The Future of Portable Gaming?

games: The Future of Portable Gaming?

August 29 2008 | WilHarris

Two years ago, Nintendo released the DS Lite, the slimmer, more svelte cousin to the original DS. It has since become the main product of the DS family, which has sold more than 77 million units worldwide.

Recently, Sony has brought out the PSP-3000, similar in design and model to the previous Slim and Lite. However, new features include an improved LCD screen, a built-in microphone, and expanded video-out, which it has been highly praised for.

Where does this leave the portable gaming industry, constantly bringing out revisions of old products? Making thinner, brighter, lighter versions of their elders whilst keeping compatibility? As in all industries, eventually everything will move forward - but in this case, where will things move?

The PSP family has now sold over 41 million units Worldwide, with the DS easily outselling it with 77 million units, pushing it’s ‘fun’ factor. I think that any new competitor which makes it to the forefront will also need to use more interactive features, capturing the users imagination - akin to the way the Wii is winning out against the PS3 and Xbox 360.

In many ways gaming seems to be less and less irrelevant in these portable gaming systems! The PSP is now a fully functioning media platform, whilst the iPhone - although not a dedicated gaming machine - is an exciting new prospect for indie developers. The DS is the only one staying with purely gaming.

So is gaming the future of portable gaming, or shall media play a larger part than expected, and where does the hardware go from here? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

-Robert Day

comments

VoodooHack

August 29th, 2008 - 2:26pm

I’m a firm believer that portable electronics, gaming devices included, are moving toward being an all-in-one devices. The term “convergence” has been bandied about for years now on the CES floor, and we are seeing that thought come to fruition.

We see that with the PS3 and Xbox 360 as both are leaning more and more toward being one stop shop for digital entertainment in the living room. In terms of portables, as you mention, devices like the PSP and iPhone lend credence to the notion of convergence as well.

Nintendo has traditionally balked at anything outside of gaming because, well, gaming is what they’re good at. However, I believe future iterations of their consoles and handhelds will have more features outside of gaming.

So what’s up with portable gaming? It’s not going anywhere. It’s just going to sit aside other features on a given device

KatharineFletcher

August 29th, 2008 - 4:04pm

I think we’re already seeing some moves towards broader applications on the DS, but in a different way. For a few years now I’ve noticed occasional murmurings about using the DS in schools as a teaching aid (eg this Kotaku story from two years back about English vocab builders http://kotaku.com/gaming/ds/japanese-children-studying-with-ds-at-school-209279.php). Also Jam Sessions was marketed not only as a game but as a tool, described as a scratch pad for budding composers. I can’t really see the DS turning into a phone or media player any time soon, but the change to a broader ‘lifestyle’ mentality is there in the software.

In terms of the convergence of devices, it will be interesting to see what happens to sales of the PSP after PlayTV is released.

VoodooHack

August 29th, 2008 - 4:32pm

The DS, as you said, has done phenomenally well with their shift toward non-games and casual shovelware (sorry, had to get my dig in).

But whether with hardware or software, the lines are being blurred, games to non-games with the DS, non-games to games with the iPhone.

As a geek, it’s exciting to witness. As a gamer, I’m a little disheartened at even the prospect of resources being diverted to make a DS Data Entry Simulator instead of another Zelda.