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Forums - Microsoft Discussion - If Microsoft created a handheld...

mrstickball on 06 December 2009
The Anarchyz said:
mrstickball said:

 

Of course the DS is not the 1st one, but like you said, it was the one that got it right, they were the ones that adapted the tech well for gaming, that's why they deserve the credit as pioneers of correct touchscreen gaming. And of course the new touchscreens are way better, i agree with you on that, but they're not using it to innovate, when they do, let me know (or correct me if i'm wrong).

Other thing that i missed, the smartphones have another disadvantage: Lack of physical format, and DD still has a limit because smartphone's available memory. Of course, they can resolve that with memory cards, but the iPhone doesn't have that. But i think this is only a temporal problem if the smartphones are taking over the gaming handheld world like you said.

-------------------------------------------------

About the other question:

New Super Mario Bros. And i'm not saying that because it's a first party game, it's because of their controlling. Megaman ZX series is another example, or The World Ends with you...

But if i'm wrong i would like to know why.

They are starting to use the new touchscreens in ways to help innovate (such as multitouch which allows for a better virtual controller).

Memory limits *can be* a limit - I agree this is an issue with the iPhone, but Android phones have already removed that limitation. I have a 4GB microSD card that is expandable to whatever I can buy. Given the nature of handheld games (any format), 4GB is quite a bit of data. Heck, on the app side, the memory is incredibly valuable, as there are turn-by-turn navigation programs on Android that take 4GB for one program!

I don't understand why lacking a physical format is a major caveat here. For consoles, there is a major understanding of why it matters - as you have to have an internet connection to use your console online. However, phones have the huge (and I mean so underrated) advantage of *always* having an internet connection to download a game.

As stated concerning games, its really up to defining a smart scheme to make it viable on a phone.

For example:

(and Quick Man's stage of all places!)

(wouldn't Super Mario World be pretty close to NSMB?)

There are 3 decent examples to the games you listed - MegaMan 2, Super Mario World, and a Secret of Mana-esque game.

 

@Joel -

I think that Nintendo/Sony don't need to offer their own phones to compete. Its never really been about the hardware as much as the software for handhelds. What I mean by that is that I could certainly see Nintendo/Sony working on a 'Nintendo Store' for phones in the future, and offer a unified solution for downloading games. Rather than compete by selling a phone (which I think they should do to make money) by itself, they can make money from every phone by offering marketplaces via iTunes, Android, Symbian and others that offer game downloads for classic games, and also entice developers to join them in a unified marketplace. That is really what I would think would be best: an end-game unified marketplace solution for all Nintendo products on cell phones. Depending on how things go, we may still have a semi-balkanized market in 10 years for operating systems, and a game company could help their market by offering Nintendo games across the 2 billion cell phone users' phones out there.



Back from the dead, I'm afraid.

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The Anarchyz on 06 December 2009

Well, the 1st two examples are done with traditional controlling on the touchscreen which i mentioned earlier in this thread...

--"PSP can have only games controlled traditionaly, and the rest can only have touchscreen games (unless they use multitouch to simulate traditional), so they're covering only one part of the market..."--

Of course, the multitouch needs to really simulate the controls, especially when more than 2 buttons need to be pressed (in the Megaman 2 video i didn't see once using the jump-shoot while advancing which takes B+A+--> at the same time, so i don't know if it's possible... or Megaman X3 when you use the combined dash-jump-shoot-advance with repetitions, that will be good to see in touchscreen-pads)...

Of course, the "traditional-on-touchscreen" solution takes away screen (not a problem for old games, but for a lot of games it's not good), and that's a disadvantage, but if they're taking over they need to find a solution for this, especially for the iPhone...

If Nintendo creates a DSPhone HD (or something like that) i think they will use the Nokia N97/N900 method: Touchscreen and hidden keyboard... That would be a great way to enter the phone market...

About the physical format, we are talking about the whole world and the blue ocean, a lot of people don't use the direct 2G/3G/3.5G connection because of the cost, the built-in WiFi helps and all the platforms are testing the waters, of course, physical is still winning even when it is an UMD (god i hate that format)... But like i said, i think this is only a temporal problem...



mrstickball on 06 December 2009

The Anarchyz said:
Well, the 1st two examples are done with traditional controlling on the touchscreen which i mentioned earlier in this thread...

--"PSP can have only games controlled traditionaly, and the rest can only have touchscreen games (unless they use multitouch to simulate traditional), so they're covering only one part of the market..."--

Of course, the multitouch needs to really simulate the controls, especially when more than 2 buttons need to be pressed (in the Megaman 2 video i didn't see once using the jump-shoot while advancing which takes B+A+--> at the same time, so i don't know if it's possible... or Megaman X3 when you use the combined dash-jump-shoot-advance with repetitions, that will be good to see in touchscreen-pads)...

Technically, you can use them. It really is up to just programming it in. Touchscreens, as an all-encompasing device, still have a ways to go in terms of developers implementing good products. However, the actual hardware specs are at a point they can handle more difficult tasks.

Of course, the "traditional-on-touchscreen" solution takes away screen (not a problem for old games, but for a lot of games it's not good), and that's a disadvantage, but if they're taking over they need to find a solution for this, especially for the iPhone...

If Nintendo creates a DSPhone HD (or something like that) i think they will use the Nokia N97/N900 method: Touchscreen and hidden keyboard... That would be a great way to enter the phone market...

Yes, I agree. For the AndroidOS as well as Nokia's usage of Symbian, there are a decent number of keyboard phones now available that could produce good traditionally controlled games as well as a DS could.

About the physical format, we are talking about the whole world and the blue ocean, a lot of people don't use the direct 2G/3G/3.5G connection because of the cost, the built-in WiFi helps and all the platforms are testing the waters, of course, physical is still winning even when it is an UMD (god i hate that format)... But like i said, i think this is only a temporal problem...

Good that we agree it is a temporary problem. I see the main thing is a data problem/solution (that gives phones a huge advantage for digital distribution): networks will get better, and the opportunity exists that people can download simplistic games to their phones even over very basic networks. One should note that 2G networks (GSM or CDMA based) account for 97% of all phone subscribers, worldwide. That is a very haughty number of users that could potentially download games. Admittedly, they aren't going to be downloading huge games in a matter of seconds, but a game like RavenSword could be downloaded in an hour or two.

 



Back from the dead, I'm afraid.