A fine handheld gaming system

After months of survey, I finally got my white Nintendo Dual Screen Lite (DS)! The purchase comes at a time when the sales of Nintendo DS and Wii surpasses the total sale of all other console and handhelds combined. (See: July Console Sales Shakedown) This means not only a victory for Nintendo but also brings out an imporatant point: "The latest technology might not always win."

To prove this point, we can compare the specification of DS and its only gaming rival, the Playstation Portable (PSP) from Sony. Sony PSP at the beginning decided to fight the handheld battle by designing a machine that bundles the latest chipset and graphics. With its 480×272 pixel resolution capable of 16.77 million colors, it is more than enough to satisfy every gamers needs. Comparatively, Nintendo DS consist of only 256x192 pixels resolution.

So how did the DS managed to tip over the giant?

To stay alive in a highly competitive gaming industry, Nintendo could choose to fight head on with Sony and come out with a handheld packed with processing power and brilliant graphic rendering. Else it can stop producing anymore hardware systems but strive on becoming a game design house like its japanese counterpart, Sega. Nintendo decided to fight the battle by Blue Ocean strategy, by focusing on creating a new market. Nintendo DS was not designed to attract new hardcore gamers who were already snatched by Xbox and Playstation consoles, but instead to attract a different kind of people though new interactive game play. Their machine does not pack state of the art chips as compared to PSP. However their main draw point was the use of the touch screen and dual screen. This gives another dimension to the game play experience and new design paradigm for game designers.

In addition, their games are also relatively simply to play and does not require too steep a learning curve to start enjoying them. This point certainly attracts new entrants into handheld gamings who are turned off by complicated controllers offered by Xbox.

By having a lower processing power in DS, this turns out to be an advantage as it might mean game designers require less time to push a game title out for DS as compared to PSP. This is evident by the wide variety and selection of titles available for DS.

Apart from focusing on what is inside of the DS, we must also appreciate the redesigned DS Lite. It is a machine with slick smoth curves and nice size to hold in your palm. Nothing is protroduing out of the machine. My white DS has a shinning surface which unfortunately attracts finger prints all over. The most brilliant design similar to Mac ibook is the ability to make the machine to go into sleep mode when it is closed. When this occurs, the game is halted at the point in it and a green LED light will blink. Next time when the machine is opened, it will resume the game. Perfect for those of us who are always on the go.