BBits: Two Devices
BBits: Two Devices
Disclaimer: The proceeding article is editorial content. The views expressed are those of the author and do not neccessarily reflect the official position of the Advanced Media Network.
And we love twins...
Before me, I have two devices. What's interesting to me is that both devices are the same.
They are made by two different companies. Made for two different purposes. Distributed by two different stores, of two different chains. They even arrived at my table in two different ways.
The first one came into my house in a box in the mail. It wasn't purchased by me, if truth be told, but by the place I work for. They offered me a Blackberry phone. I didn't want one, I wanted the Palm Pilot phone, because I have certain Palm Pilot applications (primarily the ebooks I like to read in meetings and make it look like I'm taking notes), and the fact that it works with my Powerbook. So I told them I wanted the Treo 650.
The other one I bought myself in a local Electronic Boutique. Or was it a Software Etc? Then again, does it matter which one anymore? I saved up for a pair of months by eating very very cheaply and not getting a bikini wax. (Which explains why I'm all itchy.) While I have a Sony PSP, to be honest it's turned into something of a paperweight.
Oh, no - what's that? The sound of a million PSP fanboys just screamed out in terror, and were just told to shut the hell up. And the DS fanboys out there shooting your guns into the air? Yeah, well, you can knock it off as well. I bought a PSP not for the games, but for the capabilities. And let's face it, on my list of PSP items there's a grand total of six titles I give a crap about. OK, seven if you include that NIS America is going to make Generation of Chaos for the PSP - sometime in 2006. Compare that to the 15 games (and that's even forgetting "Animal Crossing" on the list, which is supposed to be online) I'm looking forward to on the DS. The one thing the PSP has going for it right now that makes it useful to me? It can run homebrew software. Yes, that means right now I've got a Game Boy emulator to run the Game Boy games that I already legally own, since I can't play them anymore on my Nintendo DS.
Oh, did I not say what I purchased at Gamestop? Yes, I am now the proud owner of a Nintendo DS. Here's a shot of my DS and PSP side by side:
And here's a shot of my DS trying to teeth on the PSP.
Ahhhh - aren't they cute? They're already playing together!
My Treo has a very nice screen, and uses either a keyboard or a stylus for input.
My DS has two screens - both roughly smaller and of lower quality than the Treo - and uses either the buttons or a stylus for input.
The DS can communicate over 802.11 or a proprietary interface. The Treo talks over a GSM or CDMA or a Bluetooth connection. Or USB, but wires are so 1990's.
Both take a cartridge - the Treo takes SD, SDIO, and MultiMediaCard cards. The DS can take both a Nintendo DS and a Game Boy Advance cartridge. (Too bad about the old Game Boy games, but I guess Nintendo has to draw a line in the sand somewhere.)
Each device was created to connect people. The Treo talks over several systems - voice, email, text messaging, heck, I've even gotten AIM to work. The DS was made to connect to people in range of the wireless, and even over the Internet. I don't know if it will ever support, say, some Internet phone systems, but those companies would be crazy not to create a cartridge with that ability.
The Treo runs the Palm OS, and because the DS is made with the same kind of chips, so can it. In fact, according to some sources Nintendo has even licensed the Palm OS for the DS, so it could run the same kind of applications.
And yet - even though each item is so similar in so many respects, this is the point where the comparison breaks down, because neither device is like the other at all in the way we perceive them.
Fraternal, not identical
About a week ago I bought a copy of Kirby Canvas Curse. The game is incredibly simple. Using a stylus, you don't control Kirby so much as you draw a path for him to follow. You use him to open doors, bump him about like a pinball to blast apart blocks, and tap on his enemies long enough for Kirby to bump them off the screen.
The second I started tapping on the screen, I started grinning like an idiot. It's just fun to draw rainbows. I mean, I never thought I'd say that, but I love rainbows. Rainbows are now my favorite color. That, and unicorns have become my favorite animal.
But it's also a game that confuses me. Why didn't this ever come out for the Palm Pilot? I mean, have you ever checked out the line of Palm Pilot games? Mostly a lot of really boring stuff. A few RPG's, some Pac-Man clones, and not a whole lot of anything good.
Why didn't anything like Kirby Canvas Curse come to the Palm OS? I mean, it's the same interface. You may not need the same level of graphics, but its one of those "Well, duh! You can make them fun!" Instead, most of the Palm games I've seen try to use the buttons to play the game. Move left and right and shoot. Wow. What an incredibly crappy idea!
Yet the DS, which is virtually the same system, came up with Canvas Curse, the upcoming Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is an adventure game. An adventure game that uses the stylus. And that looks fun!
Now look at "Verichat", a multiple instant messenger client for the Palm Pilot. A wonderfully done application that uses the stylus or simple buttons to communicate with people around the world. It's an application that is perfect for the platform. And what kind of chat do we get on the DS? No, not the built in "Pictochat" system built into the Nintendo DS - the first third party chat program we get is Ping Pals, a game so incredibly popular that I'm burning a hole in my wallet just to buy it.
Not.
Why did the DS get "Ping Pals" while the Palm OS gets "Verichat"? Because someone looked at the DS, and instead of seeing a system that could implement 801.11 as well as the DS's own proprietary wireless, a protocol that could put the device on the Internet and communicate with other people - what they saw in the DS was a toy. A game machine. So they made Ping Pals.
Two devices. Each is nearly equally powerful in terms of processor, each nearly equally powerful in terms of features, each nearly equally powerful in terms of scope and applications that can be made for them.
The only difference between the two is perception.
Originally the webmaster of The Gamer's Press, John Hummel went on to become the Letters Columnist at Gameforms. He now writes for his own column, Between the Bits with John Hummel, right here at AMN. Look for his column weekly on Mondays.
Share this:
