Oh boy a true ds successor

[Crisis]

Bugger.

[Protodude]

Of course you know this has nothing to do with 3D movies in the sense that each of your eyes is given a different picture, and you get a sense of depth from it, but rather it tracks the position of your eyes relative to the system, and actually lets you see the same thing from various different angles, right?

This is in fact much more interesting with a handheld system, because you can easily move it around, while with a home console YOU have to move around, because the TV is presumably static.

Huh, well that's pretty interesting. I guess that's what I get for not looking into this and making assumptions.

Still, I can see having to move the console around a lot get pretty annoying, though maybe no more so than a Wii controller I guess.

[FlashTHD]

It amazes me that anyone still sticks with the fat system. The Lite alone definitely had enough improvements (especially weight, screen brightness options and battery) to warrant a purchase but jumping from Fat to DSi I'd consider a pretty huge improvement.

Awful imprecise-feeling buttons, GBA carts don't fit flush, the stupidest power switch ever, and the thing just feels flimsy in my hands. I'm fine, thanks.

3DS would sound like a more reasonable upgrade if Nintendo hadn't freaking flooded the market with a new DS variety practically every year and a half. Once or twice i've been asked by confused people what the difference is between Lite/i/XL (one of them, unsuprisingly, wondered if they play the same games). It's certainly not as obvious as Nintendo would think it is. Also reminds me of the old conundrum "It's Genesis, now it's Sega CD, no it's 32X, scratch that it's Saturn, wait don't you want Dreamcast?"

And what is the big damn deal with 3D picture of late? Nothing that I can tell other than a gimmick being fast-tracked. Well at any rate, good on them for working in an analog stick this time (I hope that's what was meant by "3D Stick").

[Blount]

Strictly regarding the potential handheld tilting features, I think this could lead to an interesting way of having a 360º rotatable camera without buttons or analog sticks. I'm thinking of tilting the handheld to make the camera move accordingly and then holding it normally to stop. There could be sensitivity issues such as the camera rotating at any slight inclination, or only rotating if you tilted the handheld too much (which, depending on the size of the screen, could be problematic due to the awkward angle), but I'd nonetheless like to see them try this in a 3D platformer or something.

[Neo]

And what is the big damn deal with 3D picture of late? Nothing that I can tell other than a gimmick being fast-tracked.

I know, what is the deal with that motion control shiz? I hear it doesn't print money at all!

[FlashTHD]

And what is the big damn deal with 3D picture of late? Nothing that I can tell other than a gimmick being fast-tracked.

I know, what is the deal with that motion control shiz? I hear it doesn't print money at all!

I meant fast-tracked as in suddenly it's being trumped up to be as big a thing (or nearly as much) in home entertainment as HD, whereas i'm not seeing that it accomplishes much of anything.

[Segaholic2]

Motion control still hasn't proven itself to be anything more than a gimmick (albeit a very profitable gimmick, but I blame that on idiots). This is the exact same reasoning behind Avatar's success (and the resultant 3D stampede).

Motion control is still stupid, and I doubt Natal or Arc will change my mind, though I am welcome to have my viewpoint challenged (and no, nothing on Wii will). 3D movies are also stupid, and I prefer watching my moving pictures in good old-fashioned high-definition 2D.

Result: I don't give half of any shits about the 3DS and will skip it like I did the DSi. And the XL. Or whatever other stupid crap they've made since I forgot my DS Lite existed.

[Segaholic2]

Actually, while I'm ranting, I guess this ties into my current perspective on handheld gaming in general. I own a DS Lite and a PSP but never really use either. They're both too much of a hassle to charge/pack games/bring along if I happen to be stuck somewhere or am planning a trip or whatever. The games generally also require too much of a time investment and I couldn't care less about 99% of their combined libraries anyway. WarioWare or whatever doesn't count as an antidote either because that swings too far in the other direction and I got bored of that shit after the first game.

Where I'm going with this is that I use my iPhone to play portable games more than my DS and PSP combined. I have it on me all the time anyway, and it actually has a decent collection of games I'm somewhat interested in, at least enough for me to pull it out when I'm taking a shit. Instead of feeling the urge to shit and turning my room inside out trying to find the DS before I rush to the toilet and then discovering that it isn't even charged, I just go poop and pull out the iPhone, which is always in my pocket. Poop Paradise. I'm playing through Doom 2 RPG and it's pretty much the most perfect shitting game ever. I can stop at any point and it saves my progress. This Is Living.

[Neo]

So apart from the save anywhere thing, you're saying your problem with portable gaming consoles these days is that you don't carry them in your pocket?

[Segaholic2]

The physical design itself is not conducive to actual portability. That and practicality. A DS is huge and only plays games. The iPhone is practically half its size and does games and everything else too.

Also the design of portable games generally sucks and is also not conducive to portability. Like JRPGs with sparse save points and huge adventure games or whatever. Why anyone wants to play those on a 3 inch screen is beyond me. iPhone games tend to be better in small time portions which makes them much more effective for actual portable gaming.

Anecdote: At least 90% (probably closer to 99%) of my total play time on the DS and PSP was done on my couch or bed or in my place of residence. I bet yours is similar.

[plasticwingsband]

Motion control is still stupid, and I doubt Natal or Arc will change my mind, though I am welcome to have my viewpoint challenged (and no, nothing on Wii will). 3D movies are also stupid, and I prefer watching my moving pictures in good old-fashioned high-definition 2D.

Result: I don't give half of any shits about the 3DS and will skip it like I did the DSi. And the XL. Or whatever other stupid crap they've made since I forgot my DS Lite existed.

This.

[Senbei]

I often see kids on the go with their DS's. The two main places I played my Game Boy, as a child, where in the car and while lying in bed. Both are places where portability are necessary, though I infrequently carried the device in my pocket.

Funnily enough, I'm more comfortable with long-winded, involved games on portables than pick-up-and-play games. Perhaps it's because I grew up spending hours and hours with Pokemon and Wario Land. My favorite portable game nowadays is Loco Roco 2 because each level can take me a half hour to get through as I explore every nook and cranny of it. On the other hand, even though I love Metal Gear, I couldn't stand Portable Ops because they structured the levels to be bite-sized, which, for me, defeated the point of a Metal Gear game.

By the by, has anyone played Infinite Space yet? I've honestly been contemplating purchasing a DS just for this game.

[Neo]

Anecdote: At least 90% (probably closer to 99%) of my total play time on the DS and PSP was done on my couch or bed or in my place of residence. I bet yours is similar.

Actually, you'd be wrong. You see portable gaming as a way to have fun 5-minute escapades from real life, and that's where your trouble arises from. Yes, for such short bursts, a little cellphone game is the perfect thing.

Daily, I spend a lot of time on public transports (over 2 hours a day), so I get a lot (a LOT) of dead time. I just bring along my DS and basically clear an entire game bit by bit over the course of one or two months. In the case of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, I did a lot of playing at home, but with Umihara Kawase, basically my entire progress was made on the go.

In short, what I think is happening is that you're trying to patch up a hole with something that is just not being geared with that purpose in mind. Whether this fault can actually be attributed to game/handheld developers is a matter of debate, though.

[Kogen]

I still feel like I just got a DS Lite and now all of this random stuff is just appearing everywhere. I find it hard to understand why a DS now costs the same as a Wii, is double the size, has a control stick, vibrates, has two cameras, goes online, and does not let you play GBA/accessory games.

[Crisis]

I'm pretty forgiving about backwards compatibility. Technologically speaking, it's hard to do, and the GBA cartridge slot alone probably takes up a lot of space in the console. I'd much rather they worked on something else and just let me play the old games on their original hardware.

Then again, I don't have much of a choice about upgrading from my original model, since the DSi is the only one that supports my new router. My god are they expensive.

[Segaholic2]

If I had a 2-hour commute every day I'd, I don't know, start reading books again. Or use my iPhone to catch up on RSS or something. I definitely wouldn't be packing up my DS or PSP to play Zelda on a train. (DOUBLE ENTENDRE)

Portable gaming should be just what it's called - gaming that is portable. Anything that is bigger than my wallet is not portable, and anything that requires an immediate time commitment of over 30 minutes per sitting is not portable. If I have that kind of time to play a game, I'm going to do it in front of the TV or computer.

[Neo]

Thing is, if afterwards you don't really have the time to sit in front of your TV to play, then...

There's a reason I've basically just been buying DS games for a while now.

EDIT: Basically what I'm trying to say is that handheld gaming has sort of become the only gaming I invest time in, and "handheld" to me simply means "doesn't have to connect to a wall socket or a TV".

[Dr. BUGMAN]

Yeah, the DS has become my go-to platform these days. Everything else feels bloated and/or gimmicky. But not being sure which one will be able to play the newest games, really fucking chaffs my hide. I can only imagine the less-informed being even more flummoxed.

Never thought I'd save money on batteries by not playing console games, though.

[Esrever]

Almost every DS game I've played either has a "save anywhere" feature, or has levels that are only a couple of minutes long. Are handheld games that require 30-minute play sessions really such an epidemic? Looking at my collection (25 games or so), the only three guilty of that are Contra 4, NSMB and the Zelda games.

Although don't get me wrong... the way that handheld Zelda still always makes you start a loaded save at the entrance to a dungeon COMPLETELY INFURIATES me. Especially after playing the DS Elebits game, a Zelda clone which very sensibly uses one time save/restores so that you can stop playing and pick up exactly where you left off whenever you want. I may never beat Phantom Hourglass, just because I'm at one of the last runthroughs of the Temple of the Ocean King and I know there's no point even starting it unless I'm sure I'll be playing the game for more than a half hour.

[Dr. BUGMAN]

Is the DS Elebits better than the Wii one? I found the time limits and controls to be unbearable in the original.

[Dash]

And besides the fact many DS games offer a near insta-save feature, you could just y'know close the thing for a superpause. It stays in sleep mode for a long long time.


But yeah, I've wondered what portable gaming will do now that phones do moderately good games as well. Then again, I wondered how Nintendo would survive the onslaught of multimedia juggernauts even since the Gamecube. They kept turning a profit, and now a much bigger one. They're pretty awesome business-wise. Things will probably be okay for portables for a while longer.

[Esrever]

The DS Elebits isn't really anything like the Wii version at all. Basically, picture a more puzzle-focused, largely combat-free Zelda game where all your items have been turned into Pokemon Omega Elebits. One breathes fire, one makes platforms, one redirects lasers, one acts as a raft, etc etc... each new Omega gives you an ability you can use to access new areas and progress through the game.

As you are roaming along, you use your gravity gun to move/shake background elements and to pick up the billions of little regular elebits that pop out of them. The little elebits give you energy, which you use to open doors, operate devices, power your stuff and upgrade evolve your items Omega Elebits into more powerful versions.

It's a pretty fun game, although it's not lifechanging or anything. I think the controls -- using the d-pad to move while using the stylus to operate your gravity gun -- are a lot more interesting than the stylus-only controls in the DS Zeldas, doing something legitimately new rather than just doing something old in a new way.

[gr4yJ4Y]

I have a DS Fat and I rarely ever play it.

It amazes me that anyone still sticks with the fat system. The Lite alone definitely had enough improvements (especially weight, screen brightness options and battery) to warrant a purchase but jumping from Fat to DSi I'd consider a pretty huge improvement.

The DS has the best library of any handheld system ever for me too.

I have to admit though if I still had a DS fat I probably wouldn't want to be playing it often as it's not very comfortable and is very outdated.

I assure you that having a Fat instead of a DSi doesn't really affect the amount I play it (although I might play more online games if I had a DSi, since my router won't configure to work on both Macbooks and my DS). I don't really care if I'm not being trendy by playing on a Fat. And don't get me wrong, I think it has a fine library of games. It's just that when there's a PS3 and a Wii in front of me, I'm more likely to play games on the home systems. I haven't bought a DS game in about a year and a half now.

Like Holic said, I'd probably play it a lot more if I didn't have to be prepared for a situation where I'd use it. I have to have it charged, with me, and the game I want to play has to be in the system. When I find myself in a situation where I'm up for some portable gaming, it's usually unexpected and I probably don't have my DS on me. If I had a phone that could actually play games (decent games at least), I'd be more likely to play it in those situations. I always, always, always have my phone on me. I almost never have the DS with me.

[Team Mecha]

This is pretty much a given now for the screen.