As a gamer that owns two consoles and a relatively powerful computer, I rarely find time to play my Nintendo DS at home. Despite the fact that many innovative and interesting games have come and gone to the DS (not to mention the PSP and iPod Touch), I rarely buy any of them, and even those that I buy generally sit neglected in my Nintendo-brand traveling case.
There is one exception to this rule, however: Travel. Regardless of where I am going, be it a short flight up the coast of California from my sunny hometown of San Diego to the considerably less sunny town of San Francisco or an international trip to places where they don't necessarily speak English and the cleanliness of the water is questionable, my blue, first-generation DS is a constant companion. However, generally the main point of these trips is to travel, not to spend time playing my DS, so despite the fact that my trusty DS is a constant co-adventurer that has set foot (well, stylus) on four different continents, odds are it will see a maximum of maybe 15 hours of playtime per trip.
This situation of only playing a DS while traveling is by no means unique to me; I suspect many other owners of dedicated gaming handhelds face a similar situation. As a result, most handheld games' lifetimes follow a fairly constant pattern:
- Darkness
- Owner retrieves handheld device and frantically plays it for five hours straight
- Darkness
This method of gameplaying is not suitable for most games. Because I might put down my current handheld title down for a year or more half way through the game, handheld games have to have relatively simple, easy to remember controls: Imagine having to relearn the controls and intricate combos of Street Fighter every time you wanted to play it. No one wants that. Additionally, while I may rapidly tire of a short iPod time-waster during my 5 hour gaming binge, the gamelength of a portable title has to be reined in as well. If I have a 60 hour game, I am likely never going to finish it by playing it in 5 hour bursts spread apart by months; it will become obsolete before I even hit the halfway point (the notable exception here is the Pokemon series, of which even the earliest entries are still timeless).
As a result, to create something playable for the frequent traveler, a handheld game must have a game-length of approximately 10-15 hours, as well as an extremely easy-to learn game mechanic. Or they can have "Pokemon" in the name. Either works.
