Behold, the NGage

Darkmoon's Rants #20

I keep seeing reviews about NGage products, and the system itself. Seems the only thing reviewers really like to talk straight about is how crappy the NGage is. Well, probably that's because if they said different, people would know how full of crap they actually were.

But, this isn't about reviews, again. No, this is about the new portable gaming system. While I haven't played the NGage, I consider myself lucky on that account. From what I've read, the machine is hard to load on the go, and more like a Chinese puzzle box than a gaming system. Lets take off the back, remove the batteries... and THEN put in a game, put the batteries back in, and put the back on.

Or, we could just make it so the cartridges was easy load... Concept.

Plus, apparently the controls are as easy to use as a Texas Instruments 83 model, or, not at all. So, suffice it to say, accessibility is not its strong suit. That aint no big thing. Xbox controllers suck, but the system is still well regarded.

Sadly, the games are in the same boat with the system. The one game I heard that was decent was Tony Hawk. And that game is a port of a PlayStation game 5 years old by now. Nothing to really get excited about. Lets see, I could play a new iteration of TH on my GBA, or play the 5 year old one on my NGage... hrmmm.

Monkey Ball, Tomb Raider, Puyo Pop, Virtua Tennis... Nothing seems to port well to this system. That or they are all rush jobs.

Whatever the case, why would I spend 300 bucks on it. Even with the deal of 3 games and the system for 200 bucks, why blow 200 on an awful system?

Really, if they expect a system to last in this market, they have to give it games that are actually fun to play, and they have to make it affordable. No system will last if it's 2 to 3 times the price of the GBA. Not at all.