A Comment on the Portables
I saw this young boy the other day on the bus, completely ignoring everything around him including his mother who was trying to get him to sit properly in his seat. He wasn’t stubborn, he wasn’t being insolent, he just had his nose buried in a Game Boy Advance that was beep-beep-beeping and annoying the rest of the passengers.
I leaned over to have a quick peek at what he was playing and I noticed that it was some kind of Zelda-like game with a hero and some baddies and a good deal of hack-and-slash going on. Only…the graphics were terrible. Not terrible relative to the original Game Boy of course, technology has definitely improved since then, but in comparison to PC or console graphics it just stunk. I felt like I was back in the Super Nintendo days where characters did not really turn, they just flopped sides and where the sound track made you want to play on mute to avoid a serious headache. I know that some people will staunchly defend portables by saying that the 3-D and extra perks available to non-portable platforms had to be sacrificed in the name of mobility, but I have to say, if that’s the quality of the graphics, I’ll just wait until I get home to play. I’d prefer to have beautiful scenery and rotating characters and be stuck on the couch, than to be able to run around waving my PSP, GBA, or DS, but deal with less than stellar games. Today’s technology can do better, and I demand it. Until they come out with a portable the approximates console experiences, I’ll be keeping my money in my pockets.
Edit: I should perhaps have prefaced this with the information that I don’t like portables. I don’t like that people can be glued to little screens not only at home, but when they leave the house for the first time in months as well. The fact that people cannot go somewhere without their precious video games attached to their eyeballs makes me think that somewhere along the way A Brave New World has gotten crossed with the Matrix, and a gaming reality is the only reality that is both acceptable and desired. A bit of an overstatement I realize, but you know what I mean.
Have we become so ADHD as a society that we can’t stand a 15 minute bus ride without some kind of in-our-face entertainment? Why do our cell phones have more functions on them than most medical equipment; why on earth do I care if my phone takes video, picture, and allows me to play pool or racing games while waiting for a coffee at Starbucks? It’s a phone. I want it to call people. If it’s shiny and silver and flips in a rather sexy manner, I’ll be happy.
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POSTED IN: Musings
3 opinions for A Comment on the Portables
Matt
Oct 2, 2005 at 4:32 pm
I like portables in the fact that they keep little kids content, instead of making lots of noise and jumping around and getting in the way. I don’t know how many car trips were made better with the family when my brother and sister had their little gameboys. Absolute Godsend on those.
I do agree that we’re becoming an ADHD society in the fact that no one can sit still for more than 5 minutes. And to be honest? I don’t even have a cell phone ;)
William Spaetzel
Oct 2, 2005 at 5:01 pm
Demand that the portables do better?
Have you ever taken a look at the PSP? Its graphics are just as good as the PS2.
I love Wipeout Pure and Lumines on my PSP, you really have to take a look at the machines before you put them all down like that.
Erin
Oct 2, 2005 at 9:59 pm
Matt, from a parenting perspect the things must be both a blessing and a curse. It keeps kids quiet when you don’t want them screaming, but good luck getting them to listen to you when you need them to.
William, I was perhaps a little hasty in including the PSP in with the “graphics suck” as I agree with you that the graphics, for a portable, are very good. I would not say at par with the console, but not far off. My apologies to PSP users.
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