The DS series was the peak handheld generation for me. I like that the console’s design encouraged creative game mechanics, and it has some of my favourite games of all time. I have a DS Lite, a 3DS and a new 3DS, though I think the original DS line had the better game library compared to the 3DS. The camera and 3D effect were rather gimmicky and didn’t add much value for me.
I think the game that best encapsulates what I love about the DS is The World Ends With You, a JRPG set in modern Tokyo that used both screens at once in its action combat system - to control two different characters. The character on the bottom screen would have you use touch gestures to trigger attacks, while you needed to do button combos to control the character on the top. It was insanely fun!
Other games I liked from the early DS era are Hotel Dusk, a detective game that is played in “vertical mode” so you hold the console like a book - and Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan!, the original Japanese version of Elite Beat Angels, a rhythm game.
I also played all romance/otome games that were available in English for the DS, my favourite was Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side.
The DS figured out touch-based interactions way better than smartphones which are like the main touch-based “handheld” nowadays. That is because you could dedicate the entire touchscreen to gameplay input, since you still had the top screen to show relevant game information. Smartphones on the other hand need to utilize the entire screen both for input and displaying stuff, which just doesn’t work as well imo.
I got a 1st Gen 3DS second hand some time ago. What I like:
Pokemon, Zelda, and Animal Crossing.
The 3D effect and dual cameras are neat, though a little gimmicky.
What I don’t like:
The heavy reliance upon internet connectivity. I can’t change the details of the account on it without losing access to the downloaded games. I can’t even change it anyway, because the online store is closed.
The control stick sucks. It’s good for a very flat control stick, but it doesn’t feel nice to use.
Proprietary power connector.
The viewing angle on the screen is pretty shallow.
I have a Steam Deck, and it’s just better in all respects. I get that it’s comparing a very new device against an old device, but I don’t really see a reason to pull out the 3DS when I could have a better experience on the SD.
My hands are pretty medium sized, and I think it’s the most comfortable portable device I have ever had in my hands. It is however a bit heavy. It’s also not a pocket device like the Gameboy was, although most DS are not very pocketable either.
I upgraded to a New 3DS XL for Monster Hunter because I needed the control nub for camera control. The viewing angle with eye tracking is SO MUCH BETTER.
I did rip out the control nub and replace it with a PSP joystick, improving it vastly.
I bought a Steam Deck just to support the most important thing that ever happened to Linux gaming, but mine has actually just been gathering dust. It's far too big to really be a handheld, doesn't fit in my pocket, and does not fill the role that Nintendo's handhelds served for me. The main thing I do end up using it for is taking Deck + dock to FGC events for a portable setup.
Last year I bought a Miyoo Mini Plus, a little emulator handheld, as an impulse buy because it was on sale super cheap. I ended up putting far more time into it than I ever did with the Deck.
My ultimate dream would be to someday get SteamOS running on a DS-sized form factor. Doesn't need to be beefy, just needs to fit in my pocket and run my favorite 2D indie games.
Now that Satisfactory came out of early access and is now 1.0, I’m starting a new playthrough. I’ve got 1400+ hours in the game, 30 or so in my new save.
I didn’t know about this game until today when an interview with the dev popped up on my podcast subscription feed, it looks good! I might have to go in blind
I did not know this one was so close to release! I am glad to see that it is awesome, and now I don’t want to know anything else about the game because I want to be surprised!
The DLCS aren’t cosmetic - they’re “additional” storylines.
Why are you defending the practice of selling incomplete games with the option to pay to play the entire game ON DAY 1?
What? Is it additional storylines or part of the main game? Who fucking cares, dont buy it if you dont want to. I only recently played the yuffy story on ff7r and it didnt add shit to my experience.
According to a friend who had the displeasure of looking at the file size, he claims it’s 170GB when all is said and done… Stupid Sony square refusing to let steam preload…
170 GB is insane. Publishers should really get punished for making larger than average deliveries. Most of that size usage usually comes from poor optimization.
They’re typically optimizing for fidelity and performance ahead of install size. Multiple LODs can balloon an install size quite quickly, but they’ll give you better bang for your buck in other areas, and storage space is a concern that dissipates more in time, as you upgrade to newer machines.
I have seen this theory floated a few times. The problem is that reading uncompressed files from disk can often be slower than reading less data and decompressing it on the fly efficiently. Would be interesting to see actual studies of this for common game data.
It was faster to load the higher resolution data back in the early 2010s on HDDs, so I don’t imagine it got any better for using compression now that we’re on SSDs.
Seems unlikely that all these would have fallen here.
I wonder what sort of creature would go around collecting them, only to leave them out where they would reflect light and attract the attention of anyone passing by. It’s almost as if…
The exclusivity deals appear to have been good for no one involved: Epic, Square Enix, Sony, or customers, so I think we’ve seen the last of them outside of things Epic publishes themselves.
How was it bad for epic? They would’ve made more from cuts on sales on steam than selling the full game at the lower rates on their own store? God I wonder how dismal their customer engagement rate is.
They paid more for it than they saw back in sales or expected new customers. What they’ve said publicly is that they won’t be using this strategy anymore, because it isn’t working. They claim free game giveaways are working, but I have my doubts as to how valuable those user acquisitions are.
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