On Friday, the long awaited Nintendo DS comes out in the United Kingdom (and probably the rest of Europe too)! I went to Choices today (the video store) and pre-ordered one. They offered me a Sony PSP, which, according to their leaflets, comes out in March, in the UK. The morons...
Anyhow, I'll be getting Mario 64DS, WarioWare Touched! and Feel The Magic. Possibly Mr Driller too.
Anyone else getting a DS in the UK on launch day, and if so, what games are you planning on buying?
i already have a DS, theyre very impressive to play with when you first turn them on... but now... the touch screen doesnt feel that special any more! perhaps when they release some more inovative games with more impressive ways of using the screen!
I have mario ds, mr driller and metroid demo, all of which are good. If i were you, i would get mr driller, u may be a little disapointed as i was. Mario's really good if you like mario, loads n loads of mini games.Metroids gonna be an awsome game, its actually quite fun.
the next game im getting is marioware touched on friday!
BTW games on ebay are 20 pounds! both of mine were anyway!
lol yea sorry its warioware. Mr driller doest really use the touch screen as much as mario. A guy i talk to near london has feel the magic and he said its good. Its not called feel the magic, mind, its called project rub in this country. crappy or what.Im tempted to try out pokemon dash but it didnt get very good reviews.
I was thinking about getting one at launch but I might wait a bit till some more tempting games like Castlevania come out for it. Feel the Magic XX/XY (or Project Rub as its known here in europe) looks really cool and quirky, although most of the reviews said it was a bit on the short side.
I hope Sony don't get control of the handheld market, but if a Grand Theft Auto game comes out for it that will probably convince all the chavs that know nothing about real gameplay to buy it.
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Pete Nattress Cheesy Bits img src/uploads/sccheesegif
Registered 23/09/2002
Points 4811
9th March, 2005 at 12:18:16 -
I dunno, Wong. The DS limits itself to simply playing games, like the GameCube does. It's stupid not to consider multifunctionality in these days, where a simple mobile phone can also act as a camera, camcorder, PDA, MP3 player, etc. The PSP can play movies and MP3s in addition to games. I certainly know that I wouldn't want to watch SpiderMan 2 on a 6" screen or whatever, but that doesn't mean other people won't. A Sony triumph may not be a massive miracle.
Personally I'm not getting either PSP or DS. I don't like handhelds. If I'm on the go I'm happy listening to music, and at home I have my PC.
The Nintendo DS is a bad investment in my eyes. Technology wise, it's light years behind the PSP. The graphics are like comparing a Nintendo 64 to a Playstation 2, the lack of an analog stick severely cripples N64 ports (like Mario 64DS) and limits future developers in any genre that requires 3D movement. Nintendo is once again sticking to cartridge format, which limits sound quality and game size, plus are more expensive. They're sticking with a pair of low-res screens that COMBINED aren't even up to the PSP's resolution. The stylus is a gimmik that developers either won't use, or will implement poorly as they have already done. Add to this that the system looks and feels like a brick, and that the only launch game worth owning (at least here in the States) was Mario 64, which is a watered down port of a 10-year old game that has been outdone in every way since.
Garh... Nintendo has their heads up their asses with this one. As soon as the PSP is out, the DS is going to fall on its face. Nintendo will release a new system in the Gameboy line and abandon the DS like Sega did with their Genesis upgrades a decade ago. This will piss off their loyal fanbase and send more to the Sony camp because they know they can trust their products. Then, Revolution will fail because Nintendo has already gone on record saying they aren't counting on third party support, and don't even plan to COMPETE in the same playing field as Microsoft/Sony. The company is going down hill. Their ship is burning, and I don't know about you guys, but I'm jumping off before it sinks with my money.
[edit] Don't get me wrong here. I like Nintendo. I don't want to see them fail, and sure as hell don't want to see the market dominated by Sony and Electronic Arts. But, from a business standpoint, they're making STOOPID decisions, and the writing on the wall is pretty clear. I believe in brand loyalty, but I also believe in not wasting money, especially when it supports bone-headed decisions by a company I onced admired.
I don't like Handhelds either, yet I maybe getting the DS. After seeing some of the games for it. After seeing Curse of Monkey Island for it to be more precise.
You make some valid points Kirby, but things are never as black and white as you make out. The two most succesful video game hardware brands in recent times have been Playstation and Game Boy. Both of these have always been less impressive technologically than their competition (significantly so for the PSX and Classic Game Boy), and yet have outsold them by miles. Technology is rarely the deciding factor.
I think the lack of an analog stick has positive and negative points. It certainly limits 3D movement of the kind that was introduced with the N64, and therefore also limits the number N64 ports, but the good thing about this is that it limits the number of N64 ports! I suspect there were also cost/durability issues taken into account.
Do you have any figures about costs of production of UMD versus the DS' game card things (I wouldn't really call them cartridges)? I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just interested. I'd be surprised if the difference was close to what it was with CDs vs. Carts.
'Carts' can limit sound quality (I disagree about game size - which N64 games were smaller than the developer intended due to space limitations? I can't think of any.), discs limit battery life. There are trade-offs with every option. It's not as clear cut as it was with home consoles.
Saying Mario 64 DS is 'watered down' is simply factually incorrect. I agree that a 10-year old game is not the best way to showcase a new system, although I have yet to play it so I don't know how much the new additions help.
I don't know if I'm even going to buy a new handheld yet. The DS doesn't have enough high quality original games so far to warrant a purchase (from me at least), but that may change. The PSP has nothing that particularly interests me any more than a normal console. The movies thing looks like it'll take time to be worthwhile. Only one of the films announced so far is one that I'd consider buying (Spider-man 2), and to be honest I'd rather have it on DVD.
I dont agree, the ds is a great console, and IMO a daring idea. The psp has a lovely big screen... with all the buttons squashed around the edge. Select buttons, start button etc crammed in. It is more 'adult' than the DS in some ways, and yes it may have better graphics and sound, but IMO the games for the psp will not be as fun. The DS graphics may not be as impressive, but i really do think the touch screen facilities make up for that... does the psp have a chat-link facility? I actually was attracted to the DS when i saw the game Puppy times aka nintendogs or vise-versa- has anyone seen it yet? It looks awsome even though it is just virtual pet simulation, the idea of being able to stroke the dog, throw a frisbee or ball via the touch screen, actually impresses me lol.
pete natress i just saw your post and it actually made me think lol. whenever i take my ds out, i dont actually play it much, unless im totally bored... if im in the car i cant be bothered to play it.Its the same for any handheld, i usually play on them in bed before i sleep lol.
The lack of an analogue stick isnt really a problem as you can use a software/emulated analogue stick like on Mario 64 DS and Rayman DS where you can use the stylus to move the character in 3D. Someone at college imported a DS from America and brought it in, I played Mario 64 DS with the software analogue stick control system and I got used to it in about 5 minutes, it works great.
IGN did some tests on the battery life of the PSP, they played Ridge Racer with the sound on high and WiFi enabled and it lasted about 2 hrs 30 mins, the DS lasts about 9-10 hours on every game. Cartridges dont cost that much to produce. Nintendo have invested millions in R&D to produce the cartridge technology used in the DS which can hold more than the old N64 cartridges, they are smaller than GBA cartridges and they are cheaper to produce due to changes in the manufacturing process.
Given the fact that the PSP is quite similar to the PS2 in terms of power, I think there will be lots of PS2 ports. There is already a port of GT4 being developed along with a port of the crap PSOne platformer Medieval.
Now we have Sony trying desperately to rescue their failing consumer electronics business by tacking on the ability to play movies with their new UMD format. They tried to set up standards like Betamax, Minidisc and ATRAC in the past, all failed and now they are trying to do it again, when will they learn.
They are just a greedy corporation who dont give a shit about games, I have no respect for them, and I havent bought any of their products since the death of the Dreamcast. A console that deserved to kick the PS2, and more importantly from a company that actually cares about games.
I got one. At first it feels amazing to be playing a 3D game in handheld. It does get rather boring though after a bit and I don't play on it unless I'm going out somewhere - but I thought that happened with all handhelds..
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