Handheld games spotlight at Tokyo Game Show

With Nintendo's new Game Boy Advance two to four users can play most of the 25 new game titles by linking up their machines through connecting cables

From...

By Martyn Williams

TOKYO, Japan (IDG) -- The war of words between Microsoft Corp. and Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) may have been top bill at the Tokyo Game Show that opened here Friday, but the show also highlighted the growth of handheld gaming and served to remind Microsoft, which will launch its Xbox console later this year, that the PlayStation 2 isn't the only game in town.

More so than ever before, handheld games were in the spotlight at the game show, which takes place once every six months. Some 35.9 percent of computer games on display were for handheld platforms, up from 24.3 percent during the previous show in September 2000, according to figures from the organizers, the Computer Entertainment Software Association.

IDG.net INFOCENTER IDG.net's main page Free daily newsletters Instant help from the Dummies Network Computerworld Communities Related IDG.net Stories Son of Game Boy Nintendo opens up another front Nintendo fires first shot in 2001 games war Features Cool gifts for cool nerds! Your complete guide to broadband DSL bloodbath continues Visit an IDG site Choose a site: IDG.net CIO Computerworld Darwin Dummies.com GamePro.com The Industry Standard ITWorld.com InfoWorld.com JavaWorld LinuxWorld Macworld Online Network World Fusion PC World Publish.com SunWorld IDG.net search

The recent launch of two new mobile gaming platforms is largely behind their growing popularity. Nintendo Co. Ltd. launched its GameBoy Advance about a week ago, the much anticipated successor to its 100 million unit-selling GameBoy, and in late January NTT DoCoMo Inc., Japan's leading cellular carrier, launched a range of handsets that support Java -- a feature primarily being used at present for games.

Games for mobile phones, including DoCoMo's "I-appli" Java-based service and other platforms made up an additional 5.5 percent of games on display at the show.

Sales of the older GameBoy Color have been neck-and-neck with the PlayStation 2 in Japan for several months and last week, with the launch of the new GameBoy Advance, Nintendo beat SCEI for the top spot, according to data from market data provider Nikkei BP/GfK Sales Week 3200.

The competition in this sector is likely to get even fiercer in the future. Weeks after DoCoMo announced its Java platform, Qualcomm Inc. launched its own platform for games and other small programs. Just last week, L.M. Ericsson Telephone Co., Motorola Inc. and Siemens AG said they would work together to develop a common platform for mobile phone games.

While the current crop of Java-based games for cellphones can't hope to compete with handheld games like Nintendo's GameBoy Advance in terms of display quality, processor power or available titles, their emergence is likely to threaten some parts of the handheld gaming marketplace simply because so many people possess cellular telephones.

The Tokyo Game Show 2001 Spring ended Sunday.

Review: 'Black & White' the best PC game ever?
March 30, 2001
Simple controls help Zone of the Enders deliver
March 29, 2001
Review: 'Pokemon Stadium 2' adds new features
March 28, 2001
Review: 'Dance Dance Revolution' cuts loose
March 26, 2001
PS2 review: 'All Star Baseball 2002'
March 21, 2001

Son of Game Boy
(The Industry Standard)
Nintendo opens up another front
(The Industry Standard)
Nintendo fires first shot in 2001 games war
(IDG.net)
NYKOâs Game Boy Advance lineup
(GamePro.com)
Xbox Online in Japan
(GamePro.com)
Microsoft, NTT team on Xbox console
(IDG.net)
InterActâs HandiGrip BatteryPak for Game Boy Color
(GamePro.com)
THQ ships Action Man for Game Boy Color
(GamePro.com)

DoCoMo
Nintendo

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.