and endless supply of awesome games, that are portable to boot. There seems to be a little something for everyone in the DS whereas the PSP doesn't have that kind of appeal at all.
I agree whole-heartedly with the writer that we shouldn't count Nintendo out yet. They have a better head on their shoulders than some may think. The Revolution just may be the system everyone is looking for and personally I am curious to see where Nintendo takes this crazy world of gaming. All I have to say is, Nintendo, you have my vote, continue kicking ass.
I allowed my nieghbor's kid to play with my DS a few months after I got it. I knew by then that the screen was pretty durable, so I wasn't concerned if she was a bit rough. But this kid didn't know what "tapping the screen" ment. This kid maliciously stabbed my screen... as if it were her arch-enemy. She dragged the stylus across the screen like she had to cut a trench in it to get things to move (I think I had her playing Feel the Magic XX/XY). I gave her a few gentle reminders to be gental. I told her that the weight of the pen was enough for it to be recognized. She didn't let up. I took it away and held the power button saying, "Oh, sorry the batteries are dead." She never saw it again.
I imagine many a DS suffers this fate when the owner is young or away. Especially when in the stores. A lot of people know how to treat electronics, and a lot of people don't. This is why a few months after the 360's displays were out the tops of the control sticks were already missing.
This sig isn't original enough, it's time to come up with something witty...
MS fully intended the 360 to at least crack the Japanese market. It just hasn't. We're not even talking about people buying the system; we're talking about whether they're even curious about it on launch day, yes? And they're not.
If you go to a game store here you see the exact opposite. The 360 has people huddled around and fighting over the chance to play COD2, and the DS is laying around unplayed.
Judging by my kids and their friends, the reason they're looking at the 360 in the store is because their parents aren't going to be spending that kind of coin. The circle around my kids, anyway, definitely do own the DSes though. Because I could afford it. (And honestly because I wanted to send mail to my kids in Animal Crossing. They're 12, it's good to communicate.)
"Fundamentalism" isn't about divine morality. It's about human authority.
On a forum my sister's on, a forum for mothers and pregnant women, a lot of moms are praising it and want one... for themselves.
Like a previous poster has stated, Nintendo's going for the untapped market, which doesn't include "hardcore gamers" that are obsessed with graphics, violence, half-naked women 'superheros' and looking cool in front of their peers.
It's a much broader market... one that's less likely to brag about what video game systems they have around their friends and their friends' fathers.