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PSP Devs Should Pony Up
President of development house 'Ready at Dawn' Didier Malenfant has given a short interview to GamesIndustry.biz. In the piece, he lays out his feeling that developers are to blame for the lackluster title library of Sony's handheld console. From the article: "'Everything is compromised, and it bugs the hell out of me when you hear a lot of developers saying, Well, we can't do this that way because it's a handheld game, or We can't do this because it doesn't have a second analog stick.' 'Those are all excuses,' Malenfant continued - observing that the original PSone controller didn't have any analog sticks, 'And there were great games on that.'"
I know that the chicken & egg argument could be applied here but it seems that the market for the PSP is a LOT smaller than the market for the foriginal Playstation.
Plus gamers are used to completely different games and gaming experiences, I'd suspect that most people who have a PSP expect the gameplay to be similar to what they have today on the PS2.
Looking at some games that have released in Europe (and not in the US) such as "Tales of Eternia" (which is a PSX port of "Tales of Destiny II" US) and "Breath of Fire III", there is the ability to bring games to the PSP without the long loading times - even ports of PSX games.
Contrast this with games like "Ys'" and the Japanese release on the PSP of Valkyrie Profile, both of which suffer from frequent load times. The latter also appears to have bad text and graphics, where the developer didn't take the time to remake the graphics and font for the smaller system, but just stretched out the graphics and added fuzziness to hide the edges.
Yuck.
In the latter case, it appears to just be laziness - they didn't take the time to make the game well, and now they and gamers will suffer for it.
On the other hand, I believe there are also some inherent design flaws with the PSP, mainly in the UMD system. Games that require data swap outs (like RPGs as you move from one area to the next) will suffer from load times. On a PSX system, that's fine - the CD is always spinning, because you're plugged into the wall.
On a PSP, though a constantly spinning UMD means your battery is going to vanish faster than a bottle of Bawls at a LAN party. So the game has to load, spin down, spin up, load, spin down over and over again, which gives you bad load times.
There are ways around this - better caching or compression, using a piece of the memory card (basically, you make the "save game" space at the beginning then use that to cache some data. Granted, it's not optimal, but it's an idea).
So a wagging finger of shame to developers too lazy to update the graphics in their ports, a wagging finger of shame to the developers who haven't even bothered to give us really good original games (save for maybe "Exit" - and no, I'm not including "Lumines" - it's Dr. Mario all over again), and a wagging finger to Sony for not promising on the possibility of the PSP.
52 Weeks, 52 Religions with John Hummel
'Everything is compromised, and it bugs the hell out of me when you hear a lot of developers saying, Well, we can't do this that way because it's a handheld game, or We can't do this because it doesn't have a second analog stick.' 'Those are all excuses,' Malenfant continued - observing that the original PSone controller didn't have any analog sticks, 'And there were great games on that.
This guy understands what's going on.
The Gameboy Advance (SP) has one directional pad, two regular buttons, and two shoulder buttons. Yet, we get brilliant software for it, and it's only sold, what, a few dozen million systems?
The DS, ignoring the touch screen, only boasts an extra two buttons. Though I guess the industry has proven that you really can't do anything with those things, huh, guys?
I think it's more that the developers that are trying to utilize the power that the PSP possesses are too used to having all sorts of controls and control combos associated with it. It would be as if Amazon decided to boot its store and just make a book review site. Sure, they could do it, but they couldn't make just a book review site- eventually they'd turn it right back into the Amazon store, because they don't have any constraints, and are used to the bigger feel.
But you don't need a large amount of controls to have a good game. I've been playing Wario Ware, Inc. for a few weeks now, and at any time it is using one of the regular buttons and the d-pad at most during gameplay. And it's quite a fun game.
Another part of the problem is that too many developers may be trying to continue the "PSP is just a system to port to" thought process that seems to abound (I've seen few original games that aren't ports or rehashes). When going from a Splinter Cell game on the PS2 to the PSP, of course you're going to lose something because of the new layout. So, make a new stealth game. One that isn't Splinter Cell (yes, I know that's hard, bear with me a minute) and fashion it such that it works with the controls.
I am a Nintendo fanboi .. so I thought I'd get that out of the way. That doesn't, however, preclude me from making observations.
... "Oh ... stupid UMD movies"
.. all Nintendo machines, all with very good battery life.)
I was at Futureshop the other day, just checking out the GCN and DS titles and stuff, and walked by what I tought was a HUGE rack of PSP games. I thought, wow, WTF? I didn't know they had that many games. Then I looked a little closer
I don't think I ever saw any PSP games actually (not that I was looking for them or anything).
So here's the thing, if you don't blame the devs, who else can you blame for the poor showing of PSP games? Sony? Maybe. Perhaps if they weren't pre-occupied with trying to re-sell movies they've already sold to people in a more usuable form (aka DVDs) then they might perhaps be a little more focused on something that might actually sell the system. GAMES! From what I've obvserved, there are 3 kinds of people that have purchased the PSP. 1) The pissed off kind that thought they'd get some games. 2) The people who bought this solely for home brew purposes. 3) The pissed off people who conceded defeat and now only use it for home brew stuff.
There are a lot of nice things about the PSP (admittedly). The device itself is a quite sexy. The screen is pretty nice. My complaints would be that it's a little large, UMDs suck, Memory Sticks suck, analog stick isn't in a good position for long term play, battery life (it's not as bad as some people claim, but I expect a little more from a portable gaming machine. Just look at the past machines that sold well. Hmmm
Again, yes, I am a Nintendo whore, but these were just my observations/opinions.
AirSpeak - http://itunes.com/apps/AirSpeak
Sony needs to open up the development on the PSP.
1. Make development kits available.
2. Allow PSP's to run homebrew. Now I don't mean stolen ISOs or the like.
3. Start a community site so players can upload games.
3a. Offer the ability for a homebrew(r) to charge for their game ($1 here, $1 there).
3b. Sony can get a cut, profit for everyone!
-zariok-
When you port any game to a system that cannot give you the exact same sort of input as the originating system, you will run into problems. If a game used 2 analog sticks originally, you cannot make the exact same game on a system with only one analog stick.
You can make a game that has a close resemblance, but thats about it.
Now, I think that one of the big reasons that the PSP may be suffering is that too many developers and publishers are porting games to that system rather then writing entirely new games. specifically for it.
The Nintendo DS does not suffer as much from this problem for two reasons. One is that most direct port type games from earlier systems have already shown up on the Gameboy Advance. The other reason is that the new interface pretty much demands new types of games.
END COMMUNICATION
are the AWFUL UMD load times! There is nothing more infuriating than the bloody load times in practically all the PSP games I have.
One of the reasons why I keep my PSP at 1.5 is to use UMD Emulator and Fastloader. Guess what? The PSP is MUCH MORE ENJOYABLE because loading off memory stick (or the hard drive accessory) is way faster. (Off memory stick, it's really quick. Hard drive is perhaps 2-4x slower, but UMD is probably 10x slower than the hard drive). Sony could make a killing if they made it possible to cache UMDs on memory sticks and have games load from there rather than the UMD itself.
Also, I do believe all the excuses are just that - excuses. Lack of buttons? Lack of analog sticks? Well, it means that one has to be a lot more intelligent in writing their games! Take Nintendo's Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time - you have 4 characters you have to control, each mapped to 1 button. That only leaves the shoulder buttons to do stuff with. It works, and is plenty fun for an RPG, and the trick to playing it is to realize that it's not what the buttons do, but combinations of characters and button pushing.
Lack of innovation is always going to be much more obvious on a handheld system which effectively offers nothing new beyond improved graphics capabilities and a shiny, and it must be said, rather lovely casing.
Yeah, it's got a nice screen, and whilst it's bigger than that of the Gameboy SP, and a more conventional format that that of the DS, it's too small to allow full console titles to be ported to it, so from a developers point of view, it's as much of a burden as an advantage. People are expecting better graphics and use of the screen real estate, but in the industry it's seen just another platform on which to release your games, and moving away from a conventional screen size is a real pain in the arse.
As I had been expecting from well before the PSP and DS were released, we're seeing some pretty innovative ideas using the dual screens, touch screen and microphone inputs on the Nintendo DS. These are all features which can be used to enhance gameplay, and bring a whole new experience to gamers, and they're even being used to enhancing more established genres. Developers love that kind of thing. New toys, bells and whistles to play with are always going to get the creative juices flowing, especially if using them is optional. You don't hear developers crying out with joy that they've come up with a groundbreaking game idea that uses the extra half inch of screen space available on the PSP.
The PSP just isn't groundbreaking at all. It certainly does what it does well enough, and as a piece of consumer electronics, it looks stunning, but underneath it all, it's just, well, a rather uninspiring, fairly boring handheld gaming machine.
I can easily see the same thing happening once all three next-gen consoles are on sale. Sony and Microsoft will be fighting each other purely on hardware performance and the odd exclusive title, but it'll all just be first person shooters, sports and driving games. There'll have to be some pretty sever price drops to ensure that they shift the number of units they have planned. The games will probably all look stunning, but will offer very little new.
Meanwhile, Nintendo will be happily shifting the Revolution, selling plenty of downloaded legacy titles, and showing the world truly innovative games. Having a full developer's kit priced at only $2K is going to bring many more developers to the party as well. I can't wait.
The DS has been selling pretty damn well compared to the PSP. Now, part of this is due to the fact that Nintendo has a very strong fanbase and I'm certain that a large part of it is also because the DS is much cheaper, but the main reason it's been selling so many units is because it has some great games. I know that's the reason I bought one. Last year during E3 I kept hearing about the new games on the way for the DS and I realized that I seriously needed to own one. Sure, none of the games out at the time were really that good, but the first wave of greatness was just about to drop.
That said, let's look at some of the top games for the DS and see why the PSP couldn't have done them as well (ignoring such things as licenses, we're concentrating on gameplay).
First up is Mario Kart DS... lots of people are pointing to this as one of the killer apps for the system and considering it introduced the wi-fi connection it was perfectly positioned. At it's core it's a racing game with an online component. The PSP would have no problems producing an excellent racing game along the same lines and also have the same wi-fi access built in. Yes, it sold largely due to the strength of the franchise, but every franchise has to start somewhere once people start innovating. No excuse here.
Next up is Advance Wars: Dual Strike. Turn-based strategy game that's the direct sequel to the same franchise on the GBA and which started earlier, but was only released in Japan. Considering it ran on the GBA there's no reason the PSP can't have something like this. It uses simple graphics, but that's part of the charm. The deep and involving gameplay is the reason people have become hooked on the series. If it was a PSP title it probably would have had online multiplayer as well, but Nintendo launched it before the WFC. Again, no excuses.
Next up is Nintendogs. Ok, it's not one I personally own (unlike the previous two titles) and it doesn't really appeal to me, but it does appeal to a lot of people out there. Admittedly it relies pretty heavily on the unique features (touch input, microphone) of the DS so it's not really an option on the PSP. I'm also willing to bet that they wouldn't want to try it even if it was possible because it would make the PSP look less "hardcore". Still... they have a valid excuse for not making a game of this type.
Our next title is Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time. Again, sequel to a GBA game, but with features that take specific advantage of the DS (4 buttons, two screens). The fact that it's a sequel of a GBA game means it's still possible on the PSP, it would just be a tad different. As it is it's a unique twist on the traditional Japanese-style CRPG. Again, no reason why the PSP can't do it.
Moving right along and we have Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow. Ignoring the nicety of having a second screen for status and map info the only thing that makes it DS-specific is the seal system. Most people agreed that the game would have been better without it. Would the pretty graphics of the PSP have been cool if we had the same gameplay though? Certainly.
Kirby: Canvas Curse is our next game and one that makes specific use of the touch screen. It's a creative and interesting way to use the technology and that means that the PSP couldn't have done it. Sometimes that's just how things are and you can't blame PSP devs for not trying it.
Meteos. Well, it's a puzzle game by the same guy who did Lumines. Sure it uses the touch-screen in a pretty important way (the game is too fast to really play with the gamepad), but the point is that the PSP can and has made a puzzle game of a reasonably similar nature. Even more it's one of the top titles for the PSP. Way to go.
Moving into upcoming games we have the hotly-anticipated Metroid Prime: Hunters. From the First Hunt demo it's pretty apparent how useful the touch screen is to replicate using a mouse, but first-person shooters have come out for the PSP so it's entirely possible to do it. I have to say I'd think there woul
The game loading for 7 minutes or me watching a video of a game load for seven minutes.
Ooo man the floppy drive is broken. No wait. The computer is just upside down.
So, why is it that GTA has done so poorly on/for the PSP?
The simple fact of the matter is that gameplay on a handheld is inherently different from gameplay on a home console. This is a known fact, has been known for years, as the gameboy has outlasted every other handheld that has entered the market. The main reason being, the other handhelds were structured just as portable home consoles, and therefore they ignored several important issues involving battery life, short learning curve and gameplay that's easy to get into and out of quickly.
People are calling PSP the King of Ports because that's all that's being made, console ports you can carry with you. And, unfortunately, that just doesn't sell a portable system, because while the system is portable, the game is not. Most of these companies have development groups within them that have worked on GBC & GBA and produced hits, some have even produced hits on the DS. If those same teams were working on the PSP, instead of teams who've only really worked with the PS2, and maybe the Xbox or GCN, you'd see better, more interesting PSP games.
But with things being the way they are, it's very unlikely. It seems as if the PSP is going to suffer the same fate the GCN suffered. It's not selling well compared to it's competition, and so it will lose developer support, meaning even fewer people will purchase it.
just some guy
For instance, I 'hear' that the PS2 devkits were 30k euros originally. No, I'm not going to offer proof either.
As an aside, in addition to this financial outlay, another point is that you can't even buy a devkit until the console manufacturer has approved your game design (unless you're EA or a company of that size). It's not like going out and buying a PC.
To clarify: by 'devkit', I mean a debug devkit, not a test devkit - as the QA guy said, these are generally much cheaper, and a lot simpler. e.g. a PS2 'tool' devkit and a PS2 teststation are quite different beasts.
I can tell you the reasons I didn't buy it, after looking forward to it a lot:
* I already know Liberty City. The excitement of discovering a new city is half the point.
* Reviews agreed that the missions were bland. Yuck.
* The graphics are not appealing, even considering the limitations of the PSP.
Sub-standard warmed-over original GTA3? No thank you, I've got nicer things to do.
Luckily, Take Two are trying a second time. Here's to hoping!