Gaming prowess in your pocket

What will the games be like on the next generation of handheld consoles, wonders Daniel Etherington of BBCi Collective in his weekly games column.

Max Payne: 3D action adventure game with adult themes

There is something mighty impressive about the taking the PC and console game, Max Payne, and re-versioning it for the pocket format of GameBoy Advance.

Sure, this is not strictly the same game but the story is there, as well as quintessential elements such as bullet-time action, a wide range of weapons and graphic novel-style interludes with film noir voiceovers.

It is an indication of the future of handheld gaming when a pretty elaborate PC game from 2002 can, two years later, be miniaturised to this extent.

Porting is not always a reliable process. GBA's best titles have, so far, arguably been ports of older 2D games which do not exert huge demands now in terms of memory and can pretty much look the same.

Or games designed specifically for the format, which sidestep its scale restraints by not trying to be overly ambitious in terms of detailed graphics, three-dimensionality and/or on-screen information such as Advance Wars, Mario World or even Pokémon.

Deep and complex

Max Payne GBA refutes this to a certain extent, ably offering a 3D action adventure game, with adult themes of vice, violence and corporate shenanigans, on the confines of a two-and-a-half-inch screen.

It is just a thought, but maybe even the deepest and most demanding games could have handheld adjuncts before long Discuss this story on BBCi Collective

Where will this trend of increasingly complex handheld games take us? What will the next-gen handhelds offer that this generation has not?

Nintendo's notion of connectivity between GBA and GameCube still feels somewhat under-exploited. Perhaps the Nintendo DS will really kick this off.

N-Gage's wireless multiplayer efforts may well be built on by Sony's PSP, whose impressive specs currently litter the internet.

But what intrigues me about the direction of handheld gaming is just how deep and complex can a game be on a small screen?

And can the gaps between your activities on console or PC, and those on handheld, be closed?

I would like to see the possibilities of continuing something on a handheld that you started on a console when you leave the house, a ploy vaguely promised by Dreamcast's VMU.

My on/off addiction with the mighty PlanetSide for the past six months has often left me wishing I could somehow continue my game while I am away from my PC.

It is just a thought, but maybe even the deepest and most demanding games could have handheld adjuncts before long.

After all, who would have thought that when Max Payne came out on PC, a version would be viable on a handheld within a few years?

Max Payne is out now for the GameBoy Advance