So does the IPod touch have a chance against the DS & PSP?

[jwbrent]

Having been a fan of portable gaming devices since the Mattel LED Football game (got the app, great nostalgia), I'm really excited about the touch. The downloadable game concept is fantastic, but with the rumors that Sony is about ready to open their PSP Store and the newly announced Nintendo DSi have downloadable capabilities, I'm not sure if the touch can compete. Having no tactile buttons, I think, is a major disadvantage. I've read about some device being worked on that envelopes the touch and provides a standard D-pad, A B buttons as well as shoulder buttons and I hope it turns out to be a great add-on.

Also, I keep hearing the touch has Dreamcast quality graphics but I haven't seen that. Hopefully, the learning curve on getting to know the system is much shorter than usual.

[dudehuge]

Originally Posted by jwbrent

Having been a fan of portable gaming devices since the Mattel LED Football game (got the app, great nostalgia), I'm really excited about the touch. The downloadable game concept is fantastic, but with the rumors that Sony is about ready to open their PSP Store and the newly announced Nintendo DSi have downloadable capabilities, I'm not sure if the touch can compete. Having no tactile buttons, I think, is a major disadvantage. I've read about some device being worked on that envelopes the touch and provides a standard D-pad, A B buttons as well as shoulder buttons and I hope it turns out to be a great add-on.

Also, I keep hearing the touch has Dreamcast quality graphics but I haven't seen that. Hopefully, the learning curve on getting to know the system is much shorter than usual.

How many threads like this do we need? LOL. Anyway to answer your question, Yes. But with the current games line up and pricing issues, NO. Talented people don't come cheap.

[ReformatPlanet]

I think we may still see something great from Sega, or (Gasp!) even EA. They have the resources to put a big shiny game together, and their past offerings have done well enough.

Most indie developers on the iphone don't have the time/experience/resources to put together a game that could compete with the DS or PSP, so for the time being the iphone should just be considered a different animal.

I don't think the controls are a limitation, just time. It's not like Sony or Nintendo sent developers kits right before the platforms came out. Everyone is still cutting their teeth on the iphone, and the big developers are just testing the waters. By next year we should see some stuff that's really impressive.

[wastedyuthe]

As far as I am concerned, my DS is already dead. I haven't had it out of it's case for the last 5-6 weeks, all due to some excellent games already out on the iPod Touch. I have a great Pool game in Virtual Pool (there isn't even a decent Pool game on the DS yet), the flight sim X-Plane (where I challenge myself landing in a variety of conditions), a handful of great word games like Imangi, a handful of good racing games like Asphalt4, and loads of smaller (but still lots of fun) games for one or two players. All being playable without having to swap cartridges every time you want to play a new game, and in some cases a lot better control than a DS counterpart (accelerometer steering in racing games compared to d-pad steering on the DS). And this is just the start. I am waiting for a special forces or WWII fps, but I am not sure how the controls would work on a fps- that's the only stumbling block I can see. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.

[Everydaynormalguy]

Aside from the lack of physical buttons my number one concern with the iPhone/iTouch is its battery life. It's just down ridiculous. I can only play Super Monkey Ball for like an hour on a full-charged iTouch while i can play God of War on my PSP for like 4 hrs. I dont see these devices competing with the big mobile consoles yet, maybe in like 2 yrs. By then, of course, we'd probably have a PSP 5000 or something with better everything. So, bottom line: iPhone/iTouch will never be catch up to Sony or Nintendo, in "actual games" that is.

[rootbeersoup]

I think this is the gaming device people have speculated that Apple would make someday. Or maybe this is something they stumbled upon... Who knows. But I do think this will take over the mobile gaming industry and Apple will pretty much own the whole mobile device industry (music players, phones, gaming devices)

[wastedyuthe]

Originally Posted by Everydaynormalguy

Aside from the lack of physical buttons my number one concern with the iPhone/iTouch is its battery life. It's just down ridiculous. I can only play Super Monkey Ball for like an hour on a full-charged iTouch while i can play God of War on my PSP for like 4 hrs.

Actually, now you mention it, I completely agree. I use my Touch for music, movies, games, email, everything it's supposed to be used for, and I have to charge at least once a day. My DS, in comparison, could last many hours on one charge. I know I am utilising the Touch more, but the battery life should be appropriately long enough to cope with the usage. I have heard the iPhone is even worse than the Touch (as you'd expect with it's extra functionality).
My wife only mentioned to me last night that she is getting fed up with her Touch's battery life and is thinking of going back to her 2nd gen Nano (she only listens to music most of the time).

[Everydaynormalguy]

Originally Posted by wastedyuthe

Actually, now you mention it, I completely agree. I use my Touch for music, movies, games, email, everything it's supposed to be used for, and I have to charge at least once a day. My DS, in comparison, could last many hours on one charge. I know I am utilising the Touch more, but the battery life should be appropriately long enough to cope with the usage. I have heard the iPhone is even worse than the Touch (as you'd expect with it's extra functionality).
My wife only mentioned to me last night that she is getting fed up with her Touch's battery life and is thinking of going back to her 2nd gen Nano (she only listens to music most of the time).

Yeah. I use my iTouch for everything it's worth (music, safari, email) and i've found that just going online for like 30 mins drains the battery like 20%. I can't even play any of my games on it unless i have it docked to my computer charging. The new iTouch is supposed to have a better battery life but i'm not sure it would make much of a difference when playing games >50MB.

[wastedyuthe]

Originally Posted by Everydaynormalguy

The new iTouch is supposed to have a better battery life but i'm not sure it would make much of a difference when playing games >50MB.

You assume correctly. I had the first gen Touch and sold it to get a 2nd gen (mainly so I can have sound while playing games without needing headphones). I haven't noticed any improvement in battery life at all.

[hkiphone]

I dont think one format will definitively wipe out the others. There'll be room for them all to grow, in the same way that Playstation muscled its way into an established lead, and Wii has kept is own style of gameplay.
I haven't played my NDS for ages, but after seeing Real Football 09 on the App Store, I fired up the same game on the NDS for old times sake and still found it enjoyable. Call Of Duty on NDS is also a innovative way to run a FPS game.
Yes, battery life is a bummer on the iPhone/iPod Touch. But there are third-party accessories now available acting as battery packs, some built-in as protective covers too. And remember that the ipod is way slimmer than the PSP.
In the end, the reason why we have so many choices is because no one console can cater for everyone. Buy the one you will play most, and if you can afford it, buy them all!