How Sweet the Sound

These days portable music is pretty much ubiquitous in the industrialized world. Where as at the begining of the decade most people had never heard of an i-pod, and most of the world did not own portable music players also known as digital audio players or daps for short. Yet now everywhere you look people have some portable device with their music stored jamming out while they are out and about. This has even trickled down to the portable gaming arena with devices like the PSP being music players out the box. People relish at the idea of being to load up some mass quanity of songs that they can take everywhere.

What often gets overlooked however is how far we've come in terms of quality over the years as people usually just relish at the quanity and general idea of it all. This quality idea carries over though from just the sound quality and performance of the audio files and players to the sound quality that appears in today's mobile gaming. It is often criminally overlooked at the current juncture though.

This could be partly due to the fact that the DS up until this point has been a music player out of the box, does not come with headphones, and has had rather mediocre sound output from the stock set of speakers in the DS Lite. The PSP speakers while a definite step hardly do the extra sound punch of the PSP any justice either.

Yet with the advent of some really descent cheap yet quality really portable headphones over teh past few years such as the Koss KSC-75 or Sennheiser PX100 coupled with a jump in audio hardware coupled with a built in headphone jack on handhelds has done wonders for the overall sound quality portable games can pump out these days. It's quite obvious that certain developers have noticed too as a company like Q Entertainment has really focused on pushing the sound aspect in their games like Lumines and Meteos. 

If you have not tried your current portable gaming device with a descent pair of headphones I can not stress enough how much of the experience you are truely missing. The descent quality audio on the DS and high quality audio of the PSP can truely bring the experience alive in the palm of your hand like you've never experienced before. This is also underscored by the fact that so many well known composers have taken up handheld projects these days too such as Takayuki Nakamura and Nobou Uematsu  as well as up and comers like Takeharu Ishimoto.

Sound quality and soundtracks in general while still talked about in some of the bigger games was for many the last thing they got around to on older platforms like the GBA. Yet now it routinely comes up in previews, reviews, message board posts, and even blogs like this one.  This is rightfully so as the systems have more power and larger storage than ever before so that sound designers aren't an after thought on a project. It's not a intergral part of your overall gaming experience. As Nintendo states on their website in regards to using headphones...

"Use the stereo headphone jack for the ultimate DS sound experience. Suddenly the action isn't just in your hand - it's in your head!"

So get out your headphones the next time you get your handheld gaming device out to get the full on gaming experience not just in the palm of your hands, but in your head as well!

A Midsummer Night's E3 Eve

So here I sit in the middle of the night (it's already 1AM on the East Coast) up late pondering that wonderful time of year we gamers have dubbed E3 week. Despite the show being scaled back they'll be plenty of memorable moments for all I'm sure. We'll have the big three hardware manufacture's all trying to put their best foot forward in their respective press conferences, plenty of larger 3rd party press conferences both inside and outside of E3 proper, and all the laughs, sorrows, highlights, and failures of the past. The question I pondered this afternoon while I made my top 10 most anticipated DS titles at E3 this year thread was just where will handhelds fit into the realm of E3 this year?

Traditionally handhelds have always tended to take a overall back seat in the minds of the press and the gamers despite maybe some focus by Nintendo or Sony in their press conferences. Despite the PSP picking up steam in Japan and the DS still selling like hotcakes around the world I doubt this to be any different this year. We do have the wildcard of the iPhone which just happened to coinicidentally on Thursday release it's 2.0 firmware update and the 3g model on Friday. Apple promises the new Apps store to have a descent gaming representation and many a media sight as well as Apple has hinted at a ton of games in developement which could be unveiled as soon as the new firmware hit the street. Wow that all happened a mere few days before E3. Coinicidence? I think not. This is Steve Jobs and Apple we are talking about here. Still I doubt even the ever popular iPhone will be able to push moble gaming to the forefront despite at least on the DS side a stong E3 lineup.

In the end though does this even matter that much? I mean despite handhelds not usually garnering the E3 spot light much like they don't on Magazine covers or gaming websites the hardware still sells extremely well and the games keep flowing. Plus even if they don't take center stage the games will still be there and they'll still get covered on major sites like IGN and 1up. Not to mention the fact that no matter how downplayed this can get the lineup is still strong. I mean who can't wait for more hands on with Chrono Trigger DS, Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, Super Monkey Ball iPhone edition, or Star Ocean: First Departure.

So moble gaming fans should have faith knowing they'll see some quality representation at E3 no matter what page the info is relegated too. Plus who said handheld gamers don't also like Consoles and their PCs as well. I mean you do have a PC right since you're reading my blog or are you just using your pesky iPhone instead?!

So My Handheld Summer Excursion Begins with Etrian Odyssey II

          So I decided to start off my summer of handheld gaming fun with Etrian Odyssey II. I liked the first game, was intrigued by what was gonna be offered in the sequal, and to be honest it's an Atlus which means get it when it launches or forever hold your peace finding a new copy. Thankfully finding a copy today during launch week was easy seeing as I found it at my first stop.

I've yet to truely delve into the title. I've just take some box art pics and shot a quick intro video, but my initial boot up impressions were getting me pumped all over again for some hardcore oldschool RPG gameplay. Supposedly the title fixes some of the minor general and menu issues of the first game, adds in 3 new classes and class specific force skills and the like, and a a brand new dungeon to explore. If it's anything like the first title it should be a blast, but don't expect a review anytime soon as it'll be long, involved, and hard. To quote one of my favorite game journalists Bozon from IGN "Battles are random though, and the game is punishing to say the least, so this one is for hardcore gamers only."

Check back though as I'll try and do my best to keep everyone updated as I being my play through and get deeper into the game. I'll definitely post some impressions before I get to my actual review. Hope everyone else's handheld gaming summer starts off as promising as mine!

Summer Gaming Doldrums?

          It's that time of year again. The weather's heating on up, kids are out or getting out of school, everyone is thinking of hanging out by the pool or heading to the beach, and the gaming landscape is drying up for a few months till the fall. Or is it?

It seems as if this old tried and true statement is becoming less and less true as the years go on, and of course this goes for handhelds too. You look across the DS and PSP landscape and you see things just aren't so barren through June July and into August this year. Quality titles such as NCAA 2009, Space Invanders Extreme, Final Fantasy Tactics A2, and Etrian Odyssey all are helping to fill the void. Normally this time is reserved for the post E3 hype, descent gaming sales, and overall a breather for gamers so maybe they can catch up on things.

Granted it's not as jam packed as fall, but it's much better than it use to be. Plus things are growing in and every year in the summer gaming space. It's definitely a boost for gamers that have managed to keep up with things throughout the first half of the year and are jonesing for something new. If your behind a bit well at least this year July might give ya a small brief moment to catch your breath.

So for those people that normally do not think of the dog days of summer as a time to watch out for new games think again. Check out your favorite sites like IGN and 1up and magazines like EGM and Game Informer for game reviews, and check out your local game stores for new hot titles hitting in your area... yes even in the Summer!