N-Banter Edition 8: Portables and Sequels
Column by Jeff Van Camp, Brandon Daiker
Edition: April 10, 2005
Two minds...one site. Two motives...one goal. Two editors...one conversation. You have now entered a dimension unlike any other. This is N-Banter.
In this edition, I (Jeff) chat it up with Heart Containers guru Brandon Daiker (Glens been busy lately). The Nintendo DS, the Sony PSP, and the general state of gaming today are all covered in so much, yet so little detail. Can Brandon have an actual conversation without resorting laughs to ease the tension? Find out in this edition of N-Banter.
Brandon: Come on Jeff! You were late on Q&A. What GIVES HUH?
Jeff: I have a test tomorrow and I've been editing through a billion things for the upcoming update
Brandon: Wa wa wa. Cry me a river you big latey-late late
Jeff: How dare you! But anyway, so what do you think about the DS and PSP?
Brandon: What do you mean?
Jeff: Well, I was thinking about it and realized that I dont know how you feel about anything. All I know is that you like to be funny and you SUPPOSEDLY like Nintendo. ::listens::
Brandon: Well, I didn't want a DS for a while because the games sucked. Then I sold some old DVDs for a huge chunk of cash and I bought one. I like the WiFi potential and such. I have Wario Ware, Mario 64, and Yoshi Touch & Go. But mainly I play Game Boy Advance stuff via a flash card.
Brandon: I "played" with a PSP the other day at Wal-Mart display. I will admit, the screen is beautiful, but the PSP will ultimately fail and here's why: real gamers like Nintendo; casual gamers aren't hardcore enough to drop 250 bucks on a system you play by yourself on a smaller screen than what's on the TV; real hard-ass ballas play cell phone games on the road; and any of them spending 250 bucks on a PSP probably have the cash to drop on an iPod, and they already have, so they won't use the multimedia features, which aren't that good, and they won't buy the games because they're too expensive, have loading times, and uhhh, some other stuff.
Bottom line: PSP doesn't have a target demographic. The kids can't afford it, the older guys don't want it, the mainstream doesn't get it, and the hardcore gamers like Nintendo. And that is my truly objective non-fanboy opinion.
UMD movies are a terrible idea, memory stick only is a terrible idea, fifty dollar games and a 250 dollar portable is a horrible idea, and crippled multimedia functionality is a horrible idea. Meanwhile, there's a budding DS homebrew scene, wireless playing systems being put into place, backwards GBA compatibility (which does more for them than anyone realizes), and the great innovator: the touch screen.
My MOTHER, who can't even control Super Mario Bros. 1, had to be wrestled away from the Mario 64 DS minigames. The DS is about innovative unique gaming for everyone
Jeff: Getting everyone to play is the tough part. Im not convinced that Nintendo will be able to reach the new audience they are hoping for.
Brandon: The PSP is about the same ol same ol, which I realized when I fumbled through the PSP menu and played a "preview" video of Ape Escape 4390503. But also, the thing is, not everyone needs to play at first. The Nintendo exploded because it was a new kind of entertainment and controlled in a new way.
Jeff: I agree with a lot of what you said about the PSP, but I don't think that all hardcore gamers are with Nintendo anymore. Only Nintendo fans are with Nintendo and thats a part of the problem. However, the portable scene is a bit different.
Brandon: As a hardcore gamer, I see little appeal in the PSP, disregarding my fandom in Nintendo. Many friends of mine who hate Nintendo and love Sony don't even know what the PSP is, and if they do they think it plays PS2 discs, but I whip out my DS and they're like "DS has touch screen?" and then they play with it.
Jeff: The strong points of the PSP are that pretty screen and beefy specs though. When you compare [insert random game here] on the DS and PSP, the PSP version almost always looks way better.
Brandon: True. The PSP is newer hardware with a better screen. I will give it that hands down.
Jeff: It's also difficult to market things like the touch screen to the mainstream. Features like MP3 and video playing, though not actually very functional, have instant appeal.
Brandon: Appeal to whom though, that's my thing.
Jeff: PS1 and PS2 owners.
Brandon: The friends I have that are stupid enough to want video on the go have those nomad things and the ones who want music, like me, have iPods.
Jeff: Haha, Nomad was a cool idea, but not well thought out.
Brandon: Not the Sega nomad.
Jeff: The cars?
Brandon: The portable video player hard drive things.
Jeff: Right
Brandon: And people who want games have either a cell phone or a cheap GBA SP. It's just... there's a dork factor in portable gaming.
Jeff: Thats true. I never play my Game Boy in public. People around here just dont get it. They like to stare.
Brandon: I play my DS in public all the time. Throw down in a little Mario Golf. The SP is even less conspicuous.
Jeff: I might play my SP in public, but never my old purple GBA. Or should I say "milky blue."
Brandon: never did either. I sold my purple GBA a long time ago though. I even modded it with a backlight. Remember that Afterburner thing? Yeah
Jeff: Haha, yeah I remember that. I think Nintendo needs to work even harder at separating the DS as something new though. I want to see games like Electro Plankton being marketed in the US (with the same box art as in Japan). I think that would be a good thing. Sure it's weird and strange, but the DS is supposed to be about new ideas. If I see Nintendo turn Electro Plankton into a hip hop or rap game I am going to cry.
But yeah, back to the PSP, it really hasn't made the huge boom in the US many thought it would. It sold about half a million units in its first week, just like the DS.
Brandon: Everywhere Ive been has had a stack of them. I think the cost will prevent it from selling to the mainstream. Honestly, a lot of casual gamers see $149 for the DS expensive anyway. $249 is like they laugh at you.
Jeff: I still don't own a DS because I see it as too expensive and I've never not owned a Nintendo system save the laughable Virtual Boy and Game Boy Pocket.
Brandon: Ive owned every Nintendo system except the Game Boy Color, which I got in the form of the GBA, but I saw the DS as too expensive too until I came into some sudden and unexpected income.
Jeff: I am still trying to get my hands on Paper Mario 2. I can wait for a DS. I was initially turned off by Super Mario 64 DS. I don't traditionally buy remakes or ports because I've already played them.
Brandon: I agree. Im not floored with SM64 DS save for the little games.
Jeff: I am partially interested in Pac Pix and Yoshi's Touch & Go, but not enough to buy a system for them. Its going to have to be something pretty awesome to get me to buy.
Brandon: Im finding that there's very little that gets me excited about new games anymore at all. I feel like Ive seen it all over my 15 years of game playing or whatever.
Jeff: Sadly enough, I know EXACTLY what you mean. It has really hit me this generation. I see so many generic games flowing around and they just don't interest me at all. Even many of Nintendo's games have lost appeal because they have done nothing new.
Brandon: Super Mario Sunshine was Mario 64 with smooth graphics, we already had Paper Mario, Star Fox, Mario Tennis, Golf, Kart, Smash Bros, first person shooters blah blah blah. Even my beloved space shmups and 2d fighters are getting old.
Jeff: I did like SSBM though.
Brandon: So did I and I liked Rogue Squadron II and Pikmin, but it seems really like all these new games, save for a handful, Metroid Prime maybe, RE4, and Super Monkey Ball. MOST OF THEM, aside from those, have just been last gens games without the technical limitations. I find myself more and more going back to old old stuff -- Super NES games, Sega Saturn, and Dreamcast stuff.
Jeff: Yeah, and in some ways games have regressed. Halo is fine but I still have yet to see games that enhance the GoldenEye 007 (Perfect Dark) formula. Halo just isn't as fun. But yeah highlights this generation for me are RE4, Super Monkey Ball, SSBM, Animal Crossing, Burnout 3, and a few others. You couldn't jump by design and that is part of what made it fun.
Brandon: I think in some regard, technical limits helped older games. I mean you play GoldenEye and look. The framerate's bad, there aren't THAT many weapons, the levels are small, you can't jump, and it doesn't look that realistic. But it's those limits that attract you to an extent. They remade the facility level in Perfect Dark and you could walk off of bridges, had better and more weapons, could add sims and it was COOL but lacked some of the charm, some of the passion that is incited by thinking "what if I could X? When you give a gamer everything to do, there's nothing he wants to do anymore. What I need for a game to really be engaging to me is goal oriented gameplay, statistic tracking, and a single/multiplayer experience that I can play through slowly.
Jeff: Games just try to do so much now that they forget what is actually so enjoyable. However, looking at it from a different angle, GoldenEye and Perfect Dark gave people more multiplayer options, levels, and whatnot than any other game this generation. Only Super Smash Bros.: Melee has statistic tracking even though PD had it in 2000 and that bothers me. Don't even get me started on Wrestling games
Brandon: PD stat tracking is one of the reasons I actually play it. It's just fun to look at stats. You feel like you've obtained something. There just isn't that charm these days. There's no Super Mario World, hell, there's not even a Super Mario 2. This generation's games have been almost exclusively about collecting crap, doing bland 3D things, and replicating last generation with better graphics and better framerate.
Jeff: I agree totally and the sad thing is everyone seems happy with that.
Brandon: Literally nearly every game this generation has been a sequel (or in the last 2 years anyway). Look at all the big names: Grand Theft Auto, Metal Gear Solid, Metroid, any combination of Mario games, Pokmon, Mega Man, Halo, Devil May Cry, Final Fantasy, Need for Speed, all the football games, Splinter Cell, Dynasty Warriors, TimeSplitters, Tekken, Gran Turismo, even Super Monkey Ball. Xenosaga, Tenchu, Dragon Ball, Mortal Kombat, Resident Evil, Mario Party, Prince of Persia, Viewtiful Joe, Dead or Alive, Doom, Half-Life, Unreal Tournament. Where is the new stuff? Where are the new games?
Jeff: Just look at the Jak and Ratchet franchises. They are both on their fourth incarnations. I am not against sequels. Sometimes they are worth it, but a sequel every year is too much. There has to be a balance between the new and old.
Brandon: Will the next generation finally bring us new games? I don't disagree with sequels either, but it's becoming like Hollywood. Theyre the only things people ever buy and as such they are the only thing developers make.
Jeff: It IS Hollywood, except even worse. At least in Hollywood you can make an excellent independent film with a smaller budget. With games, even that is impossible.
Brandon: Exactly. Its true.
Jeff: Everyone demands these stellar visuals with ever increasing expectations. Teams keep getting larger and budgets keep rising. The average game is going to cost an estimated 12 - 20 million dollars to make next generation. The only thing this is going to lead to is even more sequels and safe games, which bothers me immensely. Nintendo is just as guilty as any of the major publishers (EA being worst...)
Brandon: I agree and I want to love Nintendo real bad, but they need to pony up too and stop taking the safe sequel.
Jeff: The number of absolutely horrible games in the world is declining, but the number of average, generic, and subpar games has never been higher. Look at Lucasarts, a company that used to make awesome unique games like Sam and Max, Monkey Island, and Full Throttle is now nothing more than a Star Wars machine.
Brandon: I loved all those old games too.
Jeff: They are the games that introduced me to PC gaming.
Brandon: Me too.
Jeff: And I find it sad that there is no place to even find a game like those anymore for PC. It's all Strategy, FPS, or The Sims.
Brandon: Which was neat, AT FIRST.
Jeff: Oh, I agree. I could name even more classic Lucasarts PC games. The Dig is another great one.
Brandon: Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
Jeff: Haha. It just seems like the move to 3D has squelched so much originality and fun in the game development process for so many developers.
Brandon: It's true. Lets start a games company Jeff. We'll make badass 2D games.
Jeff: Maybe when the world you are creating has as many dimensions and the power to recreate the real world, it becomes easy to forget how to use your imagination.
Brandon: Exactly. Look at Chrono Trigger or some old RPG like that. They conveyed emotion in dialogue, background, and music. You had to imagine. You were lucky for an additional sprite of hugging or something.
Jeff: Even having voice in games is fine. But you can't lose that imagination, which is part of the reason why I love Zelda: Wind Waker.
Brandon: Wind Waker was a little light on the gameplay/dungeons but it was imaginative. I loved the style and music and story and what gameplay there was.
Jeff: I agree completely. I think they could have stepped it up a notch in the puzzle department creatively, but it had more creativity than most recent Zelda games in other departments, including the story.
Brandon: The story was the best.
Jeff: Though I am sick of collecting pendants. As much as these games mask it, that's what we always end up doing. But is there really another way to do it?
Brandon: Its a reward for completing a section. I can't think of another way to do it save for giving the player nothing. I think of it more as a marker, a checklist or something.
Jeff: Okay, in Zelda perhaps, but not in Mario.
Brandon: Yeah Mario NEEDS to go back to its roots platforming, like the non-water pack levels in Super Mario Sunshine.
Jeff: I don't want to collect another star, ever. I want to play a Mario game to get to the end of the level and to see that level beaten in the overworld. There hasn't been a true Mario game with Mushrooms and Fire Flowers since 1991. There's no reason why that element can't be brought to 3D in some new way. Mario has SO much potential I could wet myself.
Brandon: I agree wholeheartedly. As it stands, it's become Jak and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank, Banjo Kazooie XXXXXX after everyone ripped off Mario 64. Then Mario Sunshine committed the ultimate injustice and didn't innovate for shit.
Jeff: By the way, have you played Donkey Kong Jungle Beat?
Brandon: No I haven't. I don't have the cash and, to be honest, I don't know how much play Id get out of it. Id love to get Donkey Konga and Jungle Beat and two bongos, but I need the cash first. Im broke.
Jeff: Play Jungle Beat. It's the most original game to come out of Nintendo in years. Fun stuff. Donkey Konga is fine, though it has horrible production values.
And with that I think well wrap it up. In summary, everyone go buy Donkey Kong Jungle Beat because its awesome. Do it.