Designer admits Lynx could've been made smaller in 1989

[Agent X]

A few days ago, 1UP posted an interview that they conducted with R.J. Mical, one of the creators of the Atari Lynx system. The interview covered his thoughts on a lot of the portable systems, including future systems like the Sony PSP and Nintendo DS, the Nokia N-Gage, the unrelease Red Jade frm Ericsson (which he also worked on), and of course a little bit about the Lynx as well. Click here if you want to read it.

 

Perhaps one of the most interesting (and potentially shocking) aspects for Lynx fans is the revelation that the original Lynx system really didn't have to be so physically large when they first released it in 1989. Here's a quote from the interview:

 

Probably the most important thing I learned from the Lynx: never trust focus groups. In all the focus group testing, and we did a lot of it with consumers, we had a bunch of different models that we showed them. [We asked] "which one do you like? Which one would you like to have it be?" We showed them big ones; we showed them little ones. We showed them gigantic ones; we showed them little tiny ones. They loved the big ones. They all told us, "Make it big. Make it big. This one feels like it's substantial and I'm really getting my money's worth." They all told us to make it big, so we made it big. And when it came out on the market, they all said, "Why is this damn thing so big?" It'd drive me nuts, because the original Lynx was mostly air space inside. We put it in, because that's what they told us they wanted.

 

 

He also mentions the Lynx's multiplayer aspect as being a strong point. I still feel the Lynx is the best portable video game system when it comes to great multiplayer games. Game Boy Advance has a few good ones, and the single-cartridge link (an idea proposed for the Lynx, but later dropped) comes in handy, but the Lynx multiplayer games have more diversity and are more fun to play.

 

Some other issues that are discussed are why Mical thinks one of PSP's flaws is that it doesn't have an intergrated phone, and why he doesn't like the concept of a touch screen for the DS. It's worth reading for fans of the Lynx, or just portable games in general.

[Trip_Cannon]

Wow! It sure would be neat to see some of those other Lynx designs. Including the gigantic one and then the tiny one...

[Albert]

Very cool, thanks for the heads up, I need to post some news about that interview.

 

..Al

[Matthias]

Hello,

 

what was going wrong later? There was a redesign of the Lynx, and i wouldn't say that the Lynx II is really much smaller than the Lynx I.

So why did nobody hear those voices asking for a much smaller design?

 

Regards

Matthias

[SwedenLynxer]

Indeed very intresting reading! Thanks for posting a link to that interview, Agent X!

[wapchimp]

There was a really simple game where you're just a smiley face chasing after other smiley faces in a maze, but it was multi-computer. Each person had his own view, and it was the simplest imaginable game. It was so much fun, though. We played it for hours and hours.

 

Sounds cool

 

Personally, I doubt PSP will have a phone built in. Why? Because of sonyericsson. As stated in the interview the PSP already has different connection methods, including wireless options. They will probably make it very easy to configure though, or even bring out an add on.

[ZylonBane]

There was a really simple game where you're just a smiley face chasing after other smiley faces in a maze, but it was multi-computer.

MIDI-Maze. Later released on several game consoles as FaceBall 2000.

 

BTW, someone needs to tell the editor of that article that, "the original risk machines" is supposed to read, "the original RISC machines".

[glitch]

wapchimp wrote:  

There was a really simple game where you're just a smiley face chasing after other smiley faces in a maze, but it was multi-computer.  

 

MIDI-Maze. Later released on several game consoles as FaceBall 2000.  

 

Novell also had a game callled Snipes that was even simpler than MIDI-Maze that was installed automatically in early versions of Novell (up until 3.0 I believe). We used to play that for hours. Another one was Pac-wars where you were different pac-man like chars running around shooting each other. It was slow compared to snipes though. Overall great fun. Miss those simple days at the office

[Shannon]

I find his comment about giving access to the system bus interesting because I've yet to see a company do that and come out with a successful add-on to go with it.

 

Two possible exception may be the game boy player and the hard drive that came with final fantasy.

 

The problem with the hard drive thing is, at least at the moment, it is not used a whole lot. I believe madden 2005 uses it. But then a madden player is still forced to buy final fantasy to take advantage of it.

 

It is gonna be interesting to see how it pans out.

 

As far as his comments about the state of the industry, he seems to keep well informed, but he also seems to go with the general concensus.

 

I think a phone/gaming system is a dumb idea myself. My opinion is based on the current history of gaming. But if kids are into it like he said, it may be the wave of the future.

[im_reg]

I feel the Lynx II is the ideal size. I would'nt have wanted it any smaller. It's a good size in your hands. Systems like the GBASP are too cramped and my fingers start to ache after a while. It would be good to see the prototype different sizes though.