The 3DS has just been announced. Much like the DSI XL, it will feature a 90% larger screen size than the original 3DS. It also features a better battery life extending play by approximately an hour. US citizens will be getting nice Mario esq red and blue models and Europe will also get a silver model. It will be coming to western shores at around $200 so we aren’t looking at a mega price jump.
The biggest face palm inducing factor is the lack of a second circle pad. Considering the Circle Pad Pro debacle which sent many gamers into a tirade, you would think Nintendo would have thought to include it in the XL model…..surely there was space? This is a major flaw because it restricts certain games for the XL. MGS3D is the obvious candidate as it has been frequently noted that the game is significantly poorer without the second circle pad. Other games such as Resident Evil Revelations have also been noted for showing an improved gameplay experience with the second circle pad.
So why have Nintendo done this? A cynical part of me wonders if they would bring out a Circle Pad Pro XL but considering the lukewarm response to the peripheral in the first place, not to mention the difficulty in finding one to buy, this seems unlikely. A more annoying conclusion would be that Nintendo are not focusing the 3DS on hardcore games. So titles like MGS3d and Resident Evil Revelations, which gave hard core gamers hope that the 3DS would supply a stream of quality titles, may in fact be rarer than we once thought. This is further re-enforced by the lack of quality titles on the horizon.
As an early supported of the 3DS it saddens me to see Nintendo seemingly following the strategies that made the DS a casual gamer’s hand held. What the industry doesn’t need right now is a string of crap clogging up the shelves. The casual gaming market is waning rapidly. Wii’s are gathering dust and adult DS users have long left their Brain Training behind. Nintendo cleverly caught a big wave but if they aren’t careful, they may well wipe out and get eaten by a big shark. Surfing metaphor….yeah!
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9 Comments
Ninty said at E3 that they don’t think the 3DS really needs it. While they should be listening to feedback, they might actually have a point. Most of the best games on the 3DS haven’t suffered from the lack of a second stick and even stuff like Resi and MGS3 play perfectly fine.
They’re too arrogant to admit that they made a huge error. When they initially said that they didn’t look at their competitors when designing the 3DS I was worried, this confirms that they’re totally out of touch with what gamers want. I might as well purchase a smartphone as a gaming system, looks like hardcore handheld gaming is mostly dead. I just hope my Vita gets more support. ;<
Apparently the European release wont even come with an AC adaptor. This is incomprehensible.
“…that made the DS a casual gamer’s hand held.”
Are you f*****g retarded? The DS probably has more games than the PS2.
Ok my good man. And how many would you say are actually good? Not just good, but what we would class as a hardcore game, not a gimmicky game that uses the stylus? There may be a fair few but the vast majority are kiddie dross. I worked in Game so I know very well what fills the shelves of the DS section and it is at least 90% crap, designed for little kids and casual gamers. The PS2 on the other hand had a huge amount of hard core games and defined that gaming generation. So in answer, no I am not f*****g retarded. I clearly have a better idea than you about the matter and I also don’t go around throwing insults spasmodically every time I see a comment box. You ignorant ********************* – you can just take that as an opportunity to be offended.
Boom Baby!
And back on topic, never have I quickly switched from elation to despair on reading they’ll release a larger 3DS, then to not have the second stick, which is criminal, and as you put it, resigning great games like Resi Revelations to the dust, or people with the CPP.
I want to enjoy Nintendo’s house brands, but I also want the strong stuff too.
And the lack of AC Adapter is moronic (in Europe at least).
handhelds are not really meant for some hardcore games. they never have been. look at the first few handheld games. they were all short and pretty easy. hand held is for gaming on the go and is meant for casual play until you get home where you can play the real hardcore games on a system.
I disagree, the first few hand held games couldn’t be anything but short, it was due to the tech used. As storage has moved on we have had increasingly complex and long games for our handhelds. Yes gaming on the go benefits from being easy to dip in and out of indeed, but that doesn’t mean that the gameplay has to be simplistic or the concept gimmicky.
Nice to know the irony wasn’t lost on you.
I would point out that many of those games are not out yet, and most of the ones that are that you pointed out such as RE Revelations, Kid Icarus as well as others such as MGS3D are all vastly improved by the second circle pad. Kid Icarus comes with a stand as it’s so hard to play without it.
So sorry, where am I wrong here?