How We Got Here - Game Design Theory - page 89

Most recently, Nintendo released the 3DS as part of the larger cam-
paign apparently focusing on hardware gimmicks that was being used
by all of the major console manufacturers. It had a very shaky launch, in
part due to the 3D effect not working and/or causing headaches, and in
part due to having very few games that anyone was excited about.
You may have noticed a heavy Nintendo bias in this section. That's
because very few manufacturers have had any luck with their handhelds.
Sega's Game Gear was a six-battery-eating monster with no interesting
games, and Atari's Lynx was basically a bulkier Sega Game Gear. Bandai's
WonderSwan didn't get a US release and essentially got murdered by the
GBA. There are tons of other examples of failed handhelds out there—I
encourage you to do some research on the topic.
I'd like to say that handhelds kept the major console companies
and developers a bit more grounded, giving them license to do things
that were, like Advance Wars , turn-based or low-res or lightweight
and snappy (as opposed to clunky with huge load-screens, multiple
cutscenes, and animations that can't be skipped). Unfortunately, this
wasn't the case. It's not clear that the success of various handheld
games affected the way that the other console developers created
games. It seems as though handheld games have always been con-
sidered in their own little bubble, along the lines of “ Advance Wars is
good, for a handheld game .�
Renaissance of the Designer Board Game
Since the 1970s, board games have been a thing for the Germans. I'm
not completely sure why this is, but for some reason, they took to game
design very well. In 1995, the world (and particularly the United States)
noticed when Klaus Teuber released his hit game, The Settlers of Catan .
Many hits followed, and we now have a world of designer board games
that is rapidly expanding in a way no one could have predicted.
As I mentioned before, these games are called designer board games
because they feature the game designer's name right on the front of the
box. I also think that they could be called designer because when you
compare them to almost any other kind of game that has ever been made,
these really seem designed . There is a methodology, an understanding of
the true nature of gameplay in these games.
My personal understanding of games would not be where it was today
if it weren't for designer board games like hrough the Desert , Puerto Rico ,
The Resistance , and Yomi . I regret not having discovered them sooner, and
I think that many people will feel the same way when they discover them
too. I talk at length about these games in Chapter 5 .