I tried the 3ds at best buy earlier today

[Dumac]

Are people really considering phones with appstores gaming platforms?

There isn't a single good game in all the library of any phone. Trust me, I've done a lot of exploration of this area...

 

[SAWYER]

The problem with a display unit at Best Buy is going to be that you have to be holding it pretty close to your face and at a straight on angle for the 3D effect to work particularly well. Since Best Buy has them setup well below you, you're both too far away from the screen and at a poor angle to view it properly.

Though I agree the 3D effect is gimmicky anyway, though is kind of cool just in the sense that it's 3D without glasses.

I was able to move it, it was tethered and the 3d simply was not impressive imo

 

[wuliheron]

Are people really considering phones with appstores gaming platforms?

There isn't a single good game in all the library of any phone. Trust me, I've done a lot of exploration of this area...

It'll take awhile, but it will happen as the hardware becomes cheaper. All those Nintendos and whatnot out there aren't really selling hardware so much as games and the hardware they develop is just to make it possible for them to sell more games. Within five to ten years phones capable of playing Crysis should be possible. In the meantime indie developers are already moving into the market big time and the existing portable gaming manufacturers will either follow suit or get left behind.

Inevitably phones will be like calculators today. The original calculators cost $800.oo, weighed a ton, plugged into the wall, and could only add, subtract, multiply, and divide. Now you can buy one cheap anywhere that is solar powered and does more math then most people know how to use. For a gaming phone the only real limitation is the size of the screen.

 

[waggy]

i played one today at best buy too. Played pilot wings. it was fun and the 3d effect was neat.

but i will wait for it to drop in price. i have a DSiXL if/when they come up with a large one like the XL in the 3d then maybe i will get it.

 

[Dumac]

For a gaming phone the only real limitation is the size of the screen.

Don't forget input controls. No phone I've seen has satisfactory input mechanisms. The dpads always suck, or they use crappy touchscreens.

Not to mention that with the increase of graphical prowess, mobile games are starting to go more 3D, and therefore need analog sticks, which phones will never have.

 

[BD2003]

Are people really considering phones with appstores gaming platforms?

There isn't a single good game in all the library of any phone. Trust me, I've done a lot of exploration of this area...

I can easily name a dozen that are more than worth the money, that satisfy my gaming itch when and where I'd actually want to portable game. Very few of them would compare to a "real" DS game, but that's not really the point.

 

[wuliheron]

Don't forget input controls. No phone I've seen has satisfactory input mechanisms. The dpads always suck, or they use crappy touchscreens.

Not to mention that with the increase of graphical prowess, mobile games are starting to go more 3D, and therefore need analog sticks, which phones will never have.

Yeah, but those are problems someone might eventually find ways around. Not that I'm holding my breath mind you...

 

[skace]

i played one today at best buy too. Played pilot wings. it was fun and the 3d effect was neat.

but i will wait for it to drop in price. i have a DSiXL if/when they come up with a large one like the XL in the 3d then maybe i will get it.

I have the XL also, it's impossible to go backwards from it =/

 

[frumply]

It'll take awhile, but it will happen as the hardware becomes cheaper. All those Nintendos and whatnot out there aren't really selling hardware so much as games and the hardware they develop is just to make it possible for them to sell more games. Within five to ten years phones capable of playing Crysis should be possible. In the meantime indie developers are already moving into the market big time and the existing portable gaming manufacturers will either follow suit or get left behind.

And how are devs going to recoup costs for $.99 Crysis? Those phones/tablets have already proved themselves as somewhat of a gaming platform in my mind, but it's virtually impossible to weed out the good games from the rest once you go below the top 5 or so, and in my experience it hasn't been worth wasting the time to try out the majority of those pared-down games.

I can see Apple eventually leashing off premium gaming content for 20-30dollars, courting devs that actually put more effort into a game than a 1hr time-killer. At that point, though, I may as well play it on a genuine handheld or a console. I love my iphone and my ipad2, but gaming devices they certainly still are not. Tactile feedback on capacitive screens (which I do believe is coming right around the corner) is going to be needed for this to really happen.

 

[SandEagle]

played with a 3DS today again at Gamestop. it was tethered but you could pick it up all the way to your face. they had a Street Fighter IV 3D demo in it. I was blown away by how great the 3D looked on this game. i am definitely picking up one soon. nintendo has once again redefined the gaming world and others will follow along with 3D soon enough

 

[Krakn3Dfx]

played with a 3DS today again at Gamestop. it was tethered but you could pick it up all the way to your face. they had a Street Fighter IV 3D demo in it. I was blown away by how great the 3D looked on this game. i am definitely picking up one soon. nintendo has once again redefined the gaming world and others will follow along with 3D soon enough

Yep, Street Fighter was what really impressed me more than any other game I've seen, especially at the quarter screen angle, which makes the game pretty much unplayable, but it looks really good getting your ass kicked. 🙂

 

[wuliheron]

And how are devs going to recoup costs for $.99 Crysis? Those phones/tablets have already proved themselves as somewhat of a gaming platform in my mind, but it's virtually impossible to weed out the good games from the rest once you go below the top 5 or so, and in my experience it hasn't been worth wasting the time to try out the majority of those pared-down games.

I can see Apple eventually leashing off premium gaming content for 20-30dollars, courting devs that actually put more effort into a game than a 1hr time-killer. At that point, though, I may as well play it on a genuine handheld or a console. I love my iphone and my ipad2, but gaming devices they certainly still are not. Tactile feedback on capacitive screens (which I do believe is coming right around the corner) is going to be needed for this to really happen.

Like I said, it won't happen overnight.

Again, the portable gaming market is ultimately about selling games. The only reason they can produce expensive proprietary hardware is because the technology is immature and people want to play their games. As the technology matures over the next decade you'll see more phones that can rival the performance of dedicated gaming devices.

Now imagine a future where such things are dirt cheap. It's your phone, internet connection, gameboy, alarm clock, calculator, and whatever else such a small device can be. Instead of companies producing expensive handheld portable gaming devices that almost nobody will buy they'll be forced to produce games that can run on any phone. Instead of a few million copies of a game sold, it will be billions in some cases.

 

[Powermoloch]

I'm impressed with Nintendo's implementation of their 3DS

 

[Jeffg010]

http://www.pocketlegends.com/
The best game out there for the IPOD touch is pocket legends. It is anther MMO like WoW but not quite as good but I am very impressed and it is very addictive. I put in 50+ hours on this game. The only real problem so far is you have to have a good WIFI connection. I only play at my house because of the WIFI. There are good games and it will only get better as time goes on.

I'm going to say that apple will over take the hand held market. The thing about the DS was that I can't go and download a new in like 5 mins like I can for the IPOD. I found myself after I got board of a game that I world no longer play the DS for extended amount of time because to get a new game I had to run to the store or order a new game on line and it was just to much work. With the touch I can jump on line and have 5 new games in about 15 mins that cost much less then a DS game.

 

[PieIsAwesome]

Tried it today, the 3D actually works pretty well. You have to get the system at the right distance and adjust the little 3D slider until everything looks as perfect as possible. Once everything is set up correctly, it actually looks pretty awesome. The 3D effect is like looking into a window, it gave no noticeable eyestrain, or obvious blurring or other artifacts. Maybe if I gave it more time to look for the flaws, I would find them, but I was able to play comfortably for a few minutes in store without noticing any problems.

The analog stick works nicely too. I didn't fight with it or anything, it was almost like using a real analog stick. Certainly not like the incredibly awful nub on the PSP.

 

[Karstein]

Here's a bit of a fail by Nintendo (if accurate) - I was on a flight back to LA yesterday and at the beginning they specifically announced that you can't use the 3DS at any time during the flight since you can't turn wi-fi off on it. I don't have one, but is it really true that you can't?

 

[Ross Ridge]

Here's a bit of a fail by Nintendo (if accurate) - I was on a flight back to LA yesterday and at the beginning they specifically announced that you can't use the 3DS at any time during the flight since you can't turn wi-fi off on it. I don't have one, but is it really true that you can't?

There is switch for turning off WiFi, so they're wrong. Worse, telling passengers not to use their 3DSes won't stop the devices from using WiFi. Even when folded up and in your pocket the 3DS will still use WiFi if StreetPass is enabled and the WiFi switch isn't turned off.

So, it's not bit of a fail by Nintendo, it's a bigger fail by your airline.

 

[techforums]

I got a big kick out of the ar cards.

 

[smartpatrol]

The 3D is a neat gimmick, but you have to keep your head and the 3DS perfectly still or you lose it. I honestly can't see myself putting in long gaming sessions with the 3D turned on.

Not that I will be getting a 3DS any time soon. I'm not exactly impressed with the lineup of games so far.

 

[hdeck]

i played it this weekend at best buy. the 3d is definitely just a gimmick to sell it.

 

[exar333]

It was OK, but definitely only worth what the DS was previously selling for (~$130.00). The 3D effect was (at best) good and more often than not 'meh'. Definitely a rip-off for the $$$.

 

[Soundmanred]

I'm not into it, but I'm not into 3D as a whole.
I like my DS, but didn't like having to get used to playing some games with the stylus. I prefer the old style controls, so playing Zelda (Phantom Hourglass) with a stylus just didn't feel right to me.
I love technology, but the gimmicky type stuff I just don't enjoy.

 

[Spoooon]

I had a chance to play with one last weekend. I don't know, I thought it was pretty cool. I don't think I could swing 250 for one, but once the price drops a bit, I'm definitely getting one.

 

[alent1234]

Are people really considering phones with appstores gaming platforms?

There isn't a single good game in all the library of any phone. Trust me, I've done a lot of exploration of this area...

not as good as the consoles but there are some good ones

Chaos Rings by Square Enix wasn't bad. FF3 is on sale in the app store. gameloft has a lot of highly reviewed games. angry birds is a cult. EA has their sports games in the app store. Lucas arts is in the app store with the monkey island series and some others.

the gaming only consoles are going the way of the dodo bird. way too expensive and the hardware is essentially the same as smartphones and the ipod touch. sony and nintendo were just too dumb not to add to the software and have people use them for email, pda's and other tasks and let apple sneak into the market

 

[smartpatrol]

Smartphone games don't have to be equal in quality to the dedicated handheld consoles in order to replace them. They just have to be good enough for people to say "screw it, I'm not spending extra money and carrying around a dedicated gaming device with me."

And no, not all smartphone games have to be $0.99 pieces of junk. I have WP7 phone and it has Xbox Live-enabled games that are definitely "premium" compared to typical smartphone games. They're usually around $5 and are very full-featured and polished. games like Ilomilo, The Harvest, and Need for Speed are extremely impressive.

I'm not sure whether smartphone/tablet gaming will ever completely displace handheld consoles, but they are already taking over a chunk of the market, and it's rapidly growing. For this reason IMO we will never see another handheld console that even approaches the success of the original DS.