Due to your superior reasoning, I am forced to agree. EDIT: You're entitled to your opinion, but just saying something is overhyped without giving any reasons at all certainly fits my definition of trolling.
Meh, I'll edit this post once I'm back on my PC. EDIT: It is overhyped for a very simple reason: it gives nothing really new except the screen. The only device that showed something new in let's say 5 years is the iPhone/iPod Touch, and while they aren't a big gaming device yet, they are the first ones to have only touchscreen control (which actually works good for almost all games), have a new game distribution system (as this is the first I think that you can only buy games online, I think, and it is without a doubt the fastest advancing platform now. It also is the platform where indie developers have the most chance of succeeding. Compared to these, 3DS has a... new screen, wow.
It's over-hyped because in reality, it's a terrible device, no one will buy it, no one will enjoy it, Nintendo can't make a successful portable games console to save their lives and the games lineup definitely isn't the best launch lineup we've seen in about a hundred million... ever. I'm right, right?
As another poster commented, due to the sheer amount of major support announced for the device, it is perhaps one of the few systems that deserves such hype.
I have broken your argument down to facilitate my rebuttal. 1) You previously said that the iPhone/iPod Touch wasn't a "big gaming device," so I assume that all the Palm PC's (with their little games you could download) before that would be the first to add touch screen support? 2) XBOX Live? 3) Yes, but are these advances really needed? Their more a way to grab money. I don't want a new console coming out every year, making my previous one obsolete, that would be stupid. 4) Yes, but XBOX Live is catching up with it. Also, you say all the 3DS does is "add a new screen"? Well, previously you said one of the iPod Touch's biggest features was the fact it only has one touch screen. Isn't that counter-intuitive towards your argument? You're saying the 3DS introducing a new screen is bad, but the iPod Touch introducing a new screen is good? Explanation por favor.
Lol, I think Apple products are even more overhyped. Look at the iPad, that thing sure turned out to be the amazing machine on the planet, like it was hyped up, eh? And now cue people telling me "Apple announced the specs for the iPad before and it got blown out of proportion by teh media!!!11111!!!one". Well, it's the same thing with the 3DS.
Finally someone. 1) The touch screens in Palm PCs were resistive and (because of that) they didn't support multi-touch. The screens in the iDevices have both, so they are a lot more enjoyable for fast paced games. 2) I'm not sure, but I think that XBOX games are also distributed in physical versions, so it isn't the same, just close. 3) While the hardware advances aren't really needed (though a new device every two years would be minimal I think), the softwares are advancing quickly too: in the beginning it only had simple casual, puzzle and maybe some simple platformers, now there are PSP quality (or better, don't know yet) games like Aralon coming. 4) The screen is different here, as the screen of the 3DS only makes a difference in display, while the iDevice screens were also a method of controlling, so they are bigger changes. 4+1) The price point of the iDevices are also unique, which is good for most people, and developers can make a living out of the platform as it seems. I simply can't imagine a situation where one would want to pay a 'home console' (PS3 etc.) price for a portable game. These (or a little higher, up to $20) are the reasonable prices.
Most of what you say is with regards to hardware, when it should be painfully obvious that the hype for the 3DS lies in the huge amount of major support for the system. Who cares about hardware pioneering, which in any case it can be argued the DS pioneered just as much as iPhone, when it is the software that matters. You won't see much hardware pioneering until the next generation of devices. It is clear with the 3DS and other devices launching in the near future, that the focus is on the evolution of what we currently have rather than a revolution via a new component. Other than a new display (either high resolution or 3D), there aren't actually any new, game-changing, commercially-viable components right now to use for portable devices.
Softwares can always be developed, while hardwares can't. Hardware "revolution" is much more important, as it give the developers more freedom, so they can develop more and better games, maybe even create new genres (like tilting games here).
You seem to have misunderstood my point. Right now there are no other game-changing options to include. Right now, everything (including Apple) is set about evolving what we currently have. In any case, your point is moot in the case of the 3DS. It has D-pad, analog stick, buttons, touchscreen, gyro controls and augmented reality. When it comes to choice of controls the 3DS has the lot. For any other sort of control there just simply isn't any, in a commercially viable sense.
I'm getting tired, so sorry if my grammar isn't understandable. While the 3DS has many controlling options and is probably an awesome device, it is for a different audience. As Nintendo is a Japanese (I think) company, their devices usually have lots of eastern style RPGs for example while little to none western style. Also, the game price is an issue for many people (including me), that's why the iDevices are a more suitable option. Another thing is the form of it - I prefer the simpler form of the iDevices or even the (original) PSP. I don't deny that the 3DS will be great, but not the ultimate portable device.
Nintendo is one of the most if not the most global appealing publishers in the world. If their appeal was so "Eastern", Nintendogs would not have sold 24 million copies worldwide (of which 20 million was sold in the West). New Super Mario Bros DS would not have sold 20 million copies worldwide (of which 15 million were sold in the West). Mario Kart DS would not have sold 18 million copies worldwide (of which 14 million copies were sold in the West). It is not a different audience, what the iDevices boast with regards to appealing to non-gamers, the Nintendo DS originally set in motion. Also, if price was such an issue, all the above games ($29.99 and higher) would not have sold as much as they did.
Their approach is a lot more eastern to games, let's say compared to (thr also Japanese) Sony. This is something you can't even try to deny. Price might not be an issue in the US or wester Europe countries, but in Hungary and other eastern EU countries it is. I must know it better - I live here. So as I said, the 3DS has a very different audience with some overlaps.
