Crunching MetaCritic proves DS's innovation advantage

One of the deep ironies of video games is its most frequently demanded, heralded and cherished of trophies – original gameplay – doesn't always spell success at the sales counter.

Perhaps the best-known example of this from recent years is Sony's PlayStation 2 platform-based game, Ico, which, while eventually gaining a cult following, on initial release sold barely enough copies to prop-up a medium sized coffee table.

Nintendo's DS is lovable in many ways, particularly since its Lite overhaul. But more than its cute looks, the DS is lovable because it has seen host to a remarkable number of games that can stake a claim to the 'original' tag. Yes, we might have seen some of the Nintendo stars before, but they're headlining new ideas. (Just because Harrison Ford appeared in Star Wars, that didn't make Raiders of the Lost Ark a sci-fi movie, did it?)

But let's not get ahead of ourselves... What is an original game, anyway?

In touch with innovation
The games scene was – and still is – built on a pretty flexible approach to the idea of intellectual property rights when it comes to innovative gameplay (intellectual property rights are the rules governing who owns the ideas in the game, and whether others can steal them).

And just as there are only supposed to be seven basic stories in the world (and my mum can make all of them sound boring), so there are always going to be certain limitations on how 'original' you can really be.

Lumines on PSP is absolutely an original game, but it's also a puzzle game – and mankind's been playing puzzles since before some guy called Julius Caesar decided to invade a little island off the coast of France.

So what then is this originality-thing all about?

In video games, originality ultimately means that someone has taken an existing idea and added something definitely 'new' to it. For Lumines it was the fusion of music and block-based-puzzling that spiced it up. In machine terms, the DS's touch-screen is exactly the same.

Innovating with control systems is something Nintendo has always been a master of; this the company that brought us the D-pad, the analogue stick, pad vibration, and now the Wii's crazy remote control pointer-thingy. (One great thing about the DS' control system – and the Wii's for that matter – is it can a fresh perspective to almost any game by default.)

Of course, not every new game brings completely fresh ideas to the table, so game pundits also use 'originality' to indicate the arrival of a new franchise.

Field Commander on PSP is a good example of this; owing more than a little to Nintendo's Advance Wars series, it's also a new gaming brand, and therefore could arguably be called an 'original' game.

But that's not the whole story...

Original sin
When you look at the 60 universally highest rated games (see note 'a' below – Ed) in America and Europe on PSP and DS (courtesy of our friends at metacritic, which collates review scores), originality really starts to mean something.

That's because of those top 60 games, almost 50 per cent on DS can lay some claim to 'originality', but on PSP the number is less than one third of that – down at a disappointing 15 per cent.

PSP is a fantastic machine with huge capabilities but the numbers prove what everyone has been saying all year – that PSP has a lot of games that we've played before, mostly on PlayStation 2. The situation is gradually improving, but LocoRoco isn't going to solve the problem on its own.

Indeed, our crunching of the metacritic data finds that contrary to many critics' perceptions (although not Pocket Gamer's, as you'll know if you've been following our coverage) the PSP has plenty of decent games available. In fact, the top 60 games on PSP have an average score of 80.9 per cent on metacritic, slightly edging the DS – its top 60 score on average 78.65 per cent.

In other words, the PSP boasts a host of good quality games, but they're not ones that gamers are excited about buying.

And that's the crux of the matter. If you own a PlayStation 2 (and as Sony never stops reminding us, there are quite a few people who do), why spend hundreds of pounds to play all the same games again, but on the bus?

If you look a bit deeper, you can really start to see the drain originality is disappearing down in PSP world. Breaking down those top 60 games by genre (sports, action, shooter, puzzle, and so on), reveals that 28 per cent of the top DS games can only really be classified as 'other', while PSP has just three per cent.

Those 'other' games are things like Nintendogs (see note 'b' below – Ed), Brain Training and Wario Ware: Touched – brilliant, original games that make you want to buy a DS so you can play them. You can argue that they're for a different type of gamer, but isn't that the point? You buy a PSP because it's different to your PS2, so you expect to buy different games for it.

For PSP, the biggest categories by far are: sports (29 per cent), racing (14 per cent) and fighting (13 per cent). On DS these are only eight per cent, two per cent and 5 per cent respectively.

These types of games make the hills look young – I'm bald enough to have enjoyed a rubbery game of Way of the Exploding Fist on my ZX Spectrum (back in 1985, stat fans!). Hey, I even played the original Street Fighter arcade game with the big, punch-able buttons. So fighting games are as old, balding and chubby as your Uncle Caspar... and I think that's why the young and fresh-faced DS is doing so well at the moment.

Rebooting the PSP
So which games are PSP's saviours? The list is short but definitely sweet: Lumines, LocoRoco, Every Extend Extra, Mercury Meltdown, Field Commander and Exit all make the cut, with Daxter earning an honourable mention just for being such a sweetie. These are all good, interesting games that you won't find on any other system.

And that's really what it's all about, this originality thing, especially if you happen to run a company called Nintendo or Sony. If you want to get people excited about your machine, you have to make exciting games. Sony is really good at this on PlayStation 2, but strangely isn't getting it right for PSP. DS, on the other hand, has set the pace in the originality race. The challenge Nintendo now faces is to keep the quality up, and not just give us Nintendogs 2: The Pup Strikes Back.

So what can PSP do to be more original? That's the big question. It has UMD, so its games can include great music and movies (consider how Lumines II makes good use of both). The memory sticks are pretty cheap now, even for 1GB (we've seen them for £25 online). It has wi-fi. It has that gorgeous screen. And it can be linked to a PC, PS2 or, now, PlayStation 3, which could be pretty exciting if someone finds the right use for it.

So Sony game developers, consider this a gauntlet thrown down! We love our PSPs – we just want more original stuff to play on them. Now! Erm, please.

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(a) Data captured on 5th November 2006

(b) Metacritic lists each Nintendogs title separately, but combining the titles using current data brings in new 'original' games (such as Elite Beat Agents) that rebalance the statistics

Originality breakdown: the raw data

Original titles can be based on existing franchises but must offer new gameplay. Ultimately, everyone will have their own decisions about whether a particular title is original or not, but the broad thrust is clear.

Top 60 most highly rated PSP games on metacritic

#	Game	Score	Genre	Original?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60	Lumines WipEout Pure Tekken: Dark Resurrection Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Ridge Racer Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror Burnout Legends Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories Daxter X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse Virtua Tennis: World Tour LocoRoco MLB '06: The Show Marvel: Ultimate Alliance Tony Hawk's Underground 2 Remix Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception Mega Man Powered Up TOCA Race Driver 2 Every Extend Extra SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo Tales of Eternia OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast Race Driver 2006 Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2006 Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 Street Fighter Alpha 3 MAX Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth Pro Evolution Soccer 5 Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel NBA Live 06 Mercury Meltdown MLB Metal Gear Acid 2 FIFA 07 SSX On Tour Def Jam Fight for NY: The Takeover Football Manager Handheld Twisted Metal: Head-On GUN Showdown Mega Man Maverick Hunter X Tiger Woods PGA Tour Capcom Classics Collection Reloaded Madden NFL 07 Gitaroo Man Lives! ATV Offroad Fury Pro World Soccer Winning Eleven 9 Guilty Gear Judgment Field Commander FIFA Soccer 06 Exit Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 Killzone: Liberation Gradius Collection NHL 07 Ultimate Block Party Lemmings Power Stone Collection	89 88 88 88 88 88 87 86 86 86 84 84 84 83 83 83 82 82 82 82 82 82 82 81 81 81 81 80 80 80 80 80 80 80 80 80 80 79 79 79 79 79 79 78 78 78 78 78 78 77 77 77 77 76 76 76 76 76 76 75	Puzzle Racing Fighting Action RPG Racing Shooter Racing Action Platform Fighting Sports Platform Sports Fighting Sports Shooter Platform Racing Puzzle Shooter RPG Racing Racing Sports Platform Fighting Sports Fighting RPG Sports Other Sports Puzzle Sports Shooter Sports Sports Fighting Sports Racing Shooter Platform Sports Classics Sports Other Racing Sports Fighting Strategy Sports Platform Sports Shooter Classics Sports Puzzle Puzzle Fighting	Y N N N N N N N N Y N N Y N N N N N N Y N N N N N N N N N N N Y N Y N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N Y N Y N N N N Y N N

Top 60 most highly rated DS games on metacritic

#	Game	Score	Genre	Original?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60	Mario Kart DS Advance Wars: Dual Strike Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow New Super Mario Bros. Meteos Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan Kirby: Canvas Curse Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time Animal Crossing: Wild World Metroid Prime: Hunters Super Mario 64 DS Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime Daigasso! Band Brothers Tony Hawk's American Sk8land Tetris DS Nintendogs: Chihuahua & Friends Nintendogs: Lab & Friends Nintendogs: Dachshund & Friends Nintendogs: Dalmatian & Friends Clubhouse Games Sonic Rush WarioWare: Touched! Trauma Center: Under the Knife Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Age of Empires: The Age of Kings Jump Superstars Bleach DS: Souten ni Kakeru Unmei Mega Man ZX Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam Metroid Prime Pinball Ultimate Spider-Man Star Fox Command Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2 Puyo Pop Fever Brain Age: Train Your Brain Bomberman FIFA Soccer 06 Bust-a-Move DS Feel the Magic: XY/XX Super Princess Peach Pokemon Trozei Zoo Keeper Big Brain Academy Contact Polarium Yoshi's Touch & Go Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble FIFA 07 Star Wars Episode III Yu-Gi-Oh! Nightmare Troubadour Pac 'N Roll Electroplankton Nanostray Resident Evil: Deadly Silence Over the Hedge 2006 FIFA World Cup Pac-Pix Pokemon Ranger Trace Memory Sims 2, The	91 90 89 89 88 88 86 86 86 85 85 84 84 84 84 83 83 83 83 82 82 81 81 81 81 80 80 79 79 79 78 77 77 76 76 75 75 75 75 75 74 74 74 74 74 73 73 73 73 73 72 71 71 71 71 71 71 71 70 70	Racing Strategy Platform Platform Puzzle Other Puzzle RPG RPG Shooter Platform Other Other Sports Puzzle Other Other Other Other Other Platform Other Other Other Strategy Fighting Fighting Platform Sports Other Action Shooter Platform Puzzle Other Classics Sports Puzzle Other Platform Puzzle Puzzle Other RPG Puzzle Platform Fighting Sports Action Other Platform Other Shooter Action Platform Sports Action RPG RPG Strategy	N N N N Y Y Y N N N N Y Y N N Y Y Y Y N N N Y Y N Y N N N N N N N N Y N N N Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y N N N N Y Y Y N N N Y Y Y N