Nintendos new 3DS handheld game console may prove to be the ultimate device for gaming and entertainment on the go. In addition to letting users view games in three-dimensions, without the need for glasses, the 3DS will offer video content from Netflix and free WiFi connectivity.
is it true that the 3D effect is pretty sensitive to how the unit is held? You have to hold it out straight in front of you and not move around much at all? If so, that wont be too great in the car or on the bus... My iphone has Netflix and wifi and for me personally 3D isn't a big selling feature so I'm not really interested in a 3DS at all. I'm planning on getting an ipad2 and a iphone5 when they are available...that'll cover my gaming on the go needs and a whole slew of other bases...
The real question is how long will it take the average gamer to go from playing in 3D all the time to hardly ever, my guess is a week. IMO both the DS and the PSP were far greater leaps forward in portable gaming then the new hardware. The DS introduced touch screen gaming and the PSP shattered the portable / console performance gap for the first time since the TurboExpress. Both of these systems represented the first generation of portable gaming hardware focused on 3D. Here we are half a decade later and we've got yet another DS with a focus on a headache inducing feature and a new PSP packed with so many sensors it's like a gaming turducken. I'm far less impressed with that then I am at the fact that I can buy top quality games all day long for a few bucks a piece on a cell phone.
Yeah, I have a feeling that the 3DS might be a turd of epic proportions. "3D" has always been a hard sell for parents buying things for their kids for one thing and I don't see any reason why that won't still be the case. The 3D craze has really died off in movies and TV already. It was hot when Avatar came out but since then the big 3D movies have mostly been flops or good movies that benefitted little from the 3D aspect. the "hardcore" crowd can yell all they want about how ios gaming is only for casual gamers but the fact of the matter is that so-called casual gamers make up the vast majority of the portable gaming market. Being hardcore isn't really a selling feature. All Nintendo needs is for stories to start appearing about kids suffering severe eye strain (or other issues) from 3DS gaming a few weeks after release and its game over...
Less than that. I spent considerable time with a 3DS again at GDC here and it's laughable how bad the 3D implementation is. Cool gimmick, but yeah, I have a feeling most people will just leave the 3D slider set to off.
I'm not sharing that feeling at all. The Japan sales so far have been monumental and just because the 3D aspect may be gimmicky and short-lived it doesn't mean the DS part will be too. It's the follow up to the biggest selling handheld (and second best selling console overall) of all time, not something to stick your nose up at. It's just lucky they had the foresight to add the 3D slider.
I think it's selling in Japan for the same reason I preordered one: it's a new DS, with enough power to run contemporary-looking games. The 3D bit seems to be wearing thin already (at least with the gaming media), and the media capabilities are a bit of a joke compared to what the average smartphone or tablet can muster. But if we can expect anything from Nintendo it's that they (and their third-party partners) will make inventive use of the hardware. You can also expect that the user base will ramp up fast enough to make it profitable for developers to support the platform -- with the NGP I'm not so sure of that.
Originally I was going to say three days but I figure most people will gradually move the slider down until the point they finally realize the autosteroscopic screen requires you're eyes to work twice as hard as polarized glasses and combined with the unsteady movement of playing a game in hand is an exercise in futility.
Oh hai, lrn2search http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=81482&page=22 only on the second page too...
Most of the DS's sales occured during a time when its only competition was Sony's handheld selling games for roughly the same prices. Now theres this thing called the app store selling great little games for less than 5 bucks each for devices that can do all kinds of cool stuff and that many people will already own and carry around everywhere they go. I have no doubt the 3DS will sell for a time. I just don't think its going to be the behemoth some think it will be and I don't think it's "the future" of portable gaming in any real sense...
For one thing they've got a very solid line up of launch titles. The only question is, will they sell enough games to make the 3DS a viable platform for third party developers to sink millions of dollars into it? I'm not going to talk out of my ass about the implementation of 3D, but I do know one thing; Nintendo knows how to sell stuff. People thought the Wii's motion control was gimmicky when it first came out, and it probably was, but it didn't matter. What mattered was that it was fun, and easily accessible to a lot of people. So while Microsoft and Sony were courting people who lived in their parent's basement, Nintendo was selling more Wiis than the XBOX and the PS3 combined. Microsoft has been able to regain a lot of lost ground over the past year -Kinect helped enormously- because Nintendo sat on its ass and stared at its giant potload of money. That entire paragraph is completely irrelevant. The point I'm trying to make is, just because it's gimmicky doesn't mean it won't be hugely successful. Nintendo's philosophy about gaming isn't about having the fastest GPU or the latest specs, it's about making gaming more fun and more innovative, it's about doing What's Next.
I heard 3D is coming to the iDevices. Will you be writing articles full of hyperbole, just like it's common to see in the main page, saying how amazing this is for iOS gaming? The 3D isn't even the reason why people want this handheld; the reason is because this is the successor to the most successful videogame system of all time. The reason why people are excited is because you'll be able to play games like the one pictured below instead of abysmal Gameloft clones and glorified casual games that you could play in a web browser. The reason why people want the 3DS is because it has the support of the top developers in the game industry. The reason why people want the 3DS is because is a legitimate gaming device, with gaming as its top priority. I find "laughable" how some desperately want to dismiss the 3DS, naively thinking that the 3D is the main selling point of this thing. Sure, the marketing may be giving you an indication of that, but it's far from the reason to own this system.
That was as purely a fanboy response as they come. And I don't even disagree with you that much. A couple of things: if you think that the extent of iOS gaming is Gameloft clones and casual games, you haven't really been paying attention. And ever since Unity released their engine as a Flash plug-in, the range of "browser games" has become much wider than you think. BTW, the top PSP download right now is Angry Birds, even with all those other "legitimate games" available on PSN. Make of that what you will.
I think what it all comes down to (and the reason I preordered one) is that you won't be getting Zelda or Mario or any of the Nintendo classics anywhere else besides Nintendo systems. Sure, the main marketing point might be the 3D, but when people get tired of that they'll realize that the handheld can play some pretty amazing games, and that is why the system will be a success.
Hey, its great that we get get a whole new raft of Mario games to bounce around in! Oddly enough, I've got about 150 games on my Iphone and I think the only Gameloft one I own is Spiderman - and its a pretty good game! I've got a few games on the phone I got for free that are better than some of the games Nintendo has come up with over the past few years. But I totally agree that the reason some folks are amped up about the 3DS is becuase they are Nintendo fans. That's cool. I just think theres a large number of peopl ewho bought a DS a few years ago so they had something to play games on on the road but who now own smartphones that serve that purpose admirably. They don't really give a rats behind about who makes those games...
I'm gonna wait for the NGP. Don't take this the wrong way...I like the 3DS...but I like the NGP more. Caters better to my tastes.
