A wish to bring more light back to handheld gaming
Hey guys!
So this is odd. It's May and it's my first post this year. Well... happy new year and all?
There have been a lot of dying things within the world of gaming. Starcraft is perhaps no longer just dying but rather, pretty dead. Handheld gaming is another dying part of the gaming industry... or wait? What the hell am I saying? Isn't handheld gaming possibly the largest part of gaming, in a way. People play games on their phones all the time, even people who normally wouldn't conform to the label "gamer" or "nerd".
What I mean when I say handheld gaming is perhaps its older definition; gaming on any portable device that is not your phone. This, older, type of handheld gaming is quite dead. Why? Well, phones, duh. It's an old, outdated version of handheld gaming that I would argue needs a resurrection. Why? BecauseIamoldnowandeverythingshouldbethewayitusedtobe!! ?? No. Not quite. I'm not even saying new handheld consoles should be made (although I would probably see that as the best solution), no, I'm saying: make better handheld games.
So if we come back to the present day and incorporate phones in the "handheld" category, handheld gaming is not what it used to be. I'm not saying the game boy is the ultimate handheld console, I'm just saying since 2012-somewhere... things just started tumbling down.
Today, the mobile industry has taken over so much and it's constantly creating these free apps with never-ending gameplay just to get you hooked and keep playing. They construct games that you want to play when you're waiting for the bus, when you're on the toilet or even when you're at work. And this is ruining the industry!
Free never-ending games are fun (and they are not the devil) but they shouldn't comprise 90 % of the market. To be fair, I thought the latest release of a handheld console was in 2011/2012 with the 3DS/3DS XL and PS Vita but it turns out that Nintendo released a "NEW 3DS XL" in 2014... which by the name sounds to be more of an update than something actually new. That's just a guess though. But since 2012 not much has happened, that's for sure. Yes, games are still being released but the major ones are Mario, Pokemon and the LEGO-series (for Nintendo) or games unheard of like Dragon Quest Builder and Severed (for PS). Where are the actually good games that are not being made to sell on their name (Nintendo) or be bought on random because no one's heard of them anyway (PS). I was completely thrilled to see an Ace Attorney game being released this year. Where are all those games? Where are the budgeted, good-looking and enjoyable (for different ages) types of games?
As I said, if the industry wants to focus on mobile and nobody is making new handheld consoles (this really breaks my heart) then at least put money and effort in the mobile games you are making. If utilized well, the touch screen is a great tool and so much could be done. Handheld games have been marketed heavily to children and secondly to women (after the game boys at least...) and I do not see why the developers aren't going for a broader market. Handheld gaming is awesome. The consoles are easy to bring and are far more fun to bring on a train ride than those repetitive phone games.
I say: resurrect that platform!
So this is odd. It's May and it's my first post this year. Well... happy new year and all?
There have been a lot of dying things within the world of gaming. Starcraft is perhaps no longer just dying but rather, pretty dead. Handheld gaming is another dying part of the gaming industry... or wait? What the hell am I saying? Isn't handheld gaming possibly the largest part of gaming, in a way. People play games on their phones all the time, even people who normally wouldn't conform to the label "gamer" or "nerd".
What I mean when I say handheld gaming is perhaps its older definition; gaming on any portable device that is not your phone. This, older, type of handheld gaming is quite dead. Why? Well, phones, duh. It's an old, outdated version of handheld gaming that I would argue needs a resurrection. Why? BecauseIamoldnowandeverythingshouldbethewayitusedtobe!! ?? No. Not quite. I'm not even saying new handheld consoles should be made (although I would probably see that as the best solution), no, I'm saying: make better handheld games.
So if we come back to the present day and incorporate phones in the "handheld" category, handheld gaming is not what it used to be. I'm not saying the game boy is the ultimate handheld console, I'm just saying since 2012-somewhere... things just started tumbling down.
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| From http://ps-vita.blogspot.se/2013/10/ps-vita-vs-smartphones-future-of.html |
Today, the mobile industry has taken over so much and it's constantly creating these free apps with never-ending gameplay just to get you hooked and keep playing. They construct games that you want to play when you're waiting for the bus, when you're on the toilet or even when you're at work. And this is ruining the industry!
Free never-ending games are fun (and they are not the devil) but they shouldn't comprise 90 % of the market. To be fair, I thought the latest release of a handheld console was in 2011/2012 with the 3DS/3DS XL and PS Vita but it turns out that Nintendo released a "NEW 3DS XL" in 2014... which by the name sounds to be more of an update than something actually new. That's just a guess though. But since 2012 not much has happened, that's for sure. Yes, games are still being released but the major ones are Mario, Pokemon and the LEGO-series (for Nintendo) or games unheard of like Dragon Quest Builder and Severed (for PS). Where are the actually good games that are not being made to sell on their name (Nintendo) or be bought on random because no one's heard of them anyway (PS). I was completely thrilled to see an Ace Attorney game being released this year. Where are all those games? Where are the budgeted, good-looking and enjoyable (for different ages) types of games?
As I said, if the industry wants to focus on mobile and nobody is making new handheld consoles (this really breaks my heart) then at least put money and effort in the mobile games you are making. If utilized well, the touch screen is a great tool and so much could be done. Handheld games have been marketed heavily to children and secondly to women (after the game boys at least...) and I do not see why the developers aren't going for a broader market. Handheld gaming is awesome. The consoles are easy to bring and are far more fun to bring on a train ride than those repetitive phone games.
I say: resurrect that platform!
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