An excellent article over at Game Girl Advance (which was, in fact, written by a man) points out the 5 trends that were felt the most throughout the gaming world in 2005. Naturally, certain warm caffeinated beverages are touched upon, but we were more interested in how the DS made its entirely uncontroversial mark.One of the big things this year was portable wireless gaming, spurred on partly by Nintendo's capable platform and free wireless service, but mostly just by the immensely popular Mario Kart DS. "I can go to Central Park and play Mario Kart against someone in Japan in a matter of minutes. I can do it at a Starbucks. Maybe a quick game before going to bed. Or maybe while I'm at my girlfriend's place. I can take my portables with me wherever I go."
The article further mentions the benefits of having a market where two systems don't necessarily compete against each other directly. The difference in approaches between the PSP, which favors sleek technology and media playback, and the DS which focuses on unique experiences ultimately caters to two different groups of people and so it's feasible for the systems to peacefully coexist. Perhaps a bit utopian (after all, they are still both portable gaming systems vying for your attention), but certainly a possibility that will bring more variety and choice to gamers.
