What's your dream handheld?

[Rangers]

The PSP has shown us a few things. For one, that optical media doesn't seem to fit in the handheld space.

Okay here's mine. We start with price, I think the handheld market is supremely sensitive to price. So this machine will be $99 from day one . Bottom line.

Cart based, this ensures no loading times, as well as lower costs.

A nice screen. I dont think we can afford the PSP screen on this badboy, perhaps slightly smaller and less high quality, which still makes it a very nice screen.

Six face buttons. For classic fighting games. I'm not sure if this will be easy to fit, but if it all possible. If not then four. Make sure all the buttons work great, and none stick like that stupid PSP issue, as well as a great D-pad. Two PSP style analogue nubs, removable. This ensures support for 3D games yet they can be detached if not needed.

No second screen or touch screen. These are gimmicks I feel.


What kind of power are we talking here? I feel this machine could be outfitted with ARM processors. It'll be a good deal beefier than DS, perhaps not quite as strong for 3D as psp, but a 2D monster.

The main positive about this machine will be the games. It'll be a 2D and 2D fighter fans dream, rather than shunning 2D games and 2D retro ports, they will be welcomed.

So, there's mine!
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Ocean View Condominiums Pattaya

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

Everything from the DSlite mixed with the power of the PSP. IMHO that is the only thing that the DS lacks. Because of the low power some genres just dont work well on the DS but for the rest its perfect I think. Small in size, good on battery life, the touch screen is in my opinion better than a widescreen because its more usefull in games (both for controlls and to display more things) and it loads games fast.

My ideal handheld would be DSP

 

[Arwin]

I hate all the complaining about the UMD ... I think the UMD is great. Think about it - when games use up enough of the UMD to actually cause significant loading times, they are about 1.8Gb large. Then what are the alternatives?

I think the main problem is that there are publishers who bring the whole console experience to the PSP, but these games haven't been designed to be optimised for the PSP. Yet there are enough games that show it's possible to do it well enough. Take a game like Loco Roco, which is a great experience, but it only uses 64mb. And at the other end, take Tekken PSP or Daxter, which are truly awesome, unparalelled handheld experiences, and use up the full 1.8Gb without actually causing significant load-times.

Memory-sticks are starting to get cheap enough and we can start thinking about caching information on the MS to improve performance, which I don't think is absolutely necessary for any other reason then making life easier on developers. Though Sony could perhaps also just set requirements for load-times, just to weed out the bad seed.

Sorry to sound like a fan, but I really like the PSP as it is. That said, in the ideal circumstances, my top wishlist for the PSP:

1. a touchscreen or a keyboard.
2. always-on internet

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

Keyboards dont work on handhelds. Touchscreens do but not with only 1 screen because your hand will block most of the screen making in useless in alot of games. So you'll need 2 screens to make it work best. One for input, one for displaying the game.

UMD isnt that bad but it drains the battery to fast. And you have the loadings times. Though they might not be the fault of UMD in almost all PSP games they are there so id rather have something that just eliminates loading times instead of hoping the best from the devs.

 

[Blade]

Rangers: Touch-screen? Gimmick?

You talk up the PSP in your post. Do you own a DS?

Sony would die to have a touch-screen on the PSP.

 

[Arwin]

Keyboards dont work on handhelds. Touchscreens do but not with only 1 screen because your hand will block most of the screen making in useless in alot of games. So you'll need 2 screens to make it work best. One for input, one for displaying the game.

I don't think this is a problem, really. You can decide per game how much of the screen you wish to use for input, and plenty of handheld PDAs with touch screens work fine this way.

UMD isnt that bad but it drains the battery to fast. And you have the loadings times. Though they might not be the fault of UMD in almost all PSP games they are there so id rather have something that just eliminates loading times instead of hoping the best from the devs.

The battery isn't really an issue for me. 4 hours is worst case so far, for me, and that's long enough. There are better batteries out there too, and again, I see more in reusing the MC as cache to make life easier for devs than getting rid of UMD altogether, which is already on the small side for games such as MGSO and FF VII:CC.

 

[Arwin]

My goodness, I have to get this off my chest - I use my PSP every day for a variety of things, and yes that includes gaming - and I just need to have it off my chest: the PSP is great, it has great games, and the fact that it has been over ambitious doesn't mean it does most stuff better than anything else out there.

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

I don't think this is a problem, really. You can decide per game how much of the screen you wish to use for input, and plenty of handheld PDAs with touch screens work fine this way.

That still doesnt change the fact that it isnt gonna work very well. Just try imagine playing a fps game that way.

The battery isn't really an issue for me. 4 hours is worst case so far, for me, and that's long enough.

Tell that to all those dutch people who go out camping in the summer. Im sure you'll see alot of happy parents with a 1000+ km drive and a 4 hour battery life 4 hours is just enough for a round trip to barcelona by plane and than im not counting the time you have to wait at the airport.

My goodness, I have to get this off my chest - I use my PSP every day for a variety of things, and yes that includes gaming - and I just need to have it off my chest: the PSP is great, it has great games, and the fact that it has been over ambitious doesn't mean it does most stuff better than anything else out there.

Well... Yes but you also call that cheap braintraining ripoff good so that much for having a neutral standpoint.

Anyway the topic isnt about who has the best games but what would me the best handheld and obviously PSP has it drawbacks. Not that DS is perfect but that only lacks power for some genres. So again id go for DSP.

 

[ban25]

Tell that to all those dutch people who go out camping in the summer. Im sure you'll see alot of happy parents with a 1000+ km drive and a 4 hour battery life 4 hours is just enough for a round trip to barcelona by plane and than im not counting the time you have to wait at the airport.

I flew 6000 miles roundtrip last month and I didn't even have to charge the PSP once. I used it for most of the flight playing Tekken: DR, Dungeon Siege, watching AVC videos, and listening to music.

 

[Arwin]

Not to mention that you have very cheap in-car chargers ... And it's not like the DS Lite is going to last significantly longer either. 2 hours, maybe.

Oh that reminds me - I love the USB charger cable, it is great. But my dream handheld would be able to charge with any USB cable, not just one that splits of to your power input plug with a special plug.

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

My phat DS lasted for 10 hours in spain last year and my DSL lasts for 6 hours with the brightness on the highest level and 10+ at the normal level.

 

[Arwin]

Yeah, and for the PSP that depends on the game, but worst case for me has been 4 hours on the brightest level. But some games, like Tekken, are incredibly efficient and last much longer. I'm sure though that some will compare an old PSP with a relatively new DSL, and forget that batteries wear. Anyway, we're starting to digress. But I strongly disagree that you need two screens for touch screen to work. That's really nonsense.

 

[Skrying]

That's really nonsense.

No its not. With two screens you can leave one completely unblocked from the hand/stylus/whatever. If you're using one screen you have be careful about where you place your hand and also the screen would have to be either really wide or tall.

Its not a must for games, but it is for a dedicated gaming device that uses such a feature.

 

[Arwin]

No its not. With two screens you can leave one completely unblocked from the hand/stylus/whatever. If you're using one screen you have be careful about where you place your hand and also the screen would have to be either really wide or tall.

Its not a must for games, but it is for a dedicated gaming device that uses such a feature.

Yes, it is utter nonsense. First of all, the great thing about a touch screen is that you can use the mouse as a pointer with which to select, say, your troops. What better way than to draw around your troops to select them. Second, there is no problem whatsoever on PDAs to use a lower section of the screen to, say, input text or something similar. That doesn't block the screen at all. Really, the only reason that the DS has two separate screens is that a big large screen is more expensive, and you can't fold it as easily. Everyone would have preferred the DS to have two screens that meet right at the hinge, and it wouldn't have been a problem at all.

Honestly, if your comment were true, then a lot of the games that the DS has now would be completely invalidated, like Zelda, Kirby, etc.

 

[Skrying]

Yes, it is utter nonsense. First of all, the great thing about a touch screen is that you can use the mouse as a pointer with which to select, say, your troops. What better way than to draw around your troops to select them. Second, there is no problem whatsoever on PDAs to use a lower section of the screen to, say, input text or something similar. That doesn't block the screen at all. Really, the only reason that the DS has two separate screens is that a big large screen is more expensive, and you can't fold it as easily. Everyone would have preferred the DS to have two screens that meet right at the hinge, and it wouldn't have been a problem at all.

Honestly, if your comment were true, then a lot of the games that the DS has now would be completely invalidated, like Zelda, Kirby, etc.

You're using one gameplay example. There are a number of games that can be hurt with the use of only one screen and touch. For example, FPS, if you have your hand in the way then it covers up the screen and throws the game off.

Not all games fit into that, you're right there. But with a device that's dedicated to the use of the stylus in gameplay (read: A hell of a lot different from PDA use) can be hurt in certain genre's by using only one screen.

 

[Arwin]

Sorry, but I don't buy it. My hand is bigger than a DS Lite. The distance that is now between the bottom and the top screens doesn't make a sufficient difference for that to not be able to work by just not using the bottom part of the PSP screen for in-game graphics (note, you'd be hodling it upright, obviously).

Though I'd personally not care about the Stylus for FPS games, or at the very least, use both the analog stick and the stylus and not care at the least about my hand occasionally blocking the screen, in favor of having the full widescreen view. And if I'd had to choose for FPS between having the view games like Socom, Medal of Honor, and so on have right now and using the stylus and only half of the screen, I think I'd go for the bigger screen, to be honest. Same for many other gametypes.

I'd want the stylus for the unique games that allow me direct interaction with the game's graphics, not through a separate pad to input controls. And I want it for the text input (like Brain Training, for which I like writing down the numbers more than tapping a button), and controlling the web-browser and being able to do more business like stuff with the PSP.

Overall, though, the PSP is much closer to my ideal handheld than the DS. This should be obvious by now from the various threads - yes, even for pure gaming, or maybe especially so. But my ideal handheld would have had a touchscreen. I think it's the DS best feature. It can keep everything else.

But I want to focus on the ideal handheld part of this discussion.

 

[crazygambit]

My goodness, I have to get this off my chest - I use my PSP every day for a variety of things, and yes that includes gaming - and I just need to have it off my chest: the PSP is great, it has great games, and the fact that it has been over ambitious doesn't mean it does most stuff better than anything else out there.

I completely agree with this. I love my PSP. And once I get access to the whole (or pretty close hopefully) library of PS1 games it's gonna rule even more. The way I see it, these are not games worthy of my TV, but on the go they would be fantastic. I can't wait to revisit some of those FF titles and a few other gems I missed out on playing back in the day.

On the other hand I agree that having loading times isn't ideal for a handheld. Hopefully Sony would implement running games from the Memory Stick soon (it was a promised feature a while back)

Maybe for a next gen handheld having some of that technology that allows you to fold the thing and put it in your pocket would be nice. I'll try to find the link, I think Sony got a patent for it.

 

[Rolf N]

I don't think many compromises really should be made in the machine's design just to allow FPSes with touchscreen controls. It's just a workaround for not having analog sticks, and if you have analog sticks there's absolutely no point IMO. Yes, I played Metroid Prime: Hunters and am qualified to say it was a profoundly awful experience.

The brilliant thing about the DS is that it's a clam-shell design with a roughly natural size (try comparing the size of the device to a gamepad). Everybody loves clam-shell designs because they appear more robust. The touchscreen simply uses what would be empty space on a GBA SP Wide(tm) in an interesting way.

 

[Lazy8s]

A Dream cast handheld, anyway.

A dream portable would be an open access, multimedia computer phone, attachable to a TV/monitor and keyboard and mouse, equipped with a wide aspect touchscreen and 60-GB hard drive, designed for online purchasing and downloading of software, and supported by a game library like Dreamcast: invitingly accessible, addictively compelling games like Crazy Taxi, Soul Calibur, Jet Set Radio, Phantasy Star Online, Virtua Tennis, Virtua Fighter, Sega Rally, Space Channel 5, Virtual On, Rez, Daytona USA, Sonic Adventure, Chu Chu Rocket, Shenmue, and Seaman.

A dream portable would have powerful hardware, displaying a more modern level of graphics like unconditional 32-bit color rendering, high image anti-aliasing, and dot product per-pixel lighting while still being inexpensive and battery efficient.

 

[GwymWeepa]

Well this won't even be technically feasible for a while...but here goes. Imagine DS with the screen quality and fidelity of the PSP, same size and all, but it had two...one being touch sensitive of course. Relative power of a gamecube...price no more than 150 bucks. Now, this seems impossible, but technology will eventually get there.