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TalkBack / RE: EDITORIAL: The HD Debacle

« on: June 23, 2005, 05:40:09 AM »

Very good article. I've been trying to promote this view and it's nice to see someone on a mojor site explaining it so clearly. Could you make sure Matt from IGN gives this a quick read? That would be great.

I'd like to point out, though, that I disagree with the average person seeing a greater difference between HD resolutions vs improved pixel shading (and other rendering enhancements). Putting a better rendered 480p up-scaled image on a plasma screen side-by-side with a less-well rendered image on the same screen at 720p, I bet the average consumer will be more impressed with the 480p version. Just my 2 cents.  

[SgtShiversBen]

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TalkBack / RE:Good Lord, Another Editorial: Can't Touch This

« on: March 08, 2005, 10:00:07 AM »

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Originally posted by: SgtShiversBen
Then me and her duke it out on the minigames in which I get my ass trounced.

Good to know I'm not alone.

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TalkBack / RE:Good Lord, Another Editorial: Can't Touch This

« on: March 08, 2005, 04:29:50 AM »

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But for the most part, I’m not convinced that the touch screen offers anything useful to the DS that couldn’t be done (and probably better) with an analog joystick.

To counter this, I feel the need to mention the game Zoo Keeper. The game would be painfully tedious to play without the touch screen. In fact, the touch screen allows for more complexity in the game since its speed and accuracy allow for quick combinations. As an interface for this game, the touch screen surpasses even mouse control (which you can try using the free flash version of the game) making it by far the control method of choice. As for the argument of the stylus being a "concious" or "invasive" control, I recommend spending 15 minutes with this game. You will see how this becomes a completely transparent control method, one that is not only reserved for buttons. (I'm still confused as to why the author seems to have forgotten how every new button and control added to a joystick requires a learning period - give even a simple 2-button controller to a non-gamer and they will definitely hunt and peck, knowing full well that they must push a button to activiate something on the screen. It only becomes transparent with time).

You might say that my Zoo Keeper example is the only example of a valid use of the touch screen so far. But that is partly my point. The experimentation period will eventually end and the valid uses of the touch screen will be known and implemented by developers, making the touch-screen another control method option which will add a new layer of interaction and accessibility to gaming.

I must also add that I have watched a number of non-gamers quickly learn to interact with several DS games (and continue to play them, sometimes for hours). I have also obeserved several very-casual gamers play more often than they did ever before. Witnessing this, it is impossible to deny the effectiveness of the touch screen when applied to the right game the right way.

So, my feeling is that we should give it some time before we judge it. And if it's not the interface for you, then move on.

TheZooKeeper
(Keeper of the Zoo)