SpikeOtacon
Mar 28, 2005, 05:27 PM
Ah, the DS. Such an innovative little bastard. Dual screened gameplay, touch-screen controls, built in microphone...The ultimate gimmick machine. What is often said about the DS is that it is too innovative for it's own good, and Nintendo tries once again to be too hard to be different. At launch, only two games stood out for many gamers: Mario 64 DS and Feel the Magic XY/XX. Mario being a re-hash of the Best Seller 'Mario 64', the other a completly original game that had mechanics slightly similar to 'Wario Ware Inc', seen on the GBA a few years before. Months have past, and very few games have been released that actually take advantage of the DS's capabilities, both Graphically and control wise. So now we look to the future and say 'What does the DS really need?'
I asked myself this question while pondering over the list of games out for it now. (As of this rant, that is March 27th, 2005.) Most of the games are just re-hashes of things already seen and overdone (Wario Ware, Mario 64, ect...) or games that promise the world, but are far from coming out (Electroplankton, Nintendogs, Jam with the band.) Recently, I debated selling my DS in favor of a PSP, which has more games that are visually and gameplay-wise appealing to me than what is currently available on the DS. But I thought, with current trends in games today, visuals are becoming perhaps too much, and the DS has exactly what it really needs to provide entertainment: The ability to draw lines on screen to form a picture, sprite, or something. (An example of this is the simplicity of Pictochat, yet how fun it still can be.) So what, then, does the DS need to become the non-gamers' gaming device? What does it need to hold our interest? I take a look at some things that may help the DS along the road.
AIDE ONE: Basic, yet breathtaking.
Certain games represent this slogan that I think more games should abide by. Rez being one of them. The graphics aren't lifelike, they are simple, yet at the same time incredibly complex. Enough to overpower the senses, creating a feeling of awe and put the user in a trance like state. Electroplankton for the DS is another example. The game is represented with simple sprites, bright and vibrant colors. Killer 7, our last example, uses the style of Cel-Shading to help aid it's storytelling, as well as to create the sense of confusion and twisted reality. Many call it a simple cop-out, I call it genious. Not every game has to be gritty and realistic.
One game I want to bring to attention in this section is Introversion's 'Darwinia', A genious RTS which doesn't need overly realistic graphics to get it's point across. It takes place in cyberspace, and everything looks like it came out of the movie Tron. Each 'Darwinian' is represented by a small green sprite, and each type of soldier or creature has it's own unique look. Often times, players have given names to the creatures to be able to associate them much more easily. For instance, I have taken to calling my Engineers 'Pi', because they look a tad bit like the 'Pi' mathematical symbol. The game's visuals, while simple, have often taken me aback by it's simplicty. To me, this game is beauty. To have this game on the DS would be priceless. The controls on the Touch Screen would be very useful for movement of soldiers, drawing of objects in the task manager, ect. It almost seems like it would be a tech demo for the DS.
AIDE TWO: More games.
As seen in the n64 era, not having enough games to satisfy the urge to play often times can make a system lose fans. The DS is no exception, and with it's current dry spell of games, it could end up having a lot of fanbase pulled out from under it. Now i'm not saying for companies to rush games and make them shitty, or for companies to make intentional shit games for the main purpose of getting them out the door to increase numbers. I'm saying what they need is more support, and that support should hopefuly follow Aide 1's motto.
AIDE THREE: More functionality.
Nintendo had praised up and down, left and right, backwards and forwards about how they want the DS to be about functionality. VP of Sales for NOA Reggie Fils-Amie has mentioned many times that the DS was about Innovation and Functionality, and pointed to the 'Blackberry' as an example. Blackberry being a portable data transfer unit, one that would send and receive emails on the go, send messages, recieve files, ect. So here we are, several months into the DS's launch, and where is the functionality? Will DS users get a taste of a word processor, a paint-ish program, an email system, even wireless internet? A program to keep DS users in the loop with thier friend's DS (Imagine Xbox live) would be nice. Not entirely original, but should be added to enhance the DS and keep the User Base closer together.
But alas, these are just some ideas on what the DS could use to increase it's staying power. I'm just a little dissapointed in how it has turned out, but maybe it'll take a turn for the better soon.
^That up there was a rant I did for my site, but I wanted to post it up in a public place for some feedback.
I asked myself this question while pondering over the list of games out for it now. (As of this rant, that is March 27th, 2005.) Most of the games are just re-hashes of things already seen and overdone (Wario Ware, Mario 64, ect...) or games that promise the world, but are far from coming out (Electroplankton, Nintendogs, Jam with the band.) Recently, I debated selling my DS in favor of a PSP, which has more games that are visually and gameplay-wise appealing to me than what is currently available on the DS. But I thought, with current trends in games today, visuals are becoming perhaps too much, and the DS has exactly what it really needs to provide entertainment: The ability to draw lines on screen to form a picture, sprite, or something. (An example of this is the simplicity of Pictochat, yet how fun it still can be.) So what, then, does the DS need to become the non-gamers' gaming device? What does it need to hold our interest? I take a look at some things that may help the DS along the road.
AIDE ONE: Basic, yet breathtaking.
Certain games represent this slogan that I think more games should abide by. Rez being one of them. The graphics aren't lifelike, they are simple, yet at the same time incredibly complex. Enough to overpower the senses, creating a feeling of awe and put the user in a trance like state. Electroplankton for the DS is another example. The game is represented with simple sprites, bright and vibrant colors. Killer 7, our last example, uses the style of Cel-Shading to help aid it's storytelling, as well as to create the sense of confusion and twisted reality. Many call it a simple cop-out, I call it genious. Not every game has to be gritty and realistic.
One game I want to bring to attention in this section is Introversion's 'Darwinia', A genious RTS which doesn't need overly realistic graphics to get it's point across. It takes place in cyberspace, and everything looks like it came out of the movie Tron. Each 'Darwinian' is represented by a small green sprite, and each type of soldier or creature has it's own unique look. Often times, players have given names to the creatures to be able to associate them much more easily. For instance, I have taken to calling my Engineers 'Pi', because they look a tad bit like the 'Pi' mathematical symbol. The game's visuals, while simple, have often taken me aback by it's simplicty. To me, this game is beauty. To have this game on the DS would be priceless. The controls on the Touch Screen would be very useful for movement of soldiers, drawing of objects in the task manager, ect. It almost seems like it would be a tech demo for the DS.
AIDE TWO: More games.
As seen in the n64 era, not having enough games to satisfy the urge to play often times can make a system lose fans. The DS is no exception, and with it's current dry spell of games, it could end up having a lot of fanbase pulled out from under it. Now i'm not saying for companies to rush games and make them shitty, or for companies to make intentional shit games for the main purpose of getting them out the door to increase numbers. I'm saying what they need is more support, and that support should hopefuly follow Aide 1's motto.
AIDE THREE: More functionality.
Nintendo had praised up and down, left and right, backwards and forwards about how they want the DS to be about functionality. VP of Sales for NOA Reggie Fils-Amie has mentioned many times that the DS was about Innovation and Functionality, and pointed to the 'Blackberry' as an example. Blackberry being a portable data transfer unit, one that would send and receive emails on the go, send messages, recieve files, ect. So here we are, several months into the DS's launch, and where is the functionality? Will DS users get a taste of a word processor, a paint-ish program, an email system, even wireless internet? A program to keep DS users in the loop with thier friend's DS (Imagine Xbox live) would be nice. Not entirely original, but should be added to enhance the DS and keep the User Base closer together.
But alas, these are just some ideas on what the DS could use to increase it's staying power. I'm just a little dissapointed in how it has turned out, but maybe it'll take a turn for the better soon.
^That up there was a rant I did for my site, but I wanted to post it up in a public place for some feedback.