For a variety of reasons, I've just got the old NGPC down from its home on my shelves. And I still love it just as much as I did when it first came out. More so, probably.
Forget the bull**** prices on eBay and the "MInt! R@re! L00k inSide!!!" that seems to be the main reason for people knowing about the machine. What makes it so special is the utterly superb software it supports.
Okay, so there aren't a huge number of games, but what there is covers pretty much every genre that matters. The games aren't just ticks in a checklist, though - they play superbly, too. There's only ever been one handheld fighter that's managed to hit the same heights as some of those on the NGPC - the GBA's SFA3Upper conversion - but even that was inferior to games like MotM and Last Blade in some ways. It's just a straight conversion, nothing that marks it out as being any different to the many versions of SFA3 that existed previously, whereas the NGPC's fighters were generally full of exclusives, with play mechanics altered to fit the machine.
Sony are meant to be pushing the idea of pick up and play gaming down the throats of every developer that wants to work on the PSP, but the NGPC had this down perfectly years ago. Every game available for it can be played in a quick five minute burst, but they all hold up to sustained periods of play just as well.
Portable Puyo Puyo and Puzzle Bobble, for crying out loud! How the hell did it fail? SNK even managed to pre-empt Nintendo by a few years with their print advertising, positioning the machine as a lifestyle accessory. The hardware looks great - it's chunky enough that you know it's never going to break easily, but still sleek enough, with enough curves, to make it attractive. It feels great - there's absolutely no cramping of the hands that comes as standard with the SP. It's got that beautiful microswitched D-stick. And the screen - ****ing genius, that screen. Clarity and depth of colour like nothing else before. Pisses all over both versions of the GBA.
The clamshells! Okay, so they're what the collectors spunk over, but ignore that for the moment. When Nintendo were still packaging the games for their main console in flimsy cardboard boxes, SNK gave us the chunkiest game boxes that have ever been seen. You push down the clasp on them and you *know* that ****er isn't opening by accident. Separate, full-colour instruction manuals for each language - none of your cheap-arse b&w nonsense here. And the clamshell inside a clamshell just nails it. SNK were bloody proud of what they had and what they were doing. It just makes their death and the failure of the machine even more heartbreaking.
But the main reason I luv my NGPC is because of one game. The many fighters and puzzlers are great fun, the RPGs solid and enjoyable, the version of Sonic is probably still the best handheld episode in the series (and features the most attractive version of the main sprite since the original Megadrive game), the sports games are excellent little diversions. But the machine's killer app is a card battler.
I'll never get tired of Cardfighters' Clash. It still looks the nuts - the card design is never anything less than wonderful. That's the draw to begin with, when you're struggling with the slightly iffy Engrish translation and the fairly hopeless manual. But then, pretty soon, it all clicks, and you suddenly become aware of the astonishing depth in the gameplay. It's one of those games that truly allows you to create and express your own playing style. Most card battlers stick you in a straightjacket and give you little room for maneuver within their rigid ruleset, but that's anything but the case here. There are always at least thre ways that you can use any card in any given situation, and in most cases more.
It's the one game that I want to see SNKP revisit more than any other. Given that the Capcom vs SNK thing is still ongoing, I can't see any reason why they can't. Hell, just give me a straight GBA conversion of the original and I'll be happy - at least then I'll have a realistic chance of knowing other people who actually own it.
NGPC demands your love, people.
Forget the bull**** prices on eBay and the "MInt! R@re! L00k inSide!!!" that seems to be the main reason for people knowing about the machine. What makes it so special is the utterly superb software it supports.
Okay, so there aren't a huge number of games, but what there is covers pretty much every genre that matters. The games aren't just ticks in a checklist, though - they play superbly, too. There's only ever been one handheld fighter that's managed to hit the same heights as some of those on the NGPC - the GBA's SFA3Upper conversion - but even that was inferior to games like MotM and Last Blade in some ways. It's just a straight conversion, nothing that marks it out as being any different to the many versions of SFA3 that existed previously, whereas the NGPC's fighters were generally full of exclusives, with play mechanics altered to fit the machine.
Sony are meant to be pushing the idea of pick up and play gaming down the throats of every developer that wants to work on the PSP, but the NGPC had this down perfectly years ago. Every game available for it can be played in a quick five minute burst, but they all hold up to sustained periods of play just as well.
Portable Puyo Puyo and Puzzle Bobble, for crying out loud! How the hell did it fail? SNK even managed to pre-empt Nintendo by a few years with their print advertising, positioning the machine as a lifestyle accessory. The hardware looks great - it's chunky enough that you know it's never going to break easily, but still sleek enough, with enough curves, to make it attractive. It feels great - there's absolutely no cramping of the hands that comes as standard with the SP. It's got that beautiful microswitched D-stick. And the screen - ****ing genius, that screen. Clarity and depth of colour like nothing else before. Pisses all over both versions of the GBA.
The clamshells! Okay, so they're what the collectors spunk over, but ignore that for the moment. When Nintendo were still packaging the games for their main console in flimsy cardboard boxes, SNK gave us the chunkiest game boxes that have ever been seen. You push down the clasp on them and you *know* that ****er isn't opening by accident. Separate, full-colour instruction manuals for each language - none of your cheap-arse b&w nonsense here. And the clamshell inside a clamshell just nails it. SNK were bloody proud of what they had and what they were doing. It just makes their death and the failure of the machine even more heartbreaking.
But the main reason I luv my NGPC is because of one game. The many fighters and puzzlers are great fun, the RPGs solid and enjoyable, the version of Sonic is probably still the best handheld episode in the series (and features the most attractive version of the main sprite since the original Megadrive game), the sports games are excellent little diversions. But the machine's killer app is a card battler.
I'll never get tired of Cardfighters' Clash. It still looks the nuts - the card design is never anything less than wonderful. That's the draw to begin with, when you're struggling with the slightly iffy Engrish translation and the fairly hopeless manual. But then, pretty soon, it all clicks, and you suddenly become aware of the astonishing depth in the gameplay. It's one of those games that truly allows you to create and express your own playing style. Most card battlers stick you in a straightjacket and give you little room for maneuver within their rigid ruleset, but that's anything but the case here. There are always at least thre ways that you can use any card in any given situation, and in most cases more.
It's the one game that I want to see SNKP revisit more than any other. Given that the Capcom vs SNK thing is still ongoing, I can't see any reason why they can't. Hell, just give me a straight GBA conversion of the original and I'll be happy - at least then I'll have a realistic chance of knowing other people who actually own it.
NGPC demands your love, people.
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