Nintendo DS

The Hardware-Software Gap
By Kyle Orland

This year's E3 was a stark contrast between startling innovation in hardware and predictable sequels in software.

On the hardware side, of course the big story was the fight between the Nintendo DS and Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP). They both look very good at what they're designed to do. The DS seemed focused on attracting a new segment to the portable market by making the device more accessible to the non-gamer. The touch screen and wireless communication abilities go a long

Sony PlayStation Portable (top), Infinuim Labs Phantom (middle), ApeXtreme (bottom)

way towards those goals, although the tech demos on the floor didn't yet show the full promise of the design (Not that they didn't show promise, just not the full promise).

The PSP, on the other hand, seemed focused on being a portable entertainment center, as much about playing movies and music as games. The non-playable demos on the floor failed to impress me, and the mix of different functions on display seemed unfocused. Still, the demos did show the unit's significant hardware power, and the sharp screen is very impressive.

The other hardware on display at the show has not received as much attention, which is unfortunate. The Phantom, ApeXtreme, Gizmondo, Zodiac, nGage QD and Rogue all had interesting features that set them apart from other consoles, both past and present. While I don't think any of them really have all the pieces in place to compete with the big boys, it's nice to know that the market is big enough for smaller companies trying to create systems with fresh new ideas. Look for a feature about these lesser-known wannabe consoles on GameCritics soon.

As for the software side, I wasn't surprised by the number of sequels on display. That's been the standard for the industry for a while now. I was surprised by how little most of them deviated from the game that came before them, though. When a game didn't have a number after its name, it I could immediately classify it as part of a well-established, commercially-successful archetype with just a cursory glance. This one is like Grand Theft Auto, that one is a rip-off of Halo, this other one is... Grand Theft Auto again. Generic titles like 25 to Life didn't help differentiate them in my mind.

I suppose the gap in innovative ideas between hardware and software is inevitable at this point in the console cycle. But I worry that, if it continues, the market will be saturated with a lot of highly-powered, do-everything consoles that fail to live up to their promise because everyone is too busy admiring their cool features to make any quality games for them. In a business where the razor blades sell the razors, there seems to be a whole lot of empty handles lying around.

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