Now that the Big Guys in the game industry have presented their respective E3 announcements, it is time to analyze what the fuss is all about. This week, the Nintendo DS will bear some of my scrutiny, with the Sony PSP following next week.
Manufacturers have always sought to combine the different form-factors of telephone, PDA, handheld gaming device, digital camera, and Media player into one small machine. Some examples are quite successful, like the Compaq iPAQ and Apple iPOD, which combine media player functionalities with PDA facilities. The marriage between cameras and mobile telephones is also a fruitful one. But for each success, there is a failure. Combining telephones and PDA’s never amounted to much, as it was quite hard to actually use the PDA functionality while talking over the phone at the same time. (Bluetooth headsets solved this problem though, and after a rocky start, this marriage seems saved) And nobody will forget the Nokia N-Gage, which possibly combined more features than any other portable electronic device. I will promise you that the N-Gage will be discussed sometime in the future.
Last week, Nintendo unveiled their new gaming device, the Nintendo DualScreen (or DS for short), to an eager public. The DS tries to combine the facilities of a PDA and a handheld gaming device in one machine. With dual screens (one of them being a touchscreen), microphone, and wireless capabilities, this device sounds more suited to businessmen than to the general game playing public. But is the public willing to accept this hybrid? With the N-Gage, we have already seen that combining capabilities from separate form-factors leads to consumer confusion. Consumers are apparently used to a device with a primary function, with additional features as a bonus. They need a mental reference point, so that devices always either have to be a phone, PDA, or gaming device first. Extra capabilities can be built on top of that, but are still in addition to the primary function of the device. But were the N-Gage was struggling with its identity (is it a gaming machine or a telephone?), the DS makes it clear that it is a gaming machine first and foremost. If you want to use the additional wireless messaging capabilities, that’s all fine and dandy, but games come first. On the other hand, it seems that Nintendo is contradicting itself with regard to the DS’ functionalities. The company has always stressed it’s commitment to gameplay and game experiences in favor of mere gimmicks and functionalities. This device, however, features all the functionalities the competition is known for, which are not really necessary for an enhanced gaming experience.
In my mind, the addition of a touchscreen to a gaming experience will not be as user-friendly as Nintendo is aiming for. Touchpads for laptop computers are notoriously fickle, leading to frequent cursing by its users. Using a stylus is fine as a point-and-click interface, but not for the platform games Nintendo is known for. Furthermore, this means that users possibly need 3 hands to operate the machine: one for the directional pad, one for the touchscreen, and one for the buttons. After seeing the footage of the touchscreen in action I was not impressed. It looks fun for sure, but is seems more like a gimmick to me. And after having played several games on a PDA using a stylus, I know it’s not the input device for me.
Then what about the wireless capabilities? Although the idea is great, as it will provide a player with the ability to play against other persons using a wireless connection, I am not sure it will be a major selling point. After all, a wireless connection is just a link-cable without the actual cable. And how often have you used those? Have you ever used it with more than 2 people? And have you ever played against total strangers? Furthermore, as we have seen with the N-Gage, wireless gaming only works when other people have similar devices. The changes that you will find someone on the plane with a similar device will probably be slim. With the installed userbase of the gameboy running into the multiple digit millions, why would anyone want to buy a DS? For the consumer market, it is too soon yet to upgrade from a Gameboy Advance or SP to a DS. That means that mass-market penetration of the DS will be slow indeed. But it seems there is another factor against the DS which will bar consumer from buying the device. Aside from the mentioned form-factor confusion, Nintendo will have trouble positioning the device, since they already have a handheld device on the market. Having to differentiate between two different devices from the same manufacturer in a niche market is very hard, especially as one device is compatible with the other, but not the other way around.
The graphics the DS is capable of producing look absolutely great, with a near Nintendo64 quality to them. But will this be a selling point? The N-Gage also has an amazing graphical capability, but has sold abominably. Apparently, consumers don’t look at the graphics first when buying a handheld. A fact that handhelds have small screens by definition could be a factor; when a game is not blown up to television screen sizes, the importance of looks decrease.
All in all, I predict a slow market for the DS. Although capable of amazing technological feats, and with a brand name behind it that it extremely recognizable, the DS will, at least for the next couple of years, probably never reach the same mass-market penetration that the Gamboy has. Although I really like the device, I will probably not buy it yet. The reasons are that I already have a Gameboy SP, which functions well as a gaming device. And since there is no sign of the GB becoming obsolete for the next years, I see no point in buying another gaming device.
