Why should I get a PSP2 or 3DS?

Sony's announcement of the PSP2, or NGP, or whatever they're calling it brings up a good question about the future place of portable gaming systems. Where is their place in the world of smart phones?

That's not to say it isn't a capable gaming machine. Looking at it purely as a gaming device, it's better than the iPhone or any other smartphone. It has the hardware for a much wider gamut of game types. Real buttons and real thumbsticks, a capacitive multi-touch screen, gyroscopes and motion sensors, it's got everything. You can play iPhone-style multi-touch games, you can play Uncharted, you can play Mega Man. It's a pretty serious gaming machine. I'm also very interested in how the backside multi-touch panel gets used. But this is all beside the point.

Why do I need all of this with me at all times, or even just on the go?

Why do I need PS3-caliber games outside of my apartment? When I'm out and about, do I have the time or attention needed for a deep and immersive experience? Not really. When I play an iPhone game, it's because I have a few minutes to spare and I like the intellectual stimulation. I'm not looking to play Heavy Rain when I'm sitting on the toilet or waiting for my tires to be changed.

I have an iPhone, and I have a PS3/Xbox/Wii. They are incredibly well suited for these two different situations. I own a PSP and a DS, but never play them outside my apartment. I simply don't want to be carrying an extra device around with me. This is why I think the future of "extra" mobile gaming devices is limited. It's a pain to carry around another plastic brick just so I can play Uncharted at work. The use case for portable gaming systems seems to be getting smaller and smaller. Air travel or vacationing seem like good opportunities to bring a handheld PS3 along, but are these situations happening enough to justify a new gadget? They don't for me, but I'm just one dude.



It seems like portable gaming changed with the technology. Before, you had systems like the GameBoy. Gameplay was very simple and easy to pick up and play, just think about the success of Tetris. But as the technology got more advanced, so did the ambition of the developers. Now it's possible to create experiences very similar to home consoles. I think that's moving down the wrong path, and smartphones are taking mobile gaming in a direction that makes more sense.

Maybe the solution is to build an Android phone into the new device. It's already so similar to a phone. It has a touch screen, a microphone, speakers, a front and rear camera, GPS. All it needs is a cellular chipset and to be comfortable held against your ear.

Gaming is diverging into different groups, and different devices are handling each group. I think that trying to bridge those two groups, make the "best of both worlds", will end up being ignored by those worlds. At least, I don't think it will ever be as successful again as the Nintendo DS is.

Things change.

Extended/Deleted Meaningful Play Interviews

Here are the interviews that I promised from Episode 5 of Double Jump

Ecco the Dolphin reviews non-dolphin games.

Hi there, my name is Ecco. You might remember me from the classic Sega Genesis game Ecco the Dolphin. Those were some pretty wild times, but when I'm not starring in my own games, I like to provide reviews for current games. I hope to become an important critic in the gaming industry. So far, Dolphins' only real contribution to gaming has been in cheesy New Age-y games like my own.

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker

This game is about as Metal Gear Solid as it comes. Metal Gear Solid has always been a flawed, but ambitious series. People say it's always managed to evolve alongside the rest of the game industry to keep itself relevant. But I don't know what relevant means because I'm a dolphin.

Mario Galaxy 2

Mario Galaxy 1 was a masterpiece of 3D platformers, and Galaxy 2 is even better than that, or so I'm told. I can't really play any videogames because controllers aren't designed for fins.

Mass Effect 2

Continuing the epic sci-fi saga and improving the mechanics in just about every way imaginable, Mass Effect 2 is very nearly a masterpiece of sci-fi gaming. This is only what I can assume. I only heard of this game, I haven't played it. Videogame consoles don't work underwater, unfortunately.

Kirby's Epic Yarn

Since this game isn't a bucket of fish, I'm not all that interested in it. I'm a dolphin, after all.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this very different perspective on games. Until next time, landwalkers.

Meaningful Play or: Why Games Are the Most Exciting Medium Right Now

I'm not going to bother even arguing with Roger Ebert because he's so wrong about games that I would be just wasting my time explaining why. Also, he probably wouldn't pay attention to me. It would be more worthwhile arguing with someone who claims that gravity doesn't exist.

Games are the most exciting art form right now. Film, music, and even elevision are very well established. As forms of art, they are pretty well understood. Games aren't at all. Their mystery is what makes them so exciting!

The Meaningful Play conference was one of the best experiences of my life. I was surrounded by tons of creative and talented people who all looked at games like I do. Leaving the conference I was overflowing with excitement for the future of games. There is still so much that we don't know about games, and this is why I was so excited.

Talk after talk, and conversation after conversation, there were so many different ideas as to what games can be and just how to achieve that. There are many different theories about what makes games compelling. Seeing so many different approaches, even ones that don't quite work, was thrilling.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, maybe), a lot of it depends so heavily on technology. This has always been gaming's biggest limitation. Not too long after the development of cinema, the technology for its production had more or less been established. The technology would continue to develop, but mostly for the purpose of making production easier and more cost effective, or making visual effects more convincing. In the end, though, the impact was more or less the same.

Games haven't had this luxury. The technology limited everything about what could be expressed in a game. These limitations forced game designers to be as creative as possible, trying to create as many different types of experiences out of the meager means. But it would only go so far.

More important than brute power and technological progress are the tools used to develop games. This is very important, actually. The possibility for beautiful graphics is already here, much of which is only possible with huge teams of designers and software engineers. As time goes on, the ability for small teams to create simliar experiences is expanding. Like the digital video revolution currently happening, gaming is undergoing a similar revolution. A team of two or three people can create a visually beautiful experience that rivals what big studios can produce because of development tools that make production easier and more intuitive. This is even more important that just simple technological power. It makes projects less of a risk and designers more likely to innovate and push some envelopes. Big, scary envelopes. It shifts the development away from software engineers and more into the hands of artists.

Technology isn't the only reason to be so excited. As time goes on, games are drawing a much more diverse type of talent. Games have always had a difficult time being taken seriously. They are always portrayed as juvenile. Even in some recent movies, if you want a character to seem emotionally stunted or childish, show them playing videogames. I have always found this notion pretty offensive, but I'll save that for another post. At any rate, because of this stigma, gaming hasn't always been drawing the best from the artistic talent pool. That's really starting to change. Newer generations of artists grew up with videogames, and aren't looking at them with the same derision as older generations. At Meaningful Play, this was very obvious, as a lot of the designers called themselves "artists" just like a filmmaker would. This new generation of artists are looking at games as just another medium. I can't tell you how encouraging this simple fact was. I wasn't talking to "just" game designers, I was talking to artists who are making games.

All of this relates to the tremendous transition games are undergoing. There is still so much that we have to learn about the way games work and affect people. At Meaningful Play, there were researchers and designers who were working toward a greater understanding of this. Robin Hunicke's talk about ThatGameCompany's upcoming game was a great example. It was about how the concept of their game shifted based on play testing. The players weren't playing the game in the way they were expecting, and that type of feedback really influenced the game. This process of mystery and discovery is why this age of gaming is so exhilarating.