Hello there readers, about three days ago I pre-ordered a new game system that I wanted since it was announced, the NGP (Vita, or whatever, I’m still calling it NGP). So that gave me a couple of ideas for the new blog that I was going to write for you guys, and this blog is about portable  gaming, it’s history, the past, the present and where it’s going to go in the future. Well the future stuff are only predictions, but yeah, most of the time stuff I predict from videogames become true, so here is to hoping.

So what is portable gaming? A handheld game console is a lightweight, portable electronic device with a built-in screen, games controls and speakers. Handheld game consoles are run on machines of small size allowing people to carry them and play them at any time or place. Unlike videogame consoles, the controls, screen and speakers are all part of a single unit.

So let’s go through a bit of their history. In 1977, Mattel introduced the first handheld electronic game with the release of Auto Race. The thing about this video game handheld is that it only played a single game. Most of these games now are gifts with other stuff, but back then, it was the
only way to get them. Later, several companies—including Coleco and Milton Bradley—made their own single-game, lightweight table-top or handheld electronic game devices. The oldest true handheld game console with interchangeable cartridges is the Milton Bradley Microvision from 1979. Nintendo is credited with popularizing the handheld console concept with the release of the Game Boy (the most successful videogame handheld then) in 1989,and since then Nintendo continues to dominate the handheld console marketwith successive Game Boy, and most recently Nintendo DS, DSi, and Nintendo 3DS. models.But now, there is a competitor on the horizon with Sony’s Playstation Vita.  Now obviously, I won’t go through ALL portable game consoles, but I’ll go with a few, the ones that actually came about and are more popular.

Milton Bradley Microvision – 1979

Milton Bradley, a company then better known for making table games like Hungry Hungry Hippos and other than actually making video games, has the distinction of being the first to introduce a handheld video game console with interchangeable cartridges with its Microvision. The system wasn’t well known as it only had a couple of games and it had a lot of problems from the start, including a 16×16 pixel LCD screen that was prone to rotting and cartridges that could be permanently damaged by even a relatively small static charge. So basically, it was something that you couldn’t do anything with.

Nintendo’s Game & Watch Series - 1980-91

Nintendo started to experiment with handhelds, Nintendo introduced their first Game & Watch handheld in 1980 and would go on to produce dozens more throughout the decade, offering a small glimpse of what was to come from the company. As the name suggests, the handhelds featured a clock and alarm but the real attraction was the games, which included titles like Donkey Kong, Mario Bros, and Balloon Fight. Oh and… does that look a bit familiar?

Epoch Game Pocket Computer – 1984

It took five years after Milton Bradley’s Microvision before another company would try its hand at a portable gaming system, but unfortunately the second time around proved even less successful than the first. Epoch’s Game Pocket Computer was released only in Japan in 1984 and had just five games, so about what I have for the PSP and more than I have for the DS. The 75×64 LCD screen was a big step up from the Microvision but, the system never really caught on because… yeah, it wasn’t the greatest and people really weren’t used to this type of gaming.

Nintendo Game Boy – 1989

It’s almost impossible to understate the impact of Nintendo’s Game Boy. The original Game Boy, in its various incarnations, is the most successful video game system ever (handheld or console). Was it something new? No way. Part of its success is likely due to its reasonable price ($109 US at launch), but most of it is a result of the games and, in particular, Tetris with the system. The fact that a system with a blurry, green screen and horrible graphics compared to its competitors was as successful as it was should forever serve strongly in support of the argument that it’s the games that make the system, not the hardware.

Sega Game Gear - 1990

Now I skipped the Atari Lynx and Lynx II (1989) and the NEC Turbo Express (1990) to skip to the most successful of the various Game Boy challengers was Sega’s Game Gear which, like the Lynx and Turbo Express, had a color screen. But unlike those systems managed to keep the
retail price down to a fairly reasonable $149 (the Lynx and NEC both had a prize over 200$). The Game Gear benefited from Sega’s advantage over Atari and NEC (the Genesis was then the leading console system, and it’s still one of the most awesome consoles ever) and a better selection of games, but it was still only a modest success in the face of Nintendo’s increasing dominance of the market, proving that it doesn’t matter about the games after Nintendo was in the driver’s seat.

Sega Nomad - 1995

For most of the 1990s, Nintendo had the handheld market effectively all to themselves, with other companies giving up after trying and failing to knock Nintendo down. Sega was the first to re-enter the field with the Sega Nomad, a portable version of the Genesis console. It seemed like a good idea – at first. After all the Genesis had a huge library of titles just sitting around countless living rooms, but poor battery life and a somewhat bulky design helped to do it in. Even an eventual price drop to $79.99 failed to save the Nomad from being put out to pasture. I have to say, that if this were to be done now and it had a good battery and a good design, it will outsell Nintendo, taking their throne as kings of portable gaming.

Neo-Geo Pocket / Pocket Color – 1998-99

Mention the name Neo-Geo to any gamer over the age of 25 or so and you’ll likely get a knowing smile. A lucky few may have owned the pricey home system that made the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis look like nothing, but most will be familiar with Neo-Geo from their arcade games, especially fighting games like the Samurai Showdown and King of Fighters series. Attempting to build on their reputation, Neo-Geo branched out into the handheld space in 1998 with the Neo-Geo Pocket, but got off to a rocky start, releasing a black-and-white unit first before correcting things just a year later with the Neo-Geo Pocket Color (or NGPC). Despite some solid games, the system never got much support from third-party developers and failed to attract enough gamers to legitimately challenge the still dominant Nintendo. Like before, Nintendo was still the strongest one around, and Neo-Geo couldn’t stand up to it.

Game Boy Color – 1998

Nintendo introduced its first major change to the Game Boy in 1998 with the Game Boy Color, which, not surprisingly, offered a color screen, case, and better graphics capabilities while still being backward compatible with the enormous library of Game Boy titles. While the system was successful, it proved to mostly be a stopgap measure from Nintendo, who had bigger plans in store. And yes, notice the year, it was eight years after the Sega Game Gear that Nintendo put a colored screen in their game system, but yep they were still the kings. As you see, Nintendo is always behind with technology but still dominates in the game industry. Cool eh?

Game Boy Advance / Advance SP / Micro – 2001 / 2003 / 2005

Released in 2001, Nintendo’s Game Boy Advance was by far the biggest thing to shake up the handheld space since the original Game Boy was released over ten years earlier. On the technical side, the GBA was the rough equivalent to the Super Nintendo making ports of titles from that system easy, but the GBA also benefited from some wildly original games like Advance Wars. In 2003, Nintendo released the completely redesigned Game Boy Advance SP which, most importantly, added a front-lit screen, attempting rectifying the one major problem people had with the original GBA, that we are all really blind and that we can’t see anything after playing for a while because those little screens eat up our vision. Nintendo released yet another GBA variant, the Game Boy Micro, with a small and sleek design aimed in large part at an older, but the Micro was never really popular, because years earlier people had bought the advance so they weren’t going to buy a new console that was practically the same.

Nintendo DS / DS Lite – 2004 / 2005

Ever since the first concept designs appeared on the web, the Nintendo DS was met with skepticism and criticism from the internet community. To many people, the design seemed like a step backward after the elegant GBA SP, and the dual screens and stylus input seemed more like novelties than the revolution in handheld gaming Nintendo was promising. The graphics weren’t really a great advantage from what was before. But gamers were slowly won over as more and more great games kept coming out for the DS, including what are arguably some of the most innovative titles on any system, the built-in WiFi didn’t hurt either, it made new possibilities for games that people couldn’t play online before, and now games like Pokémon could be played online. The next year, Nintendo made an upgrade for the system, a smaller, thinner, lighter version of the same device. Since then, Nintendo has had the same success as their consoles before with this system.

PlayStation Portable – 2004

One of most technically advanced handheld system to date (constant updates keep it up with new tech and apps), Sony’s PlayStation Portable held on to its (comparatively smaller) piece of the market in the face of Nintendo’s array of handhelds, despite its high price tag (compared to the DS and DS Lite) and relatively few stand-out games. Sony also keeps pushing the UMD format for movies, although many users have opted for more practical means of viewing content on their PSPs. And if you can keep your firmware versions straight, you can even get in on some homebrew action. The PSP was released in four versions, the original one, which was big and bulky, the PSP2000 (PSP Lite for some) which was sleeker and kind of let’s say more affordable. Then, the PSP3000 got released but pulled quickly because it had problems with the screen and colors. Then the most unsuccessful of them all was released, the PSPGo. The PSPGo really didn’t sell many units because it played the same games as the PSP but
the biggest turn off was the way it plays games. You can only play games for it by downloading them; the system is download only. Many PSP games weren’t put on the PS Store and that was where this failed. It’s design wasn’t the best as it is really uncomfortable to play with it (my best friend has it and it’s brah) and it’s cost… was what ultimately killed it.

Now onto the real boys, the future – or present, whatever you decide to call it. I skipped a lot of game consoles because you probably never really heard them and really, they didn’t make an impact they died by Nintendo’s hand and Sony’s too. I will be a bit more detailed here.

Nintendo 3DS – 2010

The Nintendo 3DS (abbreviated to 3DS) is Nintendo DS’s successor unit produced by Nintendo. The autostereoscopic device is able to project stereoscopic three-dimensional effects without requirement of additional accessories. Basically, you can see the 3D without glasses. The Nintendo 3DS features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS series software, including Nintendo DSi software. The 3Ds has been kind of flop down for Nintendo, they expected it to be a huge success like their consoles were before, but unfortunately for Nintendo, it hasn’t been as successful as they expected. Now what does the 3DS have inside? The system features several additions to the design of the original DS, including a slider on the side of the device that adjusts the intensity of the 3D effect, a round nub analog input called the “Circle Pad”, an accelerometer, and a gyroscope.
The 3DS has two cameras on the outside of the device, capable of taking 3D photos, as well as a camera positioned above the top screen on the inside of the device which faces the player, capable of taking 2D photos and capturing 2D video; all cameras have a resolution of 640×480 pixels (0.3 megapixels, way less than any camera from your phone). An included cradle acts as a charger and allows for faster downloads and uploads via infrared port. It also has the same screen as the DS from about 7 years ago, it is single touch. The 3Ds has things like support for Augmented Reality, Virtual Console Service, Videos in 3D, an Internet Browser, support of Mii’s from the Wii and Backwards compatibility with DS and DSi games. It doesn’t play Gameboy Advance games like the original DS though. The Nintendo 3DS hasn’t sold well because of its price (250$ which is expensive for the costs of its predecessors). Nintendo is pushing the 3DS hard, to see where it goes, with a strong fan base Nintendo is confident that they will be able to top their past successes with the previous Gameboys but it looks hard for this expensive piece of technology to keep the
throne for Nintendo.

PlayStation Vita – To be released in 2011

The PlayStation Vita (also known as PSVita or PSV) is a handheld game console set to release in holiday developed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It is the successor to the PlayStation Portable. The handheld includes two analog sticks, a 5-inch OLED multi-touch capacitive touchscreen on the front of the system and one on the back (yeah two touchscreens), and supports Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and 3G (is included only in the 3G version of the console). Internally, the Vita features a 4 core ARM Cortex-A9 core processor and a 4 core SGX543MP4+ graphics processing unit (one of the strongest in Portable gaming), as well as LiveArea as its main user interface, which succeeds the XrossMediaBar (used in the systems before this one, the PS3, PSP and PSPGo). A main feature is full backwards-compatibility with all PlayStation Portable games digitally released on the PlayStation Network, via the PlayStation Store. The device’s dual analog sticks will be supported only in select games
and will also upscale and smooth graphics via a software emulator. The device features a “super oval”-shape similar to the design of the original PlayStation Portable, The device features two analog sticks (unlike the PSP which features only a single analog “nub”), a D-pad, a set of standard PlayStation face buttons (triangle, cero, x and square), two shoulder buttons (L and R), a PlayStation button and Start and Select buttons. The device also features a rear touch pad, a front camera, a rear camera, stereo speakers, microphone, Sixaxis motion sensing system (three-axis gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer – if you are asking what is this it means that it will be like the PS3’s controller or the PS Move, you move the system and it detects it), three-axis electronic compass, built-in GPS as well as Wi-Fi, 3G, and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR connectivity. The two cameras feature the abilities of face detection, head detection, and head tracking. It also allows for customization and personalization in games. The PlayStation Vita will be released as two different versions: one with 3G support, (this model costs 300$ and it has features that the other won’t have) and a cheaper version without 3G support (This version will cost 250$, yes the same as the 3DS). The more expensive 3G-version will also come pre-loaded with some special applications that take advantage of 3G’s “always-on” capabilities, such as augmented reality software. The 3G service will be partnered with AT&T in the US. Unlike the PSP, the PlayStation Vita will not support video output or contain a removable battery. PS Vita is equipped with the storage media slot in addition to the new game medium slot, so that users can choose what memory capacity they want to utilize depending on their use. The device will also support backwards compatible PlayStation Portable downloadable titles, PlayStation minis, PlayStation Suite games, PSOne Classics, videos, and comics from the PlayStation Store. And unlike the PSP, it will support trophies. Much like the 3DS and Nintendo, Sony puts their faith in this console to be the future.

Now to my thoughts on this. You see that Nintendo has always dominated this aspect of the gaming industry, every time someone talks about portable gaming two things come to mind: Nintendo and Pokémon. Pokémon is what gave Nintendo the edge over the competition, it is one of the most famous games not only in portable gaming history but in gaming history in general, this has pushed Nintendo over everyone even if they don’t have the best technology, add it up with a great price and what do you think that both the kids and the parents will like. Nintendo has sat on the throne of the kings for a long time, but I personally think that if they don’t drop the 3DS price, their throne will be taken. No one before had been able to compete with Nintendo’s pricing for portable games, but now, Sony officially threw the gauntlet to Nintendo, by putting a much better piece of technology than the 3DS at the same price as the 3DS. The Vita and the 3DS will go head to head as the DS and PSP did, but in this battle, I see the Vita winning it, with graphics that resemble the PS3 and with functions that no other portable device can give, I think that the Vita will win this battle, but not only win it, if not take the throne for Sony, because Sony’s game line-up is looking really strong while the 3DS’ line-up looks nothing impressive. Put on top that the 3DS hasn’t won everyone’s heart not only by its pricing but by its lack of new features and this puts Sony in the perfect spot to win the crown from Nintendo. But it looks like we will have to wait and see what happens in the upcoming months to really say who wins.

Now, there are other portable devices that are always looked down upon, and most analysts skip: Cell phones. Now are cell phones the dominant form of gaming? No, by far they are not, they aren’t made for gaming. But does almost everyone has it? Heck yeah. It is hard to see someone without a cell phone these days, and the fact is that all of them play games, whether it be Tetris, Pac-Man, Galaga to games that you have never heard from before and even to games like Dead Space and Guitar Hero. You have to admit that you have at least played a game once in your cell phone. The fact is that cell phones need to be included in this, because even though they weren’t made for gaming, developers make incredible
games for that little thing. Trust me, I have played Dead Space in an iPhone and it blew me away how good it was. Now they may not have much of hardcore games but they still have great games and people enter the world of gaming because of their cell phones sometimes. I remember when I was younger, everyone joked about gamers, made fun of people with their handheld system, but that’s not the case now. Now, with cell phones, gaming is everywhere and it is widely accepted. With cell phones playing games no one can say that they are not a gamer. Because if that guy has an iPhone or an Android Powered phone and is playing Angry Birds you can say ‘And what are you doing now? That’s a game.’ They won’t be able to answer. Because whether they are casual gamers playing on a phone or hardcore gamers with at least 2 gaming systems, almost 80% of the population of the world are gamers now a day. Not bad for something that once was signaled as something that would get nowhere.

Now to wrap this up. Will portable gaming kill the major consoles completely? Nope, I seriously can’t see that. But will portable gaming stay strong for the next couple of years and maybe this decade? Yes. With the Vita coming out, the DS still going strong and cell phones playing games, we can only imagine where this industry will end up in just a few short years. Well, I think that wraps this article up, hope you enjoyed reading this, feel free to leave comments with questions or thoughts, I’ll be sure to answer you when I can, and until my next article, be sure to keep those consoles warmed up.

Signed your Game Loving Writer,

DA

June 21, 2011
Categories: Uncategorized, Video Games . Tags: 3DS, DA, DS, galaga, game gear, gameboy, gameboy advance, gameboy micro, gameboy sp, microvision, milton bradley, neo-geo, nintendo, nomad, pacman, pokemon, psp, psvita, sega, sony, tetris . Author: da1825

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