12th December 2004, 9:09 PM
A few third party games? Uh, so far at least the third-to-first ratio is a lot closer to the GBA than the N64, if you've been watching... and the GBA has a lot of third party support. Third parties are interested in the DS. They are making games for it. It's got a nicely long upcoming release list that isn't very far behind the PSP's if it is at all. It's sold over 700,000 units in North America since launch, and over 500,000 in Japan... yes, the N64 sold great in Japan and then a lot of people returned them and stuff but we are not looking at an N64-like game draught in the next year. We are also not looking at a N64-like third party exodus. Note how all the major third parties have signed on to the DS... no, this is a portable and Nintendo wants to keep the portable market so they are doing what they can to not lose it. Between the DS and the still-dominant GBA I am sure that they will continue to do so. And the third party support for the DS isn't about to dry up. Not after these sales numbers.
Dirty little things like the 90 min to 3 hour battery life in games like Ridge Racers won't help the PSP's cause much more either...
Wireless. The DS has full wireless local networking and can currently use it. Wireless internet? No, none of the games use that yet. Nintendo has the same stance there so far as they have with the Cube (do it if you wish but we aren't going to provide the network)... I don't know what Sony's doing but I doubt that they're providing a network either, given that they didn't for the PS2...
As for the DS launch, it was fine with a nice selection of games. Not a huge library, but launch libraries never are... for a launch it was just fine. Was the main game a remake? Yes. But on handhelds this is, by now, a given. The PSP is no better... what do they have? A remake/collection of the Darkstalkers games, a redone Ridge Racer title that is something of a series compillation, etc...
Dirty little things like the 90 min to 3 hour battery life in games like Ridge Racers won't help the PSP's cause much more either...
Wireless. The DS has full wireless local networking and can currently use it. Wireless internet? No, none of the games use that yet. Nintendo has the same stance there so far as they have with the Cube (do it if you wish but we aren't going to provide the network)... I don't know what Sony's doing but I doubt that they're providing a network either, given that they didn't for the PS2...
As for the DS launch, it was fine with a nice selection of games. Not a huge library, but launch libraries never are... for a launch it was just fine. Was the main game a remake? Yes. But on handhelds this is, by now, a given. The PSP is no better... what do they have? A remake/collection of the Darkstalkers games, a redone Ridge Racer title that is something of a series compillation, etc...