Nintendo DS Rant
So I was thinking - I think the key to the DS's success isn't it's two screens, or the touch screen, at all. I think it's the cartridges. I think that having a constricted amount of space for a game, forces developers to decide early on what features are truly necessary, and they're more likely to keep a game trim and fun. As opposed to bloated and boring, like many games become on larger-format systems.
Having less graphical power means that developers focus more on gameplay instead of slick graphics. As well, being a smaller format cartridge leads to shorter (more along the lines of SNES - 30-40 hour RPG, not 60-80) game lengths. I'm just about finished playing Tales of Phantasia (again, though I'd completely forgotten most of it, as I played a translated ROM about 8 years ago). I'm 45 hours into it, and it's one of the few games in about 5 years that's been able to hold my attention that long. The others that held my attention well? The two Golden Sun games for GBA. I'm really not sure there's many/any other long-form games in the past 5 years that I've finished - I never finished Crystal Chronicles, Silent Hill 4, Windwaker (!!!), FFX, FF9, Chrono Cross (though technically, I tried, I just could never get the boss pattern down for the last guy), etc etc.
Very few RPGs can hold my attention for long periods now. When they do, they tend to be of the more cute style, and they're almost all sprite-based.
The only other games I play at all now are simple-ish platformers (New Super Mario Bros), and puzzle games. Even Mario Kart DS didn't hold my attention for more than a week or two.
But anyway, I think that's the DS's strength - it can go back to focusing on good gameplay. The PSP doesn't do this as much, I think possibly because they have their 1.6gb UMDs that developers feel they have to fill up.
Having less graphical power means that developers focus more on gameplay instead of slick graphics. As well, being a smaller format cartridge leads to shorter (more along the lines of SNES - 30-40 hour RPG, not 60-80) game lengths. I'm just about finished playing Tales of Phantasia (again, though I'd completely forgotten most of it, as I played a translated ROM about 8 years ago). I'm 45 hours into it, and it's one of the few games in about 5 years that's been able to hold my attention that long. The others that held my attention well? The two Golden Sun games for GBA. I'm really not sure there's many/any other long-form games in the past 5 years that I've finished - I never finished Crystal Chronicles, Silent Hill 4, Windwaker (!!!), FFX, FF9, Chrono Cross (though technically, I tried, I just could never get the boss pattern down for the last guy), etc etc.
Very few RPGs can hold my attention for long periods now. When they do, they tend to be of the more cute style, and they're almost all sprite-based.
The only other games I play at all now are simple-ish platformers (New Super Mario Bros), and puzzle games. Even Mario Kart DS didn't hold my attention for more than a week or two.
But anyway, I think that's the DS's strength - it can go back to focusing on good gameplay. The PSP doesn't do this as much, I think possibly because they have their 1.6gb UMDs that developers feel they have to fill up.