#26748 - jdxpolygon - Sat Sep 25, 2004 12:34 am
Hi
I hope this isn't deemed off-topic, but I suppose it's partially relevant to any GBA subject. I wanted to gather opinions on this subject:
"With the DS on the way, and despite it's compatibility with GBA software, how much longer do you think Game Boy Advance games will continue to be published in any reasonable numbers?"
I just wonder sometimes, for quite a few years it's been my ambition to complete a GBA project (or at least partially complete it in order to interest publishers), but with the DS coming, I'm not sure how much longer to keep at it, or perhaps think about either working on something else, or moving it onto the DS platform. Any informed opinions would be really helpful.
JD
#26750 - sajiimori - Sat Sep 25, 2004 12:56 am
You don't have to hope it's not deemed offtopic -- there's an offtopic forum. In any case, this question certainly isn't about coding.
#26751 - Lord Graga - Sat Sep 25, 2004 1:03 am
The market will still be open for GBA games for one single reason: They will become cheaper than DS games, and people might feel that they do not need to migrate to DS at all with their shiny GBA. Some people just aren't 3d/linking freaks :)
#26752 - jdxpolygon - Sat Sep 25, 2004 1:08 am
| sajiimori wrote: |
| You don't have to hope it's not deemed offtopic -- there's an offtopic forum. In any case, this question certainly isn't about coding. |
yes but I wanted to ask people that were reading the Coding forum.
#26754 - sajiimori - Sat Sep 25, 2004 2:08 am
Posting in an inappropriate forum just to get a wider audience? What makes you so important?
#26756 - poslundc - Sat Sep 25, 2004 4:01 am
#26758 - Abscissa - Sat Sep 25, 2004 5:10 am
| jdxpolygon wrote: |
| With the DS on the way, and despite it's compatibility with GBA software, how much longer do you think Game Boy Advance games will continue to be published in any reasonable numbers? |
Quite awhile. Nintendo is very keen on insisting that the DS is their "third pillar" and not a "next version of GameBoy" or a replacement for the GameBoy line. And so far, they haven't even said anything about the "true" successor to the GameBoy Advance (and there haven't even been any rumors), so I'm sure the GBA's not going anywhere anytime soon. Plus the GBA's doing so well right now it would be silly for them to start phasing it out.
#26765 - jdxpolygon - Sat Sep 25, 2004 12:07 pm
| sajiimori wrote: |
| Posting in an inappropriate forum just to get a wider audience? What makes you so important? |
sit down
#26766 - jdxpolygon - Sat Sep 25, 2004 12:16 pm
| Abscissa wrote: |
| jdxpolygon wrote: | | With the DS on the way, and despite it's compatibility with GBA software, how much longer do you think Game Boy Advance games will continue to be published in any reasonable numbers? |
Quite awhile. Nintendo is very keen on insisting that the DS is their "third pillar" and not a "next version of GameBoy" or a replacement for the GameBoy line. And so far, they haven't even said anything about the "true" successor to the GameBoy Advance (and there haven't even been any rumors), so I'm sure the GBA's not going anywhere anytime soon. Plus the GBA's doing so well right now it would be silly for them to start phasing it out. |
I hoped this was the case, but I thought that, you know, kind of like what happened to the GBC once the GBA came out, the releases became more license orientated rather than 'proper' games. Mostly games based on movies or kid's toy franchises, that sort of thing, and that always seems like a sign that a console is getting towards the end of it's shelf-life.
#26767 - ampz - Sat Sep 25, 2004 1:43 pm
Well, the GBC graphics and especially it's sound was rather outdated.
The GBA graphics and sound are still pretty good.
Did not the SNES survive for many years after the N64 was released?
I don't see why the same would not be true for the GBA vs DS, since they are aproximately equivalent to the SNES and the N64.
SNES games are still fun to play today.
#26768 - Lord Graga - Sat Sep 25, 2004 2:06 pm
Couldn't agree with you more. I still don't see DS as something I would need at the moment, even though I'll prolly get one to write stuff for anyway.
For example, I love the Castlevania series for the GBA: They are perfect in their own way, and I do not see how they could be improved by the extra processing power of the DS. I mean, of course there would be lesser things, but overall, nothing that DS has could improve the feeling that Castlevania has brought me.
#26769 - jdxpolygon - Sat Sep 25, 2004 2:11 pm
| ampz wrote: |
Well, the GBC graphics and especially it's sound was rather outdated.
The GBA graphics and sound are still pretty good.
Did not the SNES survive for many years after the N64 was released?
I don't see why the same would not be true for the GBA vs DS, since they are aproximately equivalent to the SNES and the N64.
SNES games are still fun to play today. |
I've no disagreement with that, SNES games are still fun. As for it surviving a long time after the N64, I suppose it depends on your region, I bet it did in the US/Japan, but realistically it had diminished quite a lot by the time the N64 had appeared here in the UK. I was never a SNES owner though, so obviously I'm not the person to know about that. Certainly the Megadrive lasted to about '96 or even '97, and was still sold for quite a few years after that, but really you have to make a distinction between a console still being sold and a console that is fully active in the market. I mean, you can still go down to a game shop and buy a PS1, but I wouldn't describe that console as being actively involved in the games scene anymore.
I also agree that the GBA's graphics are excellent. When I really started to understand programming sprite hardware, around 1999/2000, I pretty much assumed that it'd only ever be useful as a hobby, since sprite hardware was largely out of vogue by this point, and then along comes the GBA, with probably the best true sprite capabilites outside of the arcade hall. Sound-wise, I'm not so enthusiastic - it's good that you can at least mix your own sound channels on it in software, but it's so fiddly to get right. But that's a problem for programmers rather than customers, so yes, GBA sound is still up to the mark.
As for the GBA/DS being equivalent to the SNES/N64, I'd say they are better than equivalent - because you can't play SNES games on an N64, but you can play GBA games on a DS, so that certainly helps the situation. I admit I'm not so worried about the machine itself diminishing, as long as the games continue to be published.
JD
#26770 - Abscissa - Sat Sep 25, 2004 2:50 pm
| jdxpolygon wrote: |
| kind of like what happened to the GBC once the GBA came out, the releases became more license orientated rather than 'proper' games. Mostly games based on movies or kid's toy franchises |
Unfortunately that's been happening across the entire game industry regardless of platform. It really pisses me off. These damn "I used to be a Kraft executive" publishers are ruining the industry. Well, that and the fancy graphics/storydriven arms races.
#26881 - dagamer34 - Tue Sep 28, 2004 3:00 am
Hardware sales might begin to decrease but software sales will still be hihg for quite some time.
_________________
Little kids and Playstation 2's don't mix. :(
#26883 - tepples - Tue Sep 28, 2004 3:56 am
Sony PSP introduced. Nintendo DS introduced. Microsoft Pocket PC with Xboy introduced. Nintendo Game Boy 3 introduced. GBA SP becomes available only on eBay. That's when Nintendo will terminate GBA software licensing.
_________________
-- Where is he?
-- Who?
-- You know, the human.
-- I think he moved to Tilwick.