3DS XL

[ShadowMan]

Some games are good on iOS mainly where the amount of gameplay consists of tapping, Football Manager, Plants vs Zombies are good examples to name a few, however I downloaded Mega Man 2 from the app store, using the touch screen for the d-pad and buttons is bloody horrible, sometimes I feel like I'm going to break the screen. NES hard just got harder... no thanks.

To be fair regarding MM2 on iPhone, its a terrible port made worse by bad touch screen controls. Playing it on my iPad its actually easier to play but its still not good. Megaman X on the other hand is actually a decent port and plays much better- the touch controls on it are fairly decent (good enough that I had no problems clearing it a few times). Then again stuff like League of Evil 1&2, PDA Games, Pizza Boy and INC are examples of platformers for the system that work well with touch controls. I still personally prefer a physical pad with proper buttons to touch controls though!

[psj3809]

Then again stuff like League of Evil 1&2, PDA Games, Pizza Boy and INC are examples of platformers for the system that work well with touch controls. I still personally prefer a physical pad with proper buttons to touch controls though!

Yep agree, (By the way PDA Games is an underrated classic !), i played League of Evil and Mos Speedrun so much i was totally used to the controls so any platformer after that i found quite easy

[Freestyler]

Explain why there is about a billion 3DSs sold a week in Japan then - and they have plenty of phones over there

The Japanese are absolutely mental for technology.
If someone made a robotic toilet it'd sell like hot cakes over there!

Oh, wait a minute....

[killbot]

My 2 pence, iOS or smartphones for that matter cannot contend with a handhelds such as a 3DS or Vita for gaming, for me simply because of the touchscreen controls, I have considering that Sony Ericsson a awhile back, you know the one that had a d-pad and buttons that slide out, but in the end I decided meh.

Some games are good on iOS mainly where the amount of gameplay consists of tapping, Football Manager, Plants vs Zombies are good examples to name a few, however I downloaded Mega Man 2 from the app store, using the touch screen for the d-pad and buttons is bloody horrible, sometimes I feel like I'm going to break the screen. NES hard just got harder... no thanks.

But to get back on topic got a 3DS this weekend after a long time away from the handheld market and I'm loving it so far.

It's each to his (or her) own and I know a lot of people like touchscreen controls. But I'm afraid I'm not one of them. There's no feedback from them and my thumb is constantly slipping off the d-pad or leaving a trail of sweaty gunk on the screen that obscures the action. Touchscreen control is fine for games like Angry Birds which are designed around it, but when you get games designed for a physical controller shoehorned onto a format without that option then it comes out looking rather second-best.

[psj3809]

Megaman 2 is a bad example though, i bought that as i love my retro games but it was just a cheap quick game for iOS to make a bit of money. The controls are bad bad bad. Whereas Megaman X works and plays far better as it seems to be a proper iOS conversion, not a quick nasty one.

But again if you play games such as League of Evil or Stardash you can see platform games can be done very well. Its a bit like the 80's though, just depends on who the team behind the game are so you'll either get a great polished iOS game or a poor one with bad controls etc.

[noobish hat]

Death to smart phones!

[slacey1070]

My 2 pence, iOS or smartphones for that matter cannot contend with a handhelds such as a 3DS or Vita for gaming, for me simply because of the touchscreen controls, I have considering that Sony Ericsson a awhile back, you know the one that had a d-pad and buttons that slide out, but in the end I decided meh.

Some games are good on iOS mainly where the amount of gameplay consists of tapping, Football Manager, Plants vs Zombies are good examples to name a few, however I downloaded Mega Man 2 from the app store, using the touch screen for the d-pad and buttons is bloody horrible, sometimes I feel like I'm going to break the screen. NES hard just got harder... no thanks.

But to get back on topic got a 3DS this weekend after a long time away from the handheld market and I'm loving it so far.

It's each to his (or her) own and I know a lot of people like touchscreen controls. But I'm afraid I'm not one of them. There's no feedback from them and my thumb is constantly slipping off the d-pad or leaving a trail of sweaty gunk on the screen that obscures the action. Touchscreen control is fine for games like Angry Birds which are designed around it, but when you get games designed for a physical controller shoehorned onto a format without that option then it comes out looking rather second-best.

Yep - I'm exactly the same.... I've tried shoot em ups on a touch screen... just horrible... in fact, uninstalled... and I bet the game would have been good wioth a pad...

[DreamcastRIP]

Yep - I'm exactly the same.... I've tried shoot em ups on a touch screen... just horrible... in fact, uninstalled... and I bet the game would have been good wioth a pad...

I've played the various shmups on iOS by Cave plus the likes of Space Invaders: Infinity Gene and found them to play marvellously well.

Smartphones are best for some games and 'traditional' handhelds are best for some games, it's as simple as that. Apart from PS Vita which potentially could represent the best of both worlds.

[Evermore]

My 2 pence, iOS or smartphones for that matter cannot contend with a handhelds such as a 3DS or Vita for gaming, for me simply because of the touchscreen controls, I have considering that Sony Ericsson a awhile back, you know the one that had a d-pad and buttons that slide out, but in the end I decided meh.

Some games are good on iOS mainly where the amount of gameplay consists of tapping, Football Manager, Plants vs Zombies are good examples to name a few, however I downloaded Mega Man 2 from the app store, using the touch screen for the d-pad and buttons is bloody horrible, sometimes I feel like I'm going to break the screen. NES hard just got harder... no thanks.

But to get back on topic got a 3DS this weekend after a long time away from the handheld market and I'm loving it so far.

It's each to his (or her) own and I know a lot of people like touchscreen controls. But I'm afraid I'm not one of them. There's no feedback from them and my thumb is constantly slipping off the d-pad or leaving a trail of sweaty gunk on the screen that obscures the action. Touchscreen control is fine for games like Angry Birds which are designed around it, but when you get games designed for a physical controller shoehorned onto a format without that option then it comes out looking rather second-best.

Plus your fingers obscure the screen too.

Messing about with a smartphone trying to play a non-puzzle game precisely is like bringing a knife to a gunfight. Imagine trying to control Mario Kart 7 with your fingers and thumbs on the 3DS's touch screen

[DreamcastRIP]

Plus your fingers obscure the screen too.

A sweeping statement, assuming your intent is to infer such a thing is a major issue with smartphone gaming. The vast overwhelming majority of iOS games that I've played (that'll be approximately 1000 games) aren't adversely affected due to this.

Messing about with a smartphone trying to play a non-puzzle game precisely is like bringing a knife to a gunfight.

Yes, every single non-puzzle game played on a smartphone or iPod touch is precisely like that. Such great insight you have.

Seriously, what's with the playground stuff of seeking to trash talk the 'opposition'. I thought most of us had moved on from such things that happened back in the '80s with the Speccy vs C=64 wars and/or the early '90s with the Sega vs Nintendo battle. Some of your posts here sound just like it. We 'get' that you love Ninty (you've stated as much) and that you adore your 3DS but is it really necessary to continually rag on smartphone gaming in the attempt to somehow 'prove' what you like most is the 'best'?

Maybe I'm wrongly assuming you're an adult, i.e. you may in fact be in your early teens. If that's the case then I take it back as such 'my favoured console is the best and therefore everything else must be rubbish' tomfoolery probably seems a legitimate form of debate to you.

Imagine trying to control Mario Kart 7 with your fingers and thumbs on the 3DS's touch screen

Either you're completely ignorant of how the better quality racing games play on iOS or are being deliberately obtuse... or are, heaven forbid, trolling.

If you had played the likes of Real Racing 2 on an iPhone you would perhaps appreciate just how silly a comment it is you've made.

[Misery]

Yep - I'm exactly the same.... I've tried shoot em ups on a touch screen... just horrible... in fact, uninstalled... and I bet the game would have been good wioth a pad...

I've played the various shmups on iOS by Cave plus the likes of Space Invaders: Infinity Gene and found them to play marvellously well.

Smartphones are best for some games and 'traditional' handhelds are best for some games, it's as simple as that. Apart from PS Vita which potentially could represent the best of both worlds.

This.

They're not worse on touch-devices, for the right player..... they're BETTER. Than a pad, or a stick. I can do the first, say, 3 stages of Mushi Ultra (on the original arcade difficulty) on my iPad without much real effort. And that's bloody ULTRA mode. On the consoles, it does indeed take some effort and I'm much more likely to crash into something, wether I'm using the utterly horrid 360's Controller of Eternal Failure, or the PS3's actually decent one, or an actual, expensive arcade stick.

Not just the Cave titles, either. Got, say, 30+ shmups on there (Darius Burst being the best), and they're all just grand. Hell, Darius Burst was originally a PSP game, but.... play it on the actual PSP? You couldnt PAY me to do that. I always loathed that thing's controls almost as much as the 360 controller.

Seriously, what's with the playground stuff of seeking to trash talk the 'opposition'. I thought most of us had moved on from such things that happened back in the '80s with the Speccy vs C=64 wars and/or the early '90s with the Sega vs Nintendo battle.

You thought wrong

As it is I'm *BARELY* resisting the urge to use 5 pages to bash Nintendo some more. The only reason I'm able to do so is that I am hungry and Nintendo bashing takes valuable time and effort.


As smartphones/tablets go, some people are impossible to convince, even if you outright show it to them in person. That's fine though, that happens. Like trying to convince me that the Wiimote is any good whatsoever, it's just not going to happen, not in THIS dimension anyway.

[pratty]

Seriously, what's with the playground stuff of seeking to trash talk the 'opposition'. I thought most of us had moved on from such things that happened back in the '80s with the Speccy vs C=64 wars and/or the early '90s with the Sega vs Nintendo battle. Some of your posts here sound just like it. We 'get' that you love Ninty (you've stated as much) and that you adore your 3DS but is it really necessary to continually rag on smartphone gaming in the attempt to somehow 'prove' what you like most is the 'best'?

Maybe I'm wrongly assuming you're an adult, i.e. you may in fact be in your early teens. If that's the case then I take it back as such 'my favoured console is the best and therefore everything else must be rubbish' tomfoolery probably seems a legitimate form of debate to you.

I don't see it as a "Nintendo vs ...." debate at all. It's simply dedicated handheld vs smart device, touchscreen only vs touchscreen and traditional controls. Besides, Evermore isn't really anymore critical of iOS than you are of the 3DS.

[nakamura]

I do agree that games like Real Racing work really well on the iOS device. However as good as it look it is wonderfully shallow and simplistic compared to many others of its type. For me the iOS represents a solid but not brilliant platform for gaming. The Vita on the other hand could and perhaps should be the perfect machine for both types of games due to the vastly superior touch screen over the 3DS.

Seriously, what's with the playground stuff of seeking to trash talk the 'opposition'. I thought most of us had moved on from such things that happened back in the '80s with the Speccy vs C=64 wars and/or the early '90s with the Sega vs Nintendo battle.

Definite pot/kettle moment!

[slacey1070]

Yep - I'm exactly the same.... I've tried shoot em ups on a touch screen... just horrible... in fact, uninstalled... and I bet the game would have been good wioth a pad...

I've played the various shmups on iOS by Cave plus the likes of Space Invaders: Infinity Gene and found them to play marvellously well.

Smartphones are best for some games and 'traditional' handhelds are best for some games, it's as simple as that. Apart from PS Vita which potentially could represent the best of both worlds.

I have android... and not found a shooter I like on it... small screen, plus fingers on screen doesn't work for me. I even find the PSP screen a touch small for some games...

But thats ok, I accept some love gaming on smartphones (and I do play a couple of games on mine)... I'd just rather play a DS or PSP as they work better for me, I can see most of whats going on and I feel I can control the action. Unlike the smartphone.

I will keep looking for a smartphone game that keeps me amused for more than 5minutes though!

[psj3809]

I do agree that games like Real Racing work really well on the iOS device. However as good as it look it is wonderfully shallow and simplistic compared to many others of its type. For me the iOS represents a solid but not brilliant platform for gaming. The Vita on the other hand could and perhaps should be the perfect machine for both types of games due to the vastly superior touch screen over the 3DS.

I dont think iOS gaming will take away the 'hardcore' gamers. My friends had a couple of PSP's and the games are great on it from what i've seen, DS games i've seen also are very very good. I think handheld gaming is in a great place at the moment even though you hear about doom/gloom of Nintendos profits etc, theyre releasing a new handheld as are Sony.

iOS gaming is a big notch above old old mobile phone games, its not up to Sony/DS level but its very very very good. But considering a DS game is what, 10-15 quid and theres a lot of excellent iOS games for 69p or for free i think the quality you get for your money on iOS is amazing.

And Evermore, come on fella, some of those comments are ridiculous. Yeah your fingers obscure the screen, 99% of games it doesnt matter as theyre not covering the gameplay area. The comment about non-puzzle games is stupid though, i've got 600 games on my device, all so playable. iOS gaming wouldnt be popular if you couldnt play non-puzzle games easily, look at any past system, the second games arent playable for that device the public will drop it. Same for iOS, thankfully it is very very playable hence iOS gaming is huge at the moment.

I'm not some Apple fanboy, i just love a system which provides me with great games. If Nintendo had a similar device with lots of great amazing cheap games and the controls worked i would be singing their praises.

Again with iOS doing so well it actually means good things for all of us, similar handheld devices will try and better it, the 'main' handhelds like Nintendo/Sony will keep pushing their hardware/games to be one step above, its win win for all of us. Just great healthy competition. Go back to the 90's where the Gameboy ruled the roost and stuff like the Lynx was no competitor at all, now look, a lot of handhelds and a lot of great games.