This may sound a bit academic, but I believe the DS has the potential to change the face of gaming in regards to how the media and general public view gaming. Not only is it the most innovative handheld system ever, but it definitely has some truly ground breaking gems to up the average gamer’s intelligence quotient.
Phoenix Wright
Cooking Mama
Trauma Center
Brain Age
Big Brain Academy
Kanji no Wataridori
So what do we have here? The first three games see players take the role of an attorney, chef, and surgeon respectively. The next three improve cognitive thinking skills. And although the last game will never see release outside of Japan (since it is an action adventure teaching tool for helping students master the hundreds of Kanji they need for entrance exams) it is a great example of a game that can level up the average individuals noggin’. These are the types of games that provide parents with piece of mind. Moreover, their encouraging reception by gamers at retail will hopefully mean that more developers will take chances and continue to innovate rather than rely on sequels and licensed entities.
Finally, a lot of love has to be given to Nintendo for actually bringing these games to the States in the first place. Nintendo would have been hard pressed to bring these types of games out to the States a decade ago, but this new trend points to a golden age of handheld gaming.
Phoenix Wright
Cooking Mama
Trauma Center
Brain Age
Big Brain Academy
Kanji no Wataridori
So what do we have here? The first three games see players take the role of an attorney, chef, and surgeon respectively. The next three improve cognitive thinking skills. And although the last game will never see release outside of Japan (since it is an action adventure teaching tool for helping students master the hundreds of Kanji they need for entrance exams) it is a great example of a game that can level up the average individuals noggin’. These are the types of games that provide parents with piece of mind. Moreover, their encouraging reception by gamers at retail will hopefully mean that more developers will take chances and continue to innovate rather than rely on sequels and licensed entities.
Finally, a lot of love has to be given to Nintendo for actually bringing these games to the States in the first place. Nintendo would have been hard pressed to bring these types of games out to the States a decade ago, but this new trend points to a golden age of handheld gaming.
). Maybe what made the GBA so great is that there was nothing really competing with it at the time (although there was that Wonderswan thing that came and passed, and that contraption called the ngage). The GBA ruled the portable world, and most of the time the new releases were thrilling. Golden Sun? The Mario and Luigi series debut? First Warioware game? NES re-releases? Advance Wars? Many other titles I'm forgetting? All in spectacular portable graphics *reminisce*