Anyone play portables more than consoles as they get older?
Tuesday, June 12th, 2007 - 2:22pm
I'm finding myself drawn to them again. I definitely love my 360, but lately the wife has been wanting more time with me after previously being unavailable due to Ironman training. That's all well and good, but I've gotten used to having an hour or so of wind-down time every day with a game. And now she wants to take back our evenings wholesale. Hmmm... Part of me is seriously considering either a GBA with Advance Wars or a DS with Pokemon.
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Or....
A PSP with MLB The Show 2007?
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You can play and go with Pokemon DS, but everything I've read about it, and my experiences with previous versions are that it's a RPG with definite grinding. I'd spend as much or more time playing a "portable" game as I would a console game.
If you really want your gaming time I've found that going even more clingy than she's trying to be will produce the desired, "Why don't you go and play?" time you are looking for.
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I have a PSP and DS, but prefer full console gaming. You get bigger controllers and screens with a full console. Plus, looking down at a portable screen kills my neck after a couple hours.
I still love portable games, but for the long haul prefer the full experience.
I may be the only person left alive who doesn't own a DS, and I don't mind, really. I'm not sure why, but portable games have just never appealed to me. If I'm traveling, I'd rather read a book, and if I'm at home, I'd rather play a "real" console. There are certainly unique games for the DS (and PSP,) and while I enjoy the hell out of Advance Wars on my buddy's GBA, I know if I ever bought a portable game system, it would get about an hour's use per year. I'm a bus-thinker.
I just stare out the window. It's taken me two years of university just to train myself to listen to MP3's while on the way.
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Definitely my case. I travel a lot and fell in love with the DS some two years ago when I bought it. I don't have much time for playing either PC or PS2, so my DS gets much more playing than the two combined. 50 hours of FFTA? Yes, definitely, although it took one year. Even Phoenix Wright took me more than a month. Nevertheless, the DS gets a LOT of playtime, it's just the perfect portable machine. And since I don't care about graphics too much, it suits me perfectly. Although Hotel Dusk blew me away, perfect art direction. Once Disgaea is out for the DS, PS2 will be sleeping even more often.
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I spend most of my time with a .... PSP and MLB 07 The Show.
I just can't get motivated to do anything more complicated.
The PSP and the DS are by far the most compelling "next-gen" platforms so far. The full sized consoles are pretty blah, IMHO.
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As I get older I definitely play more easier to get into & less time consuming games. Some are on the DS. Some on the Wii. Some are old school arcade games. And some include games like BF2 on the pc where I can get a few fun rounds in in under 30 minutes.
I can get into longer (games) I guess if I really saw something that interested me, but it would (mean) giving up the variety. Like I could play WoW, but it would probably have to be my only game. I could play Civilization IV, but again it would have to my only game.
For the most part though I just don't have alot of motivation either to play anything too complicated nowadays.
I agree 100%.
I pretty much game at night before going to bed, and so have reverted to using my PSP almost exclusively.
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I am really finding that I'm enjoying handhelds more and more. I have a DS and a PSP and I game on those much more than my PC or my Xbox. I keep meaning to buy an Xbox360, but I sort of haven't been interested because of the handhelds. I love being able to take it out of my book bag at lunch or even at home and play something while watching TV or whatever.
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PS2 - hasn't been powered on for months
Gamecube - powered on briefly every few weeks, but only when I hang out with friends and play multiplayer games like Mario Party
DS Lite - played daily
GBA - played daily when my DS Lite was out of commission
This is mostly due to not having the time during the day to fiddle with console games due to my class schedule at the college, which will be changing this next week - this being because I'm getting my AA/OT this Saturday (yay, a 2-yr degree in only 6 and a half years! Success!).
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While I enjoy my consoles I find myself still spending time on my DS. I just think the system and available games are more suitable for pick up and playing in short bursts.
I don't know if it's anything to do with age but I suppose I tend to stick with less twitchy games on portables and enjoy more puzzle/turn based strategy titles.
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DSGamer, I swear you have Gaming ADHD.
I can't keep track of you from week to week! "Is he in favor of a handheld this week, or the 360? Or is he anguishing over whether gaming isn't right for him anymore? Or going gonzo on puzzle games, or wearying of them?"
I hear all of the kids are out in the sand lot playing something called, "stickball." It's all the rage around these parts.
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Thanks. The latest is because my wife has started to become less busy due to Ironman training winding down and yet I'm in the mode of having significant free time to game. So I'm just figuring out how I'm going to be able to still do my hobby now that she's returning to the real world. I still love my 360. And honestly I like the games I have for it better than anything on the portables. But it's attached to a TV and it also doesn't play Pokemon.
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Nope. While they are convenient for gaming in the bathroom or during a car ride, the majority of the very small time I spend playing my DS and PSP my ass is planted firmly on my couch in front of my TV, and I'm wishing they had made the game I'm playing for one of my damn consoles.
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360 = Daily
PC = Weekends
DS = Not turned on in 6 months
Wii = Do I still own this?
As I gotten older the only trend I have found is I play more SP games. MP gaming takes up so much time and coordination.
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360 = Weekends, now more on weekdays.
PC = Sometimes weekends, I don't have a PC game that's grabbing my attention at the moment. It was my primary gaming machine for a long time, with the PS2 as a supplement.
PS2 = Guitar Hero machine. Sees regular use.
DS = I played something on it nearly every day the first 6 months I had it (Sept-March) until...
PSP = Picked up in April. I use it more as a portable media player than a game machine, but I do game with it sometimes. It's replaced the DS as my entertainment device while commuting.
I never owned a portable gaming device before the DS. I didn't have a gameboy or gamegear or even a GBA, so I am certainly playing portables more than in the past.
You may enjoy listening to Trip Hawkins speak on the Game Theory podcast. I found him to be a really persuasive speaker and he's clearly pushing the frontier of mobile gaming. It sounds like he's working more towards getting the "other 95%" of people to play games, the non-hardcore, but he obviously has a really good grasp on the hardcore market.
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Ah, that makes sense, and explains your split personality syndrome.
Seriously, hope I didn't offend you; I only mock the people I like. 
I actually just play whatever has the games I want to play most at the time. PC games, 360, DS/GBA, Gamecube, PS2; those are my regular rotation for quite some time.
I've been shifting towards handheld gaming over the past year mostly due to time constraints/convenience but also because there have been some stellar titles released over that time (I'm looking at YOU, Advance Wars DS). I still love my 360 (which I try to play daily) but my PC and Gamecube are often only played in spurts when I get hooked on a game. Now that I've converted to GH on the 360 rather than PS2 I don't know how little I'll use the PS2 (that plus the strategy games I like on the PS2 are starting to release on the PSP).
When I do play my 360 daily it's easy (and I love!) playing XBLA titles during that time. I can also play that while on the phone. Of course there are serious 360 titles that require longer sessions to get into and I try to do that as much as possible. Otherwise it's just easier to play handheld titles given my schedule and home life. Daughter is watching a movie and wants me in there with her? I can read a book or play my DS/PSP.
I guess a shorter way to say this is that my schedule often dictates my gaming trend and, for the past year or more, it is currently more favorable to handheld gaming.
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I have to admit, I was surprised when I found myself buying a DS not too long ago. It wasn't time/schedule issues so much as games and money issues though.
On the game side (for example) Etrian Odyssey was practically made for me: I've really missed the old school semi-merciless "create a party and fling it through the giant dungeon" kind of game and was happy to see it make a small comeback. I think Hoshigami is seeing a re-release for the DS too soon. Never got to try the original, but it looks like a fun FFTish/Tactics Ogre sort of game.
On the money side, a DS opens up new games to me without the kind of layout a new console would require.
Nah. Wasn't offended a bit and I appreciate the compliment. I like being liked, contrary to what my contentiousness in P & C may make some believe.
I'm not so much split personality as (I think I mentioned this before) a little OCD. So my wife starts talking about all the time we're suddenly going to be spending together and I'm like "huh, but my freedom and my online friends!" and start trying to figure out what to do instead. I think I jumped the gun trying to find a "solution" to a non-existent problem. Without going into much detail, I think the real problem is my wife expecting me to run and jump now that she has time for me and I need to push back a bit and assert the idea that I get to keep my free time until things settle down. I really love my 360 and don't really want a DS. It would be more of a "buy it so I can play in nooks and crannies of time" purchase for me. I'd be just as well off getting a GBA and an older version of Pokemon or Advance Wars if I really needed that.
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Portables:
- Waiting for more than 30 minutes at a doctor's office
- When the wife is monopolizing the big screen
- When I'm forced to take transit
- As a quick nightcap in bed
- On the pooper
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Honestly when I'm sitting around killing time, or travelling, I like to read. Or drink
I only want to game when I can sit down and really enjoy it.
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I've definately been playing portables more often, I think it's more due to my lifestyle and work setup than age. I first picked up a GBA around the same time I began doing a lot of travelling for work. PC games on the work laptop don't usually do it for me, except the occassional FreeCiv session. On the portables, I prefer something turn based or easily pause-able, so I can put it down and come back to it repeatedly, something I can put down while listening for boarding announcements and whatnot. Advance Wars and FFTA for the GBA did nicely, right now Puzzle Quest on the DS is filling the role well. Can't wait for Disgaea.
At home I mostly do PC games, although I have a PS2 for Guitar Hero. I found that PS2 and PC games usually require at least a 30 minute block with no interruptions for me to really enjoy myself, even more for WoW. If the spouse is home and not working on a project, I'll just put the DS on the charger and play Puzzle Quest in 5 - 10 minute bursts throughout the evening.
DS comes in really handy on vacation when Mrs. Barbarian insists on examining every last item in the patchouli-infested tiedie-festooned hippie tourist trap and there's no convenient alcohol dispensing establishment nearby. Cuts down on the foot tapping, throat clearing, hint dropping, and sandalwood-induced sneezing.
I'll share the opinion of some of the others above in that when travelling, I'd much rather watch the scenery or just talk to people sitting next to me (Yes, I'm that guy, the one who's horribly cheerful and chatty, on a cramped and dreadful 12 hour flight), maybe take a nap if there's nothing else to do.
I like my big PC, and don't really want to play games on something much, much weaker.
I carry my DS Lite in the right inner pocket of my light summer jacket. It provides a counterweight to all the change, credit cards and keys in the left pocket.
Also... you never know when you might need it !