As many of you may have noticed, things have been going slow lately. I’m taking a break from PSP development, and trying other worthwhile things, like web development (another big hobby of mine), and wasting whatever free time I have on books and Xbox Live. If there is another release, it will be most likely in the form of an update to Atari800 PSP, to bring it up to date with the latest release of the emulator. Since it’s been a while since the last version came out, a lot needs to change in the user interface department, to make Atari800 PSP compatible with the latest version of psplib. This has been part of the reason for delay/procrastination.
Something that I’ve been considering lately is porting Game & Watch simulators to the PSP. I’m not aware of any currently out for the PSP, and I can imagine it being something quite enjoyable on a portable platform. Given a solid enough set of simulators, they may be easier to port than emulators, since sophisticated menus are not needed for a G&W unit.
Tags: break, game & watch, psplib
I thought I’d already posted here?
Anyway, enjoy your rest (not sure I’d call messing about with HTML a rest, but that’s just me…) – and have you seen Mictosoft’s Project Natal? Looks amazing, but I have my doubts about it’s practicability for the home users at this time. Hopefully I’m wrong, and it will arrive on schedule and revolutionize game play. First person shooters could be fantastic (though the best already are!).
If the success of the Wii teaches us anything, it’s that even underpowered, sub-par devices can get a niche market (large as these markets may be), provided they do something that others don’t (my favorite comment about the Wii was a developer calling it “two Gamecubes duct-taped together“). For social functionality, the 360 is pretty much unparalleled at the moment; if they succeed with Natal, they just might take a large share of the Wii folk as well.
My worry with Natal is of a different nature – mocap devices have frequently shown themselves to be unreliable, except under very specific lighting conditions. If it works, it will certainly revolutionize at-home gaming. If it doesn’t, at worst it’ll just be a short-lived embarrassment for Microsoft.