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[Lonely1]

NSMB came out over a year before the first iPhone.

Yet, is still selling for full price. Angry Birds would need to sell 60 times what it sold in order to catch NSMB's revenue.

 

[charlequin]

I remember seeing a chart one time where Apple's market share was growing, and both Nintendo's and Sony's marketshare were decreasing.

Yeah, that's a measured-in-total marketshare graph where it threw sales of software on all three platforms into one big pot and then divided it up. It was literally impossible for Apple not to "take market share" given that methodology because they went from selling zero games previously to selling some software now. Viewing marketshare solely through that lens disguises the reality that sales of gaming software on portable devices have increased overall.

How has Apple not solved everything you just mentioned already?

I should have just put "and to answer Tobor's questions in advance" at the end there and saved myself the extra post. :lol

Distribution: small games can be downloaded over 3G, large games over Wifi or synced from a computer.

Lots of people don't have a computer or have an optimal setup to conveniently do this. Even if they do, it makes large games an order of magnitude less convenient to buy than the little ones. They'll exist and people will buy them, but the DS install base is like 50 million people in the US: nobody's going to have that kind of sell-through target with a 2GB downloadable title on the App Store today or anytime soon -- basically until and unless people have access to 4G+ speeds with far, far higher bandwidth caps.

Notification: The game saves my place if I take a call, and with 4.0, resumes immediately.

This is a design limitation and issue on the game side, not the OS side. Lots of games aren't tremendously fault-tolerant in terms of being suddenly, unexpectedly interrupted. That's not even to get into games with real-time online multiplayer -- how are those going to handle taking a call?

(There's also OS-level issues like multitasking and task termination -- Apple's approach is just to kill things if they start being too greedy, which is definitely not compatible with many types of existing dedicated handheld games.)

I can easily get 3 to 4 hours

Which is both a fraction of what a (decent) dedicated handheld can produce and which is a problem for a phone that someone has to actually use as, y'know, a phone. Many people go 8-12 hours between being able to charge their phone. If playing a game for an hour on your lunchbreak drains a third of your battery, it drastically increases the chance of running dry before you get home. This issue isn't anywhere close to solved and it's going to get worse in the short term, not better, since mobile processors and GPUs are improving rapidly while battery technology is not.

Revenue: Who could argue with the way Apple handles this?

Apple's business model is built around profiting off of devices with App revenue as a value-add; it's great for certain product profiles and companies but major game titles require a pretty different approach (in terms of marketing, positioning, and certainly in terms of sales.) Apple also hasn't really demonstrated it has the ability to move a quantity of units capable of supporting larger development budgets -- it's certainly possible to be wildly profitable on App Store games but the advantage there is that they're smaller projects with smaller sales targets to hit the same margins -- something that doesn't necessarily scale up.

Almost every element of Apple's gaming strategy is built around how they can make gaming a useful value-add on top of what they're really selling which is media-player-slash-web-browsers(-slash-optional-phones) without spending much extra money on it. It is very unlikely that they will want to actually take over Nintendo's market in any way that isn't possible with such a strategy because it would mean taking on dramatically more risk for only a marginal benefit (if any.)

Again, the debate here is about Apple taking the market that currently exists for dedicated gaming systems by having a product that fills the needs thereof. It's not about Apple being successful selling games (they unquestionably are to an insane degree.) I think "there won't be room for two dedicated gaming handhelds with iOS around -- 3DS will still do great but that won't leave much wiggle room for Sony" is much more arguable but that has to do with Sony navigating the new market segmentation Nintendo and Apple have mutually created moreso than Apple actually converging the handheld market.

But the flip side of that is that, aside from hyperbolic PR, Jobs has never demonstrated any desire to really roll up his sleeves and try and make Apple a serious games company. In fact, it's often been quite the opposite.

Which makes sense, because dedicated gaming machines is a terrible business to try to get into. Apple's gaming revenue is acquired at very low risk and upfront expenditure -- as long as they keep doing well at their core competency (making and selling cool phones and other iOS devices) that money will basically roll in for free, whereas actually targeting a central gaming market wouldn't be much more profitable but would involve orders of magnitude more risk and infrastructure spending.

 

[Zachack]

Yet, is still selling for full price. Angry Birds would need to sell 60 times what it sold in order to catch NSMB's revenue.

And probably cost a tenth as much to develop, if that. The point is that comparing the two is idiotic.

I think a more important question is if the kind of launch support typically shown on handhelds (and consoles) is going to fly this time around. A $40 Zoo Keeper or XX/XY isn't going to likely be feasible.

 

[charlequin]

But some may, the smartphone market has been evolving rapidly, and the existing market is going to make certain genres on the dedicated portables much more treacherous.

This is absolutely true. I don't think it's a coincidence that pretty much every major 3DS title revealed so far has major features that are a poor fit for smartphone gaming -- there are certainly many genres that are going to crash to $5 maximum price and possibly see a reduction in scope to make such a price possible.

 

[Zachack]

Lots of people don't have a computer or have an optimal setup to conveniently do this. Even if they do, it makes large games an order of magnitude less convenient to buy than the little ones. They'll exist and people will buy them, but the DS install base is like 50 million people in the US: nobody's going to have that kind of sell-through target with a 2GB downloadable title on the App Store today or anytime soon -- basically until and unless people have access to 4G+ speeds with far, far higher bandwidth caps.

The people who don't have a computer with either access to iTunes (or whatever smartphone app store) or wifi are basically not going to be participating in the 3DS due to either similar technical hurdles/terrors, cost, or a lack of electricity in their mud huts.

As for convenience, I'm not sure how having to drive to Walmart or Gamestop is somehow more convenient than downloading something from home.

This is a design limitation and issue on the game side, not the OS side. Lots of games aren't tremendously fault-tolerant in terms of being suddenly, unexpectedly interrupted. That's not even to get into games with real-time online multiplayer -- how are those going to handle taking a call?

They could always just force airplane mode in the case of iPhones. As for multiplayer, I suspect the answer is similar to how it works for any multiplayer game: interruptions of any sort stop you from playing unless you use socks as a bathroom during WoW raids.

Which is both a fraction of what a (decent) dedicated handheld can produce and which is a problem for a phone that someone has to actually use as, y'know, a phone. Many people go 8-12 hours between being able to charge their phone. If playing a game for an hour on your lunchbreak drains a third of your battery, it drastically increases the chance of running dry before you get home. This issue isn't anywhere close to solved and it's going to get worse in the short term, not better, since mobile processors and GPUs are improving rapidly while battery technology is not.

Has 3DS battery life been revealed, particularly when on "tag" mode?

 

[FoneBone]

They could always just force airplane mode in the case of iPhones.

Oh, that makes total sense.

(And no, I can't think of any response to that beyond snark.)

 

[gofreak]

Oh, that makes total sense.

(And no, I can't think of any response to that beyond snark.)

He's right though about interruptions in general - no game, in any context, can design out interruptions. Any mobile system in particular will be subject to interruptions as people move about. I mean, what happens when your cellphone rings and you're playing your PSP or DS? You ignore the call (i.e. airplane mode or hit the reject button), or you stop your game and take the call. Not really any different than if the call comes from within the same device,

 

[MarshMellow96]

But some may, the smartphone market has been evolving rapidly, and the existing market is going to make certain genres on the dedicated portables much more treacherous.

Would it be fair to say then, that the people who will only buying a smartphone (save for the 6-12 years iPad market) will not be buying the device as a gaming machine?

Granted some might 'dabble' in the odd game, but not every iPhone/smartphone owner is a gamer. I mean, my dad has an iPhone and never plays any games on it. It would seem a little disingenuous to the numbers to count people who don't game on smartphones when it's probably quite easy to see who has and who hasn't. I know, I know - boohoo not how the world works and all that.

(Assuming that is how they count sales :lol )

 

[charlequin]

As for convenience, I'm not sure how having to drive to Walmart or Gamestop is somehow more convenient than downloading something from home.

And yet for the market that actually exists, it still pretty much is, for whatever reasons drive these sorts of decisions. DD through outlandishly convenient methods (Steam and the App Store via 3G) is growing; DD-exclusive titles on dedicated consoles that already have a reason to get online are doing well but still an order of magnitude smaller than retail sales; DD sales of titles available at retail are basically insignificant everywhere but PC.

Also at issue here is that people buy App Store stuff due to the level of convenience, so any title that requires you to a) actively think about your data usage before buying and b) switch to a different networking method before downloading it is way less convenient than the point-and-click ease of a regular App purchase. That's going to disincentivize those titles on that platform even if nominally it's more convenient than buying a physical game on another platform, and it's going to keep the number of large titles people buy on iOS very small until and unless people's mobile data allowances go way up.

As for multiplayer, I suspect the answer is similar to how it works for any multiplayer game: interruptions of any sort stop you from playing unless you use socks as a bathroom during WoW raids.

Which is, indeed, the problem: you are basically not going to have a market for real-time multiplayer games on a system where an external factor can kick you out unexpectedly at any moment.

Has 3DS battery life been revealed, particularly when on "tag" mode?

The two closest things to suggestions we've gotten are "comparable to the DSi" and "should be charged every night," which suggest a better overall battery performance than the iPhone 4 when under heavy gaming usage, but no, it's not "confirmed" certainly.

I mean, what happens when your cellphone rings and you're playing your PSP or DS? You ignore the call (i.e. airplane mode or hit the reject button), or you stop your game and take the call. Not really any different than if the call comes from within the same device,

It's hugely different because, among other things, you can multitask. I've kept playing games while talking on the phone many times. Certainly if I'm playing something online I have the option to take the call and either be like "I'll call you back in ten" quickly or, if it looks like I'm going to be on the phone for a while, attempt to quickly navigate myself into an exit scenario in my game while I'm talking.

 

[clashfan]

Dedicated portable gaming device is dying. Saw this on Slashdot.

http://www.industrygamers.com/news/gamers-abandoning-ds-psp-in-favor-of-smartphones-says-interpret/

 

[Steve Youngblood]

He's right though about interruptions in general - no game, in any context, can design out interruptions. Any mobile system in particular will be subject to interruptions as people move about. I mean, what happens when your cellphone rings and you're playing your PSP or DS? You ignore the call (i.e. airplane mode or hit the reject button), or you stop your game and take the call. Not really any different than if the call comes from within the same device,

I think what's being discussed though is that on a separate device, I have the option to completely ignore the distraction uninterrupted, or use the separate devices simultaneously. Furthermore, as soon as that phone call comes in on my iPhone while I'm gaming, that comes right to the forefront, and not every game recovers 100% from that bit of multi-tasking once the call ends (mind you, I'm on the 3G still and don't game a lot on it, so this may be improved now). This doesn't mean that the iPhone is a useless gaming device, but it does make it less than ideal for serious, dedicated gaming.

 

[.la1n]

I get where he is coming from but I don't find it very likely. If nothing else it will be a success in Japan as the original PSP has shown. I do agree that most people seem to be gravitating towards ipod touches and iphones for gaming on the go since it's cheap but that is by no means the entire market.

 

[gofreak]

It's hugely different because, among other things, you can multitask. I've kept playing games while talking on the phone many times. Certainly if I'm playing something online I have the option to take the call and either be like "I'll call you back in ten" quickly or, if it looks like I'm going to be on the phone for a while, attempt to quickly navigate myself into an exit scenario in my game while I'm talking.

That's true, but it's something that could be accommodated in the future on one device too, where you could take a call and stay in an app if it's not already the case (with the game volume automatically turned down for example). That could be done if Google or Apple is sufficiently motivated to accommodate that. It's not a fundamental limitation that could never be addressed going forward.

In general though, the concept of mobile gaming is subject to interruption. When a bus comes, I have to stop what I'm doing and do something else. When someone asks to get by me in the train, I have to stop what I'm doing. That's how a lot of mobile gaming is, and there's some stuff no device, dedicated or otherwise, can design out.

 

[dorkimoe]

first thing i think he will ever be right about (or i agree with)

 

[Emitan]

That's true, but it's something that could be accommodated in the future on one device too, where you could take a call and stay in an app if it's not already the case (with the game volume automatically turned down for example). That could be done if Google or Apple is sufficiently motivated to accommodate that. It's not a fundamental limitation that could never be addressed going forward.

In general though, the concept of mobile gaming is subject to interruption. When a bus comes, I have to stop what I'm doing and do something else. When someone asks to get by me in the train, I have to stop what I'm doing. That's how a lot of mobile gaming is, and there's some stuff no device, dedicated or otherwise, can design out.

You can take calls and still use an app on AT&T's network. I've done it on my old iPhone 3G and my Nexus One. The only problem is that both OSs stop the app and take you to the phone app to answer the call. You have to start the game again once the call starts.

 

[2 Minutes Turkish]

Not a huge fan of this guy, but he's right about one thing.

The PSP2 will be dead on arrival. PSPGo has made sure of that.

 

[charlequin]

That's true, but it's something that could be accommodated in the future on one device too

Sure, in the future, which (rolling this back once more) was my entire point: it's a problem that exists on 100% of smartphones today that prevents them from effectively covering the full spectrum of what dedicated handhelds currently cover, and which only a company that both chooses to actively target that market, and designs around it, will eliminate.

Which is part of why smartphone gaming is growing but dedicated handhelds are not necessarily shrinking, there are two not entirely overlapping markets here, some games are extremely unlikely to become smartphone-exclusive any time soon, etc. etc. etc.

 

[Lonely1]

Sure, in the future, which (rolling this back once more) was my entire point: it's a problem that exists on 100% of smartphones today that prevents them from effectively covering the full spectrum of what dedicated handhelds currently cover, and which only a company that both chooses to actively target that market, and designs around it, will eliminate.

Which is part of why smartphone gaming is growing but dedicated handhelds are not necessarily shrinking, there are two not entirely overlapping markets here, some games are extremely unlikely to become smartphone-exclusive any time soon, etc. etc. etc.

Why would any genre become Smartphone exclusive? Angrybirds has already been announced for non phone gaming devices.

 

[Zachack]

And yet for the market that actually exists, it still pretty much is, for whatever reasons drive these sorts of decisions. DD through outlandishly convenient methods (Steam and the App Store via 3G) is growing; DD-exclusive titles on dedicated consoles that already have a reason to get online are doing well but still an order of magnitude smaller than retail sales; DD sales of titles available at retail are basically insignificant everywhere but PC.

But that's largely because of an existing userbase that for all intents and purposes doesn't have any significant DD options or a platform that treats DD as a secondary market. Oddly enough the platform that displays the greatest availability parity between DD and retail also happens to be the platform with the highest DD sales, eclipsing retail (to say nothing of the likely larger genre splits between methods).

Also at issue here is that people buy App Store stuff due to the level of convenience, so any title that requires you to a) actively think about your data usage before buying and b) switch to a different networking method before downloading it is way less convenient than the point-and-click ease of a regular App purchase. That's going to disincentivize those titles on that platform even if nominally it's more convenient than buying a physical game on another platform, and it's going to keep the number of large titles people buy on iOS very small until and unless people's mobile data allowances go way up.

I'll argue that the lack of larger titles has more to do with an underdeveloped market than the restrictions imposed by your somewhat ridiculous network barriers. If I'm at home and want to buy a big game on the app store I simply load up the app store on my iPhone and buy the game because the phone automatically switches over to wifi. When I'm out and about I'm restricted to 20 mb unless I can find free wifi (which is pretty easy but still), but then that's pretty good in comparison to the DS/PSP where I can't buy anything, period.

Which is, indeed, the problem: you are basically not going to have a market for real-time multiplayer games on a system where an external factor can kick you out unexpectedly at any moment.

So you're admitting that when you play a multiplayer game on the 360 or PC or whatever that you'll simply crap your pants if you need to go to the bathroom? Or if someone demands your attention?

It's hugely different because, among other things, you can multitask. I've kept playing games while talking on the phone many times. Certainly if I'm playing something online I have the option to take the call and either be like "I'll call you back in ten" quickly or, if it looks like I'm going to be on the phone for a while, attempt to quickly navigate myself into an exit scenario in my game while I'm talking.

At some level you interrupted your online playing unless you've got a voice activated phone. What you're complaining about on the iPhone (haven't seen how it works on an Android device) is almost certainly software-based, since I can multitask on the phone once the call has connected. All Apple needs to do is make the hard interrupt caused by incoming calls to change into a notification.

 

[Emitan]

I'll argue that the lack of larger titles has more to do with an underdeveloped market than the restrictions imposed by your somewhat ridiculous network barriers. If I'm at home and want to buy a big game on the app store I simply load up the app store on my iPhone and buy the game because the phone automatically switches over to wifi. When I'm out and about I'm restricted to 20 mb unless I can find free wifi (which is pretty easy but still), but then that's pretty good in comparison to the DS/PSP where I can't buy anything, period.

I bought a full PSP game and downloaded it through my PSP Sunday night. There are hundreds of PSP games available for download.

 

[Steve Youngblood]

So you're admitting that when you play a multiplayer game on the 360 or PC or whatever that you'll simply crap your pants if you need to go to the bathroom? Or if someone demands your attention?

Over long periods, yes, distractions will arise. Where your comparison gets a tad silly though is that the timing of distractions is more or less in my control at home when gaming on a dedicated device. I'm not going to find myself 10 minutes into a StarCraft or Call of Duty session and suddenly realize that I have to use the bathroom right this second. I can wait until the end of the game. I can ignore a phone call. I can tell my wife to give me just a few more minutes if she reminds me that I said I'd make dinner tonight. However, on a smart phone, I'm completely taken out of the game and switched over to the phone app when a telemarketer decides to annoy me, or my wife is calling just to let me know that she's running behind and will be home in half an hour. In single player games, this can sometimes create issues due to dubious multi-tasking management, and for multi-player games it is a complete deal breaker. As soon as that phone call comes in, I'm out of the game.

 

[gofreak]

Sure, in the future, which (rolling this back once more) was my entire point: it's a problem that exists on 100% of smartphones today that prevents them from effectively covering the full spectrum of what dedicated handhelds currently cover, and which only a company that both chooses to actively target that market, and designs around it, will eliminate.

Addressing this particular problem would be of use beyond games, but anyway, I thought in talking about barriers to convergence we were necessarily speculating on future directions and what smart devices could or could not address. I'm sure Pachter anyway is thinking down the road here, and not just today, based on where smart devices and dedicateds are today technically. (I doubt he'd even consider something like that as a serious issue for smartphones etc. anyway.)

Which is part of why smartphone gaming is growing but dedicated handhelds are not necessarily shrinking, there are two not entirely overlapping markets here, some games are extremely unlikely to become smartphone-exclusive any time soon, etc. etc. etc.

Of course, there's absolutely no entirely overlapping market here. I think there is some overlap, but for now there's certainly a need for and room for both approaches. As I said way way back in the thread, I expect you'll be able to build a business around dedicated game devices for some time to come, at the very least, but I also think that some parts of the audience that were on board with dedicated handhelds in the past may be harder to reach going forward.

 

[ElFly]

Over long periods, yes

Craps his pants over long periods.

 

[Zachack]

I bought a full PSP game and downloaded it through my PSP Sunday night. There are hundreds of PSP games available for download.

Did you do it away from home or a wifi network? Also obligatory lol at PSN. I've bought games over the PSN store but I'm pretty sure the market is basically minimal.

Over long periods, yes, distractions will arise. Where your comparison gets a tad silly though is that the timing of distractions is more or less in my control at home when gaming on a dedicated device. I'm not going to find myself 10 minutes into a StarCraft or Call of Duty session and suddenly realize that I have to use the bathroom right this second.

Have you ever had food poisoning?

I can wait until the end of the game. I can ignore a phone call. I can tell my wife to give me just a few more minutes if she reminds me that I said I'd make dinner tonight.

Sometime the wife won't accept that answer.

However, on a smart phone, I'm completely taken out of the game and switched over to the phone app when a telemarketer decides to annoy me, or my wife is calling just to let me know that she's running behind and will be home in half an hour. In single player games, this can sometimes create issues due to dubious multi-tasking management, and for multi-player games it is a complete deal breaker. As soon as that phone call comes in, I'm out of the game.

So turn on airplane mode. Really though, the point is that fixing this very specific issue is almost certainly a software fix that Apple or Google could solve without any hardware revisions, and trying to use it as a solid argument smacks of desperation.

 

[Emitan]

Did you do it away from home or a wifi network? Also obligatory lol at PSN. I've bought games over the PSN store but I'm pretty sure the market is basically minimal.

I did it with the WiFi router in my house. And there's hundreds of games available. I don't know what you're talking about.

 

[Steve Youngblood]

So turn on airplane mode. Really though, the point is that fixing this very specific issue is almost certainly a software fix that Apple or Google could solve without any hardware revisions, and trying to use it as a solid argument smacks of desperation.

Someday, it will be rendered moot. However, I think the comparisons you are drawing are just a tad disingenuous in light of the fact that, although it will be solved someday most likely, it has not yet in three years. And I believe this was just thrown out there as one of several examples of "the problem with a machine that's not dedicated to playing games first and foremost is that it's not designed to be used to play games first and foremost."

 

[Tobor]

*snip*
Again, the debate here is about Apple taking the market that currently exists for dedicated gaming systems by having a product that fills the needs thereof. It's not about Apple being successful selling games (they unquestionably are to an insane degree.) I think "there won't be room for two dedicated gaming handhelds with iOS around -- 3DS will still do great but that won't leave much wiggle room for Sony" is much more arguable but that has to do with Sony navigating the new market segmentation Nintendo and Apple have mutually created moreso than Apple actually converging the handheld market.

I don't have time to answer in full, so we'll leave the rest for another day. Which leads me to the bolded, which is clearly my stance.

 

[FoneBone]

Really though, the point is that fixing this very specific issue is almost certainly a software fix that Apple or Google could solve without any hardware revisions, and trying to use it as a solid argument smacks of desperation.

Actually that neither Apple nor Google has seen fit to resolve this is pretty telling.

 

[Zachack]

I did it with the WiFi router in my house. And there's hundreds of games available. I don't know what you're talking about.

Well, the point was that if you're on the road and don't have wifi then you're out of luck with the PSP and DS, but still have options on the iPhone/Androids.

Someday, it will be rendered moot. However, I think the comparisons you are drawing are just a tad disingenuous in light of the fact that, although it will be solved someday most likely, it has not yet in three years.

That it hasn't been solved makes me wonder if the FCC prevents it, but either way there is a method to block the interruptions.

And I believe this was just thrown out there as one of several examples of "the problem with a machine that's not dedicated to playing games first and foremost is that it's not designed to be used to play games first and foremost."

Yes and a couple of the examples were good but this and a couple others, like convenience, were poor. There are people who are strongly against convergence devices and DD (I don't know how the iPad was considered evidence against convergence), and will inflate the most ridiculous reasons why smartphones are doomed while Nintendo will continue to print infinite money because of the DS.

 

[Zachack]

Actually that neither Apple nor Google has seen fit to resolve this is pretty telling.

Not really. All sorts of random changes have come out with OS revisions. By your standards the 3DS is going to be a DD failure because Nintendo hasn't seen fit to make even the most basic of usability fixes to the truly awful Wii Shop.

 

[Emitan]

Well, the point was that if you're on the road and don't have wifi then you're out of luck with the PSP and DS, but still have options on the iPhone/Androids

Yeah, I misread your post. I thought you were saying the PSP and DS can't download games at all. You were just talking about the MB restriction on 3G.

 

[Curufinwe]

Did you do it away from home or a wifi network? Also obligatory lol at PSN. I've bought games over the PSN store but I'm pretty sure the market is basically minimal.

Pretty sure or very ignorant?

 

[Steve Youngblood]

There are people who are strongly against convergence devices and DD (I don't know how the iPad was considered evidence against convergence), and will inflate the most ridiculous reasons why smartphones are doomed while Nintendo will continue to print infinite money because of the DS.

For the record, I'm not in the camp of thinking that smartphones are lousy gaming devices and that Nintendo is invincible in the handheld market. However, I do disagree with the notion that iOS gaming has made such significant strides that we're about to be on the verge of a nerd showdown between Apple and Nintendo for portable gaming supremacy. I believe that could develop over the next several years, but I'm not in any way convinced that we're there yet.

Back to the actual topic at hand, though, I don't think the PSP brand has the slightest chance of being a worldwide market leader in handheld gaming. But I think it's a mistake to extrapolate Sony's uphill battle onto Nintendo by surmising that Nintendo also shares a similar -- if only delayed due to their current strong position -- predicament in that no dedicated gaming device will be able to stop the juggernaut that is smart phone gaming.

 

[Glix]

Are these worldwide predictions? Or just USA?

How does he explain that JPN has had very advanced cellphones for years, with tons of cool games from big devs, yet the handhelds are stupid popular there?

 

[Sipowicz]

i think there's a definite gap in the market for the PSP2. let me explain

the iphone is solely for simplistic , cheap downloadable games. even project sword for all its graphical prowess seems to have very simplistic gameplay. This holds no appeal to me as the PSP2 and 3DS will have their own downloadable games services for these types of games (albeit with a smaller selection).


the 3DS is an amalgamation of the PSP and DS. with a bunch of motion sensors, glassesless 3d effects and backwards compatiblity with an awesome system. I expect to see a mixture of DS type games, PSP type games and PS2 type games as well as some utter tripe from western publishers.


so what does that leave?

how about a larger, more graphically advanced system. not exactly ps3 level but close enough on the small screen. designed to accomodate multiplatform games with a tv out and an online infrastructure akin to the PS3. put some console multiplayer shooters on there like warhawk. good ps3 franchises from the origianl teams like an infamous game from sucker punch. put some sequels to exclusives PSP franchises like loco roco, patapon etc. put some multiplatform titles on there that dont get pc versions like bayonetta and vanquish.

i would buy that shizz in a heartbeat

 

[Stinkles]

If Apple allowed a d-pad atatchment for iPhone/iPod it would be all over for handhelds.

 

[Sipowicz]

If Apple allowed a d-pad atatchment for iPhone/iPod it would be all over for handhelds.

what like over the touchpad? that would be even shitter than using the on screen ones

 

[Zoe]

Are these worldwide predictions? Or just USA?

How does he explain that JPN has had very advanced cellphones for years, with tons of cool games from big devs, yet the handhelds are stupid popular there?

USA. And the mobile gaming approach in Japan isn't comparable to the iOS/Android approach in the US.

 

[Stinkles]

what like over the touchpad? that would be even shitter than using the on screen ones

No, a little "cartridge" that plugged in top or bottom. Or both.

 

[Zoe]

No, a little "cartridge" that plugged in top or bottom. Or both.

 

[gkryhewy]

What a shitty idea.

 

[Freeza Under The Shower]

Not a huge fan of this guy, but he's right about one thing.

The PSP2 will be dead on arrival. PSPGo has made sure of that.

we really can't say that yet, but if it is exactly the same as its predecessor, then it really has no value addition over iPads, iPhones, and other media devices.
And 3DS seems to have a lock on the gaming side.

I honestly do not believe at all that there is a genuine space in the market for another 'standard' entertainment device, unless Sony is for some unknown reason willing to throw millions away on something they could probably do without if it doesn't move units fast.

on the upside though: brand awareness is still strong and the recent spike in Japanese PSP sales seems encouraging. I'm probably being overly pessimistic about PSP2 odds.

 

[Stinkles]

IS THIS REAL?

Do want.

Edit. Improved version:

 

[FoneBone]

If Apple allowed a d-pad atatchment for iPhone/iPod it would be all over for handhelds.

*snort* No.


Again:

Controls aren't actually the biggest problem for convergence. It's not actually all that hard to stick a D-pad and six buttons under a slide form factor like the new Xperia Gamefone, and since people mostly aren't that enthusiastic about hardware keyboards you aren't even making a huge design sacrifice to do so. The bigger issues are in distribution and system architecture -- how do people get the games (especially if they're big and they have to download them over 3/4G)? How does the device handle gaming when you need to be able to instantly switch to core functions like answering calls? How do you balance the power-draw and memory needs of a general-purpose smartphone architecture with the very different needs that are ideal for gaming? How do you balance your revenue model between unit sales and game sales, and who gets to make phones that are on your "platform"?

And of course d-pads still won't change the limitations in the sort of content that's feasible (from a budgetary perspective) on smartphones.

 

[Mandoric]

and the platform future of that franchise is uncertain, not to mention borderline irrelevant outside of Japan.

Isn't the platform future of pretty much any iOS/Android title uncertain and irrelevant outside US/UK?

 

[Jokeropia]

Yet, is still selling for full price.

And added another 1.64 million to it's total from April to September this year.

 

[yurinka]

This week, 326,639 PSPs were sold in Japan thanks to MHP3rd.

This means a new record as PSP's best selling week in Japan.

Pretty dead, for sure.

http://www.siliconera.com/2010/12/07/monster-hunter-portable-3rd-sees-monstrous-sales/

 

[Stinkles]

*snort* No.


Again:
And of course d-pads still won't change the limitations in the sort of content that's feasible (from a budgetary perspective) on smartphones.

I am purely thinking about emulation. A 99 cent per ROM, legal MAME is my dream of the forever.

 

[Donnie]

Look at Angry Birds. That game may cost $30 at retail on the 3DS with some bloated content to account for the price. But people just want the barebones experience for a fraction of the price.

Erm, or they could make it full 3D, imagine Angry Birds in full 3D with stereoscopic 3D so you can see exactly how far your target is away from you.

 

[Emitan]

Erm, or they could make it full 3D, imagine Angry Birds in full 3D with stereoscopic 3D so you can see exactly how far your target is away from you.

Or it could just be a downloadable title. There's no reason to just assume it would cost $30. It's a baseless attack on the 3DS's pricing structure.