19/12/2016

Pondering portable gaming prospects (1)


Portable gaming has been my holy land ever since I started playing video games. From Game&Watches to my beloved Gameboy to my expectation-shattering Vita, I've seen portable gaming evolve in ways I could never have imagined when I first laid my thumb on a D-pad. And right now, after more than twenty-five years of portable gaming growth, we are standing at a crossroad. An ominous crossroad, shall I say, because it will determine whether portable gaming as we currently know it will endure or disappear. And boy, wouldn't that be a pity to see portable gaming disappear now that it finally managed to reach its peak after years spent in the shadow of home console gaming.

Indeed, it took portable gaming quite a bit of time to mature and reach its full bloom. Portable consoles were initially low-fi versions of their more popular and flashier home counterparts, with game libraries made of downgraded versions of more popular and flashier home consoles games. Game releases were usually simultaneous, with each home console game getting its budget, barren equivalent on portable consoles. Home console gaming was running the game (indeed) at the time, with portable gaming following suit as a mere extensionor as an afterthough in some cases. Exclusive portable games were few and far between, and they either took their cues from home console gaming or were conceived as experiments that would have cost too much to produce on home consoles. (Think Final Fantasy Legend II or the original Pokemon Red and Green for examples of such safe bets.)

Things started to change with the Gameboy Color. At the time of its release, home console games had become too advanced to be squeezed into portable cartridges, be it with a lot of downgrading. The Gameboy Color and portable gaming as a whole had to find a new avenue if they wanted to keep striving and prosperingor even if they wanted to survive full stop. The genius solution at the time was to turn to NES ports and remakes from the former gaming generations, peppered with a couple of exclusive games blatantly inspired by 16-bit gaming. This potent mix worked as a charm and allowed the Gameboy Color to enjoy a decent lifetime; but most importantly, it instigated the separation between home console gaming and portable gaming and paved the way for an independant brand of portable gaming that would be a viable alternative to home console gaming.

The Gameboy Advance solidified these advancements and took portable gaming even further away from its home console counterpart. Retro gaming was growing in popularity at the time, and the GBA cleverly surfed the nostalgia wave by offering all at once lush ports and remakes of SNES games and brand-new games that emulated 16-bit era gaming. It's no coincidence that the GBA has been dubbed "the SNES emulator"; its whole library is basically one giant homage to 16-bit home console gaming. This planted the idea that portable gaming was somehow bound to hark back to older gaming eras and to revive dead gaming trends; and oh boy, did it indeed do so in the years that followed the GBA's retirement.

Let's face it: the last twelve years have been the Halcyon Days of portable gaming. We're talking about the seventh and eighth generation of consoles here, and they saw portable gaming reach its full maturity and peak as a gaming trend, with more dedicated systems and games to choose from than ever before. 2004 marked the glorious release of both the DS and PSP, two systems that would be instrumental in making portable console gaming its own glorious entity. They introduced a staggering variety of gaming genres and gaming experiences, from convincing copies of AAA games to much more niche games and everything in between, without forgetting remakes and ports from former generations. Even better, they actually revived genres that were dead and buried, such as hardcore 2D platformers and first-person dungeon crawlers. No console under the gaming sun can claim a gaming library as wide and varied as the DS' and PSP's ones, which span every single gaming genre and subgenre ever created.

Two consoles come very close though, and that's obviously the 3DS and the Vita. The proud successors to the DS and PSP refined the thriving unique brand of portable gaming established by their elders by getting rid of most of the shovelware that plagued the DS and PSP gaming libraries and focusing on genres that portable gamers lapped up and wanted to play more of. The Vita throwed itself into niche gaming full force and became the unofficial haven and refuge for all games quircky, nichey, fan-servicey and budgety; as for the 3DS, it gave gamers more of what they wanted to play the most by releasing lovingly crafted entries of the most successful DS series and ditching less popular franchises without a second thought. Remakes and ports were still going strong, keeping alive the portable gaming tradition of maintaining fruitful ties to the pastalthough at that point, they were starting to feel more like quick cash-ins than like shout-outs to former gaming eras. The 3DS and Vita offered a wide variety of games while keeping an sharper eye on quality control; their gaming libraries are like upgraded and honed versions of their predecessors' ones, in which only the best gaming formulas have been kept and fine-tuned until they become the creme de la creme.

These glorious and peaceful days of portable gaming may be about to come to an end, though. As I mentioned before, we are standing at a crossroad, and the next years will determine the fate of portable gaming. The question is: will portable gaming as we currently know it endure? Will it maintain its nichey, budgety aspect, its staggering variety and its independance from home console gaming, or will it be absorbed by stronger gaming trends and dissolve entirely, leaving nothing behind but fond memories and dusty cartridges coveted by wistful retro gamers? As Nintendo is about to unleash an all-in-one console upon the world and Sony is planning no successor for the Vita, it's now time for informed speculations regarding the future of the brand of portable gaming that we currently know and love.

And you know what, dear fellow gamers? I'll actually unroll these informed speculations in another post, because this one is getting close to being dangerously stuffy. You won't have to wait long though, because the whole thing is pretty much mapped out in my head as I'm writing. I'll see you very soon for the end of my portable gaming musings, dear fellow gamers! Thanks for reading, and be my guest anytime!

12 comments:

  1. I see you're also pondering the future of our favourite gaming niches.

    I admit I am worried, very very worried, and I still think it all comes down to the price of the games. And I think for the first few years of the switch, we will still see some niche games, as the developers that used to give us those experiences on the previous handhelds will give at least one go on the switch and some developers just cannot deliver a console experience. But their success will purely be determined on price, I believe. I mean, I'm perfectly willing to pay 40 bucks for a game like Moco Moco Friends just to try it out for its unique aesthetic, and not be too disappointed if it's not that good. But 70-80 bucks? Yeah, no.

    So I think the future is entirely dependent on the greed of the companies. Because we know the switch will be a success. I know it's callous to say that after the Wii U, but the switch is not just the successor to the Wii U. It's also the successor to the 3DS and DS, which have been very successful and probably the only reason Nintendo managed to keep afloat so well after the Wii U disaster. There's no doubt in my mind that the 3DS owners will move over to the switch. Because where else are they going to go? Most handheld lovers hate mobile games and Sony seems to be going out of the handheld game. I'd wager many Vita lovers will eventually get a switch too, especially if the RPG experiences that we love so much on the Vita move over to the switch (which, going by the Dark Souls 3 and Dragon Quest IX rumors, there's a good chance that they will).

    So I know that a huge part of the Switch supporters will be the same as the handheld supporters. The same supporters that have loved and supported those niche franchises. So even if the people who expect console only experiences get mad at the "tinier" games, there will be enough people to support them regardless. IF, and only if, the prices don't change. So that's my main concern.

    BUT, I have realized something that I forgot about before: the indie scene on the PS4. As a PS4 owner now, I've realized that the scene is incredibly popular and supported by most of the PS4 fanbase, a fanbase that I saw as a more "hardcore" base that didn't value such experiences as much. But nope, a lot of indie games flourish on the PS4. And they have varied prices. From 5 to 30 bucks. And even triple AAA games have more varied prices now. The new Ratchet and Clank game (the remaster of the first one), came out costing 40 on the store. The Crash bandicoot remake is also coming out at the same price and that remaster has THREE games in it. My jaw pretty much dropped, I was fully expecting them to charge at least 70 bucks.

    So even in the the triple AAA scene we are starting to see some variety in price. Just not on the shooters and open world games, which I don't care about. Another niche game coming out to the PS4, Birthdays the Beginning (it's by the creator of Harvest Moon), is available for pre-order for 40 bucks. So that makes me hopeful.

    The only genre that seems stubborn regarding stupidly high price tags on consoles is RPG games. The new sword art game on PS4: 70 bucks. On Vita: 40 bucks. World of Final Fantasy: 40 on Vita, 60 on PS4. These are the same damn games! And I know for a fact world of final fantasy is not worth 60 bucks. And never in a million years will sword art online be worth 70 bucks. No way, no how.

    So yeah, in the end I'm still worried, since we are both primarily RPG players. My only hope is that the rumored Pokemon Stars on the switch (the port of Sun and Moon), comes out for 40, 50 bucks at the most. That could set the precedent for other RPGs on the system. Otherwise it's back to waiting for the price to drop on ebay for me. I don't mind, but since the first week of sales is the most important one for a game's success, that won't help my beloved games at all.

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    1. Price is definitely going to be a key point, because I can't imagine long-time portable gamers forking out 60 to 80 euros or dollars for games similar to what they used to get for half that price on older systems. Heck, I know I certainly won't do it, despite the fact that I have quite a large budget when it comes to gaming; so people that are operating on a tight gaming budget will simply be left out of the equation.

      We can only hope that the Switch will offer a wide variety of gaming styles as well as prices, which is actually quite possible given the precedent set by the PS4. Of course, that may mean less physical releases for budget niche games, and I can't say I'm happy about this... But that would be a topic for another post.

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    2. Yeah....physical copies will definitly go the way of the dodo for the niche. We've seen that happen already with the Vita with some of its largest games, especially in the EU. The only thing that has saved it is NISA and their love of limited physical editions. But those were some of the Vita's biggest games. Smaller games will definitely be digital only.

      My solution will be to buy two consoles: one as my main console and the other as the console I will hack. Not only is this needed for the awesome fan translations that will comes after the console dies, but sadly this is the only guaranteed way to archive your purchases. Because if for some reason your account gets erased, there goes all your games, nevermind the service shutting down eventually or games getting pulled from the store with no warning.

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    3. Having an extra hacked console full of roms to keep holding on games after the PSN disappears (because it sure will at some point) is a great idea. I'll definitely do that with one of my backup Vitas when the time is ripe.

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  2. Also, off topic, but those GBA SPs look so beautiful. I ignored the GBA in its heyday despite having one, and never upgraded to the SP. I blame it on me being a tasteless kid at the time. I only fell deep in love with handheld games thanks to the DS in my teenage years. I have a huge GBA game library now, but I play them on my DS Lite. I'd love to get an SP as they look gorgeous and comfortable to use (and have a backight! my #1 complaint about the GBA), but they go by so much money now that I can't justify buying one, especially in a colour I like. Sadly, I'm not able to afford being a console collector. But it sure is nice to ogle them for afar.

    Speaking of that, I wonder if the switch will have colour options? I don't like the black colour of it. I'm fine with my plain black Vita and PSP, but the switch just does not look good to me. It looks less....sleek? Plus a plain nintendo console is just sad to me.

    Well, if it's anything like the DS, 3DS and Vita we will have some limited editions of the console when some big games come out, so I guess for the first time in my life I might invest in one of those editions. Yet another reason to wait.

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    1. Rejoice, for you didn't miss out on an amazing model after all! SP models look like delicious glossy candies, but they are actually pretty uncomfortable to play. The D-pad is too flat and the whole system is way too narrow, and all this leads to a LOT of cramping. It's actually so bad that I nearly pondered purchasing the original model, until the ridiculously high prices and the feeling of dread generated by the mere though of needing to use batteries again deterred me from undertaking that endeavour. But I really wanted to, trust me. Nowadays, I only use my SPs to play Gameboy and Gameboy Color games, because I don't really have the choice; as for GBA games, I play them all on my DS lite and enjoy them ten times more than on the SP.

      Oh, I so hope that there will be special editions and different colours. If I purchase a Switch, I will definitely try to go for a white model, because I'm a sucker for white consoles. They feel so pristine and sophisticated, especially when then comes with colour names such as "ice white" or "pearl white".

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    2. Really, the SP sucks? But they look so comfortable..then again the 3DS, who looks totally fine as a handheld, also has its fair number of issues that decrease its comfort while playing as we have discussed in the past. But for it to be so bad, eek, glad I didn't fork out 120 euros for one.

      The sad thing is, if it weren't for the lack of a backlight, my original GBA would be perfect. It still works perfectly after like, 15 years. But due to the lack of a backlight I only use it for GB games, quite a shame. But then again, Nintendo systems seem to always have some flaw in design, except for the DS. For me that system is perfection, and after 8 years of constant use, it still works like a dream. I haven't even had to switch the battery on the thing.

      And speaking of batteries, don't even remind me of them. The only thing I have that uses them anymore is my Wii remote, and the damn thing sucks batteries like a starving vampire, even when I'm not using it. Ugh, how I wish the Switch would have some sort of motion control so most of the Wii library could be ported to it. Nintendo said that it's looking to make a lot of gamecube games available for it in the digital store (and that the existing ones on it are compatible with the switch), but due to the stupid control scheme they can't do the same to a lot of Wii and Wii U games.

      (Yet another reason to hate stupid gimmicks. This is not an issue with the PS4 who has had the same controls for forever, they just have to get the rights for the games, do a simple port job where they up the resolution and bam, game ported. I imagine that 3DS games will also be hard to port to a virtual console due to the 3D crap, whereas if the switch has touch controls it will be easy to port DS games. Stupid gimmicks.)

      Isn't it weird that so far we haven't even seen a simple white version of the switch? That's the colour I've come to associate plain Nintendo consoles in for the past 10 years. Black is the colour for Sony, but yet the switch has only been seen in an icky gray/black colour combo so far. So weird. I hope a cool limited edition comes soon after launch, or that they something like they did with the N3DS and its cover plates, because I don't see myself using a console like that anymore.

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    3. Yeah, I hope that the version of the Switch shown in the trailer is just some kind of half-baked prototype and that the real thing will have some colour options. That mix of grey and black looks so totally dull... Come on Ninty, I'm sure you can do better than that.

      As a matter of fact, I absolutely hated the Switch trailer as well. It feels artificial and forced, and most of the playing options look truly uncomfortable. Ugh, these tiny detachable controllers! I can feel my hands cramping just looking at these two guys playing the Switch from the back of a car. The whole thing looks utterly stupid, all the more so as this is yet another gimmick that will probably be ignored entirely by developers.

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    4. Well, we all Nintendo can't resist almost useless gimmicks. Not to mention that, again Nintendo? As a Wii owner, I can say that TV remote shaped controls are crap, crap I tell you. So much crap that it almost ruins the otherwise fun Pokepark games, playing the mini-games with the controller on the horizontal position is horrible. And now they give us an even smaller version of the wii remote? I have tiny hands for a girl and that crap looks majorly uncomfortable even to me. I can't even imagine how bad it will be for manly hands.

      Now that I think about it, I'm also concerned over how comfortable the whole thing will be to hold, especially when your hands will have to rest on those controllers. I'm guessing Nintendo is banking on the whole "put it on a table like a tablet instead" thing to bail them out of the complaints, but I want to play on my bed. Not on my secretary.

      And yeah, cringy Nintendo commercial as usual. At least it actually shows how the Switch works fairly well (no mention of touchscreen though), unlike the Wii U commercials.

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    5. Oh no they can't, even if that involves wasting money and focus on things that don't bring anything tangible to the gameplay experience and sometimes totally ruin it. I'm not a fan of the Starfox franchise, but the debacle of the WiiU instalment was painful to witness even for me.

      I don't like much the idea that controllers will be detachable, to be honest. That means possible connexion issues on the long run as well as possible loss of the things; all that for the sake of a gimmick that will be used in a handful of games before being forgotten entirely. That's quite a crappy bargain, if you ask me.

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    6. Yeah, I'm also concerned about the controllers eventually becoming loose and coming off while you're playing it in handheld mode. Or just keep disconnecting like you said. This might take years of use, but like I said, I have had my DS my GBA for years and I still use them. I take good care of my things and hence I like them to last for a good long time. Not having to replace them a few years later because of a gimmick I don't use.

      I plan to mitigate the problem (hopefully), by never ever takings the controllers out. I don't plan on even docking the thing at all. But the problem is, the thing is already big enough as it is; not taking out the controllers when I'm not using the console will make it harder to find a nice but convenient storage space, not to mention it will totally kill its portability value. Remember when we talked about how inconvenient the 3DS actually is as a portable device? Well, at least it could fit into a pocket, even the XL versions. This is a 10 inch tablet that will require at least a bag to carry it around; not convenient at all. Now add the controllers to that, since I can't take them out. Yeah. Also, because it looks like a tablet I'm way more scared of it getting stolen than my previous handhelds.

      I doubt I'll ever let the switch leave my house.

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    7. Given that I always play my handhelds at home, I don't worry too much about the portability, or lack of; but that guess that will be a problem for some gamers who are used to carry their systems around. Like, people who play while commuting and the like.

      And there are other potential buyers that will be even more disturbed by the Switch's size and apparent fragility, and that's the parents. Can you imagine putting the Switch between a child's hands? Heck, I know I wouldn't do it. I'm afraid Nintendo will actually lose a portion of the 3DS install base just because of the Switch's kid-unfriendly sophistication.

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