Nintendo

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4 responses to “Nintendo”

1. 

   Dehumanizer

   January 8, 2006

   In which way do you believe the DS is *not* the “next big step in the console evolution”? What are your requirements for that?

   Raw power? Is a handheld version of the PS2 the pinnacle of evolution?

   I still love games (after playing them for more than 25 years), but I’m past the point where the new FIFA or the new Need for Speed or the new GTA “wows” me. Same game as last year, except with slightly better graphics? No, thanks. I remember the early days of the Speccy and the C64, when every game almost single-handedly created a new genre, and when a game didn’t have to be a sequel to be successful. When a new game came out and you couldn’t just say “oh, it’s another FPS”, or “just another RTS”, “oh, it’s like last year’s Madden, only with slightly better graphics and an updated roster”.

   I’m loving my DS. Games don’t cost billions of dollars to make, so they can afford to take chances and be original, just like in the 80s. A game about survival in a deserted island? Check. A game where you play a lawyer? Check. A game in which you perform surgery in a hospital? Check. A puzzle game that couldn’t possibly be played without a stylus? Check.

   Not to mention the best Mario Kart ever, a Sonic game that goes back to the series’ roots and makes it fun again, a new Advance Wars, a new Castlevania, and soon there will be a new 2D Mario game… the first after Super Mario World (if you don’t count Yoshi’s Island as a true Mario game, since the main character was Yoshi).

   Really, the DS is awesome. It’s like a “Super N64”, much like the GBA was a “Super SNES”. With the addition of a second screen, touch screen, and a microphone which some games actually use, and use well.

   I’d like to know what disappointed you about it… too “gimmicky”? Not powerful enough? No games to your liking? Or were you after something that was able to do other things in addition to games (browsing, RSS, media playing and stuff)?

   BTW: I had already seen that BBC piece, and loved it. Miyamoto doesn’t appear for a lot of time, but when he does…

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2. 

   Odrakir

   January 8, 2006

   The PSP is not a handheld version of the PS2. It’s much more than that. If you want to put things that way, the DS is more a handheld version of the N64 than the PSP is to the PS2. You can’t surf the web with the PS2, you can’t download and watch videos or audio files or even add new functionalities to the unit. The PSP is much more than the PS2, and I’m not even mentioning the games, because, as you probably have seen, the new PSP games announced CES are awesome. But lets leave the PSP for a while, the issue here is the DS.

   Raw power? Nah. That never matter for Nintendo. The Gamecube is far superior in that to the PS2 and was never the top selling console. Why didn’t Nintendo made a portable version of the Gamecube? They could and I bet they will. I don’t play Fifa or Maiden, or even FPSs, I’m used to Nintendo franchises, but I thought that these games would evolve with the DS the same way they did with the Gamecube. The DS only brings you connectivity, dual screens and a stylus, the 3D processing power is worse than the N64, and that’s the reason why there aren’t many good 3D games for the DS. But that doesn’t matter right? It doesn’t matter that Nintendo keeps releasing the same old games for it as long as Mario is on them. Oh and it will have some gimmick to use the stylus or else it won’t be a DS game.

   What I really bugs me about the DS is that it could be more than it really is, it could even be better than the PSP, but Nintendo aimed low. If the DS had no compatibility with GB games it wouldn’t be such a big success. And I repeat, I might buy one… if Zelda DS gameplay doesn’t get wrecked just because I have to play it with a stylus.

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3. 

   Dehumanizer

   January 9, 2006

   “The DS only brings you connectivity, dual screens and a stylus”

   “Only”?!? I wouldn’t call that “only”… and you forgot the microphone, which is used in Nintendogs, Mario Kart (only in battle mode), Phoenix Wright, Lost in Blue, and probably others I don’t know about.

   Less powerful 3D than the N64? It’s possible, but, then, how does the Mario 64 port have much improved textures and characters? How does Mario Kart DS look much better than Mario Kart 64, even having some tracks from Double Dash, which look almost as good as they did in the GameCube?

   Mario is a mascot. Yes, they put the Mario characters in a game (say, a tennis game, or a soccer game, or a puzzle game) to sell more, and it works. BUT… they don’t do it with bad games – I can’t think of a game with Mario, released this century, which wasn’t deliciously addictive. Are they overusing the character? Maybe. Does that mean Mario Party is a rehash of Mario Kart? Is Super Smash Bros. Melee just another Mario Golf? No way.

   Many DS games don’t use the stylus at all, and others only use it for the menus – and still give you the option of using the D-pad instead. This isn’t Sony in the early PS1 era, when every game must have 3D, otherwise it’d be refused – so even ports of classic arcade games had to have an elaborate “game selection” phase in full 3D.

   The stylus can replace a mouse, and (in the case of Mario 64) an analog pad. But a lot of games use the D-pad instead. They aren’t obsessed with the stylus, trust me. You can play Mario Kart DS, for instance, without ever touching the bottom screen.

   There IS one thing which the PSP has and I wish the DS had as well: an analog controller. Maybe even two of them. But, otherwise, I’m loving my DS, and 150 euros (with Mario Kart) was a ridiculously low price for the enjoyment I already got out of it – in less than a month.

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4. 

   Odrakir

   January 9, 2006

   I’m not entering a PSP vs DS thread here… Each console has it’s pros and cons, and we could be here all night long discussing about them. I consider myself a gamer and as a gamer I play all games, no matter the platform. Maybe the DS will prove to be a great console for me if one day I get one. Until now now game has spun my attention, but with a price drop who knows, maybe I update my Nintendo portable collection…

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