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Contemplating the Meaning of "Gameboy DS"
This week I was in my local game store trading in a handful of used games for credit towards an upcoming copy of Lost Planet and I overheard a woman with her kids come in the store and loudly ask the clerk if they had any "Gameboy DS" systems in stock. The kid clamored that they were looking all over for a "Gameboy Advance DS" system but every place was sold out.
I have always though that the Gameboy was a stupid name since it implied it's limited intended audience to just male children. But these folks make a good unintended point. The Nintendo DS Lite and "Classic Phat" sold like hot cakes this past holiday season around the world and it deserves some respect as a major format. In the past there has been some trepidation labeling hand held game systems as battery powered toys while real games were either played with a box hooked up to a TV or a suped up computer. There are some serious numbers telling of the success of the DS and it's ability to get unique games for lasting series is proof. Last month Square Enix announced that Dragon Quest IX was going to be exclusively on the Nintendo DS passing up the PS2, PS3 and Wii. That is a major news for Japan that has gone as far as scheduling Dragon Quest days to come out on school holidays and pass laws banning the sale of video games to kids during school hours to prevent Dragon Quest freaks from ditching class and camping out for the next one. Quite simply it proves that Square Enix has more faith in the financial ability to make a profit on a large installed game player audience for the DS than the currently non-existent marketplace for the PS3. Also it proves that smaller budget games for the DS make financial since and can reward gamers with games that might not have happened on more expensive to develop platforms. The two excellent Castlevania games on the DS are a perfect example of how the titles would have been financially unsound to pull off on Sony latest hardware.
Casual gamers are just as important as hardcore gamers and the DS covers this well. However there are a backlash to this since there are tons of crappy Saturday cartoon show games crudding up the shelve next to a That's So Raven game. Come on. Seriously latching on to a licensed mass market intellectual property targeted at girls is not the only way to sell game to girls. I would much rather give my niece a copy of Cooking Mama, New Super Mario Bros., Nintendogs, Super Princess Peach, Animal Crossing and Elite Beat Agents than a "That's So Raven" game.
While I am talking about portable system Sony needs to stop crapping UMD movies all over the marketplace and come out with more non ports for the PSP.
Nintendo has stated that this was the last Christmas season for the Gameboy Advance line ( I still love the design of the Gameboy Advance SP ) and while the DS was originally supposed to be a side trip on the road to a next-gen Gameboy it has become the main course for Nintendo's massive hand held market. I fully expect that the development of a next generation Nintendo DS has already begun keeping the compact form factor, storage cards, touch screen and dual screens and I look forward to playing my current copy of Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan on a next-gen Nintendo DS in a couple years.
Jake at January 4, 2007 
Games
Comments
I don't consider myself a Casual gamer by any means, but I am not your hardcore gamer either. I do know that the system that gets the most play here for me is the Nintendo DS. I also find it interesting that any and all polls I have seen about where people play there DS is always at home wins by a mass vote.
Posted by: hurt at January 4, 2007 4:25 PM
