PSP Potential for Adventure Games
 

It seems like more and more Adventure Games are using online distribution as their main form of distribution (with tangible copies still available, but not quite as high a priority).

I've been reading a little about the PSP Go and it seems that they're doing away with the UMDs and instead all games will be downloaded. (It'll have a 16Gb drive and you'll be able to transfer them from a memory card or download them directly through WiFi or through a PS3). Correct me if I'm wrong about any of that.

I wouldn't go as far as to suggest that a PSP would be as good a format for the genre as either the Wii or NDS but I can't help but think it would be more appealing to developers using, or intend to start using, online distribution as a key feature of their business model than any competing console.

Thoughts?

http://s46.radikal.ru/i111/0906/d2/38f22d32ab01.jpg
Myst on the iPhone or iPod Touch. Click the image to see it in action!

iPhone 3Gs FTW. :)

Furthermore, developing only for PC, I believe, is so stupidly out of date now. Especially when you have powerful mobile platforms like the PSP, DSi, and iPhone, and all of them have a huge install base already. It's a more delicious deal because then developers and publishers can make more money which they can use to develop even better and more ambitious adventure games, if not actually more innovative and experimental games.

http://osxreality.com/wp-content/upl...11/1112-ti.jpg
1112 on the iPhone and iPod Touch. Click the image for a video review!

And beyond that digital distribution is also environmentally sound - no more discs and less paper and other materials used. If you don't have the fastest connection at home just go to your nearest wi-fi spot and d/l the game there.

Remember, too, that consoles like PS3 and XBox 360 can also do digital downloads of full games. XBox Live has a robust store for this.

I wouldn't say I am too keen on point and click adventure games on the psp with pad controls. However I am very interested in these visual novels they never seem to get out of japan. If they would be more interested in localizing if it just goes online.

But sure digital distribution gives it a fair chance!

:D LOL, then stop trying to make point & click adventure games for the PSP with pad controls! Why shove yourself back inside the box when you expand to a new platform? Think more progressively in terms of design. Make the game play so that we players can navigate through the game world by using another kind of interface besides p&c.

On the iPhone, for example, the entire p&c interface is replaced by, you guessed it, your fingertips! And I'm sure on the PSP a different and efficient system can be thought up.

But naturally, you can even throw flat 2D graphics out and replace them with beautiful real time 3D worlds where the character can, say, turn her head to look at things of interest and that's your clue to investigate further.

There are many possibilities to explore beyond p&c, why shove yourself back in the box?

And that is the reality of digital distribution! :)

Is that one of Myst's sequals? I remember how good I thought the graphics were at the time but I was under the impression that it hadn't aged that well. That sentance (the one you quoted, that is) wasn't particularly well thought out at all.

What I meant was that it might be preferable for developers to produce game for, or port them to, the PSPGo than another handheld system because games can simply be downloaded to it. However the WiiMote and stylus is already a pretty tantilising alternative to the mouse of a PC.

http://www.thetechherald.com/media/i...ct_Natal_1.jpg
Project Natal for XBox 360.

:) It's the original Myst. Click the image to see for yourself. The mouse has been replaced by your fingertips. Instead of it being point & click, it is now touch & go!

I think it still would've been possible to port realMyst (the real time 3D version of Myst) to iPhone or even PSP. Both devices are powerful enough to handle the graphics.

Remember, the upcoming Project Natal for Xbox360 is also an amazing consideration for adventure games, as well as a similar motion sensing interface for the PS3.

I think he was talking about that image. I don't recall seeing that specific image in the original myst.

So in other words, it's still a point and click interface. The fact that you're using your fingers instead of a mouse cursor doesn't really change that. You're pointing at a specific part of the screen and clicking (tapping) on it. How is that a revolutionary change?

I don't own a PSP (I do have a DS which uses similar point and tap for the adventures I've played) but presumably it doesn't have touch screen technology, so can't make use of this adaptation of the old point-and-click interface. I can see how resorting to using the movement pad would make point-and-click a cumbersome interface. This is why developers need to realise that straight ports of games won't always work because the standard control systems won't necessarily translate across formats easily.

I still don't see why using a Dpad or analogue stick isn't as good as a mouse (or other alternative) to some players. What's so bad about it?

With a mouse it feels like you're moving your hand to whatever you're interacting with (with the tapping variant, you're literally doing that) With a Dpad or joystick you're got a sense of separation between yourself and the cursor. Also (from using cursor keys for similar tasks in the past) I've found it is much easier to overshoot when using keys/joystick as compared to a mouse, which can get quite frustrating after a while.

You definitely have more precision with a mouse. Sam and Max is so much easier to control via mouse on PC than it is with a controller on XBLA, which I would presume is why Telltale have started moving towards more direct control-based systems for movement in their games.

I would say the fact that you have to drag the cursor with the limited movement on the pad! however phoenix wright that was made for gba worked fine. However that was a game where there wasn't all that much interaction with the backgrounds/plus the backgrounds were very small so easy quick interaction.

I must say, I have SCUMMVM on my PSPSlim and the analogue nub works beautifully, with one of the shoulder buttons, when pressed, decreasing cursor speed. Works a treat.

Well, they're porting Shadow of Memories(Destiny) to the PSP in Japan. It'll be interesting to see how well that translates to a portable device.

To which I say it's about bloody time.