No doubt the avid gamers amongst us have been all over the news of the Sony NGP (Next Generation Portable) AKA PlayStation Portable 2 plus the announcement that Android phones and tablets will be able to download PlayStation games from the PlayStation Store and play them using an emulator. Sony is planning to put some sort of certification program in place to ensure that devices meet a minimum level of performance for gameplay.
This is an interesting prospect as console manufacturers have traditionally restricted the publication of first party games on other devices however we have seen this trend turn recently with classic Sega titles appearing on other consoles and Nintendo’s stable of classics making an appearance in the virtual console on the Wii.
One gripe that I do have is that whilst the games themselves may perform very well on an emulator I believe a touchscreen based set of controls cannot compare to having a physical controller in your hands for two main reasons.
Firstly, a hardware controller affords the ability to detect the position of the buttons and directional stick/pad through the sensation in your fingers whilst a touchscreen simply cannot offer this experience. Particularly as your hands get oily or sweaty a touchscreen will not be very successful in providing friction to counteract slippage. Also, the surface area of the finger tips that makes contact with the touchscreen can change with rotation or general movement of a given digit. Whilst you may think you were holding down a button or using an analogue stick/trigger in a particular way the emulated controller may be receiving different feedback.
Secondly, a mobile phone or a tablet will typically be far more expensive compared to a hardware controller. Whilst I’ve never broken a console controller in about 25 years of gaming the controllers I have used have taken some punishment. In particular, the act of executing a dragon punches on a controller in Street Fighter can generate quite a bit of force in the form of compression, bending and twisting that the controller has to absorb. I wouldn’t feel as comfortable using a touchscreen device worth anywhere between $500 to $1000 for something as intensive as using a controller worth much less.
Whilst smartphones have become a force with which to be reckoned for social gaming and gaming on the go I don’t think they will be threatening mainstream portable consoles for the time being. Poor substitute controls make for a poor and effort intensive gaming experience.
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Don’t forget that where there’s a will, there’s a way.
For example: http://icontrolpad.com/ 😉
From the makers of the Open Pandora (yes, I have one).
[…] Fighter 4 in my pocket or my backpack and also has physical controls that are up to snuff (as pure touchscreen devices are terrible for the beat ‘em up genre and other types of games). I still have my original Nintendo DS (the grey chunky one) which has […]