Playing on the Go

This post is to be classified under rumors, but the rumors only begin at a line where facts and speculation meet. And in this case, there’s much more fact than speculation.

The crudely drawn figure that you see before you is part of a patent application from Nintendo, filed just recently. It describes a hand held gaming device that responds to motion controls, much like the Wii. The official wording of the approved application describes the unit as “a simulation program provid(ing) simulation such that a state of a game space is changed related to at least one of the amount and direction of the change applied to the housing”. More easily stated, responding to movement. While the above application figure shows an old Game Boy unit, it’s more than safe to assume that this exists simply in a place holding capacity and a real system, should it prove to exist, would look entirely different.

Keep in mind that this isn’t earth shattering in a way that would provide immediate results. You in all likelihood won’t be seeing this in a retail environment anytime soon. It should be noted at this point that the patents for the technology related to the Wii were filed even before the Gamecube was released. However, this is quite possibly a very early hint and interesting look into what lays before us after the DS has had its day.

Hit the link for the full patent information straight from the U.S. Patent Office.

nintendo, nintendods, patents

As best as they may try to tame it, all of the lunacy that is E3 begins today with the highly anticipated pre show exhibitions. The handlers of the show may try to bring it down a few notches, but as long as game developers and publishers have overblown expense accounts to throw around it isn’t going to happen anytime soon. With the show beginning in earnest today, I thought it would be nice to provide you with a list of what can and can’t be expected.

Likely To Happen:

With all of the hoopla over new systems out of the way, the 2007 E3 should be mostly focused on second and third wave games for them. That includes handhelds as well. This should probably be the last show dealing with news for the DS and PSP, as it won’t be very shocking to see new handheld offerings announced next year. Look for both Nintendo and Sony to announce at least one or two AAA titles for each respective system that will give you a reason to stick with it for another year or two. Specifically, look for announcements from Sony in conjunction with Square Enix as well as one from Nintendo concerning another blockbuster game that actually isn’t Phantom Hourglass.

Possibly Could Happpen:

While relatively unlikely, it isn’t outside of the realm of possibility that Nintendo could announce a price cut for the DS. With Pokemon out of the way and Zelda to be here before you know it, sales of the system could potentially slow down with only one or two big titles on the horizon. A price cut to the magic $99 price point would completely undermine recent price cuts for the PSP and give the DS a big spike in sales. As it has been recently cut, and is already a big cost for Sony, don’t expect the same for the PSP. Also, new features or downloadable content for the PSP should probably be expected. On the same token, new periphials for the DS wouldn’t be a big shock either.

Could Come Way Out Of Left Field:

Mind you, these are very small possibilities. But both Nintendo and Sony have been rumored to have had upgraded versions of current systems in the works for a while now. The “DS Liter” as previously reported is highly unlikely, yet still possible given Nintendo’s track record for multiple handheld redesigns in the past. The same goes for the PSP, which still hasn’t wholly fulfilled the “hardware refresh” rumors of the past few months.

The show for this year is the first of the “in between” years in which new systems aren’t likely to be announced, providing for a mess of great games on all ends of the spectrum. Hopefully though, given that and the smaller size of the show, there should still be a few nice surprises. Be sure to stick with us throughout the week for what that may be for handheld gamers.

e3, nintendods, sonypsp

Are you sitting down for this one?

Blizzard, the company that happily takes fifteen bucks a month from many of us, is definitely going mobile in some shape or form.

The company currently has a number of job listings open in that respective section of Blizzard.com that point towards future mobile offerings from the company. Those positions are for a Mobile Producer, a Lead Mobile Software Engineer, and a Lead Mobile UI Designer. Granted, those are only three positions. So it’s probably only likely that Blizzard is in the beginning stages of mobile development. This also doesn’t necessarily indicate that Blizzard is developing for the traditional DS or PSP platforms. It’s entirely possible that it could be for a cheapie cell phone mini-game or something for the upcoming iPhone from Apple.

However, there is hope. Historically, when Blizzard has developed for non-PC platforms, it’s been one with a Nintendo logo on it. Granted, that has only applied to a few comic side scrollers and the long lost Starcraft: Ghost. But hopefully it is an indication that a franchise such as Starcraft or Warcraft may soon appear on the DS. Or the PSP, if you’d like.