The iPhone: The New Force in Portable Gaming?

The RePortable Vol.1 No.8

IPhone As A Portable Gaming Platform

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122644912858819085.html

Read that article and tell me Nintendo and Sony aren’t crapping their pants right now. Apple has announced that they’ll be making a concerted effort to bring a large amount of mobile games to the iPhone and has the likes of Activision/Blizzard, Id, and Sega backing them up.

Being in that 13 million iPhones have been sold and that a quarter of the 200 million apps downloaded from the App Store were games, I’d say Apple’s going to have a pretty strong foothold. Game companies will love this because it means that they get to keep 70% of the profits and not have to shell out money to make game carts and UMDs. There are already companies sprouting up that are specializing exclusively in making games for the iPhone. So those of you who poo poo the mobile gaming scene, GET READY TO EAT YOUR WORDS BEEYATCHES!!!!

Granted, the iPhone will never replace a DS or PSP as a gaming device, but it will certainly take a chunk out of the market of people thinking about buying either of these two devices. This is especially bad for Sony, as sales of the PSP-3000 have dropped off sharply in Japan. As a media device, it can already play music and movies like the PSP, and if we somehow start to see games that are as good as the PSP’s (which is highly unlikely but still, we mustn’t rule it out), Sony’s portable is dead in the water.

I think it’ll appeal to a lot more casual gamers, but this is a good thing. With the money developers reap from these mobile games, they can put those finances into console and portable software, which is a good thing for all of us.

In some ways, the iPhone is a more powerful device than either of our two beloved portables, with a great screen (with a better refresh rate than the PSP), and some serious technology under the hood. There are already many emulators available for it as well, so those predisposed to want to hack things will be able to enjoy NES, GBA, and MAME games.

The downside of course, is that the iPhone has no physical buttons, which could make gaming on it a difficult thing. Hopefully this issue will get sorted out in a logical manner, but regardless, the iPhone is going to be a major force in portable gaming, so get ready for it!

The Trouble with the PSP-3000’s Screen

The RePortable Vol.1 No.7

The Trouble with the PSP 3000’s screen

There’s no joy in Sonyville as many people who just bought shiny new PSP-3000s are recoiling in horror at the ever present scanlines and interlacing problems that appear on the new screen. Threads popped up on the Playstation.com boards alerting others to the problem.
[fanboymoment]Can I just say how much I’m loving my Phat right now? [/fanboymoment] Okay that was a bit mean, but to make up for it, now we’re going to venture into my first multimedia blog! Are you ready? Take a look at the pictures and get ready to have last night’s dinner scared out of you.

This is a scene from a movie being played on the PSP-2000:

And here’s the same scene as played on the 3000:

Here’s a video comparing both screens in the XMB: http://www.edensoto.com/PSP-2000_vs_PSP-3000.mov

Big difference. I’d be mighty pissed too if I’d just bought a $200 PSP-3000 and heard the statement Sony Corp. issued October 21st:

”Since this is caused by hardware characteristics, there is no plan to fix it with system software update. On some occasions, scan lines may appear on scenes where brightness changes drastically, due to the hardware features of the new LCD device on PSP-3000. Installed with this new LCD device, PSP-3000 offers more natural and vibrant colors on its screen, but the scan lines have come out to be more visible as a result of improving response time to alleviate the afterimages on PSP-3000. Since this is due to hardware specification, there are no plans for a system software update concerning this issue.”

Maybe I’m a little sensitive but it sounds like a nice way of saying, “Shut the fuck up and deal with it!”

Some people have said that other than this issue, the screen looks fantastic, and while I haven’t gotten a chance to rest mine eyes on one (for some reason Best Buy keeps these greasy old 2000s out on the displays) so I’m still looking forward to that. I’m told that it’s most noticeable when watching movies or playing games with lots of movement.

I guess sometimes when you improve the quality of certain things, you make little imperfections that were always there a lot more noticeable, which looks like the case here. Ah well, think of all the money you’ll be able to make selling a 2000 on eBay! See? There’s a silver lining here!

Why Portables?

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!

DS is the new PSP or: New DS On The Way!

The RePortable Vol.1, No.5

DS is the new PSP or: New DS On The Way!

http://ds.ign.com/articles/914/914158p1.html

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080928/bs_nm/us_nintendo

News dropped on the 27th, about a new Nintendo DS redesign that will include a few new features, most notably a camera and SD card compatibility. Not only that, but the new DS is also reportedly set to include “improved WiFi support” and the ability to play music via the aforementioned SD card slot. There’s also an unfounded rumor that the screens will be bigger and that both will possibly be touch sensitive.

I have to say, it’s interesting how the redesigns the DS and PSP are getting seem to bring each system closer to being the other. The camera is definitely an interesting feature for the new DS and it’s said that there will be new games that make use of it, but if Nintendo doesn’t offer some sort of camera upgrade for previous generation DS systems, it will leave a lot of gamers out in the cold. The only way I could see this camera being useful outside of games, is if Nintendo offered Skype support. Being able to chat on the DS while using the camera would be a big selling point for some.

As for the media playback using the SD card, Nintendo almost seems to be telling people they want them to pirate games. Homebrew is very easy to use on the DS because all you need to do is plug in an SD compatible DS cart, and you KNOW some Dark Alex wannabe will figure out a way to allow for on-board homebrew with the SD port and eliminate the need for an R4 cart entirely!

Given the penetration of MP3 players, I can’t really see music playback being all that useful on the DS, but then again, it’s at least nice to have the option. An MP3 alarm clock feature would be cool and would be great for me, because if I can’t wake up to Rihanna, then I just can’t wake up! I imagine that there will also be some sort of photo-taking program included which will also make use of the SD slot. Imagine being the first guy to take a picture of your willy ON your DS and use it as an avatar! Ah the brave new world we’re living in! But hey, uh, if you do it, just don’t say it was my idea.,.  <_<

I don’t know that dual touch screens is realistic, though it might open up additional control options for freaky left handed people (crazy lefties, with your backwards guitars and upside down scissors!) The ergonomics of holding the DS with one hand while manipulating the touch screen gives one a carpal tunnel just to contemplate (I LOVE Metroid Prime Hunters, but my left hand sure didn’t.) But trying to use TWO touch screens? You know some misguided developer will come out with some game that requires the use of both touch screens simultaneously not realizing that a good portion of people can’t even walk and chew gum at the same time. Unless of course we dispense with buttons altogether and put them ON the touch-screen. The screens being bigger would definitely get some folks in the door, but if portable screens get too much bigger, we’re going to be carrying around small tv sets with buttons on each side of them. Besides, if you’re a REAL portable gamer, you don’t NEED a big screen!

In all, this redesign looks good on paper. The DS definitely wins over the PSP in terms of interface, so some of the media features will probably be much better implemented even if they don’t work as well as they do on Sony’s beast.  No matter what Nintendo does, the DS won’t beat the PSP as a media device, but as a portable gaming machine with a few media features and a singular playing experience that the PSP will never be able to reproduce, the DS wins hands down, pants down, whatever you want!

PlayStationPorta-console?

The RePortable  Vol.1 No.4

The PlayStationPorta-console?

I see a lot of people on various message boards say things like, “I don’t know why developers treat the PSP like it’s a console,” and “It’s not hooked up to a tv, it’s a handheld, why don’t developers realize this?” What they might as well be saying is, “I don’t know why developers waste time on epic games that are all but console quality on a system that is more powerful than any hand-held before it and more powerful than most consoles before it as well.”

They say that great graphics & sound make for a shorter gaming experience due to small size of UMD discs. Sure, maybe God Of War: Chains Of Olympus was a bit on the short side, but in this way, it doesn’t wear out its welcome. Some games tack on unnecessary length just for the sake of being able to say, “This game’ll take you 1000 hours to complete, never mind the fact that 950 of those hours are complete busywork and pointless to boot!” I don’t believe that a game has to be 40 hours long to be good, and if you do, well, you can leave through the window. I’ll take 30 minutes of great stuff over 30 hours of aforementioned junk ANY DAY!

But that said, why NOT treat the PSP as if it were a console? I mean, we’ve got games on there that are borderline PS2 quality, some of which have actually been released ON the PS2! AND THEY SELL! Now what does that tell you? The two Grand Theft Auto games we’ve been enjoying on the PSP did really well on the PS2, as has Silent Hill 0rigins. People have been clamoring for Chains Of Olympus to be ported to the PS2 and even though it won’t happen, (it’s funny how angry people on the GameFAQS GoW:CoO board would get when you told them that it wouldn’t be ported. It’s like you were telling them there’s no Santa. Good times, good times!) it would work.

In short, we NEED developers to start treating the PSP “like a console” because that’s the way to ensure that it sticks around. The DS has created its own little niche market and gaming experience, while Sony went the route of The Stooges, going for Raw Power (Google Raw Power by The Stooges. If you like rock but don’t know this album, your life is not complete, even if you do that the wife, kids, house, and a 70 inch flat screen.) So if we’ve got all this power at hand, why not, oh, say, USE IT! Give us epic games like Crisis Core and God Of War that push the PSP to its limits! Give us games that can stand up to titles that have come out for recent consoles! There need to be games like this to get people in the door.

Sure, I’d love to see Sony get a little more mileage out of the UMD format and figure out a way to squeeze a little more on them, but it’s not a necessity. You can’t have it all.

But what you CAN have, are console-worthy graphics and sound in the palm of your hand, and who wouldn’t want that?

The PSP-3000 or Why I’m Glad I Didn’t Buy A Slim

Man, if you bought a PSP Slim last year, I feel bad for you! All those rumors and rumblings about a 3rd generation of PSP just came true this week when Sony announced that they were, in fact, going to start shipping the PSP-3000 in October. And a million Slim owners cursed!

The PSP-3000 has the same setup as the Slim, except that it has a better screen that handles glare better and allows for higher quality images (maybe an end to the ghosting problem the PSP has had since it was born?), and also features an onboard microphone. Way to rip Nintendo guys! I’m surprised they didn’t try to put a touch screen on this new one as well. No really, I am!

Let me go on record right now by saying that the PSP is my favorite system. Ever. The things you can do with it make it worth every penny (and I’m not just talking about homebrew!) But for such an awesome system to be made by a company that seems to be filled to the brim with knuckleheads that flunked Marketing 101 is a travesty. The PSP Slim was unleashed to the world (or the US, whichever term you prefer, Mwah ha ha haaaa! Take that Euros! [thanks for reading though!]) on September 5th of 2007. Not even a year ago. And a year later, we’re going to have a newer, better version? I’ve already got a PSP I’m happy with and I’m sure the 5 million other PSP owners feel the same way, so uh, Sony, how about giving us some stuff to play on the Play Station Paperweight?

I’d love to see the PSP have a library as expansive and engaging as the one we got us for the PS2. That system is seriously the new NES. You could play nothing but the PS2 for the next 10 years and still have a ton of great games waiting for you. Not so much with the PSP. I don’t have a problem with ports, hell, I love Dracula X Chronicles, Power Stone Collection, Gradius Portable, etc, but if the PSP is going to survive beyond the next couple years, Sony’s gonna have to feed it. We need more games like Crisis Core, God Of War:CoO, and yes, Monster Hunter Freedom 2 (I never thought it was possible to be THAT bored playing video games. Sorry kids, hated it!) By that I mean, we need more games that give people a reason to buy a PSP.

A microphone isn’t a reason, neither is an improved screen. Fuck Skype. I have it on my computer and I’m never going to say, “Hey, I think I’ll go out and try to chat with someone on my PSP and make myself look like a bag of douche in public by talking to a game system!” It’ll sure keep the bums away though! *Big Grin* And what difference does a better screen make when you only have a handful of worthwhile games to play on it?

Here’s what I’d like to see Sony do with the PSP instead of redesigning it again:

1.Give us a huge library to choose from. Like PS2 sized. Give 3rd party devs incentives for publishing PSP-exclusive games and keep them PSP-exclusive instead of porting them to the PS2.

2.Give us an online store where you can download ANY game or movie available in a retail store, but for less. If there’s no physical packaging, why should we still have to pay the same price? Make this accessable ON the PSP.

3.Give us some of the cool applications that homebrew devs have been giving us, but give us better versions of them. It’s sad that homebrew developers have almost done more to support the PSP than Sony has.

4.Space out the redesigns more. They should have either waited on releasing the Slim, or they should have unveiled the PSP-3000 in 2009 or later so the people who shelled out money for the Slim didn’t feel like they wasted their money.

Sony, if you’re reading this (and I know you’re not, but it makes me feel good to think that hey, maybe someone IS out there!) you’ve given us some great things. But you sometimes make us sorry that we gave you our money, and this is one of those instances. Marketing 101 is simple, so why is it that a multinational corporation that has been in existence for decades suddenly behaves like a first year business student when it comes to selling its products?

Mobile Gaming

Mobile Gaming. Say these two words together and you’re likely to get the stink-eye from most of the gamers in the room who consider themselves to be “hardcore” (whatever that means.) Many gamers recoil at the idea of playing a game on a cell phone and cite the small screen size and lack of controllability as reasons for their distaste.
But with market penetration of cellular phones reaching an estimated 50% worldwide (or 3.3 billion according to intomobile.com), mobile gaming has taken off in recent years and has become a profitable stream of income for many software publishers. Though the hardcores scoff at the idea, mobile games aren’t going anywhere, and here are a few reasons why.

1.Penetration
Penetration is the name of the game, but not the kind you’re thinking of, pervert! Think of all the people you know with a game console. Now think of all the people you know who have a cell phone. Makes the number of people who own a gaming system seem pretty small doesn’t it? Mobile gaming gives software publishers the chance to make money off of not just gamers, but people who don’t even own game systems to begin with. Add to that the fact that they don’t have to worry about packaging, concept art, shipping, and all those other things related to physical media that drive up costs, and it’s a win/win situation for them.

2.”Take Your Quality and Shove it!”
“Mobile games suck!” “The graphics are TERRIBLE!” “You can’t control it worth a damn!” Such are the diatribes of hardcore gamers wondering how anyone would pay for something of such OBVIOUS low quality. If you care about the quality of your video games, you’re pretty close to being the gaming version of Jack Black’s snarky character in the movie “High Fidelity.”
The fact of the matter is, the general public DOESN’T CARE about quality! If they did, we’d still be listening to vinyl, Beta would have crushed VHS in the VCR wars of the 80s, and Bush would never have gotten re-elected (I couldn’t resist!). What the average consumer DOES care about is convenience. How simple is it to use? Do I have to carry anything extra with me? Does it work? These are the questions people care about, not “What is the framerate?” “Is the sound CD quality?” etc. Sure, some mobile games DO suck, but that isn’t the point. The point it, they’re simple and you don’t have to be a math major to figure them out, unlike the latest Final Fantasy game everyone loves so much.

3.You Can Always Take it With You
Yeah, I love my PSP and my DS, but chances are, I won’t have them with me at all times because frankly, I refuse to wear pants with pockets that big. For “portable” systems, these aren’t exactly easy to carry around at all times. A cell phone, however, is (unless of course you’re still sporting the Zack Morris phone that he had to carry around in his backpack.) I hate carrying extra stuff around with me and that includes portable game systems. But I always have my phone on me, and if a situation arises where I’m bored at work (heaven forbid!) or have some time to kill, I can whip out my phone, boot up Street Fighter II and flatten M.Bison and his cronies while I wait for….whatever. Many of us don’t plan ahead for unexpected free time, yours truly included, so in such a case, a mobile game can be a blessing.

4.”You’ve got a cell phone, whaddya need that game system, tv, and MP3 player for?”
Like it or not, mobile devices like the iPhone are the wave of the future and I predict a time when most of our computing will be done on hand held devices. While game consoles will never die, I’m betting that in another 10 years, your Game Boy Advance will be a museum piece, and by the time your grandkids are running into your arthritic knees, you’ll be able to play PS3 quality games on a device the size of a Blackberry. Call me Orwell, call me whatever, just don’t say I didn’t warn you!

5.Cellular Providers Love To Make Money
Your cellular provider loves you. And to show it, they’ll put in place services like Verizon’s VCAST to sell you a bunch of media stuff over your phone so they can make even more! Yeah yeah, I know, you’ve got the cheapest possible plan, but hey, if you’re like me, you check out what wares they’re peddling online every once and awhile and sometimes get seduced. Cell phone providers make a boatload on these peripheral media services each year, and you can bet they’ll only start offering more as the years go on. All they have to do is agree to sell an already-made product that cost them nothing to develop on their network and they get a chunk of the sales. Pretty sweet, huh?

Mobile Gaming Best Bets:

1.Tetris-Tetris on a mobile phone is like toast: hard to screw up. So it’s pretty safe to say that no matter what provider you have, no matter what phone, Tetris will be a good way to kill some time.

2.Devil May Cry Mobile-This one kinda depends on your phone, but on my Chocolate 2 it looks like a million bucks though the control can be a bit wonky at times. Based on parts of Devil May Cry 3, this one includes 40+ missions, several of the weapons and a few of the bosses found there as well.

3.3D Ultimate Chess-Only found on the Verizon, Alltel, and Cellular South networks, this is possibly the coolest chess game available. It’s also very complete. There are 5 different chess bots you can play ranging from the rank beginner to a high level bot that plays like a human might. It also includes chess puzzles, and unlockable backgrounds, chess boards, and pieces as well.

4.Castlevania:Order Of Shadows-Ah I hear fans at the Anti-Chapel and Castlevania Dungeon picking up their pitchforks and torches right now! OoS is a good little action/adventure game that offers plenty of weapons, enemies to use them on, and some of the best music you’ll hear in a mobile game to date!

5.Street Fighter II/Street Fighter II Champion Edition-For a fighting game, this one controls really well! While the Champion Edition has more characters, the screen ratio in the original is much better. Fantastic graphics & music and very faithful gameplay are the stars here!

Final Fantasy IV DS: Was This Necessary?

The portable scene has been getting and will continue to get a lot of love from Squeenix in the form of several Final Fantasy games, both ports of earlier games and new ones.

But I have to ask, was it REALLY necessary to port Final Fantasy IV to the DS when it was released to the PSX several times, and then ported to the GameBoy Advance a mere 3 years ago? Granted this is supposed to be an upgrade, but really, do we need ANOTHER port of this game? I have a small apartment and don’t really have the space for another copy of FFIV, even if it IS on a tiny DS chip and personally, I’d rather see Square work on more new games instead of resting on the laurels of their past catalogue.

Granted, we have gotten some new FF games, at least one a year for the past 2 or 3 years, but recently, we’ve seen a rash of them on the DS. Ring of Fates dropped back in March of this year, then Tactics A-2 in June, and now this port of IV. We’re also set to see a DS port of Chrono Trigger in the Fall of ’08 as well. If there’s such a thing as flooding the market, Square is doing it.

Consider this: You can get a used copy of Final Fantasy IV Advance on Amazon for a mere $7.50, a copy of FF Chronicles (Chrono Trigger & FFIV) on the PSX for $10.80.  Or even download a ROM of FFII on the SNES. It’s the same game you know. Or you could pick up Final Fantasy IV DS for $39.99 new or $35.49 used.

Part of what irks me about these endless ports is the feeling that Square thinks we constantly need to be reminded of what they’ve done in the past. Or maybe it’s a way to satiate gamers who didn’t eat up Crisis Core and Dirge Of Cerberus as they expected. I can understand bringing FF 1 & 2 to a next gen system because they’re old games that haven’t been given the royal treatment outside of GBA’s Dawn Of Souls compilation & Anniversary Editions on the PSP (though I think the Anniversary remakes on the PSP should have been sold as one UMD, but that’s a whole other article.) If they want to mine the past, why not put out another Actraiser or Soul Blazer game? Is the Final Fantasy series finally jumping the shark and are these ports tacit admissions of an inability to craft new games that are as compelling as the older ones?

The notion that portable systems are basically homes for endless ports of old games and shovelware is what keeps them from being more viable in the eyes of many developers. Let’s see Square step up and deliver some more great original games to the DS instead of just serving up its past glories in a new package.