Agreed. I think if you factor in all the licensed crap on the entirety of the GameBoy platform from day 1 through to today with the DS, you have a sea of hack jobs - basically poor side scrollers - with their license tacked on. Many of these games are also dumbed down for their intended audience, whether justified or not. At the same time, I also agree that handheld platforms do lend themselves to more innovation per instance than you'll find on your typical console, as the small format, smaller system requirements and naturally smaller play sessions no doubt lend themselves to. Obviously developer/publisher financial risk tolerance is a huge factor in this as well. You will absolutely find unusual games on both the DS and PSP that would never see the light of day on the typical console EXCEPTING for things like the Virtual Console and Xbox Live Arcade, which in a way are like mini-platforms (or sub-platforms) unto themselves, exhibiting many of the characteristics of the portable platforms but with far less likelihood of receiving licensed shovelware.
If indeed we did do an article on portable "innovation" in regards to the DS and PSP, it would be fascinating to contrast that with what's presently on Xbox Live Arcade and available in a similar category for the PC (like PopCap games and PlayFirst! games (link in our "Games" area). I bet there are more similarities than differences.
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Bill Loguidice, Managing Director
Armchair Arcade, Inc.
(A PC Magazine Top 100 Website)
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*************************** Bill Loguidice, Managing Director
Armchair Arcade, Inc.
Agreed. I think if you factor in all the licensed crap on the entirety of the GameBoy platform from day 1 through to today with the DS, you have a sea of hack jobs - basically poor side scrollers - with their license tacked on. Many of these games are also dumbed down for their intended audience, whether justified or not. At the same time, I also agree that handheld platforms do lend themselves to more innovation per instance than you'll find on your typical console, as the small format, smaller system requirements and naturally smaller play sessions no doubt lend themselves to. Obviously developer/publisher financial risk tolerance is a huge factor in this as well. You will absolutely find unusual games on both the DS and PSP that would never see the light of day on the typical console EXCEPTING for things like the Virtual Console and Xbox Live Arcade, which in a way are like mini-platforms (or sub-platforms) unto themselves, exhibiting many of the characteristics of the portable platforms but with far less likelihood of receiving licensed shovelware.
If indeed we did do an article on portable "innovation" in regards to the DS and PSP, it would be fascinating to contrast that with what's presently on Xbox Live Arcade and available in a similar category for the PC (like PopCap games and PlayFirst! games (link in our "Games" area). I bet there are more similarities than differences.
======================================
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director
Armchair Arcade, Inc.
(A PC Magazine Top 100 Website)
======================================
***************************
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director
Armchair Arcade, Inc.