Nintendo DS sticks a sword down PS3's throat - DRAGON QUES..

Rob Browning <pluvius3.DeleteThis@hotmail.com> writes:
> What's the point of playing something with a tiny screen and an
> unergonomic design at home when a console or PC is much more
> comfortable?

Because it's a fun system?

> Portables were meant to be played when circumstances keep people from
> playing with larger, more powerful devices.

And yet, that doesn't stop a lot of people from playing them on their
couch, just like any other console. This Penny Arcade post from 2002
is illustrative:

Playing Metroid Fusion last week, I realized that though I
undoubtedly had a very powerful, portable system in the GBA,
the only place I ever play it is in my house on the couch. I
used to play it primarily in the bathroom, owing to the fact
that bathroom lights are somehow the perfect illumination for
the machine, but with the advent of the Afterburner I can play
it even in a dark cave. Which I sometimes do.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/2002/11/20

> Because of this, portable games are supposed to be quick to play
> and enjoy during the time you spend on the subway or a ten-minute
> coffee break.

Which also make them ideal for picking up briefly at home when you
have a few minutes between kids screaming, honey-do items, and
cleaning up after the dog.

> This recent trend of making games for portables which
> don't fit with this philosophy annoys the hell out of me.

Yeah, it sucks when people make you buy games you don't want to play.

-=Eric
 >> Stay informed about: Nintendo DS sticks a sword down PS3's throat - DRAGON QUES.. 

On Wed, 13 Dec 2006 16:08:26 -0500, Rob Browning
<pluvius3.DeleteThis@hotmail.com> wrote:

>On Wed, 13 Dec 2006 20:42:56 GMT, Abraham Evangelista
><daken.DeleteThis@verizon.net> wrote:
>
>>On Wed, 13 Dec 2006 14:23:59 -0500, Invid Fan <invid.DeleteThis@localnet.com>
>>wrote:
>>
>>>In article
>>><ZPXfh.485326$QZ1.343061@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net>, Ethan
>>>Hammond <eshammond.DeleteThis@worldnet.att.net> wrote:

<snip>

>>>Ah, well. The only place I have to play games is at home, so a portable
>>>is rather pointless. Guess I'll miss out on all the good games for now
>>>on
>>
>>There some law saying you can't play your portable at home?
>
>What's the point of playing something with a tiny screen

That tiny screen is plenty viewable when it's only 2 feet away from
your eyes. (Well, okay, maybe my GB micro IS a little small for
comfort...)

> and an unergonomic design at home when a

Woo. Tried one lately? Nintendo and friends have been spending
serious dollars on ergonomics. I'd argue that the video game industry
on the whole score better on ergonomics than almost any other
industry. Certainly better than big box PC retailers.

>console or PC is much more comfortable?

Debateable. If your PC is in a good location, and as you say, you pay
good attention to the ergonomics, then yeah, it could be.

But barring a Notebook, your PC or Console is where you put it. Your
portable is where you put YOU. Wanna game in the kitchen? How about
sitting in the sunroom? Back porch? In the bedroom? On the can?

>Portables were meant to be played when circumstances keep people from
>playing with larger, more powerful devices.

In your mind perhaps. I've always considered portable devices to be
ideal for playing what I want, where I want, when I want.

>Because of this, portable
>games are supposed to be quick to play and enjoy during the time you
>spend on the subway or a ten-minute coffee break.

To a lesser extent I agree with you. Some games are a little bit time
consuming, which might hurt their viability on a portable platform.

But that's nothing that a save file can't fix.

I've been working on Lunar Legend on the GBA for the better part of
three years now. It just sits in the micro, and if I have time while
I'm in line, or waiting for dinner to show up, I flip the switch and
play another screen or two.

>This recent trend
>of making games for portables which don't fit with this philosophy
>annoys the hell out of me.

Mostly agreed. I'd amend that by saying that games made for
portables, without making consessions to the platform limitations are
annoying. If a game is going to take longer than your typical
"portable" session, it needs to have a save state.

Really the only reason I can think of not to make a game portable is
if it needs more screen real estate than is offered on a portable
platform. In those cases, I'd totally agree; you're right, it
shouldn't be there. But I've yet to run across anything of this sort.

--
"Lyrical Tokarev! Kill them All!" - Touge Chan
Abraham Evangelista
 >> Stay informed about: Nintendo DS sticks a sword down PS3's throat - DRAGON QUES.. 

On Wed, 13 Dec 2006 17:35:21 -0500, Invid Fan <invid.TakeThisOut@localnet.com>
wrote:

>In article <aep0o2dv3s87a5etthe96l4ovg4btb3ijv.TakeThisOut@4ax.com>, Abraham
>Evangelista <daken.TakeThisOut@verizon.net> wrote:
>
>> On Wed, 13 Dec 2006 14:23:59 -0500, Invid Fan <invid.TakeThisOut@localnet.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> >In article
>> ><ZPXfh.485326$QZ1.343061@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net>, Ethan
>> >Hammond <eshammond.TakeThisOut@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>> >
>> >> "sanjian" <sanjian.TakeThisOut@widomaker.com> wrote in message
>> >> news:elm7370fth@news3.newsguy.com...
>> >> > AirRaid wrote:
>> >> >> TALK ABOUT A MEGATON
>> >> >
>> >> > <snip>
>> >> >
>> >> > Wait... how can a game that's meant for one of the two brand spanking
>> >> > new
>> >> > systems work on the DS - a portable system?
>> >> >
>> >> > Is the DS -that- good??? o_O
>> >>
>> >> The DS is the best selling system in Japan, it is basically a social
>> >> phenomenon there. Also for a developer to make a profit on a
>> >> PS3 game they basically have to sell 500,000 copies of the game.
>> >
>> >Ah, well. The only place I have to play games is at home, so a portable
>> >is rather pointless. Guess I'll miss out on all the good games for now
>> >on
>>
>> There some law saying you can't play your portable at home?
>
>It'd be a bit like buying a laptop when I'm never going to take the
>computer outside the house.

Lots of my cliens do that, for space considerations, style, or even
lifestyle. Like a portable game system, a notebook is computing where
you want it, when you want it.

Wanna read the news at the dining room table? (So okaa-san can scolde
you about not reading it at the table?) How about on the comfy
chair? In the tub? (Well okay, please don't bring your notebook into
the tub.)

>Sure, I can do it, but why? Maybe if you can hook the sucker up to a regular tv...

You can hook any computer up to the TV with the right hardware. Prior
to upgrading my TV (to a nice HD unit with a VGA port!) I passed the
signal through a component conversion box. And owing to the fuzzy
nature of the picture, I got free anti-aliasing. The anime was
looking pretty good.
--
"Lyrical Tokarev! Kill them All!" - Touge Chan
Abraham Evangelista
 >> Stay informed about: Nintendo DS sticks a sword down PS3's throat - DRAGON QUES.. 

"Invid Fan" <invid.TakeThisOut@localnet.com> wrote in message
news:131220061423598624%invid@localnet.com...
> In article
> <ZPXfh.485326$QZ1.343061@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net>, Ethan
> Hammond <eshammond.TakeThisOut@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>
>> > Is the DS -that- good??? o_O
>
>> The DS is the best selling system in Japan, it is basically a social
>> phenomenon there. Also for a developer to make a profit on a
>> PS3 game they basically have to sell 500,000 copies of the game.
>
> Ah, well. The only place I have to play games is at home, so a portable
> is rather pointless. Guess I'll miss out on all the good games for now
> on

Why can't you play a portable at home?

--
All Purpose Culture Randomness
http://www.angelfire.com/tx/apcr/index.html
 >> Stay informed about: Nintendo DS sticks a sword down PS3's throat - DRAGON QUES.. 

"Rob Browning" <pluvius3.RemoveThis@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:8hq0o2tkhpsbulsrnk28icgfgun5474pqt@4ax.com...
> On Wed, 13 Dec 2006 20:42:56 GMT, Abraham Evangelista
> <daken.RemoveThis@verizon.net> wrote:
>
> Portables were meant to be played when circumstances keep people from
> playing with larger, more powerful devices. Because of this, portable
> games are supposed to be quick to play and enjoy during the time you
> spend on the subway or a ten-minute coffee break. This recent trend
> of making games for portables which don't fit with this philosophy
> annoys the hell out of me.

Pokemon has been around for 10 years so I guess you have been annoyed
for a long time.

--
All Purpose Culture Randomness
http://www.angelfire.com/tx/apcr/index.html
 >> Stay informed about: Nintendo DS sticks a sword down PS3's throat - DRAGON QUES.. 

"Rob Browning" <pluvius3 DeleteThis @hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:b8m0o2tqhp35ls9vdc21b5km5fo4cd0grb@4ax.com...
> On Wed, 13 Dec 2006 18:45:09 GMT, "Ethan Hammond"
> <eshammond DeleteThis @worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>
>>"Rob Browning" <pluvius3 DeleteThis @hotmail.com> wrote in message
>>news:46f0o2lqj90d6vstvnesn7tg2caair5k39@4ax.com...
>>> On Tue, 12 Dec 2006 21:51:39 GMT, "El Guapo" <plethora DeleteThis @pinatas.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> And if Squenix really thought that that was such a problem, why have
>>> they already announced FF13 to be exclusive for the PS3?
>>
>>Because Sony paid them for the FF13 exclusivity.
>
> They must have paid them a lot of money in order for them to risk
> their biggest franchise on a system which they're apparently afraid
> will fail. And by "a lot of money" I mean "more than Sony could
> likely afford."

Pretty much any game that is exclusive to a console is exclusive because
the developer was paid to make it exclusive.

--
All Purpose Culture Randomness
http://www.angelfire.com/tx/apcr/index.html
 >> Stay informed about: Nintendo DS sticks a sword down PS3's throat - DRAGON QUES.. 

Rob Browning <pluvius3.TakeThisOut@hotmail.com> writes:
> On 13 Dec 2006 14:13:02 -0700, Eric Schwartz <emschwar.TakeThisOut@pobox.com>
> wrote:
> >Yeah, it sucks when people make you buy games you don't want to play.
>
> No, it sucks when people put games I want to play on systems that they
> don't belong on.

Oh, I'm sorry, I missed the press release where you were crowned King
Of Which Games Go On Which Consoles. Just a sec, I'll check Reuters...

-=Eric
 >> Stay informed about: Nintendo DS sticks a sword down PS3's throat - DRAGON QUES.. 

Rob Browning wrote:
> On 13 Dec 2006 14:13:02 -0700, Eric Schwartz <emschwar RemoveThis @pobox.com>
> wrote:
>
>>> This recent trend of making games for portables which
>>> don't fit with this philosophy annoys the hell out of me.
>>
>> Yeah, it sucks when people make you buy games you don't want to play.
>
> No, it sucks when people put games I want to play on systems that they
> don't belong on.

And how do we know what BELONGS on which system?
 >> Stay informed about: Nintendo DS sticks a sword down PS3's throat - DRAGON QUES.. 

Rob Browning wrote:

> Portables were meant to be played when circumstances keep people from
> playing with larger, more powerful devices. Because of this, portable
> games are supposed to be quick to play and enjoy during the time you
> spend on the subway or a ten-minute coffee break. This recent trend
> of making games for portables which don't fit with this philosophy
> annoys the hell out of me.

One of the nice things about my PSP is that I can shut it off in the
middle of a game, and when I start it up, play resumes at that point.
It's saved me a couple of times when the battery died in the middle of
a level of Valkyrie: Lenneth.

--
Mike Swaim swaim.RemoveThis@hal-pc.org at home | Quote: "Boingie"^4 Y,W & D
MD Anderson Division of Quantitative Sciences
mpswaim.RemoveThis@mdanderson.org or mswaim.RemoveThis@odin.mdacc.tmc.edu at work
ICBM: 29.763N 95.363W|Disclaimer: Yeah, like I speak for MD Anderson.
 >> Stay informed about: Nintendo DS sticks a sword down PS3's throat - DRAGON QUES.. 

Rob Browning wrote:

> Sorry, but it's physically impossible to make a system that's both
> portable enough to fit well in a pocket and at the same time is as
> comfortable to manipulate as a console controller

You've obviously never played a Jaguar or Intellivision...
The original DS doesn't quite fit comfortably in a pocket (well, in
cargo shorts or a jacket it's fine), but its traditional controls are, I
think, as comfortable as the SNES controller or the original Genesis
controller. The stylus interface can in many ways be more comfortable
than a normal controller or a mouse and KB (depends on its use; it can
be painful if implemented wrong).
As for the monitor, it's possible that near sighted people may prefer a
small but close screen compared to a larger screen that would
necessitate distance.
 >> Stay informed about: Nintendo DS sticks a sword down PS3's throat - DRAGON QUES.. 

> >>> And how do we know what BELONGS on which system?
> >>
> >> I think I already mentioned that.
> >
> > And your authority is derived from?
>
> His authority derives from his argument (that different types of gaming
> system have different properties, and hence support different styles of
> games). So, if you want to challenge his authority, you're going to have
> to address his argument.

Except that if a game is an exclusive release for a system, you would
think that it would be programmed so it would work well on that system.

This also ignores the idea that there is an untapped market for certain
types of games for certain systems (i.e. an RPG game that can be taken
with you, which would be perfect for an RPG game player who is
constantly on the go) and that a videogame company creates a agem in
order to tap that market.
 >> Stay informed about: Nintendo DS sticks a sword down PS3's throat - DRAGON QUES.. 

sanjian wrote:
> AirRaid wrote:
> > TALK ABOUT A MEGATON
>
> <snip>
>
> Wait... how can a game that's meant for one of the two brand spanking new
> systems work on the DS - a portable system?
>
> Is the DS -that- good??? o_O


First of all, Dragon Quest 9 was never announced as a PS3 or Xbox 360
game. people only ASSUMED it would be on one of the two. Oh, btw the
Xbox 360 is no longer brand spanking new, it's over a year old.

Okay now to your question, Xbox 360 has almost zero userbase in Japan,
and PS3 has a small userbase. while DS has a MASSIVE userbase. so on
what system do you think DQ9 would sell the most copies on?

Dispite the fact that DS is like 3 orders of magnitude *less* powerful
than PS3 or Xbox 360, (DS is basicly PS1/N64 level in power.) So no,
the DS is nowhere near as powerful (what some people measure as how
"good" a system is ) as the PS3 or Xbox360, nor is DS anywhere near as
powerful as the last-gen consoles, PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, Dreamcast, but
DS has been immensely sucessful, so Square Enix is looking at sales.
obviously.

So now the question becomes, what system gets Dragon Quest 10? A game
which will no doubt be on one of the Japanese consoles: PS3 or Wii.
(Xbox 360 has no chance of getting DQ10)

If PS3 gets DQ10, then its a tie between Nintendo and Sony, each
getting one main DQ game. however if DQ10 comes out on Wii instead of
PS3, then Nintendo has won Japan without any doubt. The sales of DQ9
and DQ10 on Nintendo systems will eclipse all the Final Fantasy games
on PS3 (FF13, FFvs13, a potential FF7 remake, FF14 etc).
 >> Stay informed about: Nintendo DS sticks a sword down PS3's throat - DRAGON QUES.. 

"sanjian" <sanjian RemoveThis @widomaker.com> escribió en el mensaje
news:els8b3018v5@news2.newsguy.com...
> Rob Browning wrote:
>> On 13 Dec 2006 14:13:02 -0700, Eric Schwartz <emschwar RemoveThis @pobox.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>>> This recent trend of making games for portables which
>>>> don't fit with this philosophy annoys the hell out of me.
>>>
>>> Yeah, it sucks when people make you buy games you don't want to play.
>>
>> No, it sucks when people put games I want to play on systems that they
>> don't belong on.
>
> And how do we know what BELONGS on which system?

Die, monster! You don't BELONG in this DS!

(Yeah, couldn't resist )

--

Jorge A Pratt
 >> Stay informed about: Nintendo DS sticks a sword down PS3's throat - DRAGON QUES..