A final sound-off to the troops

And so the battle of the handheld consoles is about to begin. Amidst the flurry of new portable gaming machines, we have two which stand out above the rest, two which every gamer who knows his or her stuff are watching with bated breath. One of these two is the powerhouse, with superior graphics and media functions, the hi-tech glorified 'wondermachine' with movies, music and graphically advanced videogames all apparently possible and only slightly bigger than a GBA. This is the one that shouts out to the world, the one that is meant to appeal to the mass market of dreaded 'casual gamers', who want something to accompany their Ipod and PalmPC.

The other one sits in the corner, calm, quiet - but confident. This new console has been watching its competitor and shaking its head. Watching as its foe stumbles and trips as questions are raised about its capabilities - questions it cannot answer. This one has seen it all before. It knows how things work. It can see the invisible obstacles that its opponent falls over. This one knows how the game is played � but isn't happy. Because the game has been played the same way for over a decade and a half � and now it's time for a change.

This handheld has been described as 'gimmicky', 'ridiculous', and even 'childish' because it dares to do something different. To go down a new road to places gamers have never been before, as a certain PR man might say. It has the potential to be groundbreaking, but it will never be the hardware itself that's revolutionary � it will be the games that exploit that potential. Perhaps the reason that people become bored with videogames is that after five or six years they've played them all. Every fighter, every racer, every plaformer. This new handheld is truly exciting not because of the new functions. Not because of the new hardware. But because this machine will separate the talented, creative developers from the poor ones.

Most developers will see this new handheld as a Nintendo 64 emulator, another way to earn some quick cash. Let's take this old game, stick a new map here and a touch sensitive menu there. The skilled developers will see this machine as an opportunity to create new games, new ideas � new genres. The first of these are starting to emerge already. Things that weren't possible before in videogames now are. There's a whole new dimension to videogames now � and it exists in this handheld. But will developers exploit it? If they do not, then I will lose my faith in gaming. In trying to appeal to the masses, many developers have forgotten what counts � originality, simplicity, and good old-fashioned fun. If the true gamers are lucky, then this new machine will open the eyes of many developers and we will see entirely new genres in what is slowly becoming a very stale form of entertainment.

One way or the other, this new handheld, Nintendo's new handheld, will play host to some fantastic games. But we want to see all-new types of videogame, the likes of which have never been seen before. Can Nintendo live up to that promise? If they can, then the battle of the handhelds has already been won.