Does anyone else think that two screens for the DS is useless?

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Pedigree Chum

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I love the other features of the machine, but is there really any need for two screens? Gimme a stylus, one touch sensitive screen...that's all you need. And apart from a few games taking advantage of 2 screens (only Touch&Go comes to mind) it's not really needed and would invariably make the system thinner, cheaper, w/ better battery life. The positives far outweigh the negatives IMO.
 
Well it has a lot of potential, but i doubt anyone is going to make use of it properly, it's just gonna end up showing menus/maps in most games
 
Bobety said:
Well it has a lot of potential, but i doubt anyone is going to make use of it properly, it's just gonna end up showing menus/maps in most games
Click to expand...

That's what I'm saying, VERY few devs will take good advantage of it (that includes Nintendo from what we've seen). Wasn't worth including it in.
 
Bobety said:
Well it has a lot of potential, but i doubt anyone is going to make use of it properly, it's just gonna end up showing menus/maps in most games
Click to expand...

Which is what I always feared.
 
If more games use it as wonderfully as IntSys has with Advance Wars, then I think it will prove to be a good choice. And I'm sure NCL themselves were kicking around a few ideas when they thought of the concept.

As of now, pre-launch, unnecessary.
 
Pedigree Chum said:
That's what I'm saying, VERY few devs will take good advantage of it (that includes Nintendo from what we've seen). Wasn't worth including it in.
Click to expand...

We dont know how it will be used in the future, but it does give the possibility for some extremely interesting things.
 
The dual screens of the Nintendo DS are

Heaven:
ss01a.jpg


and Earth:

ss01b.jpg
 
Pedigree Chum said:
I love the other features of the machine, but is there really any need for two screens? Gimme a stylus, one touch sensitive screen...that's all you need. And apart from a few games taking advantage of 2 screens (only Touch&Go comes to mind) it's not really needed and would invariably make the system thinner, cheaper, w/ better battery life. The positives far outweigh the negatives IMO.
Click to expand...

I totally agree, they should have taken the two screens and made one big screen, and left everything else the same.
 
I don't think you could have one touch screen... your hand would obscure the view in games like Metroid Prime... that's why the stylus screen is now a map. I think you could have one screen, and a touch pad.. like a tablet thing.. that would have been just as cool imo. In the end though its just another thing to encourage new ideas. Which I like.
 
The perfect nextgen handheld would be a single touch-screen PSP with battery-efficient flash media software.. but the world isn't perfect.
 
XS+ said:
The perfect nextgen handheld would be a single touch-screen PSP with battery-efficient flash media software.. but the world isn't perfect.
Click to expand...

Sony and Nintendo should make sweet sweet love...then we'd have your uber handheld (which I agree would be the ideal portable).
 
If Nintendo and Sony didn't break up back in the 90s, maybe that's the handheld we would've ended up with today?
 
captainbiotch said:
Why don't you people play it first before you call it useless? Jesus, find something better to do.
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Its just the natural reaction to all of the great DS hype lately. The cosmic order and all that. Ignore it.
 
Pedigree Chum said:
I love the other features of the machine, but is there really any need for two screens? Gimme a stylus, one touch sensitive screen...that's all you need. And apart from a few games taking advantage of 2 screens (only Touch&Go comes to mind) it's not really needed and would invariably make the system thinner, cheaper, w/ better battery life. The positives far outweigh the negatives IMO.
Click to expand...


As I see it...the most practical (i.e. non-gimmicky) use of the DS' touch screen is as an adaptable direct input for commands. This would eliminate menu naviagation and make playing games faster, simpler, more intuitve; plus it changes as per game's context so you only have the options available as you need them. A good example of what I'm talking about is Spiderman 2 DS. That is the perfect example of how I expect the touchscreen to be used.

it simply enhances pre-established forms of gameplay. Its not gimmicky...though it may be utilized in a gimmicky manner....but it can be extremely practical. And like anything else, it shouldn't be mandatory to use it if the game does not call for it.
.........

........

Yeah...but the second screen is there so that you can use the touchscreen effectively.

for example:

spider-man-2-20041007013516949.jpg


See how you have the traditional action on one screen (top screen) and your specific related commands to directly input, located on the other (touch) screen. This seems to me, the most practical application to design a game for the use of the touchscreen. In this example, the touchscreen is used simply to enhace gameplay that we are already familiar with. And if this is an intended application for the touchscreen then the second screen is almost mandatory, screen 1 = action, screen 2 = adapatable input controls.

I'm not saying it can't be used gimmicky, but from what I see as the most practical use for a touchscreen I can undestand the necessity for adding that second screen which could be used as a disply.
 
"I'm not saying it can't be used gimmicky, but from what I see as the most practical use for a touchscreen I can undestand the necessity for adding that second screen which could be used as a disply."

Yeah, I see what you mean. I guess I'm just afraid it's going to be used in a gimmicky way in the majority of titles. Hope I'm wrong.
 
I don't see how any of that Spiderman DS stuff couldn't be done with a PSP-sized touchscreen. You could devote one half or 3/4 of the left side of the screen for the action, and the remaining portion of the right side for all those touch commands. or you could mix and match the touch-sensitive area to the developer's liking (and still have room for regular non-touch-sensitive games that take advantage of one huge screen). The two screen thing still sounds dumb and unnecessary to me, sorry.

If 'DS' was called 'TS' instead and used one big screen instead of two small ones (and analog control; seriously what was Nintendo, the one who introduced analog control to modern 3D gaming, thinking when they left that out of DS' design?), I'd be far more enthusiastic about it.
 
XS+ said:
I don't see how any of that Spiderman DS stuff couldn't be done with a PSP-sized touchscreen. You could devote one half or 3/4 of the left side of the screen for the action, and the remaining portion of the right side for all those touch commands. or you could mix and match the touch-sensitive area to the developer's liking (and still have room for regular non-touch-sensitive games that take advantage of one huge screen). The two screen thing still sounds dumb and unnecessary to me, sorry.

If 'DS' was called 'TS' instead and used one big screen instead of two small ones (and analog control; seriously what was Nintendo, the one who introduced analog control to modern 3D gaming, thinking when they left that out of DS' design?), I'd be far more enthusiastic about it.
Click to expand...


Personally, I think if they went with a "one large screen" design which would be used to diplay both the action and the touchscreen functuinality then the interface would probably look cluttered. I like the fact that the DS has one dedicated touchscreen and one dedicated screen used to display the action. Though I can understand the desire of having one large screen to display the games that don't utilize the full two screens. Overall, I think Nintendo made a sound choice incoporating 2 screens provided the touchscreen capabilities are as I believe them to be. Either way, we'll find out if Nintendo's design pays off in the end. :P
 
Scalemail Ted said:
Either way, we'll find out if Nintendo's design pays off in the end. :P
Click to expand...
Indeed we will.. indeed we will.

EDIT: And I don't agree it would look all that cluttered, as long as all the touching stays away from the main screen.
 
best thing about the DS are these features...

OPERATING SYSTEM/PICTOCHAT FEATURES
- Wireless Voice Mail Services
- Wireless Electronic Transmission of Voice Signals
- Online Videogame News and Hints
- Data Transfer
- Demo Downloads
- Message Boards
- Real Time Clock (Date Time Indicator/Alarm)
- Touch Screen Calibration
Click to expand...
I don't think anyone is all that excited about the dual screens. Nintendo just plays that feature up because it's the most obvious feature just looking at the system.
 
Pedigree Chum said:
Sony and Nintendo should make sweet sweet love...then we'd have your uber handheld (which I agree would be the ideal portable).
Click to expand...

If that happened, you'd have the GBA:SP2, with real SNES resolution and slightly larger carts, oh and a Gran Turismo game on it.

You certainly wouldn't get anything that requires them to spend real dollars - thats what competition does, not cooperation.
 
Is there any DS games so announced so far that are supposed to make use of the Wi-Fi connection? (not the i-don't-know-what-you-call-it other connection in about 30 feet of each other)
 
Seeing that Spiderman app actually gives me ideas about the touchscreen. What if a FPS featured a bottom map and gave you one-touch access to your arsenal. RPGs could have their entire menu systems down there. What about a Flashback style adventure which put your inventory at the ready? Or a strategy game that lets you zoom to a part of the map just by touching it.

None of these ideas are innovative in and of themselves, they're just more streamlined versions of the interfaces we already have, and some of the apps might not even be good for a handheld. Still, I'm thinking of the DS features in a different way now, though I'm still not going to get one until DS Wars.
 
XS+ said:
The perfect nextgen handheld would be a single touch-screen PSP with battery-efficient flash media software.. but the world isn't perfect.
Click to expand...
Game Boy Evolution. 2007-8.

Oh and I agree, one big screen >> two small screens. But also touch screen >> no touch screen. :/
 
I think it's a great idea. Now split screen multiplayer games... that's a different story. I'm glad they are pushing wifi
 
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