Nintendo [ARCHIVED] Video Game • Page 1758

Game gear was a great system

 

Almost every handheld was pretty great, handhelds are awesome

 

GBA SP the GOAT

 

My favorite handheld is the DS, because of the sheer number of great games on that platform, including the one-two punch of Professor Layton and Phoenix Wright.

 

For me it is the 3DS (a New 3DS XL specifically), simply because it plays the DS and 3DS library (otherwise the DS would be it). It’s not just my favorite handheld though, it is my favorite video game system.

 

I love the Switch, but the death of dedicated handhelds nevertheless sucks, because a lot of games were made for them that just aren’t being made now, especially Japanese games. I’m old.

 

Hmmmm, I don't know if I agree with this. In fact, I think more Japanese games are finding a home than ever before, and there are quite a few NIS and Idea Factory games that are Switch only right now. I'd have to hear some examples to get a better idea of what you mean.

 

Etrian Odyssey is a whole series that I am pretty sure died with the 3DS. Games like that come to mind. JRPGs etc. that they just won’t make if they have to make HD games. Or they somehow still make them and they are a hot mess, like Rune Factory 5 (or some might say Pokemon).

 

I think the lack of a new Etrian Odyssey has more to do with Atlus being focused on Persona and Shin Megami more than anything.

I dunno, I hear what you're saying, but I think companies like NIS, Xseed, and Idea Factory still pump out a fair number of RPG and RPG-adjacent titles, not to mention Square Enix.

I feel like even if certain series aren't being pursued, there are still plenty of options being put out there.

 

They used to make all three is my point, but they now seemingly cut the series that won’t pay off when they (feel like they) have to make HD games that work on a TV. That’s mostly what I mean. It’s definitely true that (semi) major publishers have put out fewer games than they did before because of rising development costs. The 3DS was an exception to that, especially for Japanese publishers. You could say Western indie games balance it out, and that is partly true, but we used to have both.

 

The vita died too soon

 

Like I know which games you mean @Penlab. But those are games that used to come to PS3 and Vita, even PS4, whereas DS/3DS had it’s own type of Japanese games. Now those that would have come to Vita, PS3, PS4 come to Switch (and PS4/5 often), whereas many of the ones that would have come to 3DS don’t come at all. At least that’s what it feels like to me.

 

To me it seems like the types of games being discussed would come out with more frequency on the DS/3Ds, though the switch certainly has a constant, maybe slower, steam of similar releases

 

Yeah, of course, it’s a volume thing. Like I often talk about how “AA” single player games that used to thrive on 360 (and PS3 to some extent) are dead, but they of course still exist, there’s just way fewer of them.

 

What I mean is that the diversity of games across all platforms has shrunk compared to say a decade ago, not that any specific platform has fewer games

 

If it helps, I did some Googling, and at least as of last year, Atlus was still working on a new Etrian Odyssey entry. It's possible plans changed, but at least they haven't forgotten about it.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it feels like we're primarily talking about Atlus. And I agree they were an RPG machine in the DS and 3DS days, and lately they seem more focused on remakes and rereleases. They're certainly not as prominent as they were.

I don't know that a new handheld would change that though.

 

I have to hard disagree with this. I think gaming is more varied than ever, but you can't just be looking at the major publishers for it.

Like, one of my favorite publishers right now is Playism. They've put out tons of titles from Japan and elsewhere, and some are known names, but a lot are weird and obscure.

Most of you probably don't even know who that is. But this is what I mean, there's a lot of gaming to be had out there.

 

Vita > all handhelds

 

In the later era of the 360, we had tons of great indie games that would come to console too, but also still those Japanese games that would only come to DS etc. It feels like we lost some of that now. However, I’m sure more games than ever come out just numerically. But I really mean mainstream-ish games.

 

No, since nobody of note could put out a non-HD dedicated handheld at this point. That era is over, the 3DS was the last one. But when they were still around, they got games HD platforms wouldn’t have.

 

Going back to an earlier post of mine, is it just Atlus games? Or what else seems lost?

 

Those just come to mind, but I think a lot of games that only came to 3DS or DS would not come out now. I’d have to look up a list and point them out, but I don’t want to lol

 

Well, I think there's a little bit of lost games because there used to be a lot more AA games, now you "mostly" see AAA or indie. The in-between has changed. Games were less expensive to make, licenses were easier to obtain, etc.

 

Actually even Nintendo games like that exist. Like, Mario & Luigi is gone. A game like Pushmo would be way less likely to come out now. That GameFreak horse game. Stuff like that. Nintendo (and the Nintendo extended universe) has put out amazing games on Switch, but they used to put out more games.

 

Shovelware is back too which is nuts. Just so much of it. Especially on Switch.