Do you know what this is?
It is the Apple Bandai Pippin, one of the worst gaming consoles of all time; its main fault is Apple’s choice to use a trackball instead of a joystick.
But no one remembers this – today, everyone sees Apple as this zen-like company with a style, whose creations are always 1 tier up from the closest competitor. And not the creators of one of the worst abominations of gaming.
Now, more then 10 years after the launch of the Pippin, Apple is prepared to take another shot at the gaming market with the iPhone/iPod Touch.
I own an iPod Touch, and love it for what it is, but it will never replace my PSP as a portable game console.
My main problem is with the games in the app store. The games there are nothing like the titles on the PSP or DS. Sure the games are fun, but most of them are only fun for around 5-10 minutes before you start to get bored. I could game for hours on the PSP without getting twitchy. Some games on the PSP/DS takes over 10 hours to complete – instead of the 30 minutes for most Iphone games.
In a recent Keynote, Apple proclaimed the amount of iPhone games just overshadow the amount of games on the other platforms. As seen above this, Mr Phil Schiller talks about the sheer number of games, compared to the DS and PSP.
As much as I like Apple, I have to cry foul on this graph.
A game on the PSP and DS takes maybe a few month to a year (depending on quality) to make, usually by a team of 30-50 people. A game rakes in millions to cover the millions of dollars in development costs.
For the iPhone, a game can be created within several weeks to a few months. 40% of the titles are probably lite or trial versions, while a lot more is just quizzes or take 5 minute to complete, and let’s face it; most of them are junk.
I respect and admire iPhone Devs, but a 99-cents iPhone game will NOT stand up to a $20 game which can last me a few weeks.
Another big problem is with the screen. I love the multitouch screen, but whenever I play a game, my fingers covers up the screen, making it harder to see what is right beside you. Nintendo also realized this, and made the DS’s touch screen stylus based, while giving you another screen so you will not block anything. The iPhone, however, has no such counters to the problem.
There are no buttons on the touchscreen, which puts a serious dent into iPhone’s gaming. When someone click a physical button, his brain double check by checking what’s under the finger. The iPhone’s lack of buttons is annoying, and users will frequently click the wrong buttons, especially in intense situations.
The accelerometer is a great alternative to the joystick, but it is overprecise. I rather have a analog stick like the PSP to drive cars and fly planes, where I will not accidentally overcompensate so easily.
I think the iPod touch/iPhone is a awesome machine, but saying it is the third handheld is simply nonsensical. It is good for 10-15 minute bursts of boredom, but does not really give you the satisfaction a PSP/DS gives you.
(Author’s note: Disagree on the article? Comment below or tweet me. But please, do it in a way that it don’t seem you are a fanboy.)
I own the PSP and i think, that this is the weakest handheld console…
Well Reuben you do make some good points. And with regards to the number of titles available for the iPhone/iPod Touch there is probably a much higher number of throw-away games on the iPod than on other handheld gaming machines. Of course at $.99 you can actually afford to throw a few of them away.
On the other hand there are some crappy $20 games on PSP and DS. While these platforms do offer things the iPhone doesn't (like physical buttons and dual screens) not all games benefit from those features. Personally I dislike the stylus on the DS and the small screen makes some games unplayable.
The fact is a handheld gaming machine is a compromise from the get-go. There's nothing like having a large screen to work with like a Computer or non-portable console (Wii, PS2, Xbox) not to mention the controls for multiple people to play simultaneously.
What the iPhone is good at, it seems, are puzzle and non-action games. These games usually don't rely on massive numbers of buttons and the graphics are usually static compared to fast moving action titles. That said an action game that does work well on the iPhone is Top Gun. This is a combat flying game and it works very well with the accelerometer. The screen is uncluttered with buttons because you don't need them.
I disagree with your assessment that the iPhone doesn't stand up to the PSP/DS in terms of gaming fun. It's a different type of gaming but it's still handheld gaming. Would I buy an iTouch/iPhone as my only handheld game platform? Probably not, but given that I have an iPhone which I need for work and given that I travel frequently it offers a very nice option to get some games that are fun and not too costly. Sure many of the games are played in short burst, 15-20 mins but they are play over and over again in between airports, waiting for a bus or a train or at those times where you just don't have the time to sit down and spend a couple hours working through a level in a platform style game on the PSP/DS.
There is no one-size-fits-all gaming machine and thank goodness there isn't.
I guess you will have to define what gaming means to you. To some, it might mean hardcore gaming, with great emphasis on graphics and gameplay. To others, it might mean cool and fun games, sort of like those flash games we see. Nintendo DS is so popular because it has capture this market, and iTouch is trying to do the same. The difference is, it also has the capability to play a full-blown game like in the PSP.
We will only have to wait and see what Apple can do about it. There is definitely potential for iTouch/iPhone to be a handheld gaming console.
My guess is that Apple would release a more advanced handheld gaming platform based around the technology of the iPhone/iPod Touch. That is, if they really want to get into handheld gaming. Another option might be a sort of docking station for the iPhone that has buttons and maybe even a cartridge slot.
Either way I don't really see Apple chasing the hardcore gamers. What they have now is a pretty lucrative, incremental revenue stream from the iPhone and they don't have to invest millions of R&D dollars.
Half-Minute Hero is a PSP game that will not be disliked by most that lay their hands on it. It is much of an RPG game although it does go away from many rules that most of the others follow. This game, for one, does not spend the gamer's time in going through cutscenes hat might take up almost half of the actual gaming time. This game is all about fats paced action and cut throat speed that does not give you enough time to doze off. It is surely one of the best in its class. On the PSP, this 8 bit game is well made to remind you of the bygone days when 8 bit games were popular. The game, nonetheless, looks beautiful in spite of the seemingly low resolutions.
Here, you go about trying stop the evil hordes that are collecting again the inhabitants of the world. They had been defeated before by benevolent forces, however, they plan on their revenge again. With the wide array of heroes, this game gets quite exciting when you find the sarcastic remarks that they keep on throwing at you. Every line reeks of humor and sarcasm that only RPG gamers might be able to fully understand. Nonetheless, this game, apart from a few minor slumps, delivers what most gamers might have wanted. You have no time to waste, or muse about the unnecessary elements that so many other game throw at you. Simply enjoy such PSP video games.
Half-Minute Hero is a PSP game that will not be disliked by most that lay their hands on it. It is much of an RPG game although it does go away from many rules that most of the others follow. This game, for one, does not spend the gamer's time in going through cutscenes hat might take up almost half of the actual gaming time. This game is all about fats paced action and cut throat speed that does not give you enough time to doze off. It is surely one of the best in its class. On the PSP, this 8 bit game is well made to remind you of the bygone days when 8 bit games were popular. The game, nonetheless, looks beautiful in spite of the seemingly low resolutions.
Here, you go about trying stop the evil hordes that are collecting again the inhabitants of the world. They had been defeated before by benevolent forces, however, they plan on their revenge again. With the wide array of heroes, this game gets quite exciting when you find the sarcastic remarks that they keep on throwing at you. Every line reeks of humor and sarcasm that only RPG gamers might be able to fully understand. Nonetheless, this game, apart from a few minor slumps, delivers what most gamers might have wanted. You have no time to waste, or muse about the unnecessary elements that so many other game throw at you. Simply enjoy such PSP video games.