Entries Tagged 'Handhelds' ↓

‘Nothing is worse than having an itch you can never scratch.’
–Leon, Blade Runner

I’ve now had my Nexus One phone for about 5 months, and I’m giving mobile games a spin, though I’ve been skeptical. Overall, my experiences aren’t making me less skeptical, but I see the potential.  As far as Android games go, the problems are that, in spite of the potential, 1] the hardware is too diverse, 2] Google isn’t encouraging and helping developers enough, and 3] Android updates are somewhat unpredictable.

the good

First, games sales are improving for Android. And January and February of 2010 saw 1200 new games in the Android Market.

Android games are seeing higher-quality games, but it’s still dominated by casual games. Gameloft recently announced some new games for Android devices, and many look good, at least.

But Gameloft isn’t currently selling these through the Android Market, though they said that they would.

Games like Crusade of Destiny holds promise as a 3D RPG with some interesting controls.

Another bit of good news is that, with Android 2.2, owners can play Flash games on their phones, and sites like Kongregate are prepared to support them. In fact, I have an early version 2.2 and have found the Flash games to work well, at least for those with appropriate controls for a handheld.

the bad

The fragmented OS and hardware is known. But here are other significant issues.

• The Android Market has too few gaming categories: Action & Arcade, Casual, Brains & Puzzle, and Card & Casino. Can you say ‘casual gaming’?  The lack of meaningful categories alone makes browsing games daunting. Sure, you can sort by ‘top paid,’ ‘top free’ and ‘recent,’ but still you see either the same titles from week to week or titles with no comments, reviews, or screen shots.
• the android gaming community is almost non-existent. You’ll see an Android gaming article here and there, when there’s a big player. You’ll see mostly the same games in searches for ‘best android games.’  There are some Android game sites and blogs, but they tend to post infrequently or sparse reviews.  Other mobile games sites seem to see nothing but iPhone. It’s a circular problem–without a good community, it’s hard to know what’s new or interesting. But without good games and good support for them, it’s hard to develop a community.
• Too many games are ports or tweak PC or Flash game mechanics and design. Like the Wii and DS, gamers have seen that when developers create games for the platform, mindful of its advantages and disadvantages, they can create good games that stand out. But so far, I’m finding that DS homebrew games are more interesting than what I’m seeing for Android phones. I bought de Blob for Android. While it is a beautiful game, the controls seemed awkward. I couldn’t get the hang of the tilt controls, and using my finger just got in the way of seeing the screen.
• Android uses Java programming, something that is familiar to many. The Android SDK is even free. Yet, I’m not seeing the kind of passion that I’ve seen in homebrew and indie gaming. The comments on this Gamasutra article illuminate some of the reasons for that.

so, now what

While gaming might be one reason to buy an iPhone or the iTouch XL, games are not really a selling point right now for Android phones. True, you can find a few that you can play, that are nice to have.

I’m not giving up my phone anytime soon, so I’ll continue to explore Android games. The fact remains that Android phones are becoming a larger segment of the phone market and that the Android app growth continues. I’ve come to read Android Game Reviews and Droid Gamers on a regular basis, and I hope to see more such consistent, dedicated sites. Recent game releases like the Gameloft games, Art of War 2, Mystique are encouraging, not just for their graphics but their depth.

Sometimes, I think Sony thinks that they can succeed without customers because it seems clear that Sony doesn’t think about them much.

You see, they’ve announced that they won’t offer conversions for UMD conversions to those gamers who want to ‘upgrade’ from a PSP 1000/2000/3000 to the PSP Go. The PSP Go offers no significant upgrades from the 3000 other than the 16GB of internal memory. So, why would a current PSP owner buy the PSP Go? I’ve seen people who said that they might, that they like the small form and the enhanced storage.

The PSP Go, then, seems like something just for new PSP owners, at best. But at a higher price tag, the UMD PSPs seem like better deals, to which you can always add memory for storing downloaded games, if Sony stops UMD games altogether. The slimmer design is appealing, but when gamers moved from the DS Phat to the DS Lite, they didn’t have to give up their game library.

If the European response is any indication, consumers are saying PSP Go Away.

While I don’t have a PSP, I’ve come close to buying one, but the PSP 3000 update just doesn’t make a lot of sense. Yes, the microphone and improved graphics are nice. But the PSP suffers a problem more acute than the one the Wii is criticized often for — lots of hardware sales but its software sales are very low. For the most recent attach rate data that I’ve seen, the PSP has the lowest attach rate of any platform. In FY 2007, the PSP software sales dropped.

The PSP is a great platform that’s just not having the kind of software you would think it deserves. In fact, the PSP releases for the rest of 2008 make some think the system’s near end-of-life.

I don’t think the PSP is a failure, but I think it suffers an identity crisis. The DS has had three things, at least, that has made it succeed:

1. It’s a game console, not a multimedia unit competing with iPods and phones.
2. It’s cheap to develop for while having unique features [mic, dual screen, and touch screen].
3. It’s a relatively inexpensive system.

I think it’s point 2, though, that might be the most critical for the PSP, because it’s ensured the DS has a huge game library, even if it includes, like the PS2, a lot of shovelware.

The odd thing is that, given its specs, the PSP is capable of having a much longer life, which is what I would think Sony would be working hard to promote. The features of the 3000 just leave me baffled for the gamers–the mic is promoted as a feature for Skype while the LCD improves outdoor playing. Maybe it’s because I live in the furnace that is Dallas, Texas, but I just don’t see many folks playing a PSP, let alone outside.

Nintendo seems very focused on gamers. Sony, not so much.