PTE88: Nintendo 3DS - Four Years On...

[Neon Ignition]

Feb 26th will be the 4 year anniversary of the 3DS, just following the launch of its latest hardware revision, the New Nintendo 3DS. This coming year is likely to be the perfect storm year, Nintendo should have plenty of software lined up keeping handheld gamers busy before the next twelve months is out and rumours begin to swirl of a successor to the system.

On its fourth birthday, what are your standing thoughts on the system, it's past and it's remaining future?

[Dogg Thang]

Terrible launch, godawful first year(s), unacceptable game drought, slow recovery, now a fantastic library of top games and a system that really delivers the goods. Hope it continues to do so.

[Asura]

Terrible launch, godawful first year(s), unacceptable game drought, slow recovery, now a fantastic library of top games and a system that really delivers the goods. Hope it continues to do so.

Agreed.

For all the criticism I've made in the past, I've probably bought more full-price new games than for any other machine since the Dreamcast (though admittedly, I was skint for much of the GBA's life or it would've been a contender!).

I was unhappy with the hardware up until the release of the XL, but now the New-3DS normal version has totally fixed all my issues with the original unit.

I still kinda wish they'd went with something that was hardware-wise closer to the Vita, but maybe that's for next time.

[wakka]

Terrible launch, godawful first year(s), unacceptable game drought, slow recovery, now a fantastic library of top games and a system that really delivers the goods. Hope it continues to do so.

Yep, this is a pretty good summary of my feelings!

One thing I've always thought about this machine - the dual screen design and the touchscreen have never felt nearly as crucial to the 3DS as they did to the DS, with few touchscreen-focused games like Ouendan. It is very useful for RPGs however, and the clamshell design's built in screen protection is still eminently practical. It will be interesting to see if they continue with this form factor with the next system.

I do like the 3DS a lot and it has some absolutely great games. The screen resolution is far too low though. I think I'm going to switch to the smaller n3DS as the excessively low DPI on my current XL is a bit offputting for me unfortunately.

[importaku]

Mr Thang pretty much sums it up perfectly. It's taken a long time but finally it has games worth playing, i remember those horrible horrible launch droughts.

I can't select a matching option in the poll as i like my 3DS but i don't exactly love it, the game library is still far too small which is killing my love for it. Sure it's got quality games now but not in the volume that the DS had. I really hope Nintendo don't release another new 3DS successor any time soon as nowdays everyone seems conditioned into wanting the next gen all the time, Nintendo totally screwed up the launch it's release lineup was dire it's taken this many years just to get to where it should have been at years ago. They should adjust the 3DS lifespan to make up for that.

I think some of the problem is that the 3DS is harder to develop for which has scared off some 3rd party devs from making games for it, on the DS they could churn out games pretty easily meaning there was always a selection of quirky & fun games on the horizon. I miss that wild variety of games that used to be released on DS nowdays it's mostly safe bets on 3DS, it would be nice to get some more value out of the system by having more games released. From Nintendo this year there is only famicom remix (if it's ever released in Japan) and rhythm tengoku that interest me, it will be interesting to see what they announce at E3.

At least the 3rd parties make up for Nintendos lacking output, youkai watch last year pretty much beat everthing that Nintendo released hands down for me, hell even Sega managed to suprise me with hero bank. This year there are a few nice 3rd paty games i'll be picking up at some point.

[fishbowlhead]

One of he other problems with the 3ds Importaku is that those smaller devs churning out fun quirky games for the DS have probably migrated to mobile, iOS andriod etc, for even easier development, less outlay and in some cases better profits on smaller projects.

It's not all the case of course now but on release of the 3ds was probably the hight of the smaller dev migration. Now the platform is more mature I expect it will be more enticing.

[Asura]

probably migrated to mobile, iOS andriod etc, for even easier development,.

This is definitely a factor. I mean how do you get to develop for 3DS? Do you still need to petition Nintendo for them to "let" you before you can even start making anything?

I like the idea that it isn't easy/free and the rules are somewhat restrictive - it stops people doing half-arsed conversions of iPad ****e. That being said, there must be a middleground.

[importaku]

Yeah i think moving to mobile is most likely one of the reasons, i think a lot of devs went digital with some of the games on 3DS too unlike back on the DS when those games would be getting cart releases.

I'm perfectly happy with the power of the 3DS it's like having a portable gamecube, and i love the 3D effect as well it's a great bonus. Just want more games. Would be nice to see a proper AR game something that fully took advantage of that, once again Nintendo put in a great feature and as ususal they totally fail to use it for more than a few token things.

[Asura]

i think a lot of devs went digital with some of the games on 3DS too unlike back on the DS when those games would be getting cart releases.

I'm in two minds about this. On the one hand, it irritates that that (for example) Phoenix Wright 5 is digital-only. On the other hand, we didn't get a version of the second Miles Edgeworth game here at all, so if it's "digital or nothing" then I guess I have to choose digital.

That being said, I'm a consumer, and unreasonable though it was (given the logic above), I wanted a cart version.

It also concerns me as it set the precedent (which I contributed to, as I bought it) that this is OK.

At least PW5 was at a reduced price.

[DeathAdder]

I've found it allright - annoyed at needing a Western and a Japanese one, seeing as they region-locked it. Such a backwards mood when Nintendo's competitors have both moved away from region-locking. It's probably my least favourite handheld from Nintendo.

[Lebowski]

I was really excited picking it up at launch and playing it for the first time, I still really like pilot wings its just a shame they have never revisited it and gave us new locations to explore, as it had a wiff of rushed out the door and was lacking content.

the glasses free 3d was amazing at the time but i have to admit it wasn't the most user friendly thing as it had a very small sweet spot, the new 3ds fixes this though. Real shame Nintendo are so stingy with release on it still but there's lots to play on it now at least 4 years in.

[nakamura]

Slow start but when I got mine I loved it solidly for about 18 months and the software dried up in terms of diversity. Too many cutesy games in the past year or disappointing titles like Bravely.

No 3D SNES games also sucks.

[teddymeow]

Had a normal, XL and a New.

Played the games I wanted to but there's nothing on the horizon I'm interested in.

It's good but not great. And don't get me started on transferring digital content between systems!!

[Golgo]

I've loved it for the few games that make great use of 3D. Peering into the haunted mansion of Luigi was fantastic, and I'm looking forward to Majora's Mask for the same reason. Turning our Animal Crossing towns into hives of vice, deviancy and crime - with fellow BD forumites - was also a blast. But on the whole it has never gripped me as much as the DS, and certainly not as much as the mighty GBA. I'm afraid I don't have the stamina or dedication for the Monster Hunter grind although I'm sure that's going to be a real system highlight for those who commit to it. The only games I want before retiring my 3DS are Majora's Mask and Codename STEAM.

[Asura]

Come to think of it, whilst there is a decent library of games on the system, I don't think we've ever reached that point where all of the following were the case:

>> A good library of games was available
>> A handful of new games had just been released
>> A bunch of good games were on the horizon, and we knew about them/their dates
>> A bunch of good games were further ahead, and we didn't know their dates
>> We were confident we'd soon hear about more games when the above category started to run out of stuff

Consoles like the PS2, even the 360/PS3 had all of this once they got going. The DS had it. the 3DS never has.