Tuesday, November 06, 2007

DS - natural nongame platform

It's amazing how many simulators, training and freeplay games are released for Nintendo DS every month. Some of them:

  • Flash Focus: Vision Training
  • Imagine: Fashion Designer
  • Anti-stress game by Mindhabits
  • Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day
  • Hannah Montana: Music Jam
  • Facial Training game

    etc, etc.

    I have mentioned that before, but I believe some of the reasons for that are:
    a) Portability and Individuality - an independent system that you don't have to plug into anything else and that can be played discreetly anywhere.
    b) Price - much cheaper than a next-gen console.
    c) Dual screen featuring a touch screen - more screen space for instructions and buttons that can be accessed using the stylus equals less need for memorized control schemes.

    Am I forgetting anything?
  • 3 comments:

    Anonymous said...

    I feel that the DS's strengths can be summed up with two words--Accessibility and Flexibility. Everything about it, from its clamshell form (evocative of opening a book) and feature set to its marketing and price point emphasize this approach. It's as if Nintendo decided to design the platform, not just to play games, but to be experimented with.

    Chico Queiroz said...

    Thanks Corvus, that is a much more elegant way to put it than my clumsy list! :)

    The book/pda look and feel certainly help.

    Anonymous said...

    Lists are good, but categories are more evocative. *kniw*

    Copyright, Chico Queiroz