Good Morning, Afternoon or Evening to you all. Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying whatever videogames they might be playing. Next week will be a rather busy week for me and I won't be spending any time near a PC, so I felt that while I had some spare time I would write up a new blog entry. With these coming days comes the possibility of portable gaming, in fact it's not exactly a possibility as much as a guarantee that I'll use my Nintendo DS or Playstation Portable to scratch my videogame itch. These sort of events come along and one must learn to adapt the way they game, and I shall do just that. I just hope that this time round, I don't end up misplacing my Nintendo DS somewhere. 

So I'm set to spend much of my time playing my portable consoles and it's made me think more about my portable gaming habbits, especially when I look back to the habbits I had some years back. Like many gamers around the world, I once owned a Nintendo Game Boy Colour and like many members of the 'youth generation' I was also somewhat into the weird but sometimes wonderful world of Pokemon. Now this wasn't a recent thing, in fact it was at the true height of Pokemon fame back in the

 late 90's if I'm not mistaken. Now I should also note that portable gaming was never of great interest to me as the young and wise gentleman that I was, but I had to have that Pokemon game afterall. So for some forgotten birthday I was given one of those see through styled Game Boy Colours where you could see all the inner workings of the system, I still own that Game Boy Colour and seeing it now makes me realise how damn ugly that thing was. 

But back to the topic at hand, it might surprise you that Pokemon Yellow was the only game I ever had and still own for the Game Boy Colour. My recent love for portable gaming as been exactly that, recent. It's only really been the Nintendo DS that's been able to satisfy the needs and wants I have for videogaming, especially on the go. I never truly found portable gaming of old that exciting and although I know many adored the original Game Boy's and everything about gaming while your on the move, it simply wasn't for me. So what exactly as changed, well it's clear from sales alone that I'm not the only one who feels like this. The Nintendo DS is one of the best selling systems ever and it deserves such a title, I'm rather lucky in owning two myself. One being one of the original white European launch DS's and the other being the limited (at the time at least) blood red DS's. Which is my personal favourite by far. 

Now it's probably worth discussing my time with the Game Boy Colour a little more, as I did actually spend many hours using it. Just only playing with the one game, but what a hell of a game that was for some hyped up caffeine filled kid who loves Pokemon. It's probably one of the reasons I have never felt strong enough to actually sell the Game Boy Colour, afterall I'd probably only get a couple of quid for it anyway and I'd much rather have the memories of playing it. But portable gaming as changed dramatically over the years and for the better I say, yes we gamers have to suffer the same old drivel of poor cheaply made games for children. But we do get to enjoy a couple of gems along the way. From the likes of Professor Layton and the Curious Village to the simply wonderful Phoenix Wright franchise. To be a portable gamer in this day and age is to be a rather lucky gamer overall and we really can't moan about the latest installment of Barbie Adventures on the Nintendo DS. 

Nowadays I have a much bigger collection of portable games for both Nintendo's and Sony's portable systems, some of those games would even go down in my top lists of the greatest games I ever did play. The Phoenix Wright franchise was really the turning point for me, providing an experience like no other and making me realise the true potential of videogaming on the go. In fact it was that exact game that made me purchase a Nintendo DS in the first place, need I say more. But it's had very much the same effect on gaming as Xbox Live Arcade as, it's bought back some of the classic genres we all loved as children or young adults. Point and click adventures being just one of them for me, but there are clearly many more I could discuss if I really wanted to bore the socks off you. 

I'll admit that there's a slight appreciation for Japanese insanity that helps me love portable gaming so much, games like Phoenix Wright wouldn't exist if it weren't for the madness that Japanese developers love to fill their games with. I like many of you love trying new and exciting concepts when it comes to videogaming and it's in portable gaming that many of those concepts are created and tested. Some work some don't, but most of the time it's worth the risk as the cost of developing a Nintendo DS game (or even a Playstation Portable game) is no where near the cost of making a game for one of the three major consoles. It's the simplicity of playing portable games that I love, and one of the reasons I dislike games that simply try to much. I can never truly enjoy a Grand Theft Auto game on PSP or a Final Fantasy game on DS, I'm sure many of you do love playing such games on the go. But I love a game where I can simply jump in and know what I'm doing without needing to read hundred pages of text. 

Portable gaming is simple, and it should stay that way. In my personal opinion it's currently going through a golden age and there's simply so much we gamers get to enjoy, yes it's not perfect but it's a hell of a lot better then the days when we needed to shine a torch on the screen just to know what the hell was going on. You might have a different opinion on portable gaming yourself, and it's easy to not appreciate this form of videogaming. But I think you'll at least agree that the Nintendo DS alone is one of the finest platforms for videogames ever developed and that we are currently seeing some of the most uniquely developed titles ever to touch the gaming world. So I'm set to experience some of these games next week and I'm looking forward to it in a weird way, gives me more of a chance to connect to that form of entertainment. But for now, I must leave you and return to being Mr Busy Von Gentleman for a while. I hope you have a great week of gaming and I'll post when I have the time. 

What are the ultimate qualities of the perfect portable game?

Good Morning, Afternoon or Evening to you all. Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying whatever videogames they might be playing. Next week will be a rather busy week for me and I won't be spending any time near a PC, so I felt that while I had some spare time I would write up a new blog entry. With these coming days comes the possibility of portable gaming, in fact it's not exactly a possibility as much as a guarantee that I'll use my Nintendo DS or Playstation Portable to scratch my videogame itch. These sort of events come along and one must learn to adapt the way they game, and I shall do just that. I just hope that this time round, I don't end up misplacing my Nintendo DS somewhere. 

So I'm set to spend much of my time playing my portable consoles and it's made me think more about my portable gaming habbits, especially when I look back to the habbits I had some years back. Like many gamers around the world, I once owned a Nintendo Game Boy Colour and like many members of the 'youth generation' I was also somewhat into the weird but sometimes wonderful world of Pokemon. Now this wasn't a recent thing, in fact it was at the true height of Pokemon fame back in the

 late 90's if I'm not mistaken. Now I should also note that portable gaming was never of great interest to me as the young and wise gentleman that I was, but I had to have that Pokemon game afterall. So for some forgotten birthday I was given one of those see through styled Game Boy Colours where you could see all the inner workings of the system, I still own that Game Boy Colour and seeing it now makes me realise how damn ugly that thing was. 

But back to the topic at hand, it might surprise you that Pokemon Yellow was the only game I ever had and still own for the Game Boy Colour. My recent love for portable gaming as been exactly that, recent. It's only really been the Nintendo DS that's been able to satisfy the needs and wants I have for videogaming, especially on the go. I never truly found portable gaming of old that exciting and although I know many adored the original Game Boy's and everything about gaming while your on the move, it simply wasn't for me. So what exactly as changed, well it's clear from sales alone that I'm not the only one who feels like this. The Nintendo DS is one of the best selling systems ever and it deserves such a title, I'm rather lucky in owning two myself. One being one of the original white European launch DS's and the other being the limited (at the time at least) blood red DS's. Which is my personal favourite by far. 

Now it's probably worth discussing my time with the Game Boy Colour a little more, as I did actually spend many hours using it. Just only playing with the one game, but what a hell of a game that was for some hyped up caffeine filled kid who loves Pokemon. It's probably one of the reasons I have never felt strong enough to actually sell the Game Boy Colour, afterall I'd probably only get a couple of quid for it anyway and I'd much rather have the memories of playing it. But portable gaming as changed dramatically over the years and for the better I say, yes we gamers have to suffer the same old drivel of poor cheaply made games for children. But we do get to enjoy a couple of gems along the way. From the likes of Professor Layton and the Curious Village to the simply wonderful Phoenix Wright franchise. To be a portable gamer in this day and age is to be a rather lucky gamer overall and we really can't moan about the latest installment of Barbie Adventures on the Nintendo DS. 

Nowadays I have a much bigger collection of portable games for both Nintendo's and Sony's portable systems, some of those games would even go down in my top lists of the greatest games I ever did play. The Phoenix Wright franchise was really the turning point for me, providing an experience like no other and making me realise the true potential of videogaming on the go. In fact it was that exact game that made me purchase a Nintendo DS in the first place, need I say more. But it's had very much the same effect on gaming as Xbox Live Arcade as, it's bought back some of the classic genres we all loved as children or young adults. Point and click adventures being just one of them for me, but there are clearly many more I could discuss if I really wanted to bore the socks off you. 

I'll admit that there's a slight appreciation for Japanese insanity that helps me love portable gaming so much, games like Phoenix Wright wouldn't exist if it weren't for the madness that Japanese developers love to fill their games with. I like many of you love trying new and exciting concepts when it comes to videogaming and it's in portable gaming that many of those concepts are created and tested. Some work some don't, but most of the time it's worth the risk as the cost of developing a Nintendo DS game (or even a Playstation Portable game) is no where near the cost of making a game for one of the three major consoles. It's the simplicity of playing portable games that I love, and one of the reasons I dislike games that simply try to much. I can never truly enjoy a Grand Theft Auto game on PSP or a Final Fantasy game on DS, I'm sure many of you do love playing such games on the go. But I love a game where I can simply jump in and know what I'm doing without needing to read hundred pages of text. 

Portable gaming is simple, and it should stay that way. In my personal opinion it's currently going through a golden age and there's simply so much we gamers get to enjoy, yes it's not perfect but it's a hell of a lot better then the days when we needed to shine a torch on the screen just to know what the hell was going on. You might have a different opinion on portable gaming yourself, and it's easy to not appreciate this form of videogaming. But I think you'll at least agree that the Nintendo DS alone is one of the finest platforms for videogames ever developed and that we are currently seeing some of the most uniquely developed titles ever to touch the gaming world. So I'm set to experience some of these games next week and I'm looking forward to it in a weird way, gives me more of a chance to connect to that form of entertainment. But for now, I must leave you and return to being Mr Busy Von Gentleman for a while. I hope you have a great week of gaming and I'll post when I have the time. 

What are the ultimate qualities of the perfect portable game?

I agree about the DS, as I unashamably declare it the best console ever.  Yes, I am sure you don't go that far, but I do.  I have had every Gameboy and DS.  As much as I loved the early versions, I didn't really become solidly in love until the GBA SP.  I saw the light - literally.  It wasn't just that, but apart from loving Pokemon games , there were a handful of games that hooked me in and never let me go.  Those games were:

These games were the beginning of a serious Nintendo handheld addiction.  I spent 1000 hours alone on Final Fantasy Tactics.  It was also the beginning of my love affair with JRPG - Breath of Fire and Golden Sun.  Strategy games in a sense became my true love in gaming and TBS was my preference.  I lost myself in Advance Wars.  The simple beauty of the game cannot not be defined, but as to your perfect portable game - this is it.  I enjoyed the 2 DS games as much.  If you didn't want to do the story, you could pick a battle to match your time available and try to get a better score than the last time.   There were so many different ways toplay the same game - different CO, enemy, weather, money, tactics - it was limitless.

Then came along the DS and it redefined the RPG genre.  There are so many of these games and for the most part, they are brilliant.  Even games like Final Fantasy  XII or Heroes of Mana, though RTS, have nice little bite sized chapters to play, and the quick save can keep you out of trouble if you have to stop.  I could wax lyrical all day about the joy that is the DS, but the amount of my threads on this board already say that  :-)

Pokemon still holds a special place in my heart.  I have every main game made, including remakes, but it was the first game that my children cut their gaming teeth on.  More important was that Pokemon was a shared experience- talking about, battling and trading with my 3 year old.  True bliss.  All 3 of us are right now playing Platinum (me), Diamond (16 year old) and Pearl (14 year old).  Nothing has changed.  We trade, hekp out and now with wireless technology, have even more fun.

I love the DS so much, I can measure my daughter's height in games  :-)

Nice read Joseph.  You truly are a true English gentleman.

For me, there isn't any quality that makes a portable game perfect. I just judge the game on whether I enjoy it or not