I was just reading the most recent news that the Nintendo DS (Dual Screen) was going to enable a new type of gameplay, which has so far never been seen. As we now all know, it will enable players to view two aspects of the same game simultaneously, which does indeed sound interesting. It will also have two separate processors and the screens themselves will be in a higher resolution than the the ones currently available on the GBA SP and slightly larger. So the picture quality is assured, but what about the all-important gameplay?
When Nintendo launched the infamous Virtual Boy, it was hailed as a new handheld sensation which would revolutionize gaming. But it didn´t. Instead, in part thanks to poor advertising, it was a huge flop.
The Virtual Boy featured two high-resolution, mirror-scanning monochrome LED (light emitting diode) displays, that eliminated all external stimuli, totally immersing players into their own private universe. It had a 20 Mhz 32 bit RISC processor and 1 MB of DRAM and 512 KB of P-SRAM with a 1 KB Cache memory.
But it didn´t show the gameworld in color, it showed it in red and black instead. A nice soft cloth shield helped keep excess light out of your eyes to help seeing the images better. It had an automatic built in pause function - would pause automatically every 15-30 minutes to remind the player to take a break, to prevent undue eyestrain and possible headaches (which could be bypassed, but which the people who actually played with it did not recommend doing) - because there was something to that gamemachines very design which gave some unpleasant side effects after prolonged play. Something Nintendo must have been aware of on some level.
Many players complained about dizziness, a loss of awareness, eyestrain, headaches, disorientation, backache and shoulder pain from using the VB system. That was most probably because of the extremely dark screen, as compared to a GameBoy played in full light, you definitely needed to take those little breaks to let your eyes adjust to the light again. Which in my view wasn´t a very smart move, because once a game is truly absorbing, you can´t stop playing! So, I am sure that it should have never been released in the first place as it simply prohibited prolonged play-time.
This was due to a varity of problems with the design of the Virtual Boy, such as the shoulder pads which by some were deemed to be too heavy, certain unhealthy aspects of the LED light screens (The display was known to cause eye problems, especially for those under 7 years of age as it allegedly stunted eye development) and the actual disorientation which results from being totally shut out from the external world while playing, and then having to re-adjust after playing (I, for one, do remember some Arcade gamemachines which had very dark screens and how I felt after playing standing back in the light of the surroundings... Totally disoriented!)
Further, it wasn´t really portable, and in particular it wasn´t pleasant to play when in a moving vehicle. It was adviced that one played on it while in a stationary place, such as inside a building. To add to the troubles, many people didn´t think it´s games were particularly fun to play (3D Tetris, Galactic Pinball, Golf, Mario Clash, Mario Tennis, Panic BomberRed Alarm, Teleroboxer, Wario Land, Water World, Vertical Force and Virtual League Baseball were, well, most of the games that ever saw the light of day on it. A short time after it´s release the N64 was released)!
So Gunpei Yokoi had created a disaster. Being legend within Nintendo for having created the Game&watch series as well as the GameBoy he had been given free hands to create a new type of gameplay experience. As is sometimes the case when people seek to innovate, the result is failure. And the Virtual Boy was such. An attempt on the part of Nintendo, to give us a new gameplay experience unlike any other before.
Fast forward to the present day, January 2004: In the news we learn that, instead of the anticipated Next Generation GameBoy which would stand up to the new SONY PSP and play even GameCube games on the go, we are getting a portable dual screen device called the Nintendo DS. It´s not a GameBoy, and it´s not a console...it´s..uh...a DS! Dual Screen device!
A shock to the industry!
Now, we all know well that Ninty likes to innovate, which is good as it keeps the market from stagnating, but the question I keep asking myself right now is this: can they afford it? Wouldn´t it be unwise to try such a radically different gameplay principle at a time where they will face an onslaught of PORTABLE games from their archenemy SONY? What if gamers will shun the Nintendo DS, and go out and buy the SONY PSP instead? Have they tested the device so thoroughly on actual gameplayers that we are 100% sure people will grasp- and like it? Bear it?
I say: Let´s best hope that Nintendo knows what it´s doing, them hopefully bearing in mind the failure of the the last time they tried to innovate the handheld gaming business!!
It is my personal hope that the Nintendo DS, seemingly being an ingenious counter-move to the launch of the SONY PSP handheld, will go down in videogame history as a big success for Nintendo. They, if any, deserve credit for so much that nobody ever gave us before them. For, Miyamoto-san is perfectly right when he states that he´d rather innovate the gaming industry, than fight with the others at the top of a stagnating one!
Will it really make it, I mean the concept of TWO screens instead of one?
I hear some voice in the back of my head whispering... "If, I have two screens, I will feel...dizzz...zy!" "I only have two pairs of eyes, which can only focus on one screen at a time, and not two!" "So why do I need two?" "So I can see the football player from two views? Why? Or Splinter Cell in high-res portable gaming glory with the handy maps and everything while I take out the enemies coming around the corner...Or...a race track where I can see all the cars I am racing, while I can also see my own!!
......."
Really...I am confused! What is TWO screen going to do, that one can´t? Except confuse?
It remains to be seen if the dual screen concept will stand the test of actual gameplay time, once gamers get their hands on it. A most daring attempt from the side of Nintendo at innovating the videogame experience alltogether.
Nintendo DS: Ingenious anti PSP countermove or new Virtual Boy type flop?
Well, what do you guys think?
GameBasher.
Topic: Nintendo DS: Ingenious anti PSP countermove or new "Virtual Boy" typeflop? (Read 2095 times)
