RolStoppable said:
The DS is the first handheld to beat the best selling home console of the same generation (Wii) and it will also outsell the PS2. Well, the Gameboy did sort of beat the SNES, but only because it was selling for two generations. SNES and PS1 account for 150m while GB/GBC sold 120m during the same timeframe. The GBA didn't beat the PS2. So really, this is a first and something must have changed. Software seems to be the most obvious answer as everything else was always the same (handhelds being affordable, cheap games, two generations in processing power behind home consoles). Looking back at the game libraries of the GB/GBC, GBA and DS, would you say that one clearly stands above the other two? I would and my pick is the DS. Quantity, quality, variety, the DS wins in every department by a big margin. In previous generations the lack of enough quality software did always offset the advantage of handhelds (selling to two or more persons in the same household). This generation is different in that companies outside of Nintendo put more serious effort into handheld games, mainly Japanese ones. With an increase in software quality and quantity came an increase in hardware sales. I think that makes sense, because why should people buy hardware if they think the games are meh. People have been calling the DS the new SNES (that's quite a big compliment), something they would have never done with previous handhelds. |
But doesn't this change now enhance the already inherent advantages that you state offset handhelds before? Wouldn't that now create the divide you say didn't exist before? So hence comparisons now, if not being invalid, should at least being deserving of the asterisk: handheld*?
