Nintendo 3DS

[Neon Ignition]

I fully expect as time goes on that the iOS market is going to start looking more and more like the handheld market anyway. There's already signs that the bigger studios are looking to muscle in on the market and they'll no doubt be very aggressive in doing so and will slowly inflate the prices as the expectations and budgets increase for app titles. You'll still get indie's doing their releases for pennies but they'll start getting ridiculously buried on the stores.

Plus, the games and films markets and industries are like chalk and cheese. People, the media and some studios just like to pretend there's a parallel that doesn't exist which is why gaming has stumbled in some areas at time rather than play to its strengths. The only area they can sometimes be used as a reliable marker for is for certain buying trends. Hency why CD's, DVD's and Blu Rays are evidence that gaming isn't going digital only within at least the next 20 years.

If the 3DS fails to outsell the NDS's launch period then there might be evidence of the iphone's impact.

[The Mole]

It is not just IOS market but any mobile device certainly Android is gaining a lot of popularity quickly and when Sony bring PS1 and PSP games to Android that is only going to further close the gap.

Back to the 3DS

I am happy with the launch line up but for me it has scuppered my plans. It was going to be RE:Mercenaries and Streetfighter but now i guess it will be Rayman. It seems off that they have used the Rayman 1 box art (Rayman 1 being the rubbish one) i just hope to hell it is Rayman 2 like people seem to think it is.

I may just wait a week and get Rabbids 3D instead.

[Dezm0nd]

A quick google search reveals Rayman 3D as a Rayman 2 port in 3D, no bad thing but nothing i'll go out and pay for. I played that on the original DS, let alone N64/DC etc.

Still, a great game for those who have missed out.

[Neon Ignition]

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/288325/news/ridge-racer-3d-gameplay-trailer-speeds-in/

Nice long trailer for Ridge Racer 3D

The 3DS has got to be running at bare minimum power when playing this but the tracks look quite fun.

[Phantasmical]

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/287717/news/nintendo-3ds-uk-launch-line-up-confirmed/

No mention of Dead or alive but the online shops have it listed for the 25th, does anyone know whats going on with DOA?

[Dogg Thang]

Does seem to have some nice variety in the look of the tracks. I like the underwater one. And hopefully, looking pretty basic, the frame rate should be top notch even in 3D. They chose their colour palette after a visit to a sweet shop but I don't mind that and, yeah, technically, it doesn't impress - hope that doesn't say anything about the system itself. But it does look fun.

[Brad]

Looks fun. Graphically it looks like Ridge Racer on PSP though (i.e. an entire generation behind) so it's not something that would sell the system to me.

[abigsmurf]

Another trailer... The frame rate is appalling at times in this.

Seems oddly soulless, cars look like they're floating above the road for one thing but the muddy textures don't sit well with the sharp, clean look of everything else.

[SuperBeatBoy]

I cancelled my preorder in my local Game. With everything i keep hearing the more i just feel i can't be arsed with it on release. I will wait down the line when theres more than one game available i like.

[briareos_kerensky]

Pro Baseball Famista 2011, a baseball game featuring Mitsurugi (Soul Calibur), the drums from Taiko Drum Master, Heiachi (Tekken), Haruka Amami (Idolm@ster) a jet from Ace Combat and more. Gotta buy a Japanese 3DS only to see how the jet pitches the ball.

[MarioMark]

Ridge Racer is looking graphically worse than the 5+ year old PSP version

[gizmo1990]

CD's are ?7.99, DVD's near on the same, Bluray is what now ?14.99? Games need to be in line, I felt like I as getting ripped off buying new games, havn't done so in a few years because of it apart from PSN at maximum of ?15.

Urgh, just deleted an expletive. Right I'm calm now. Sorry but everything you've said there I disagree with.

Games, good games, can take years to produce, even portable ones.

In fact the examples you've used are so thread bare it's not worth my time picking them apart, honestly.

[sj33]

Actually, in terms of growing the medium, he's right. CDs, DVDs and the like sell so well because they are priced within the 'impulse purchase' price range. Gaming will never be able to reach the same level of adoption at it's current price point.

Of course, I am not ignorant to the fact the development costs continue to increase, and that there is no realistic way of reaching this price point. It is a conundrum that is holding back the industry.

[Guts]

I remember reading that the video game industry is already bigger than the music or the movie industry. If that's the case, why would they lower the price of each unit sold, especially when the industry has only grown year after year? Black Ops broke record sales even as they increased the price.

[Brad]

Every report from US gaming websites who have had the chance to use a 3ds for an extended period have either turned the 3d off our at the very least had issues with it. I have to bear that in mind and think about what other upgrade the 3ds is giving us. Not bloody much.

People said the touchscreen of the ds was a gimmick. They said the same about the waggle of the wii. Arguably they/we were wrong in both cases but this time I really do think the 3ds has one gimmick asit's selling point and it really is nothing but a gimmick. It's mot much of an update at all in my opinion and I predict many cases of buyers' remorse by early adopters. Developers will be thinking ' how can we exploit this new system?'. The answer is the same for all of them: 3d. That's it.

Bah. I'm just an old humbug. Ignore me.