heidern said:The buzz wasn't from a visual experience, it was from an unprecedented visual experience. The graphics on the psp are nothing new, they are just what you get from the ps2 or a bit worse. Even so, most of the buzz came from the freedom of 3D and the amazing control. Stuff that was new. How about Streetfighter 2? Or Super Mario Kart? Or even Tetris?
Every single objective person who has played a PSP is floored by the - wait for it - unprecedented visuals available to this little device. In a handheld sense, it is actually a comparable experience. Visually nothing can equal the first full blown competent 3D experience of a console, but it's actually not at all farfetched. If you're objective, your mind has been blown by what the PSP has to offer visually. People keep trying to say that it won't be a comparable experience because consoles have already offered this. But it goes without saying that sort of level of being impressed is significantly increased on a handheld.
heidern said:Because those games weren't as good as Katamari, they were better.
The point is, if you get two games that are EQUALLY as good, the one that offers a new experience will be the one that offers a better experience. Sure once the initial novelty wears off it loses some of its lustre, but that novelty is a part of the experience. The novelty can define the experience. Sure a few years down the road if you replay games the once new game will seem only as good as the uninnovative game, but by then the point is moot.
But that's not true. If they're EQUALLY as good they're EQUALLY as good. That's what the word means - equal. You might prefer the one that offers a "new" experience, but it won't be "better" - it'll be equal. That's what it means!
There was a time when the rumble function seemed cool. It's not anymore.
Now this is a vastly different enterprise and obviously the gameplay possibilities are leaps and bounds beyond that novelty, but the same base rule applies. A great game on DS will be equally great as a great game on PSP. And that's a guarantee.
heidern said:If you have a killer app, would you release it to the 1 million psp owners who buy around 3 games each, or would you release it to the 70 million ps2 owners who buy 6 games each? Fact is the likes of FF12 etc will all be released on consoles. The psp is almost inevitibly destined to be the ps2s little brother. Then in a year or so, when the next gen hits the psp games will look a major downgrade from consoles, so again it will striggle to see a killer app.
Again, speculation based on nothing. And I don't spin speculation. I take the evidence we have and apply it to what we know. We know, for instance, a great innovative game will be just as great as a great "regular" game - this has held true so far and nothing has changed it. And no matter how many times we try to dance around it it won't change.
We do not, however, know exactly how much people will invest on a system that offers the capabilities of PSP. Sure, next generation is right around the corner - but even when that comes the experience that will be able to be offered on that system will still be a step up. What happens when someone tries to port a Xenon game to PSP and DS? If your example holds true then DS will also end up looking like a major downgrade from consoles, only worse. And before you try to fool yourself that the touch screen will some how force this not to happen - no, it won't. Ever. But thanks.
heidern said:On the other hand, with the DS the whole point is different gameplay. With the touchscreen you can do stuff no one else can, and so if you have a killer app that needs the touchscreen, you HAVE to release it for the DS. No choice.
Again, this supplants the idea that gameplay experiences on DS are fundamentally different. They're not.