Pocket Gamer reveals the ultimate handheld

There is nothing like dissing the ones you love, and here at Pocket Gamer that little human dynamic is practiced upon our handheld consoles as though they were family members. We hold them in the highest of affections, of course, but that doesn't mean that as with a talkative, halitosis stricken uncle or a flighty sibling, we don't find reason to bitch about them whenever their backs are turned.

Take the PSP: its loading times can be long enough to crush the will of even the most patient of saints. And what about its thirst for battery power? Only the old GameGear's fevered double-A gluttony could best it. Then there's that irksome analogue nub.

As for the DS, what's with the miniscule flash storage included in the carts? Couldn't we have had the option of some sort of card-based memory, without having to cough up for an adapter? There is also the small matter of the DS phat – in short, a fugly piece of kit, all cheap silver plastic and about as refined as a squashed dumpster.

What about the original N-Gage? Well, insulting its design would be like shooting octopus in a barrel.

It's not like we want to bite the hand that feeds us: pocket gamers are blessed with an embarrassment of riches today. It's just that each handheld gaming device outdoes another in at least one department. Which begs the question, what might the perfect portable console consist of?

Enter the Pocket Gamer 1 (aka, the PG1), an exercise in what would happen if we were handed the reigns of Sony, Microsoft, Apple, Nintendo or Nokia's research and development department for a day.

Designed to turn heads

Any pocket gaming console should be pocket-sized; therefore the PG1 will be only slightly bigger than a 5th gen iPod.

It also needs to be alluring and iconic. Sexy, even. The iPod is the undisputed king in gadget chic, so we'd like our handheld to have the same sleek lines, minimal design, expensive looking glassy surfaces, and reassuring weight that the iPod does.

Like the DS, we'd want it to utilize a clamshell design (hinged on its long side), so as to protect its two screens, which would each take up the entire space offered by each panel when open.

There would be no on button: the device would be powered on simply by opening it up. (Don't worry eco-gamers, there would of course be a sleep mode, disabled when appropriate for watching movies or playing music).

Features and functionality

We propose doing away with conventional buttons completely. The PG1 would instead innovate with a multi-point touchscreen, like that of the iPhone, backed up with interchangeable control skins (packaged with the games) like the ones Apple filed a patent for a while back.

We would also include both rotational orientation and translational acceleration, like the PS3's SIXAXIS, for motion sensitive control. There would also be two analogue shoulder triggers sunk into the body of the device on its edge (like those on the GameCube controllers, but shallower). Shooting and accelerating just wouldn't feel the same without real buttons!

Storage is critical these days, and the PG1 will be no pipsqueak. We'd give our gaming baby 8GB of flash memory for movies, music and photos. We'd also go for cartridge-based media to help ensure a decent battery life.

Wi-fi would be essential, as would USB and VGA ports (so that the modders don't take our lovely creation apart to add some sort of TV-out function). The PG1 would be finished off with a built-in speaker, some decent in-ear headphones, and a removable rechargeable lithium ion battery.

If the current handheld market has taught us anything, it's that gameplay is king and shiny visuals are not the prime concern of pocket gamers. We therefore don't believe the PG1 need be any more powerful than the PSP in terms of processing power.

Games and multimedia

The PG1 would be shipped ready to connect wirelessly to an Xbox Live marketplace / iTunes-style games service straight out of the box, where extra content (levels, missions, items) as well as a comprehensive range of classic arcade and casual games could be purchased and downloaded.

We'd definitely like to see some integrated features that make use of the wi-fi connection in a community sense.

Each player would have their own identity and page stored online for other users to see. In this space users would be allowed to post blogs, add friends, send messages, and also upload photos, music and videos. These pages would be maintained exclusively via the PG1, and would only be viewable on the PG1 network. The system would have a lot in common with community sites like Facebook or MySpace, but naturally be much more game-centric.

There would also be a peer-to-peer function, where PG1 gamers would be able to share pictures, music and video with each other. This could be done freely between friends, or could be set up as a reward system, where players could offer content saved on their PG1 as rewards in ranked online games.

We'd also consider enabling users to share purchased games for free via wi-fi; in other words, as well as a game-sharing facility, we'd allow people to share complete games, as is being worked on by Nokia for the next N-Gage. Naturally, these games would be time-locked or only trial levels would be accessible until unlocked via a full purchase, whereupon it'd be alerady sitting on your console, ready to play. (Perhaps we'd even give gamers a commission?)

The whole service would be served up via a PG1 specific operating system; something like PSP's XMB as opposed to a more open system like Linux.

As for the games themselves, the PG1's array of interfaces would present endless opportunities for interesting control methods.

First-person shooters would be feasible, and racing games would be a cinch (although the motion sensing might make you slightly dizzy). Real-time strategy games would benefit from the large multi-touch screen, and innovative motion puzzle titles like LocoRoco and Mercury Meltdown would finally have the control methods they deserve.

Our dream machine would herald the arrival of all sorts of other more left-field applications too. Imagine DJing software that enables you to turn the console into a set of virtual decks (made possible by the multi-touch screen) to mix MP3s that are stored on the hard drive. Or how about some sort of 3D Google Earth style application, utilizing both the tilt and touchscreen controls?

Is this too much to ask for? The PG1 would satisfy all of us in the Pocket Gamer office (at least for an afternoon), but what about you lot? What other features would you pack into a new handheld? Cameras, microphones, GPS, Bluetooth, multi card readers, analogue sticks, holographic screens, the possibilities are endless. Let us know in the usual place.