I must admit that I'm not really surprised by the NGP. On one hand, it's great to see all the specs and get excited over it, but on the other hand, what's the point of the high specs of the NPG? Why would I play a console experience on a small (but super gorgeous ) screen, when I have a dedicated console to play console games on a 42' HDTV? That's the reason why I don't play handheld games that much. It's only when a handheld game delivers something unique to the system that I take interest.
You have to consider that the high-specs, although very impressive, come with a high-cost. You likely won't find the kind of unique innovative games found on the DS as you will with the NGP. That's the reason why the DS succeeded where the PSP didn't. The PSP didn't have a unique set of hardware features that the DS did, and failed due to a lack of unique innovative games on the handheld (among other things). Instead, most of the games found on the PSP emulated PS2 games in their gameplay and design, rather than relying on new and creative ideas to spark interest in the platform. The NGP now has a unique set of hardware features, but developers can't afford to take risks on this handheld where as on the DS they could. The NGP doesn't have the luxury that the DS did where they can experiment with different concepts and ideas and not take too big of a hit with development costs.
I can almost guarantee you that most developers, especially in the NGP's early years, will "play it safe" by only creating console-like games for this handheld and very few will actually take risks and create something new. The only time where you will most likely see something unique is on the PSN store where games will be of lesser budget. While creating console-like games isn't necessarily a "bad thing", it's taking away the whole idea of handheld gaming. Handheld gaming is supposed to offer something truly unique that separates itself from gaming consoles. Otherwise, you'll be shoehorning a console experience on a 5' screen that would be better served on a dedicated gaming console.
The NGP definitely has the potential to be a unique handheld gaming machine; with it's multi-touch screen, and rear-facing touch pad, it has the makings of delivering on this. But because of the high-development costs, developers are most likely going to port console games on this handheld and be too afraid to take risks where the NPG needs to succeed and make itself unique. If shoehorning console games on the NPG is going to be the developer trend, then I think the NPG will miss the mark and be another PSP.
In laymen terms, the NPG is d00med!
I don't know why people tell me to get a life. I'm a gamer, I have lots of lives!
