The RePortable Vol.1 No.4
Why Portable Gaming?
I’ve written a few blogs already but they’ve all been sort of factual. This one is a more personal one. I’ve never really talked about WHY I like portable gaming as much as I do, and some people have asked why that is, so I’m here to tell you.
1. “It’s My Liiiiiiiife, Don’t You Forget….”
Being that I’m a professional musician and that I’m on the road more than a bit, my PSP is a faithful companion. I can load a bunch of games or movies onto it and have it all there, which is nice when I come back drunk after a gig and want to watch Ghostbusters at 4am. But I also have an E-book reader that is a nice alternative to lugging paperbacks with me as well. I like to travel light, so having a lot of things in one package is something I really like.
2.The Wave Of The Future
Some of the most interesting things going on in gaming are going on in the portable realm in my opinion. Nintendo slapping together a dual screen portable is an intriguing concept to say the least. Games like Brain Age, Guitar Hero: On Tour, and Metroid Prime: Hunters are pushing the boundaries of what people though was possible on a portable system and I love seeing that. The PSP is the ultimate portable media system and as someone who grew up with the original Game Boy, it knocks me out that I can play games that are approaching PS2 quality or watch movies on a device that is even smaller. I can only imagine what the next generation of portables will be like!
3.The Luster Of The Past
Not only do portables have some great new games, but they make excellent homes for ports of past games that may not have been welcomed on a console. I’ve been able to experience a lot of games from the past that I wouldn’t have had I only owned a console. Capcom’s Power Stone games have been given a second chance on the PSP saving them from obscurity because of the early death of Sega’s Dreamcast. Other games such as the Gradius series, Midway’s arcade classics, and even Williams/Gottlieb’s pinball hits from the 70’s & 80’s are popping up, keeping old school gamers happy while giving newer school gamers a chance to appreciate the classics without having to resort to piracy (unless of course they want to, but that’s another blog!)
4. “Keep On Keeping On”
Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft, in creating new and ostentatiously powerful consoles also have rules about using these systems to their fullest potential. They tend to want 3rd party publishers to produce games that are going to make their systems look like the million bucks gamers are shelling out for them. They don’t seem to have such strict rules about portables though, and as such, 2D gaming has been a focal point on the GBA, DS, & PSP. Castlevania, my all time favorite series, has all but been kept alive due to its presence on the portables.
5. The Experience (not the Jimi Hendrix one)
There’s something about playing a game on a portable system that I love. I can’t quite explain it. Playing Silent Hill 0rigins with headphones got me into the game in a way playing on a tv hadn’t been able to. Because I’m a musician, sound matters to me, and I can’t play a console with headphones. It just doesn’t work. I love the screens on the DS and how colorful and bright they are. The crispness of the PSP screen is a feast for my eyes (particularly the intro movies on Crisis Core and Dracula X Chronicles!) Some say they have trouble getting “in the game” with a portable, but not me.
I have to say I’ve been able to experience a few things on a portable that I wouldn’t have been able to otherwise. I suck at FPS games, but playing Metroid Prime Hunters on the DS was the first time I was able to get some semblance of good at one. The control scheme in that game is nothing short of stellar.
I was also able to experience Castlevania’s crown jewel Rondo Of Blood for the first time on my PSP, due in part to Dracula X Chronicles (and a few months prior to that because of a handy ROM/emulator package that was circulating for the PSP!)
So that’s it in a nutshell. Somehow, playing a game on a portable makes me like it more. I don’t know how and I don’t know why, it just does. And that’s all I have to say about that!
What do YOU have to say about it? Post a comment and let m know!
