13th February 2005, 5:20 PM
Not exactly. The system need not even realize that there ARE two screens. Only the part that sends the finished image needs to know what screen is doing what. Before that, the entire thing only needs to be rendered as one really tall image, if done that way. The question is if that's just too much to do at once. I just wanted to point out that the physical reality of there being two screens is something the main graphics engine, up until that last part, doesn't need to even know.
Why would I want one really tall screen? Why would I want two screens anyway? If it's to show a bunch more stuff due to extra space, then might as well make it one really tall screen. Why? Because then if a game wants to it can show one large undivided image of gameplay. Think overhead scrolling space shooter for just one example of this. I mean, they can do that anyway, but there will be that bit of plastic in the way, and it'll have to be designed with that in mind for EVERY game that wants to do something like that.
The reality is the duel screen setup was entirely because they wanted to keep the system small, something I understand. I mean, the system would look like a tetris piece if they put the long screen on the horizontal system. And, doing it vertically would make for something you also couldn't fit in your pocket. They had to go clamshell, and ya can't just fold up a screen, so they split it. It was needed by design, so I understand. What I don't like is being told that the two screen setup allows for some sort of innovation, which it doesn't. The touch screen does, sure, and the advertising is focusing on that here in America (should have been called the TS), but not the duel screen aspect. That was just an engineering solution to a problem.
Why would I want one really tall screen? Why would I want two screens anyway? If it's to show a bunch more stuff due to extra space, then might as well make it one really tall screen. Why? Because then if a game wants to it can show one large undivided image of gameplay. Think overhead scrolling space shooter for just one example of this. I mean, they can do that anyway, but there will be that bit of plastic in the way, and it'll have to be designed with that in mind for EVERY game that wants to do something like that.
The reality is the duel screen setup was entirely because they wanted to keep the system small, something I understand. I mean, the system would look like a tetris piece if they put the long screen on the horizontal system. And, doing it vertically would make for something you also couldn't fit in your pocket. They had to go clamshell, and ya can't just fold up a screen, so they split it. It was needed by design, so I understand. What I don't like is being told that the two screen setup allows for some sort of innovation, which it doesn't. The touch screen does, sure, and the advertising is focusing on that here in America (should have been called the TS), but not the duel screen aspect. That was just an engineering solution to a problem.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)