07-20-2006, 02:00 AM
|
|
Developer & Designer, News Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 12,959
|
|
The State of Gaming: Pocket PC vs. PSP
Just this week, Janak and I had a brief chat about the state of gaming on Pocket PCs and dedicated gaming handhelds such as the PSP and DS. Well, it seems like PDAGround.com was eavesdropping, because the site managed to write up an article on the exact topic. The author raised a good deal of the points that Janak and I spoke of, and then some more. Give the article a read and let us know what you think. Would you like to see Windows CE/Mobile become a dedicated gaming platform, and if so, how do you think it would be best achieved? What lessons have we learned from the "pwned" Gizmondo? 
|
| |
|
|
|
07-20-2006, 03:25 AM
|
|
Magi
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 2,386
|
|
I can't speak for the DS which is obviously doing extremely well, but since I purchased my PSP, I can't recall the last time I've even thought of playing a game on my PPC (granted I don't play the PSP that often either, but if I think of portable gaming, it's a no-brainer). I agree with all of the author's comparisons between the games on the two platforms (i.e. - there is no comparison). There would need to be some significant incentive for the big boys to pay attention to the WM platform and polish up the games that could compete.
I'm doubtful a WM-dedicated gaming platform will ever come. It's taken over 15 years for a Nintendo-competitor to even remotely compete against Nintendo on this level the way Sony is competing currently... and I don't see any company outside of Microsoft that could afford to take this kind of risk given that track record.
If there's any glimmer of hope, it's that Microsoft is the only major console gaming manufacterer who hasn't yet ventured seriously into the handheld gaming arena... so perhaps in the future, a portable XBOX could be discussed? I think it would take both Sony and Nintendo opening up a significantly larger market than what we see currently... and both companies would have to exhibit tremendous success before I think Microsoft would consider it.
|
| |
|
|
|
07-20-2006, 03:50 AM
|
|
Intellectual
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 172
|
|
Eh, the PSP's selection is a little bland right now... and the gameplay's nothing special. Graphics are great and all.. they're not everything. My DS is WAY better at gaming than the PocketPC is though - the software selection's there, and the controls are far, far better than that of the D-pad on the Axim or most any other PDA on the market at the moment, the now-defunct Tapwave Zodiac included. The PSP was designed for multimedia and some gaming, just as the DS is designed for gaming and (a little) multimedia... while the PocketPC's main purpose was to carry around a bunch of information and let you do various things with it.
Being honest? WM isn't designed for gaming very well, and most of the Windows CE-based game platforms I can think of (Dreamcast being the main one) have since gone the way of the dodo, primarily because of software (or lack of it). I can't imagine using an Axim the way I'd use a PSP or DS, just as I can't imagine whipping out a PSP or DS during a meeting; they're designed for different things, and people's perceptions of the devices differ because of this. The hardware on the PSP or DS is optimized for gaming in a way that even a top-end PocketPC can only dream about; they usually have dedicated graphics processors which either make the Intel or ATI-based accelerators look sick (see the PSP), or else have more memory available... or at the least have better controls.
Software selection is the key here, along with efficient use of hardware - that's one reason that Nintendo's various portable gaming platforms have done as well as they have; their primary strength has always been the software and the games available, which pushed their platforms to their limits, or else were fun in a way which made solitaire look like... well.. dated. I don't see any games on the PocketPC platform wowing me the way a Final Fantasy game on the PSP or New Super Mario Brothers or Mario Kart DS on the DS do... and to be honest, I wouldn't even TRY playing something like that on an Axim, or any of the currently available platforms.
|
| |
|
|
|
07-20-2006, 03:56 AM
|
|
Neophyte
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 5
|
|
Hey!
Thanx for the link to my article  It is really nice. But... the article was written somwhere in the middle of march. So i think it wasn't good to write that i eavesdroped you :P
|
| |
|
|
|
07-20-2006, 05:00 AM
|
|
Developer & Designer, News Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 12,959
|
|
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by AndreyK
Hey!
Thanx for the link to my article It is really nice. But... the article was written somwhere in the middle of march. So i think it wasn't good to write that i eavesdroped you :P |
Oh? That July 17 post date is a bit misleading then. Anyway, the "eavesdropping" comment was just a joke, in case you hadn't noticed.
|
| |
|
|
|
07-20-2006, 05:23 AM
|
|
Sage
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 761
|
|
I have a hx4700 and a PSP and I must say when it comes to gaming the PSP beats the hx4700 without competition.
(I've been a pinball fanatic ever since the great pinball games on the Amiga and the Gottlieb collection for the PSP is really excellent)
|
| |
|
|
|
07-20-2006, 07:59 AM
|
|
Thinker
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 485
|
|
I originally got an iPaq 5550 some time ago thinking it would work for music, games, books and PDA functions on the move.
Listening to and managing music on it was never a simple task, certainly not enough to wean me from my iPod. Scratch one converged task.
The games available and the controls were adequate but never stellar, and rarely made me want to play a game instead of read a book. I added GBA SP (now DS) to gadget bag now and there are no games on my current PDA. There is simply no comparison in terms of quality and depth of titles between the current crop of handhelds and PDA games. Scratch another converged task.
So I read books and use simple PDA functions on my PPC (iMate JasJar) now.
The idea of a Windows Mobile (or CE) platform doesn't interest me. It is like trying to play games on the PC, you have to make sure there isn't anything else running that will interfere with the game, check your drivers are current, check for patches, check that the DRM isn't going to lock you out of your legally purchased game, then you might just be ready to go.
Even if the rumoured XBOX portable is released I think it will struggle for the same reason that the PSP hasn't ruled the universe - trying to be master of too many functions. No one device can possibly be best of breed in all these areas, the physical requirements prevent that.
Ultimately, of course, it will come down to the quality of the software, and its suitability for mobile gaming.
|
| |
|
|
|
07-20-2006, 08:30 AM
|
|
5000+ Posts? I Should OWN This Site!
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 5,067
|
|
Let me chime in...
First, thanks for the source credits
IMHO, the current Pocket PC games aren't that bad as many remarks in this thread say. Take a look at for example SkyForce Reloaded, Enslave or some of the great platformer games released laterly (Gold Miner Joe, SuperTux). The same stands for (some!) 2700G-optimized games - a DS (which, BTW, has a pretty disappointing, low-res screen with very weak warm colors) will never be able to produce such visual quality as a hi-res 2700G game running on the x50v/x51v.
Of course, 2700G games are pretty rare. Still, non-2700G games completely controllable with the stylus like SkyForce Reloaded and delivering the same (or even better!) gaming experience as on the, say, Amiga 500 some 15 years ago are
And I haven't even spoken of some of newer adventures (the forthcoming VGA Broken Sword) or RPG's (see Creatonia released yesterday; review here at PPCT).
Also, multiplayer gaming on the PPC is pretty strong - some 4 or 5 new multiplayer games have been released in the last 3-4 months; some of them (Great Gold Rush for example) are even arcade titles (not the usual board/card stuff, which are really common on the Pocket PC - see the multiplayer-enabled RealDice titles).
That is, I don't think the Pocket PC platform has absolutely no chance against dedicated gaming platforms. Indeed there are less quality titles for the PPC than for the DS or for the PSP. Still, there are really-really good titles for PPC users too - at, generally, a much lower price point. A PSP game is around $50; SkyForce Reloaded is $10.
|
| |
|
|
|
07-20-2006, 08:58 AM
|
|
Intellectual
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 172
|
|
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Menneisyys
Let me chime in...
First, thanks for the source credits
IMHO, the current Pocket PC games aren't that bad as many remarks in this thread say. Take a look at for example SkyForce Reloaded, Enslave or some of the great platformer games released laterly (Gold Miner Joe, SuperTux). The same stands for (some!) 2700G-optimized games - a DS (which, BTW, has a pretty disappointing, low-res screen with very weak warm colors) will never be able to produce such visual quality as a hi-res 2700G game running on the x50v/x51v.
Of course, 2700G games are pretty rare. Still, non-2700G games completely controllable with the stylus like SkyForce Reloaded and delivering the same (or even better!) gaming experience as on the, say, Amiga 500 some 15 years ago are
And I haven't even spoken of some of newer adventures (the forthcoming VGA Broken Sword) or RPG's (see Creatonia released yesterday; review here at PPCT).
Also, multiplayer gaming on the PPC is pretty strong - some 4 or 5 new multiplayer games have been released in the last 3-4 months; some of them (Great Gold Rush for example) are even arcade titles (not the usual board/card stuff, which are really common on the Pocket PC - see the multiplayer-enabled RealDice titles).
That is, I don't think the Pocket PC platform has absolutely no chance against dedicated gaming platforms. Indeed there are less quality titles for the PPC than for the DS or for the PSP. Still, there are really-really good titles for PPC users too - at, generally, a much lower price point. A PSP game is around $50; SkyForce Reloaded is $10. |
As I said - the difference here is not necessarily the hardware, so much as the software and the control setup. The world's best graphics don't make up for a lack of good games, and a bad control setup can make a game virtually unplayable - and thus, keep people from adopting the platform, if enough such games show up.
There have been competitors which were superior, technologically, to Nintendo products in the portable area; the GameGear, the New Geo Pocket, the TurboExpress (TurboGrafx 16 portable version), Atari Lynx, and so on. However, their software libraries were inadequate, and some of the units there weren't very good on battery life.. and that contributed to their demise.
Yes, there are some good 2700g-based games out there; but the 2700g is only used in the Axim x50v/51v and the PepperPad at this time. Game designers, at least on PCs (and I'd consider the PocketPC platform similar in this way) usually design for the lowest common denominator, so they don't block themselves out of a market because not everyone can run the software. Yes, the games look great... but at the same time, I'd argue as to whether a stylus-controlled game is superior, control-wise, to many of the games currently available for other platforms. Even with the DS, I tend not to use the stylus if I can help it - it means holding onto the unit with one hand, and I don't do that if I can help it. Some games (RTS games, RPGs) may do alright with a stylus... but from what I recall, some PDAs, and I believe the Axim falls into this category, have problems with handling more than one button-press at a time, which limits control options.
In the end, while the PocketPC platform may not be doomed as far as gaming is concerned, that's not its primary focus, and it really isn't optimal as far as a platform - you've got a wide variety of systems out there with many different specifications, which makes it almost impossible for a game developer to put out a game which will both look great, control well, AND work on the variety of platforms available. While I may be waiting for Broken Sword with bated breath... well, if I was a developer, I'd probably look at the portable market as a niche market, while the PSP and DS markets are better targets as far as turning a buck goes, because I know the hardware's the same (or close enough) for all my customers, and I can push that to its limits pretty well, and be assured of a uniform experience on their parts.. whereas with a PocketPC, the game may run GREAT on an Axim x51v, but run like a dog on even an Axim x51 just a step down in the same family because it's missing the 2700g acceleration.
And, unlike PCs, you can't really upgrade PocketPCs, so you'd really have to restrict the devices listed in the 'supported' category way more than programmers for PC games do with their products, where they can list a general set of specifications. You can see it in even Palm games, where they specify HiRes devices for some games (like Broken Sword).
|
| |
|
|
|
07-20-2006, 09:01 AM
|
|
5000+ Posts? I Should OWN This Site!
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 5,067
|
|
Argh, the Windows version of Opera 9 crashed on me (it is likely to crash on me when I try to copy to the clipboard when I have tons of pages open - will certainly investigate the problem because it renders the otherwise excellent browser really unreliable in cases) and I've lost a lot of my work when I tried to correct the mistakes inb my previous message... will try to recreate them.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Linear Mode
