A few words from a professional procrastinator

Piracy effectively killed PC gaming or has it in it’s death grip, thus shifting the focus of developers and gamers alike to consoles. With HD gaming already ehre with resolutions we thought we’d never see the PS3 and the Xbox 360 seem to be in it for a while until they release the next version. Nintendo has not taken the HD transition as seriously as the other two.

So if we are not expecting a new console in next week’s E3, what hardware are we expecting from the gaming world?

Handhelds have been around for while now. Before it was only Nintendo and then Sony entered with their PSP. Sales in Japan show that handhelds are easily outselling their bulky brethren. Does this mean that gaming is switching to something more portable?

I always carry in my bag my DS and PSP so anywhere I go, I can just play or continue where I left off. Not like what’s happening to me right now with my console. I am unable to progress through Metal Gear Solid 4 because I’m working all the time and I barely have time at home to play on my console.

This is what Apple is betting on with their iPhone apps which were showcased in Apple’s World Wide Developer’s Conference. Sega’s Super Monkey Ball using the accelerometer of the iPhone (or iPod Touch) as the controller is really something to behold.

With Apple jumping on to portable gaming (sort of), how long before Microsoft comes in with their own handheld? Here now comes E3, where almost all major hardware gaming announcements are made and will they be entering the fray?

They already have Xbox Live Arcade. There had always been a restriction to the size of the games, could this be the reason? But if I were to play Xbox games on a portable device, this may be viable for 1st Gen Xbox games due to the large size of 360 games. But I think it could be possible. Imagine playing in ad hoc mode Halo on a portable device anywhere.

Throwing in a phone is a bit too much in my opinion. That would make it too obvious that it’s trying to compete with the iPhone. Remember N-Gage?

But I do believe that the next console war will be on the handhelds. Not that console gaming is dying. But with free time now becoming an expensive commodity, handheld gaming is the way to go.