Feature: Birth of Xbox, Part 3“We knew there was a lot of skepticism out there about Microsoft getting into the games business. Everyone thought it was just going to be PC games.”

....But it IS just PC games.

Or games that would have been PC games otherwise, like Fable 2. Oh, and stolen Nintendo games from Rare.

I was a bit interested in 3DS at 1st, because of the whole 3D thing. But my interest has really fallen off, which isn't surprising cuz I've always pretty much hated handhelds. Now its worse, because these new handhelds are so powerful that they take games away, or game development resources away, from the big consoles.

So basically I have zero interest in any handhelds. I have more than enough to play between the 3 home systems, my old consoles, and the PC, as it is. Too much, even.

Torchlight 2 won't fit into XBLA size limit.

That's too bad. I was planning on getting it on PC, but still sucks for console-only players.

gamingeek said:

I'm bored.

So lets talk portable wars.

...

To most gamers, and certainly the gaming media handhelds have always been ghettoized.  I see the traditional hand-held gaming market as consisting mostly of two groups:

- children, most of whom have the handheld bought for them.  Hereafter referred to as "child group"

- adults who gamed as children, remain core gamers and have long periods where they do not have access to their home consoles. Hereafter referred to as the "gamer group".

Those to me are the only markets to go after.  Yes, there are exceptions, but those are the main groups.

The Vita has a problem with the child group.  As with the 3DS it is priced too high at launch. (I am not talking value here, just price). As with the PSP the other problem it has with the child group is it's appearance and sophistication.  It looks fragile. It looks "too good to give to a child".

The 3DS has a problem with the child group also.  The pricepoint has been corrected but an overlooked problem is that on every game box is a warning that says the product should not be used by children under 6.  A reasonable parent looking at that, is not going to buy that system if their child is under the age of 10.  The fear would be, that this is a new technology and if even the company selling it is saying there may be a problem, there must be a problem.  And six seems very arbitrary.  Why not 5? Why not 7?  In the mind of a protective parent it's just another reason to not buy a 3DS.

To the gamer group I don't see any objections with either system that time won't rectify.  The only problem with the 3DS is the lack of games and that has been the case with every system that ever launched with the exception of the SNES and the Dreamcast.  I would suspect that to this group, as with the last generation, they are likely to pick-up both if there are enough compelling games on either system.

As for me? I will likely get both.  I have often said I don't like the idea of current gen tech making it onto the handhelds because of the games it will produce, but the 3DS is not seeming to be the powerhouse it was expected to be, so maybe the 32-bit RPGS will be easier to port to it rather than the Vita (where they would look terrible).  For the Vita I am no excited about WRPG's ending up on it.  I know that Mrs. Aspro 100% will get a Vita, so that is a decision already made.  I will only get a 3DS if it ends up with RPGs. I'm not going to get it for Nintendo's games (Mario Kart, Zelda, Mario, SSB etc...).

aspro said:

To most gamers, and certainly the gaming media handhelds have always been ghettoized.  I see the traditional hand-held gaming market as consisting mostly of two groups:

- children, most of whom have the handheld bought for them.  Hereafter referred to as "child group"

- adults who gamed as children, remain core gamers and have long periods where they do not have access to their home consoles. Hereafter referred to as the "gamer group".

Those to me are the only markets to go after.  Yes, there are exceptions, but those are the main groups.

Where do games like Nintendogs, Brain Age and Animal Crossing belong?

aspro said:

In terms of their targeted demographic? I think you know the answer, so why do you ask?

You only have two demographics in your analysis and they fit in neither.

Hey Bugsie! Look what game hit the 3DS Virtual Console shop today for the US!!

D'AWWWWWW ! ! !

Isn't it cute in it's monochrome, green ugliness!

The "one region" release in 2011 is the only thing Sony had ever said about a release date, and that was before the Tsunami.  There was serious doubt they would even make it in Japan this year after that disaster.  If you google, "Vita one region release" you'll see what I'm talking about.

The Vita is toast in the west now that Nintendo has dropped the price of the 3DS. O-vah.

Setting aside your "girl gamer" assumption for a moment.

Yes, I do think that the older non-gaming as a child group has moved on, never to be regained.  Since the DS launched the Amazon Kindle has re-introduced reading to the elderly (it is light, easy to hold but more importantly can increase the size of text so it is more easily readble).  So while it is not a gaming device, it has returned to the elderly a pastime that they are more comfortable with.  These people would never have bought a PSP and they will never buy a Vita.  They would be quite content to continue playing Sudoku and Brain Age on their current DS until they can no longer hold a stylus (and the 3D would be a clear turn-off).

The younger non-gaming as a child adult group that saw the appeal of the DS is lost to Farmville and smartphones (or even just regaulr feature phones).  Farmville killed american soap operas, it's a powerful force.

Okay, back to the girl gamer group.  I have trouble understanding why they would not be in either the child group?  I don't see what role gender makes in this case.  I assume older girls would want an iPhone since it would enable them to game and post to facebook etc...  Younger girls would fit into the "child group" I defined earlier (not Vita buying, 3D wary).

I am not arguing the 50-50 gender mix at all. They don't deserve their own category in my view, they fit into one of the other classifications.

All of the adult women I have known who were around my age have played console and hand-held games their whole lives. Fortunately I don't have contact with females who are younger than me, but for the purposes of gaming I'd put them in the "child group".