Debate topic - Do handhelds offer gaming we can appriciate?

Hey all

This debate topic is for the discussion of current handheld consoles. I am wandering whether you feel that handheld consoles can and do offer the level of gaming needs that we get on home consoles?

Personally I have not played on my DS in ages (bar yesterday when I went on Mario Kart and Advance Wars). I have not bought a game for it in well over a year (it may even be 2 years) but feel like I am mixed whether to try more games on it or not. The titles generally seem to stay high in price (such as the Nintendo first party games) and it puts me off as its like "why pay 30 for this when I could get Game XYZ on Xbox 360 for 20".

Anyway, with Pokemon Platinum, Grand Theft Auto DS, Mario and Luigi 3, amongst some others available it seems the DS has been having a good run.

Discuss

Hey all

This debate topic is for the discussion of current handheld consoles. I am wandering whether you feel that handheld consoles can and do offer the level of gaming needs that we get on home consoles?

Personally I have not played on my DS in ages (bar yesterday when I went on Mario Kart and Advance Wars). I have not bought a game for it in well over a year (it may even be 2 years) but feel like I am mixed whether to try more games on it or not. The titles generally seem to stay high in price (such as the Nintendo first party games) and it puts me off as its like "why pay 30 for this when I could get Game XYZ on Xbox 360 for 20".

Anyway, with Pokemon Platinum, Grand Theft Auto DS, Mario and Luigi 3, amongst some others available it seems the DS has been having a good run.

Discuss

Garfield360UK

Well, I used to play on my DS all the time, and my gf has one of the older models. However, I rarely use mine now I have a 360 but my gf still plays hers all the time. She has loads of great games for it and has lots of fun. Myself, I'm now more into the 360 and the sort of game experience it can offer.

I agree that alot of the titles are really expensive but if you shop aroundyou can get deals just as you can for home consoles.

I think they offer different experiences and are marketed at different target audiences because of this. I sort of got fed up with the DS because I did not want to be playing continual updates of 10 year old games all the time.

Plus I'm a graphics ho' and you aint gonna see the Crysis 3 engine on DS any time soon.

I think if I were to sell most of my games I would not be that bothered. I'd keep maybe Mario Kart and that would be about it.

I'm personally not looking forward to the time that the handheld market gets expanded it'll lead to some unnecessary corporatism.loopy_101

In what sense do you mean? I would say the DS is quite a large market already (something like 100 million of the consoles alone out there).

[QUOTE="loopy_101"]I'm personally not looking forward to the time that the handheld market gets expanded it'll lead to some unnecessary corporatism.Garfield360UK

In what sense do you mean? I would say the DS is quite a large market already (something like 100 million of the consoles alone out there).

What I mean is the likes of DLC and Xbox Live might catch on with portables, as well as the expansive amount of add-ons that are now so crucial to playing games online (e.g. Mic) and offline (Hard-drive Football Manager). It is why I won't be looking forward to Microsoft making a portable video games console.

[QUOTE="loopy_101"]I'm personally not looking forward to the time that the handheld market gets expanded it'll lead to some unnecessary corporatism.Garfield360UK

In what sense do you mean? I would say the DS is quite a large market already (something like 100 million of the consoles alone out there).

Perhaps he means if and when Pandora comes out and we have three competitors or if Microsoft releases its own HH console (which I'm pretty sure it won't). Can't see there ever being a mass market corporate battle ground over hh consoles. Sony may not bother with a next gen psp and Nintendo pretty much dominate the market and can do what they like.

[QUOTE="Garfield360UK"]

[QUOTE="loopy_101"]I'm personally not looking forward to the time that the handheld market gets expanded it'll lead to some unnecessary corporatism.pai-may

In what sense do you mean? I would say the DS is quite a large market already (something like 100 million of the consoles alone out there).

Perhaps he means if and when Pandora comes out and we have three competitors or if Microsoft releases its own HH console (which I'm pretty sure it won't). Can't see there ever being a mass market corporate battle ground over hh consoles. Sony may not bother with a next gen psp and Nintendo pretty much dominate the market and can do what they like.

This as well. Although Pandora is quite low key, I'd mention the GP2X Wiz if I was pushing it but even then perhaps not.

[QUOTE="Garfield360UK"]

[QUOTE="loopy_101"]I'm personally not looking forward to the time that the handheld market gets expanded it'll lead to some unnecessary corporatism.loopy_101

In what sense do you mean? I would say the DS is quite a large market already (something like 100 million of the consoles alone out there).

What I mean is the likes of DLC and Xbox Live might catch on with portables, as well as the expansive amount of add-ons that are now so crucial to playing games online (e.g. Mic) and offline (Hard-drive Football Manager). It is why I won't be looking forward to Microsoft making a portable video games console.

I can see what you mean, Nintendo do have the market cornered and with the DSi having the downloadable content option, it seems its going to move that way. Unfortunatly I do think DLC will become bigger and bigger as its more profitable for the companies to do this, they dont care about the second hand market at the moment but long term it could be a mistake. That said, those that are buying second hand only wont be contributing to the profit of Nintendo directly but they will be for those that do trade games in wont be able to in the future and thus may not buy the games either. Its a catch 22 as these are businesses but sometimes gaming seems to be looking to make a quick buck rather than looking long term. I think the industry feels in a decline with game quality anyway, I am not feeling over joyed at most new games now and cant seem to get into them as much as I once did.

I think you can find a lot of enjoyment in handheld games, but for me it's no match for stationary consoles. Then again, some games are better suiting on handhelds, like Pokemon and RPG games were you can grind wherever you're bored.

There was a time I loved my Gameboy Color, but right now I am not feeling the handheld systems. It's not because they are worse, but just because I don't feel like playing videogames on the go. I want to sit in my chair and reap the benefits of stationary consoles and, possibly most importantly, achievements.

I think you can find a lot of enjoyment in handheld games, but for me it's no match for stationary consoles. Then again, some games are better suiting on handhelds, like Pokemon and RPG games were you can grind wherever you're bored.

There was a time I loved my Gameboy Color, but right now I am not feeling the handheld systems. It's not because they are worse, but just because I don't feel like playing videogames on the go. I want to sit in my chair and reap the benefits of stationary consoles and, possibly most importantly, achievements.

Benny_is_here

I agree with Benny here. Plus I'm becoming an achievement junkie myself. I don't have 37,000 gamer points either though. I never really bought my handheld to game on the go, more because I liked some of the games on DS, same with the other half. She does not play her DS outside of our house. Does that defeat the purpose of the system?

[QUOTE="Benny_is_here"]

I think you can find a lot of enjoyment in handheld games, but for me it's no match for stationary consoles. Then again, some games are better suiting on handhelds, like Pokemon and RPG games were you can grind wherever you're bored.

There was a time I loved my Gameboy Color, but right now I am not feeling the handheld systems. It's not because they are worse, but just because I don't feel like playing videogames on the go. I want to sit in my chair and reap the benefits of stationary consoles and, possibly most importantly, achievements.

pai-may

I agree with Benny here. Plus I'm becoming an achievement junkie myself. I don't have 37,000 gamer points either though. I never really bought my handheld to game on the go, more because I liked some of the games on DS, same with the other half. She does not play her DS outside of our house. Does that defeat the purpose of the system?

It depends really, I got mine when I travled to uni but not once did I use it on the train :?

I am the same as you two really, I do like my achievements although have not really hunted for them since completing Lost and doing a chip over a keeper on Fifa I took my time getting. I just dont play the DS at all (bar this weekend as I was unable to use the PC and Xbox 360 and so I played a bit of Advance Wars to pass the time). I just cant see to get into any of the games, I feel the prices of the ones I may get (Chrono Trigger and Pokemon Platinum) are steep for games that have either been out before or a rehash of something I have done before (I used to love the Pokemon games, it got me into my gameboy and then Gold and Silver with the GBC but I have not had one since then, so no GBA or DS varients so far).

To me handhelds was never a serious gaming option, i.e. one is allowed to play dumbed down versions of their favorite PC or console games on the handheld. Seriously, if I am not travelling for 10-12 hours, why would I need to play on a PSP or DS? Okay, one practical problem I face is that I don't have a TV in my room and I need to hookup my PS2 to play Tekken 5 (hooking up is a pain, if you were wondering--disconnecting some cables and reconnecting them is never an easy job). So for me, owning a PSP and just lying down on my bed to play Tekken would be a viable option. However, the screen is small, and the experience is cut down. Moreover, the thing needs to be charged, just like my cell and ipod. I do own a multiplug. but still charging all these gadgets everyday is a pain, and I just don't feel like owning a new gadget just for passing some casual gaming time--my PC is good enough for me.

I am yet to hear about a portable game that is not available in any form in their bigger console counterparts or PCs. 

To me handhelds was never a serious gaming option, i.e. one is allowed to play dumbed down versions of their favorite PC or console games on the handheld. Seriously, if I am not travelling for 10-12 hours, why would I need to play on a PSP or DS? Okay, one practical problem I face is that I don't have a TV in my room and I need to hookup my PS2 to play Tekken 5 (hooking up is a pain, if you were wondering--disconnecting some cables and reconnecting them is never an easy job). So for me, owning a PSP and just lying down on my bed to play Tekken would be a viable option. However, the screen is small, and the experience is cut down. Moreover, the thing needs to be charged, just like my cell and ipod. I do own a multiplug. but still charging all these gadgets everyday is a pain, and I just don't feel like owning a new gadget just for passing some casual gaming time--my PC is good enough for me.

I am yet to hear about a portable game that is not available in any form in their bigger console counterparts or PCs. 

DeadManRollin

As a side note you should get a switch box type thing if you are playing your ps2 through your monitor. That way you only need flick a switch to jump from pc to ps2 rather than unhook cables all the time.

I need to look for that box thingy, but my PC table is quite small and I really don't want to keep the ps2 on it all the time. But again, for this inconvenience, I haven't touched the ps2 for ages.

Back to handhelds, I was reading a review of ipod touch, and saw it has 36 hours playtime per recharge cycle. That is definitely impressive, but they did not write anything about games. Video playback is 9 hours--which is still impressive, and higher than psp or ds.

So do you guys think ipods can become a major handheld gaming option in the future? Ipod game sales are already skyrocketing, as far as I hear.

[QUOTE="pai-may"][QUOTE="Benny_is_here"]

I think you can find a lot of enjoyment in handheld games, but for me it's no match for stationary consoles. Then again, some games are better suiting on handhelds, like Pokemon and RPG games were you can grind wherever you're bored.

There was a time I loved my Gameboy Color, but right now I am not feeling the handheld systems. It's not because they are worse, but just because I don't feel like playing videogames on the go. I want to sit in my chair and reap the benefits of stationary consoles and, possibly most importantly, achievements.

Garfield360UK

I agree with Benny here. Plus I'm becoming an achievement junkie myself. I don't have 37,000 gamer points either though. I never really bought my handheld to game on the go, more because I liked some of the games on DS, same with the other half. She does not play her DS outside of our house. Does that defeat the purpose of the system?

It depends really, I got mine when I travled to uni but not once did I use it on the train :?

I am the same as you two really, I do like my achievements although have not really hunted for them since completing Lost and doing a chip over a keeper on Fifa I took my time getting. I just dont play the DS at all (bar this weekend as I was unable to use the PC and Xbox 360 and so I played a bit of Advance Wars to pass the time). I just cant see to get into any of the games, I feel the prices of the ones I may get (Chrono Trigger and Pokemon Platinum) are steep for games that have either been out before or a rehash of something I have done before (I used to love the Pokemon games, it got me into my gameboy and then Gold and Silver with the GBC but I have not had one since then, so no GBA or DS varients so far).

I don't even know if you'd like Chrono Trigger.  Be sure to check out Metal Slug 7, Broken Sword and Mario & Luigi.

I remember being in the school playground, watching guys using their Data Zapper playing Battleships, it's was a really fun way of playing a video game, let alone being a game... we could of played football or basketball, however sometimes a few of us wanted to escape that team sport and play a video game using a handheld.

I also have a DS, I would like to get the most out of it, I remember when I went to an club, I saw 17 year old kids playing Mario Kart of their DS's

However as for the stand alone experience... it's simple, take it anywhere, play the game when someone is bored... it's simple as. Gameboy and Game and Watch did alot to show this, it's being simple, compared to the battery eating Game Gear.