Gaming on the Palm OS similarities to Nintendo DS.

[Garnet OS]

I'm an avid gamer myself, but I've gotten to the point where I like playing
simple, quick bursts, or twitchy games that last less than 5 mins.
Example. Wario Ware, Animal Crossing, Super Mario Bros. 1.
I just can't stand very long games. One thing brought to mind and is related to Palm gaming.

Is the Palm OS considered a platform for nongamers similar to those who play Nintendo DS?

There are similar games for both systems, e.g. Cake Mania ports.
Sudoku is for both platforms too. Crazy Daisy anyone?

What do you think of Apps like Digipet? Palmpiano? McRazor?
Useless/Cute Apps? running on the Palm. Most of them are freeware.
I see similarities of these misc apps similar to the DS.
The DS has their music game: Electroplankton. / McChords = Palm OS

Would it be possible to have a Nintendogs like clone on the Palm?

Since the Nintendo DS and the Palm OS use styluses, the gameplay must be the same in terms of content? The only difference is that the DS is 2 screens, a mic to blow into, compared to the Palm OS.
Anyone think of this.

Should we expect more useless/cute misc apps I mentioned above? e.g. McRazor, Pet Rock, etc. to be developed to attract nongamers to the Palm OS? Anyone into those apps?

I think Palm has a market untapped here.

[LupeValenz]

I'm a gamer myself and I just don't think Palm is powerful enough to deliver good quality gaming. The buttons is the thing that gets to me, its just not comfortable to play. For simple games like Freecell, Sudoku, Mahjong, the Palm is alright, but for deeper gameplay like Metroid, Contra, I pull out my DS for that kind of games. ^_^

[dmccunney]

I think Palm has a market untapped here.If they can penetrate it.

I have a Tapwave Zodiac 2. Tapwave tried to do exactly that: they designed and marketed a device intended to be a PalmOS PDA and a handheld gaming console.

So in addition to PalmOS 5.27 and the standard PIM apps, the Zodiac has a 320x480 screen driven by an ATI graphics chip with onboard RAM and Yamaha stereo sound with stereo speakers on the device, as well as a default landscape orientation and game oriented design, like a joystick on the left side that emulates a 5Way nav controller, and a few extra buttons for game play usage.

The problem was that Tapwave needed to get game developers to write for the platform, and never got the needed critical mass. (Many seemed to wind up developing for the Tiger Telematics Gizmondo instead. Google on that for a scam saga that was hilarious if you weren't caught in it. The Gizmondo effort burned through about $200 million in funding, and never actually released more than a few thousand sample units. The liquidators are still trying to figure out where the money went.)

In the mean time, their publicity made it hard to notice it was also a crackerkjack PDA, and they were trying to compete against Nintendo and Sony.

There are a lot of emulators that will run on it, and you can run an assortment of games written for Commodore, Coleco, Nintendo, Apple, and others. There is a small but fanatic Zodiac user base who treasure theirs.

But it's an object lesson. There are lots of neat games for Palm OS, but the best are simple things for playing in a few minutes spare time, like the classic SF Cave or Bubblet. While a Palm device probably could be a decent gaming platform, Palm would have to focus on that to have any hope, and try to beat Nintendo and Sony on their own ground.

Don't hold your breath.
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Dennis

[Tam Hanna]

Hi,
IMHO, it is a matter of developers beeing ready to take the plunge and provide games. I have recently begun to create a few games for Palm Os and hope that they will be liked well...

For me, the average Palm OS box has more than enough power even for pretty big games with background music, rich media and sound effects - it's a matter of developer interest...

As said, in the end it all comes down to what users buy. What they buy will be made...its that simple!

[dmccunney]

IMHO, it is a matter of developers beeing ready to take the plunge and provide games. I have recently begun to create a few games for Palm OS and hope that they will be liked well...It will depend on what you write.

For me, the average Palm OS box has more than enough power even for pretty big games with background music, rich media and sound effects - it's a matter of developer interest...The Zodiac did, though a dedicated graphics controller helped a lot. The 200mhz iMX processor wouldn't ahve handled things alone. More modern devices running at double or triple the clock rate are another manner.

As said, in the end it all comes down to what users buy. What they buy will be made...its that simple!Sometimes, you don't know whether they'll buy till you do make it.

BTW, and off topic: do you know what's up with Benjamin Roe? His website and blog are both down.
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Dennis

[Tam Hanna]

Hi,
Benjamin Roe? No idea...not aware who he is ATM.

Anyways, IMHO, graphics are not the only thing needed to make a fun game. A game can be fun even with retro 2d graphics...sample is my own game, BallZ:
http://www.tamoggemon.com/palmos/pbalz/index.html

[dmccunney]

Benjamin Roe? No idea...not aware who he is ATM.The chap who wrote the SiED editor for Palm devices. He and it were mentioned in your blog a while back.

Anyways, IMHO, graphics are not the only thing needed to make a fun game. A game can be fun even with retro 2d graphics...sample is my own game, BallZ:Sure. You don't need Quake running on a Palm. The best games for th device are simple, with a novel concept and esily understood gameplay.
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Dennis

[Tam Hanna]

Hi,
Ah, THAT Ben. Whoop Whoop!

Hmm...gotta look him up...can recall that he said that he would continue to work on SiED one day...but then tejpwriter came ;)

Best regards

[dmccunney]

Ah, THAT Ben. Whoop Whoop!

Hmm...gotta look him up...can recall that he said that he would continue to work on SiED one day...but then tejpwriter came ;)He did work on SiED, and posted a beta that behaves reasonably well on my Tapwave Zodiac 2 in 320x480 mode.

But his website no longer seems to exist, and when things like that happen I worry about the people whose sites they are.

Yes, I run tejpWriter (http://twriter.atspace.com) (and am a beta tester). It's lovely. But it lacks the split-screen mode Ben implemented for SiEd. The only other things I can recall doing split-screen on a PalmOS device are the shareware Qed editor, and Palm Bible+, which is a specialized bible viewer.
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Dennis