My take on the handhleds

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Archived from groups: rec.games.video.nintendo (More info?)

Back when the Gamecube came out, I got into this arguement with friends,
and I think it holds true today. People were bashing the GC because it
couldn't play DVD's like the PS2 and XBox. They also complained about the
lack of games and online ability of the GC.
Now years later people are going nuts because the PSP can play movies and
music and has a larger, better selection of games than the DS. Well I have
a DS because I want a handheld that plays games. If I want to listen to
music, I have an MP3 player. If I want to watch a movie, I have a portable
DVD player. Why should my handheld gaming system be bogged down with all
the other software to run things I don't want in a gaming system? I am a
firm believer in multi-tasking units, but some things are best left alone.
If you buy a combo DVD player and TV, and the DVD player goes, you are
without a TV while it gets fixed. Same goes if the TV dies.
Since I got my DS, I have picked up Mr Driller, Yoshi Touch and Go, Super
Mario 64 DS, Sprung, and Wario Ware Touched. I can't wait for the release
of Advance Wars DS, Animal Crossing DS, Metroid, Harvest Moon DS, the new
Castlevania, Gyakuten Saiban's court room game, and a host of other to come
out. The many system releases is that there are 20 or 30 games that come
out and you end up missing some good ones. Or you buy so many you never
have the chance to finish them before the next round of games come out.
The other nice thing about the DS is the GBA slot. Now I can take my DS
with me with 2 different games and not have to worry about losing cartridges
or swamping out games and them getting damaged etc. A handheld gaming
system needs to be just that, a gaming system. Not a movie theater, radio
station, photo album that will also play games if you want to.


AceoHearts
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.video.nintendo (More info?)

Pros and cons of the DS and PSP, as I see them. (Note I am listing
these in no particular order, just as they occur to me.)

Sony PSP
---------------------------------

Pros:
- clearly the high end of handheld gaming hardware
- MP3 playback
- movies on the go
- good launch line-up with more software in the pipeline
- memory stick port

Cons:
- battery life (at least it's rechargable)
- re-buying your favorite movies on UMD format
- durability issues
- Sony's stand on dead pixels
- $250 for a toy?!?


Nintendo DS
---------------------------------

Pros:
- Nintendo's first party software
- much better screen for GBA games than the SP
- battery life
- touchscreen interface (well, it's cool with games that use it well,
like the Metroid demo)
- free wireless internet gaming (dunno if PSP will be free)

Cons:
- sparse launch line-up, with new games slow to appear
- no GB/GBC copmatibility, and certain GBA features won't work
- $150 for a toy?!?

As things stand, I'm leaning towards the DS myself. But not until the
price comes down another $50! (So it will probably be a while - at
least then there will be more games!)
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.video.nintendo (More info?)

PSP-gamers are raving about the movie-playing capabilities because it
has Spiderman 2 (the movie) as a pack-in (for the first million units
sold). After that, just how many people are going to buy UMD movies
from the awfully limited selection that has been announced? Given the
option, do you want the DVD or the UMD version? Are you going to re-buy
a movie you already have just for the UMD version? Do you honestly see
yourself using the PSP to watch movies, knowing that it will eat up a
huge chunk of the battery life in just one viewing?

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Archived from groups: rec.games.video.nintendo (More info?)

>> - memory stick port
>
>I have a memory stick and let me tell you that they are expensive. I
>actually prefer the SD memory cards because they are smaller, cheaper
>and have more memory.

I agree here, but seeing how no other gaming handheld has had memory
card port of any kind, having one that is at least compatible with
other devices is a huge plus. (Then again, that new MP3 cart in Japan
is a step in the right direction for Nintendo. Just too bad it is an
additional purtchase.)

>> - much better screen for GBA games than the SP
>
>Another pro is the dual screen concept. It's brilliant! The value of
>the 2nd display when playing a game really is helpful.

Well... yes and no. The dual screen idea offers a lot of potential,
we'll see how well it pans out. I feel the touchscreen capability is a
more significant advance than the dual display.

>> - $150 for a toy?!?
>
>I don't feel that $150 is a con when the competition cost $250.

Granted, the DS is much more affordable. But $150 is still a lot of
money. (I am a cheap bastard at heart!)

>By the way, is there a forum where we can discuss tips and strategies
>on the games?

This forum good enough for ya? You can discuss anything game related
here - just as long as it is related to Nintendo.
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.video.nintendo (More info?)

kingsmedley sez...

>> Another pro is the dual screen
>> concept. It's brilliant! The value
>> of the 2nd display when playing
>> a game really is helpful.

> Well... yes and no. The dual
> screen idea offers a lot of potential,

When playing Super Mario 64 DS, I often rely on the bottom display in order
to figure out where I am on the map and what strategy I should use.

--
I am the fish and I approve this message.
______________
=====fish=====
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.video.nintendo (More info?)

>> If you trade-in two GBA games
>> and a working SP at EB, you get
>> a DS for 99 bucks.
>
> If you have it, trade it.
>
> I had a nice deal actually. I won a $50 gift card at work a few months
> ago,
> so I used it as a nice discount for my Nintendo DS. So, instead of paying
> $150 for it, I paid $100 bucks.

I started saving Reward Zone certificates from Best Buy a few months before
the DS came out. So on launch day I think I had $65 worth of certificates,
so that dropped the cost for me.

AceoHearts
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.video.nintendo (More info?)

So, why didn't they make the DS play original Game Boy and Game Boy
Color games, too?

What a rip-off. I think I'll get a Game Boy Advance instead.


Mark
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.video.nintendo (More info?)

<sailormoon @ naturecoast . net> wrote in rec.games.video.nintendo:

> So, why didn't they make the DS play original Game Boy and Game Boy
> Color games, too?

Cost. The DS has two processors, one for DS games and one for GBA games.
But the GBC-compatible GBA *also* has two processors: one for GBA games,
and another for Game Boy Color and earlier games.

Thus, for the DS to be backward-compatible with GBC games (and, by
extension, the entire Game Boy library), it would have to have *three*
processors -- one for DS games, one for GBA games, and one for GBC and
earlier games. Putting three processors in the DS would have raised
production costs so high that Nintendo wouldn't have been able to offer the
DS at the planned target MSRP of $149.99.

I somehow doubt that Nintendo even considered software emulation --
emulating a GBC in software would have probably caused more problems than
it would have solved.

--
Glenn Shaw • Indianapolis, IN USA
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.video.nintendo (More info?)

"Glenn Shaw" <togusa@nospamcomnet.cast> wrote in message
news:Xns9626884EF56F6togusacomcastnet@216.196.97.136...
> <sailormoon @ naturecoast . net> wrote in rec.games.video.nintendo:
>
>> So, why didn't they make the DS play original Game Boy and Game Boy
>> Color games, too?
>
> Cost. The DS has two processors, one for DS games and one for GBA games.
> But the GBC-compatible GBA *also* has two processors: one for GBA games,
> and another for Game Boy Color and earlier games.
>
> Thus, for the DS to be backward-compatible with GBC games (and, by
> extension, the entire Game Boy library), it would have to have *three*
> processors -- one for DS games, one for GBA games, and one for GBC and
> earlier games. Putting three processors in the DS would have raised
> production costs so high that Nintendo wouldn't have been able to offer
> the
> DS at the planned target MSRP of $149.99.
>
> I somehow doubt that Nintendo even considered software emulation --
> emulating a GBC in software would have probably caused more problems than
> it would have solved.
>
> --
> Glenn Shaw . Indianapolis, IN USA

Plus give it time I wouldnt be surprised if we end up with a GB emulator for
the DS eventually. Could be made through a plug through GBA cartridge with a
built in emulator. Probably sell a ton.
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.video.nintendo (More info?)

On Sun, 27 Mar 2005 12:23:53 -0600, Glenn Shaw
<togusa@nospamcomnet.cast> wrote:

>Cost. The DS has two processors, one for DS games and one for GBA games.
>But the GBC-compatible GBA *also* has two processors: one for GBA games,
>and another for Game Boy Color and earlier games.
>
>Thus, for the DS to be backward-compatible with GBC games (and, by
>extension, the entire Game Boy library), it would have to have *three*
>processors -- one for DS games, one for GBA games, and one for GBC and
>earlier games. Putting three processors in the DS would have raised
>production costs so high that Nintendo wouldn't have been able to offer the
>DS at the planned target MSRP of $149.99.
>
>I somehow doubt that Nintendo even considered software emulation --
>emulating a GBC in software would have probably caused more problems than
>it would have solved.

Actually, I would guess the reason wasn't cost, but actually time.
The GameBoy Color CPU is so ancient at this point, how much would it
actually cost? 50 cents? Adding a third CPU WOULD massively increase
the complexity of debugging and testing the DS, though, and quite
possibly would have caused them to miss their shipping schedule.

And yea, emulation probably wouldn't be a viable choice. Emulators
for GBCs for the PC have been around forever, and they're still not
100% compatible. I doubt Nintendo would be willing to put out
something like that when they'd have to list a dozen games that don't
work, games that have bugs at specific locations, games that you have
to use a workaround at a specific point in the game, etc.
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.video.nintendo (More info?)

sailormoon@naturecoast.net wrote:
> So, why didn't they make the DS play original Game Boy and Game Boy
> Color games, too?
>
> What a rip-off. I think I'll get a Game Boy Advance instead.
>
>
> Mark
>

Because that would have meant either including a GBC emulator in the
BIOS or including the Z80 chip (also I understand GBC carts don't fit in
the slot, so that would have meant further changes to the hardware).
They cut costs to bring the price down, a long-standing Nintendo policy.
It's what helps them bring hardware out at a lower price than the
competition.

They reasoned, quite rightly IMO, that people with GBC games will still
hold onto their GBCs, their Super Game Boys, or their Game Boy Players
(a Gamecube peripheral to play GBA, GB, and GBC games on your tv), and
that the rest of us want to pay a lower price for a new system that
plays GBA games. I think the GBA library is superior to the original
Gameboy's anyway.

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Archived from groups: rec.games.video.nintendo (More info?)

Lorfarius wrote:
> Plus give it time I wouldnt be surprised if we end up with a GB emulator for
> the DS eventually. Could be made through a plug through GBA cartridge with a
> built in emulator. Probably sell a ton.

People are already working on software emulation (the DS hardware is
*more* than capable of emulating the GBC).

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