Community Highlight: Portable Gaming: Still a Viable Outlet?

(Community Highlight is a feature where we choose an article submitted by a member of the 4Player  community and bring it to the front page for all to see.  Interested in seeing your article on the front page? Then submit one here.)

Article by: TemjinZero

When did everyone stop taking Handheld Games seriously?

Well, actually, Japan never ceased to believe in the potential for handhelds and their outreach. The DS and the PSP are all alive and well over on the other side of the Pacific, however, the sentiment in North America has most definitely changed. In very fact, I am guilty of this misconception as well. At what point did we all start thinking that just because a game is on a handheld that it isn’t all that great and NOT worth spending time on over a console game that could be, or is, a considerably worse game?

It’s a fact that handhelds are not as powerful systems as consoles. You just can’t cram that much stuff into something that has that small of a form factor. As a result, your games might not have a world map or areas that you can have a character manually navigate, that or they need to be scaled down in size. Aside from some minor hardware limitations, it’s entirely up to the developers on the quality of game that’s being made. It’s entirely possible to make a very epic game without requiring the processing power of the current generation console machines. Take for instance Valkyria Chronicles 2 on the PSP. The menus, interface, and even battle system are as good, if not better than their counterparts on the PS3, yet Valkyria Chronicles 2 is just as epic a game as its predecessor on the PS3. The only difference between the focus of each game was some graphical fidelity and scriptwriting. Did putting Valkyria Chronicles 2 hurt the kind of game that Valkyria Chronicles is? NO.

Graphics do not make a game. Graphics ENHANCE the experience, sometimes. They’re not necessary, and some would even argue simpler graphics are BETTER depending on the type of game. The second change between VC1 and VC2 was a less serious story and script. Does a lower power system cause that to happen? Heck no. The script and story focus changes were conscious decisions made by the developers and not a result of being on a handheld. So why was there any so much fear about VC2 being moved to a handheld experience over a console experience? We got slightly watered down graphics, sure. That’s it though. The fact remains that the game is still as amazing as it ever was. If there was anywhere that VC2 truly suffered, that was in storytelling, and that could have happened regardless if the game was released on PS3 or PSP.

In very fact, this coming season, Fall 2010, has me wanting more handheld games than console games! Since July, I’ve bought Persona 3 Portable, Ys Seven, Valkyria Chronicles 2, and I will be getting Phantasy Star Portable 2 when it comes out. Each of these games EASILY has 20+ hours of gameplay. Conversely, I’m looking forward to just Halo: Reach and Vanquish, while the only console games I’ve purchased since July have been BlazBlue: Continuum Shift and Metroid: Other M. Both of these games cost 50% more, and last about half as long or less. Even Reach’s campaign and Vanquish will likely not take more than 10 hours each to complete. Even then, I’m absolutely not enjoying Metroid: Other M nearly as much as I am enjoying these recent handheld releases.

Handheld games should not be looked down upon. This season more than ever has reminded me of the old times where I didn’t care about what platform whichever game came out on, rather, time should be spent on games that are actually FUN. If you see a mediocre game you ‘want’ to play on a console, versus a game you enjoyed on a handheld, why waste the time playing that mediocre game just because it looks nicer on your TV over something on a handheld screen. As a kid, I used to spend hours just sitting around my house, playing games like Kirby’s Dream Land 2, Golden Sun, and Megaman Battle Network on a tiny handheld rather than the latest random console game on my TV. I know for a fact I used to own WAY more handheld games versus console games, and if handheld games are better than their console competitors that should never stop any gamer from picking up a handheld, sitting back in a comfy chair in their living room, and having a blast.

Games are games because they’re fun. Not because they look pretty. Pretty is just icing on the cake, what still matters most is what’s on the inside. (Author’s Note: This may also apply to real life and relationships, but I didn’t advise you on real life, just video games. )