Pricing and release for 3DS in Australia was announced just this morning, and to be honest, it’s pretty much as expected (March 31st @ $349, if you must know). Sony’s terribly named NGP (Next Generation Portable, most likely a temporary title – PLEASE be a temporary title) was announced earlier this month for release towards the end of this year (but in which region and for how much is anyone’s guess at this point in time), but the face of mobile gaming has certainly changed in recent years. Are these new systems good enough to compete with the throwaway value of a $1 iPhone/Android title?
It’s a tough question, really. iPhones, Androids, Win phone 7 mobiles, and iPads are all optimised towards casual gaming, and the market is booming. Even non-gamers are occasionally (or in some cases, frequently) biting the bullet and buying titles like “Angry Birds” and Flight Control” for their portable device. And it doesn’t hurt when the bullet is so temptingly priced at just a couple of dollars. It doesn’t hurt at all.
And I guess that’s where the issue lies. Yes, mobile gaming has exploded. Yes, there is a lot of money to be made, from gamers and non-gamers alike. But why? Are people really playing fully fledged titles on these devices in the same way they would on an Xbox or PS3? I would argue that they aren’t. In the majority of cases, individuals are playing short, level/wave-based titles that can fill in a quick five minutes that would otherwise be wasted. They are playing highscore-chasers and competing against their friends. And I would suggest that very few of them would actually consider themselves gamers – they certainly wouldn’t pay $80 for a game and probably don’t understand why anyone would (in fact, I have a few friends that don’t even drop the $1 or $2 dollars on iPhone/Android titles, and prefer to stick to only the free ones). So – without any merit to my argument save for my own opinion – I would argue that mobile gaming has NOT grabbed the full attention the hardcore gaming community. It’s a distraction, and a welcome one at that, but as Reggie Fils Aime of Nintendo America has recently been quoted as saying, these games are “disposable from a consumer standpoint”.
I’m sure not everyone feels this way. I know there have been some recent releases that could be reasonably used to contest this argument (Dead Space and Infinity Blade, for example, as well as Civilization Revolution), but as much as these games intend to be fully featured titles, it’s (again) my opinion that the control method just doesn’t cut the mustard. Touch works for some things (it’s particularly great with Angry Birds, Paper Toss, etc., etc.), but I find it empty after a while. Granted, Civilisation Revolution is brilliant, but I’m trying to be broadminded here, folks (OK, I’m generalising, big whoop – wanna fight about it?).
So what does that mean for 3DS and NGP? Do I think things are going to continue as normal? No. Far from it, to be honest.
Sony touched on it in their recent presser, by mentioning that the new players in the mobile space (iPhones/iPads and Androids) are capable of games that are close to the quality of a PSP game, and so the market is changing. As a result, they’ve launched (or are soon to launch) PlayStation Suite on Android phones, allowing owners of awesome Android phones the chance to relive PS1 games, as well as new PS Suite titles, on their Android phone. In addition, Sony will be releasing the Xperia Play (photo originally from engadget.com), an Android phone with a slide out controller, and although the controller isn’t a necessity for Android games, I have a feeling it’s going to be popular… In this way, they seem to be tackling the mobile space in a big way, and I must commend them for this – provided they follow through.
Then comes 3DS and NGP… How are they going to survive in a world of ubiquitous gaming devices? Well, for one, they are dedicated gaming devices, something that phones and tablets are not. With layouts and buttons designed for gaming and games designed for gamers (for the most part), they are already a step above the rest. On top of that, they are each a little bit… special.
I tend to feel they are in a league of their own. In fact, each is in a league of its own, in itself. 3DS is still aimed at the younger generation, with more of a bent towards hardcore gamers (finally), and NGP is solely designed to bring the console experience to the mobile space. Are they perfect? Probably not, but things look somewhat promising… for Sony at least, which is surprising.
Does this suggest I am not impressed by 3DS? In truth, I am. Portable, glasses-free 3D? Sold there alone. With a sliding analogue control stick, and the traditional touch screen, as well as just being a more connected device (plus, there will only be a SINGLE friend code, which is still a pain in the ass, but much better than a per game friend code) – it’s going to simply be an improvement on the DS, and that’s enough for me… Provided the games are good. Of course, there’s only one analogue stick…
Then again, while it will be an improvement on the DS, there’s also a hefty “improvement” (for Nintendo, at least) on the cost of the damn thing. Sure, it will play 3D movies, but are parents going to fork out $350 for one of these for their kids? I’m not so sure they will. It’s likely a lot of kids will be stuck with their perfectly useful (but totally not the “latest thing”) DSi for some time…
NGP. In my mind, as I do when I eat my din-dins, I’ve left the best till last. I’m pretty impressed by how Sony is tackling this, to be honest, but I’m trying to be cautiously optimistic… This is Sony after all, and they are quite well known to drop the damn ball after talking themselves up a good game.
Going by what’s been shown, it looks like it is capable of providing games that are almost as high quality as PS3 titles, and as a result, the possibilities are AWESOME. If they can keep the promise of being able to play a game on your PS3, then continue the SAME GAME on your NGP on the plane (for example), then I am sold for life. Well, at least just sold for day one. And if they can realise the potential of being able to play online multiplayer against console players? Well, I will fall in love with Sony. Still, it has two analogue sticks (NOT just sliders), a touch screen, and a touch panel on the back, and just the idea of playing COD in my bed at night is giving me radgasms.
All of that said, it’s aimed at hardcore gamers, and as a result, it’s likely to have a hardcore pricepoint. That scares me a little. Plus, Sony has decided NOT to go 3D. Why? I’m not sure. Perhaps they didn’t want to put the dollars into R&D and preferred to get the thing out there sooner rather than later, or perhaps they seriously decided not to, as has been reported. Who knows? But it’s an interesting choice – particularly when they are pushing the 3D aspects of PS3 so strongly… So, in the end, as awesome as the NGP seems to be, it may suffer the same fate as the PSP – it was a technically more capable system than DS when it was released, but hardcore gamers don’t seem to be terribly interested in not being in front of their TV/PC. So who’s going to buy this? I will, but I’m afraid for the future. In fact, we may be looking at the last generation of handheld gaming. Tough call, but as mobile phones and tablets develop, it’s not too much of a stretch to see them move into the hardcore space soon enough – and who needs a phone AND a portable game system if they can both play the same games? The Xperia Play may well be a sign of things to come…
8-bit Bleep 