I’m sure there are people who hadn’t even put their wallets away after buying a DSi or new PSP when the “next gen” version of the damn thing was announced. With last week’s announcement of the great-for-grandma’s-glaucoma DSi XXXXXL, roughly the size of a netbook with a stlyus that could be used to stake vampires, you have to wonder just what Nintendo’s portable division was thinking.
But then it seems that those folks are drinking from the same well that the developers over at Sony’s handheld division are drinking from with their latest release, the PSP Go! Let’s take a look at both systems and mock them, shall we?
Nintendo recently reported its six-month financial results for the first half of the current fiscal year, and the Kyoto, Japan-based publisher and developer had a pretty good haul, though certainly well below company expectations. According to data obtained by Gamasutra, total profit for the period came in at a cool $772 million, a 52 percent year-over-year decrease attributed to unfavorable exchange rates, as well as lower software and hardware sales. As a result, Nintendo significantly cut profit forecasts.
On the surface, it might seem like Nintendo’s gold-plated castle is eroding. Some might even suggest that the Wii and DS maker is in a tough spot, and should start searching for the panic button. Looking at the numbers though, I don’t agree.
Most of the booths at PAX: Midwest have a raucous, party-like atmosphere to them. People are excited to play upcoming games, industry folk are handing out swag, and random women criss-cross the floor with buckets of free corn-on-the-cob for everyone. Beautiful. One area of the convention, however, has a much more subdued air surrounding it.
One of the biggest revelations at PAX Midwest this year was a DS title that had more in common with games on its bigger brother, the Wii, than anything you’d expect from a handheld device.
Harvest Moon Greenfingers, a DS exclusive, was available to demonstrate using an outdoor cabbage patch and its own special pedometer-style peripheral. As I tweeted earlier, I figured I’d give it a shot.
You know, in the softer countries of the world, where real problems like famine and never ending civil war have been tamped down to near invisibility, it feels sometimes that people get up in arms about the smallest of things. Because real problems are things that only happen in third world countries, it almost feels like people who live in “civilized” countries have to make up conflict to keep things interesting; everything can be seen as offensive, and everyone is just one bad day away from a lawsuit.
Enter Scribblenauts and their recent /eyerolling, /facepalming dilemma, after the jump.
I knew this would happen. I even called it. I got my hopes up for Okamiden, praying it would be a new Okami game for the Wii, PlayStation 2 or PlayStation 3, only to become a victim of my own enthusiasm. It feels like Christmas morning, and the kid down the street got a jumbo trampoline while I got a pair of beige socks. How lopsided is that shit? I didn’t kill anyone Santa. No lines of cocaine off of the bathroom floor for me. Where’s my effing trampoline?
I’m such a hussy. Just last night I bumped into 505 Games, and now I find myself wanting to grant carnal access to my my disc tray. You see, they’ve just successfully revived one of my favorite franchises of all time, IL-2 Sturmovik. What’s more, they appear to have actually pulled off a flight game that interests me…. on a CONSOLE.
I still don’t have my gaming rigs set up in my new house yet, so when Atlus’ Knights in the Nightmare for my Nintendo DS came in the mail courtesy of my Gamefly subscription, I was happy to break my eight day video game withdrawal by locking myself in my bathroom while my wife kept fluffing her tea cozies and hanging drapes.
I had heard multiple gaming sites and podcasts dance around the room with this game, some hating it, some loving it, but all agreed that it was definitely one of the most unique games they’d seen come out in a long while.
Most of the booths at PAX: Midwest have a raucous, party-like atmosphere to them. People are excited to play upcoming games, industry folk are handing out swag, and random women criss-cross the floor with buckets of free corn-on-the-cob for everyone. Beautiful. One area of the convention, however, has a much more subdued air surrounding it.
