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[DCharlie]

"DC - yep, you're in the salary man set!"

shit... forgot about that.

but to be honest, i don't feel too bad about emu stuff. I own a stupid number of PSP games, and i'll restart that habit once i get the White PSP for Winning Eleven.

Given that i probably own all the MD/SNES/PCE/NGCD games i'm playing anyways, i don't feel _that_ bad.

(frantic self justification)

 

[The Faceless Master]

indeed

from what i hear , you have companies offering GBA budgets for projects to development teams, then the users expect PS2 standard products.

It's just not feasible.


on my line - the train is pretty much full of salarymen, OLs , kids, etc all playing some form of game (Keitai, DS, PSP).

Not ALL of them obviously, but i'll see at least 3-4 people a day playing DS for example.

Sure, there are half-assed cash-ins, but there are others that simple aren't and isn't given enough credit. Perhaps the consumers are expecting too much out of the PSP.

Limited budget, constrained development schedule, lack of development tools (especially infrastructure) - just a lot of negatives even on the development side of things.

what should they expect out of a system hyped to being as powerful as PS2, god's gift to portable video games, the final nail in nintendo's coffin and was even once touted as having 7.1 audio?

people expected PS2 quality, i know i did.. if not for emus, i'd be pretty unhappy about dropping $250 on this bad boy... Lumines and DarkStalkers can only carry me so far...

 

[DCharlie]

"what should they expect out of a system hyped to being as powerful as PS2, god's gift to portable video games, the final nail in nintendo's coffin and was even once touted as having 7.1 audio?"

sony hyped the machines abilities.

That has little or nothing to do with funding companies understanding of how much it costs to create content.

As far as they are concerned, portable games cost less than console games. Sony hyped the machine on it's ability - that's not under question - people who fund games sometimes don't understand that you need a larger dev team to create better assets , more complex games, etc...

 

[HomerSimpson-Man]

So in short, the tech is there, just that the money to use said tech well isn't.

 

[Hurricane_Chris]

then wouldn't people move projects to the DS? Less piracy, less distratcing home brew, not having to compete with UMDs, lower dev costs (?), lower user expectations etc etc?

Most companies view portable gaming as needing W amount of staff, taking X amount of dollars getting Y amount of sales and making Z amount of money. As far as I know most devs are applying this to GBA, DS, and PSP. I think that until the DS and PSP prove that spending more to make a bigger production can be more profitable than most portable games currently are we'll see devs stick to this.

In Japan we are already seeing a trend of developers seemingly putting more effort into DS games. This however is not true, I think it's just a matter of PSP games requiring more resources than developers are willing to put into a portable game. DS is in the same boat as PSP however DS is a bit cheaper develop for so the half-assed appearence of titles is slightly less obvious.

In the US, PSP seems to be selling well and games are moving, so if US devs start making coin significantly greater than what portable games typically bring in expect Japanese and US devs to start putting more into PSP.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see. I currently own 2 PSPs with a plan to get the 2.0 white one on 9.15:

1.0 - my own home brew development platform
1.5 - uhh, the normal 1.5 stuff
2.0 - my official game machine

 

[Troidal]

what should they expect out of a system hyped to being as powerful as PS2

Hype...is a scary thing.
Besides, it was Sony that overhyped it, if anything.

Developers prior to launch with half-complete devkits were being more realistic about the scope of things.

I still have faith in the PSP, it's not even a year so I'll give it more time. Let's just hope developers are still interested in throwing more titles.

 

[Hurricane_Chris]

sony hyped the machines abilities.

That has little or nothing to do with funding companies understanding of how much it costs to create content.

As far as they are concerned, portable games cost less than console games. Sony hyped the machine on it's ability - that's not under question - people who fund games sometimes don't understand that you need a larger dev team to create better assets , more complex games, etc...

Actually, in many ways PSP > PS2, so much so that given an appropriate budget any upper tier developer can create a title greater (looks/sound/ gameplay) than what they could make on PS2 in my opinion.

 

[The Faceless Master]

then wouldn't people move projects to the DS? Less piracy, less distratcing home brew, not having to compete with UMDs, lower dev costs (?), lower user expectations etc etc?

Lol - last time i bumped into DDKawai on the yamanote line, i believe i was playing Rtype PCE on the PSP.... roofles.

but anyone with a DS can pirate, there's two differennt kits out right now, two at the end of august and two more announced with no date...
and they work on every DS, unlike only some PSP's...

 

[HomerSimpson-Man]

Hype...is a scary thing.
Besides, it was Sony that overhyped it, if anything.

Developers prior to launch with half-complete devkits were being more realistic about the scope of things.

I still have faith in the PSP, it's not even a year so I'll give it more time. Let's just hope developers are still interested in throwing more titles.

We still have to wait for what this thing can push out, and I'm not just taking about getting to know the hardware past first generation software either. Hearing people trying a fast-loader on this thing with Wipeout Pure and instantly jump to 60 fps from it's originally locked 30 fps is pretty neat, put's further perspective on how much it's being held by a simple battery.

 

[DCharlie]

re: PSP > PS2.

that's pretty scary - in that sense, surely dev'ing a new game would make more sense on the PS2 if the budget is less (given the massive difference in userbase)

And i guess the attractive aspect of porting is using the assets from the PS2/PS1 versions of games etc etc...

"1.0 - my own home brew development platform"

I need to talk to you about that - me and Singh are thinking of coding something and we need a push in the right direction.

"
but anyone with a DS can pirate, there's two differennt kits out right now, two at the end of august and two more announced with no date...
and they work on every DS, unlike only some PSP's..."

yes, but the difference being, that the PSPs at the moment pretty much work out of the box. The only thing you need is a memory stick which are pretty much available in most places. Of course, like you say, you need 1.0/1.5 - but given people are now rolling back firmware, then even that might mean 2.0 isn't safe (and lets face it, someone will probably hack 2.0 at some point)

 

[The Faceless Master]

Hype...is a scary thing.
Besides, it was Sony that overhyped it, if anything.

Developers prior to launch with half-complete devkits were being more realistic about the scope of things.

I still have faith in the PSP, it's not even a year so I'll give it more time. Let's just hope developers are still interested in throwing more titles.

sony hyped the machines abilities.

That has little or nothing to do with funding companies understanding of how much it costs to create content.

As far as they are concerned, portable games cost less than console games. Sony hyped the machine on it's ability - that's not under question - people who fund games sometimes don't understand that you need a larger dev team to create better assets , more complex games, etc...

yeah, it may not be the developers and publishers faults that the psp was promoted as such, but it surely isnt the consumers faults for believing what they were told... or is it?

 

[marvelharvey]

Maybe it's a regional trend? Last time I was in Kansai (only 6 days) I saw nobody anywhere playing a DS, but at least 8 people playing PSPs, 7 of which were definitely girls, the other was a 'maybe' And these weren't people on the train, they were walking down the street, starring at their screens, bumping into other people without even a "Gomen"... they seemed very addicted to whatever they were doing (maybe they like pr0n too?)

 

[Hurricane_Chris]

re: PSP > PS2.that's pretty scary - in that sense, surely dev'ing a new game would make more sense on the PS2 if the budget is less (given the massive difference in userbase)

Yeah. Its a tough call that publishers and developers are trying to figure out. PSP's power kinda threw the portable market for a loop. No one knows exactly what to do it seems.

And i guess the attractive aspect of porting is using the assets from the PS2/PS1 versions of games etc etc...

Typically sharing assets is not the right thing to do. This adds to the expense.

I need to talk to you about that - me and Singh are thinking of coding something and we need a push in the right direction.

Sure thing. Whenever you wanna talk is fine.

yes, but the difference being, that the PSPs at the moment pretty much work out of the box. The only thing you need is a memory stick which are pretty much available in most places. Of course, like you say, you need 1.0/1.5 - but given people are now rolling back firmware, then even that might mean 2.0 isn't safe (and lets face it, someone will probably hack 2.0 at some point)

The pass-me and wifi-me stuff sucks. The wifi-me ralink driver guy needs to share the multi-boot protocol research so that people can make drivers that support other cards and OSes other than windows. I don't have the time to research and reverse engineer the protocol but I do have enough time to write simple linux drivers for the two usb wireless cards i have.

 

[Acosta]

I just use mine for emulators right now (Snes Fire Emblems) and it´s probable you will see me playing that when I´m in Japan because they are so freaking hard!

Having such a wonderful machine for emulaton is a joy for me, but it´s quite possible I buy the white PSP with Winning Eleven to have a machine to play PSP games, I still believe is a machine full of potential but it will take a while to see it fully exploited. It just need some killer apps.

 

[Companion Cube]

I saw a dude playing his PSP on the train, and I thought, wow, that's pretty rare!

Dude. You met the Densha Otoko.

 

[mrklaw]

I would expect PSP development to pick up soon. When devs move over to PS3, there will naturally be some that can't manage the budgets or size of team needed - this was the same from PS1-PS2.

Some will fold, others will become PS2 port houses, doing work for hire relatively cheap. Much like PSone development carried on after PS2 launched, but not with the best developers, PS2 development will carry on, but you'll also get the benefit of a PSP version.

 

[djtiesto]

Hmm, around America, I never see any people playing PSPs in public at all... All I see is little kids playing their DSes or (mostly) SPs. The only other person I know in real life that owns a PSP is my brother...

 

[dark10x]

I hope PSP development picks up soon. I really enjoy using the system...

In the US, the PSP library is still better than the DS, but they can't just sit idle. They need more games...

Luckily, a lot of people only look at the US launch dates. So, to the average buyer, the DS was released last year and still doesn't have a great selection of games on the shelves. PSP is younger, though, so it still has time to work on its lineup. Anecdotal evidence from a large number of people doesn't mean a whole lot, really, but surely there is some truth to it.

Obviously, DS will be making strides this fall...but then again, the PSP lineup isn't too shabby and should appeal to plenty of people.

I'd like to see both succeed, but I really do prefer USING the PSP to the DS. I really dislike the actual DS hardware. I'll play the games, but it doesn't feel all that good to me...

 

[Blackace]

You know you can't play pr0n UMD on a train.

I can tell you have never been to Japan....

 

[sonycowboy]

I hope PSP development picks up soon. I really enjoy using the system...

In the US, the PSP library is still better than the DS, but they can't just sit idle. They need more games...

Given third party sales in the US to date for such a small userbase, the relatively inexpensive development relative to the consoles, and a likely surge because of GTA:LCS & the European launch, I feel pretty good about the state of the PSP going forward. It has troubles in Japan which need to be addressed, but I think publishers are extremely happy with the US reception so far and some are probably kicking themselves for not jumping in a few months sooner as they could have had some nice returns with the lack of competition.

Although, the PSP still has not acheived any level of critical mass to make it particularly profitable and there is no killer app (besides the system itself) that's pushing the hardware.

 

[tetsuoxb]

there is a mook here in Japan called PSP for adults that details all sorts of emus for psp, etc. Only like 800 yen.

I too have seen guys playing emus on the train, and I was just as shocked as John Tv.

 

[WrathOfOtaibah]

I would write a ramble but I think the PS3 will kill the PSP and the GBA will stunt DS's overall performance.

 

[Blackace]

there is a mook here in Japan called PSP for adults that details all sorts of emus for psp, etc. Only like 800 yen.

I too have seen guys playing emus on the train, and I was just as shocked as John Tv.

Not me... I know Japanese people who have bought the PSP just because they found out it could EMU...

 

[BuddyC]

Not me... I know Japanese people who have bought the PSP just because they found out it could EMU...

I know a few Americans like that as well.

 

[Blackace]

I know a few Americans like that as well.

Yeah...me too... But I guess what I am saying is that there was no to very little interest in owning one until they could EMU on it...

 

[Apenheul]

I find it kind of weird to see people here on GAF mixing homebrew with piracy all the time. Like how many times has it been stated PSP is the emulator king, and the PSP homebrew scene rocks. For the latter it's quite the other way around. It doesn't take many programming skills to port an emulator (which was designed to be ported to all kinds of platforms in the first way) to PSP. I used to be quite active in the GBA scene, so when DS and PSP scenes sprouted I followed their development. One thing that became very clear to me was that practically all the '1337' hackers from the scenes I was familiar with went with DS although some kept an eye on the PSP scene aswell. The DS homebrew scene is much better than the PSP's. When the first game was playable from memorystick annoying kids started flooding in the IRC channels, because they thought they could get iso's and emulators there. At this point still the 'scene' is mostly concerned about lazy ports and firmware updates. I think that's quite sad.

 

[koam]

1 person? Wow that settles it.

 

[The Faceless Master]

I know some Europeans like that too... but mostly Americans...

 

[BuddyC]

Yeah...me too... But I guess what I am saying is that there was no to very little interest in owning one until they could EMU on it...

Right. The appeal of hombrew apps/piracy (in particular, running NES games for the ones I know) is what sold them on the PSP, not anything Sony themselves put on the system - the cracking of 1.50 definitely increased the appeal of owning a PSP for some.

 

[Blackace]

I still don't own one... and won't until they put out games I want to buy.. if I want to play NES/SNES games I will play them on the old system...

 

[sonycowboy]

Right. The appeal of hombrew apps/piracy (in particular, running NES games for the ones I know) is what sold them on the PSP, not anything Sony themselves put on the system - the cracking of 1.50 definitely increased the appeal of owning a PSP for some trivial number of users.

fixed.

Honestly, do you guys think the folks with homebrew / cracks are more than say 2-3% of the users at best? The vast majority of people have no idea about piracy, although the constant references by some folks here seems to be nothing short of advocation and endorsement for folks to join in.

I'm all for emus when people own the actual games and homebrew scene is great for unique apps, but IMO, the majority of foks are promoting piracy on a wide scale and I'm surprised the GAF is so on board with this. I'm not trying to be the moral police here, but such things are illegal and while it seems one of the more benign acts one might commit, it's still deciding that you're going to live your life a certain way. And personally, I've decided that that's not something I want to do.

 

[The Faceless Master]

I still don't own one... and won't until they put out games I want to buy.. if I want to play NES/SNES games I will play them on the old system...

would you play NES on a train? </greeneggsandham>

 

[Blackace]

would you play NES on a train? </greeneggsandham>

No SIR I play Power Pro Baseball DS, and so should you!

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

I didn't buy mine until the swap trick came out. Now, it's a compact e-reader. I'm going thru the harry potter books now

 

[SaitoH]

Funny/sad story:

Here in Tokyo, you often find people playing handheld games on the train and the bus. Of course, GBAs are still the most commonly sighted handhelds, but since this past December, I've seen a fair share of DSes as well (maybe two dozen or so). PSP sightings, on the other hand, are pretty rare. I think I've seen maybe three or four in total since launch, and two of those came in the past week. One of those two happened this morning. I saw a dude playing his PSP on the train, and I thought, wow, that's pretty rare! I wonder what he's playing? The new Tenchu? Taiko no Tatsujin perhaps?

I slowly walked past his shoulder to get a glance at the screen, and lo and behold, what do I find? He was playing a GBC game on emu.

Is the PSP piracy situation worse off than anyone realized? I never expected to spot a random dude in public using an emulator on his PSP...I thought that was just for uber hardcore geeks like us GAF-types...

Little off topic, but when I went to Japan last year I saw 1 person using a handheld game system during the whole two weeks I was there. I had a rail pass, and traveled quite a lot on the trains, so I was quite surprised. Course there was no shortage of people with cell phones text messaging back and forth ...

 

[Blackace]

Little off topic, but when I went to Japan last year I saw 1 person using a handheld game system during the whole two weeks I was there. I had a rail pass, and traveled quite a lot on the trains, so I was quite surprised. Course there was no shortage of people with cell phones text messaging back and forth ...

so of those people you think are texting are really playing games on their phones... When I first moved here I thought "damn is she writing a novel or something?" really she was playing Bubble Bobble

 

[SaitoH]

so of those people you think are texting are really playing games on their phones... When I first moved here I thought "damn is she writing a novel or something?" really she was playing Bubble Bobble

Fair enough. Hard to tell what people are actually doing on their cell phones from a distant. Anyway, point is, I thought that if any place would embrace portable gaming it would be Japan, but I guess like everywhere else, cell phones are cool and portable game systems aren't.

^_~

 

[Acosta]

I'm all for emus when people own the actual games and homebrew scene is great for unique apps, but IMO, the majority of foks are promoting piracy on a wide scale and I'm surprised the GAF is so on board with this. I'm not trying to be the moral police here, but such things are illegal and while it seems one of the more benign acts one might commit, it's still deciding that you're going to live your life a certain way. And personally, I've decided that that's not something I want to do.

No one is speaking about ISOs here (the illegal thing and the one that hurts the industry), but emulators and homebrew. Could you be more explicit about what is wrong with this?

 

[sonycowboy]

No one is speaking about ISOs here (the illegal thing and the one that hurts the industry), but emulators and homebrew. Could you be more explicit about what is wrong with this?

Not so much in this specific thread, but in others, the talk about getting ISO's is pretty steady, or at least, the joking references to doing such.

Also, emulators themselves are legal, however, getting ROMS that aren't owned is illegal. And, this is just me, I doubt that the majority of emu users actually own the games. Maybe they did in the past, but that doesn't entitle them to the games now, unless they own it.

In any case, I agree that emus and homebrew are great and the PSP is an excellent device for these to flourish. Low cost (subsidized by SW sales), high functionality (graphics, wireless, screen, etc), and wide availability (millions and millions of users) make it a prime target for such activity.

I just find it strange that people think that piracy is some sort of competative advantage or that it should be condoned or accepted at all. I know that it exists, and that it can never be stopped, but there's a complicit approval that seems to go along with these discussions as opposed to anybody voicing any level of disapproval or disdain for the practices.

 

[Acosta]

Also, emulators themselves are legal, however, getting ROMS that aren't owned is illegal. And, this is just me, I doubt that the majority of emu users actually own the games. Maybe they did in the past, but that doesn't entitle them to the games now, unless they own it.

Well, that´not actually true. If you have a copy of NES Mario Bros, you are not allowed to have a rom of GBA Mario Bros, no matter is the same game.

I have different ideas about emulation (about old emulation, two generations or more behind). I won´t install a GBA emulator on PSP, neither a Playstation one. But I don´t see any problem with Genesis or Snes emulation. And I think GAF has adopted a good politic about this issue, it´s flexible enough to be able to speak aboout it (that is the point of a forum).

 

[Lyte Edge]

Hmm, around America, I never see any people playing PSPs in public at all... All I see is little kids playing their DSes or (mostly) SPs. The only other person I know in real life that owns a PSP is my brother...

So you travel all over the country looking for people with PSPs?

I've seen far more people with PSP systems compared to DS systems here in Atlanta, but it all depends on location and age. From what I dealt with at work, kids were still on Gameboy Advance or Gameboy Advance SP. Very few had DS systems yet. It's the only system I can remember that we actually had stock left over from launch up to a month or so ago. PSP is the first handheld I've ever seen adults carry around and "show off" like it was a new iPod or something; people would come in holding it up like it was their new god, usually listening to music on it or just holding it without anything in it and asking for games or accessories, then whining because we didn't have anything they haven't already seen.

From work, it seems that the reason the PSP hasn't been quite as popular isn't due to a "lack of games." It isn't due to shorter batter life. It isn't due to there being a ton more UMD movies than games. It isn't due to the memory stick prices. It's because of the system's current price point. $249.99 is just too expensive for most people looking to buy a handheld video game system. When it drops to the $149.99-$199.99 range, the system will start to sell better. I had plenty of people pass on the DS for the same reason; they didn't want to spend $149.99 on a "souped-up Gameboy" when they could spend about half that amount on a GBA SP instead. But even then there were plenty of parents that felt $34.99 for a regular GBA was too much, too.

 

[Zer0]

I mean, most of the PSP games out so far (at least in the west) are stinkers, save from a few diamonds in the rough.

like most of the ds games out so far,except a few diamonds.psp haters in this forums are getting funnier with the time

i live in europe and i have the ds and psp and i have a hard time finding ds users to play,but i know a lot of ppl with psp,and the sistem havent been released here yet

personals impressions dont count a shit abut the global situation of any console

 

[dark10x]

I mean, most of the PSP games out so far (at least in the west) are stinkers, save from a few diamonds in the rough.

Oh yeah?

How about ALL games?

90.3% Lumines
89.6% Wipeout Pure
87.9% Ridge Racer
83.9% THUG2
82.7% Hot Shots Golf
81.5% MLB
81.0% Twisted Metal
80.6% Tiger Woods PGA Tour
78.6% Archer Maclean's Mercury
77.8% Metal Gear Acid
77.4% Need for Speed Underground Rivals
77.0% FIFA Soccer
76.2% Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower
75.8% NBA Street Showdown
74.5% NFL Street 2 Unleashed
74.3% Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition
74.0% World Tour Soccer
69.9% Spider-Man 2
69.8% Ape Escape: On the Loose
69.6% Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade
69.5% MVP Baseball
68.6% ATV Offroad Fury: Blazin' Trails
64.6% Dynasty Warriors
62.2% Gretzky NHL
61.5% Coded Arms
59.0% NBA
56.7% Dead to Rights: Reckoning
48.2% Rengoku: Tower of Purgatory
47.3% Smart Bomb

TOTAL PSP = 29 GAMES = 73%
8 GAMES OVER 80%
9 GAMES BETWEEN 70%-79.9%

DS

88.2% Kirby: Canvas Curse
88.0% Meteos
86.8% Super Mario 64 DS
83.6% WarioWare: Touched!
77.2% Bomberman
75.8% Feel the Magic: XY/XX
75.7% Zoo Keeper
75.1% Polarium
74.9% Pac-Pix
74.1% Yoshi Touch & Go
71.5% Mr. Driller Drill Spirits
70.6% Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
68.4% Tiger Woods PGA Tour
68.2% Madden NFL 2005
67.5% The Urbz: Sims in the City
64.8% Spider-Man 2
62.9% Ridge Racer DS
62.0% Asphalt: Urban GT
61.1% Rayman DS
60.5% GoldenEye: Rogue Agent
51.8% Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory
50.6% Pokemon Dash
49.1% Retro Atari Classics
46.4% Sprung
29.0% Ping Pals

DS TOTAL = 25 GAMES = 67%
4 GAMES OVER 80%
8 GAMES BETWEEN 70%-79.9%

 

[Lyte Edge]

like most of the ds games out so far,except a few diamonds.psp haters in this forums are getting funnier with the time

Or like the PS2 after launch. Or the XBox. Or the Game Cube. New systems almost always go through this drought phase the first year or so.

 

[Juice]

indeed

from what i hear , you have companies offering GBA budgets for projects to development teams, then the users expect PS2 standard products.

It's just not feasible.


on my line - the train is pretty much full of salarymen, OLs , kids, etc all playing some form of game (Keitai, DS, PSP).

Not ALL of them obviously, but i'll see at least 3-4 people a day playing DS for example.

Goddamn. How many of us are in Japan? Every time I start to think I'm cool, I'm reminded that videogames like Shenmue and Co. convince our type to expatriatize like America is going out of fucking style.

... i just wish I were cool. And that my Japanese were better.

 

[The Faceless Master]

Not so much in this specific thread, but in others, the talk about getting ISO's is pretty steady, or at least, the joking references to doing such.

Also, emulators themselves are legal, however, getting ROMS that aren't owned is illegal. And, this is just me, I doubt that the majority of emu users actually own the games. Maybe they did in the past, but that doesn't entitle them to the games now, unless they own it.

In any case, I agree that emus and homebrew are great and the PSP is an excellent device for these to flourish. Low cost (subsidized by SW sales), high functionality (graphics, wireless, screen, etc), and wide availability (millions and millions of users) make it a prime target for such activity.

I just find it strange that people think that piracy is some sort of competative advantage or that it should be condoned or accepted at all. I know that it exists, and that it can never be stopped, but there's a complicit approval that seems to go along with these discussions as opposed to anybody voicing any level of disapproval or disdain for the practices.

i think it's just people being honest and basically saying they'll do anything to save a buck instead of faking disgust at the thought of copyright infringement... hell, look at those buy-on-sale-and-'return'-to-wal-mart discussions...

 

[TheDiave]

That he was actually playing his PSP should have been your first indication that he had emulators installed.

:lol :lol :lol

 

[Blackace]

Fair enough. Hard to tell what people are actually doing on their cell phones from a distant. Anyway, point is, I thought that if any place would embrace portable gaming it would be Japan, but I guess like everywhere else, cell phones are cool and portable game systems aren't.

^_~

Well they have a pretty damn cool set of games for the cell phones here that you can download..games that are better looking than the GBC and old classics like Wizadry!!!

 

[Wario64]

Oh yeah?

i knew this list would come in handy

 

[Juice]

Well they have a pretty damn cool set of games for the cell phones here that you can download..games that are better looking than the GBC and old classics like Wizadry!!!

I think it's also worth noting how essential a ketai denwa that reflects your personality is to one's own status symbol Your cell phone is your little buddy, and blah blah. From ones that specialize in playing music, to downloading/playing games, to video downloads, to straight TV tuning. Nothing's as amazing as my friends in America thought (everyone around home has this impression that every phone here can video conference)...

but my point is that they're status symbols. toting an extra system that just does entertainment/games is probably still a little dorky. or difficult. certainly no one's going to be able to trade out their cell phone for a gaming system. and if only one item fits in the bag, then, well...

i feel like every third kid i see is playing a DS. I have yet to see a PSP anywhere but in the occassional crane game. however, i do see college-aged students shopping the PSP sections at movie/game stores. must be like america and just play the things in bed.

have a happy day everybody.