Hardware My thoughts and observations on 3DS and dedicated handhelds

[Arnold Schwarzen]

Dedicated handhelds still have a good number of years left in them, if we ever see them go away. Nintendo dun good dropping price on the 3DS. The demand for games and system itself has exploded due to this. iPods are excellent music devices but it would be a very cruel world if that was all we had left. Na mean?

 

[kevan]

Ya I na mean.

 

[The Milkman]

...What.
Are you saying a iPod is a dedicated handheld o.o

 

[DiscostewSM]

iPhone, Android, etc. Even if those devices were to have the capacity of being great game devices, they won't because games aren't the main focus. In fact, the focus is spread across everything.

Jack of all trades. Masters of none.

 

[Arnold Schwarzen]

But would you say if Nintendo fails in the future you think they would develop for others or make their own smart phone and/or itdoeseverything device? Also if Nintendo software was $5-20 would production values be significantly lower than what we see them developing for 3DS? Or would be still get quality games that match or exceed those of today's handheld games since costs go down and technology advances even further in the near future?

 

[hankchill]

Pretty much sums it up.

 

[YetoJesse]

Let me just say this.. the moment I saw the 3D on that zelda game, I got eyegasms... I'm sorry, even though I prefer gameplay over graphics ANYTIME... the 3DS has some faptastic graphics there...
and an Apple or whatever has nothing to do with Nintendo... after apple went into the straight "Tab-sue"... even my interest in an ipod touch sunk to below zero...

 

[alexbulluk]

I think dedicated handhelds gave a long time left, for one reason: buttons!

Apple is never going to slap a load of buttons on the iPod/iPhone/iPad, which to me means it can never take over as the #1 gaming device.

Think about games like Zelda. Trying to play that using virtual buttons would be a nightmare.

 

[Gnargle]

Pretty much sums it up.

The best thing about this comic is TouchArcade thought this was an actual good argument for how good iPhone games were, completely missing the point.

 

[Arnold Schwarzen]

lol that's exactly what I feel is going on. iPhone/iPod 5th gen likely won't have buttons but I think in the future Apple could implement them, perhaps go the slide out route. A lot of the app store games I see people play are the shit ones too, not often I see them play Sonic 4, Mega Man II, or NOVA or something. Fuckin ridiculous that I will never believe that will become the future of gaming.

 

[tiggerlator]

I think dedicated handhelds gave a long time left, for one reason: buttons!

Apple is never going to slap a load of buttons on the iPod/iPhone/iPad, which to me means it can never take over as the #1 gaming device.

Think about games like Zelda. Trying to play that using virtual buttons would be a nightmare.

I agree 100%, i tried zenonia on a android phone and on a iphone 3g, nightmare with no buttons, i played it on my dsi and it brilliant, i will be buying it for my new 3ds too.

 

[Slyakin]

iPhones and iPods WILL take over. Video games really do only have a few years left. People are thinking that they can get quality entertainment for 1 dollar, and that's mainly true nowadays.

Who would buy Star Fox 64 for the 3DS or Uncharted for the PSV, when they can get Angry Birds for 1/40th of the price?

 

[RisnDevil]

Who would buy Star Fox 64 for the 3DS or Uncharted for the PSV, when they can get Angry Birds for 1/40th of the price?

Anybody who realizes that 1/40th of the price is even less than 1/40th of the content? Games like Angry Birds all but offend me: they are full games. They are, get this, APPS. APPS, which aren't even full applications, hence the distinction. Don't get me wrong, there are full games for iOS that are good, and even have a lot of work put into them that the touch controls just work. Defender Chronicles. Hands-down one of the best Tower Defense games I have ever played. But it was like Arnold Schwarzenegger said, those (actual) games don't sell.

Is the platform viable? Absolutely. Can I name five iOS games I have dedicated more than two hours total to? No. Can I list five dedicated handheld games that I have dedicated 100+ hours to? Without hesitation. If the cost is 1/40th, but the content is 1/100th (or less) I'll pay for the content, which I will also pay for less often. Enjoy your crapware and distractions.

 

[koji2009]

What we're going to see is that if dedicated portable systems start to look troubled, Nintendo will go into the phone market for themselves.

As a recent IGN article stated, Nintendo doesn't back down. It's never going to stop being a hardware seller unless it gets completely financially destroyed. Nintendo has been in the toy/game business for over a hundred years... Longer than Sony, Microsoft, and Sega combined... They aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

 

[KingVamp]

What we're going to see is that if dedicated portable systems start to look troubled, Nintendo will go into the phone market for themselves.

As a recent IGN article stated, Nintendo doesn't back down. It's never going to stop being a hardware seller unless it gets completely financially destroyed. Nintendo has been in the toy/game business for over a hundred years... Longer than Sony, Microsoft, and Sega combined... They aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

If that happens, we might see something like the xperia play, but looking more like a game portable. Basically a "4DS" with clear phone functions/features.

 

[machomuu]

Who would buy Star Fox 64 for the 3DS or Uncharted for the PSV, when they can get Angry Birds for 1/40th of the price?

Um...a lot of people.

 

[Arnold Schwarzen]

Yeah totally, each have their fan base. I choose quality over quantity. Paying a premium for excellent games is worth it than spending a couple bucks or even 5 or less on superiorly inferior software.

 

[machomuu]

Yeah totally, each have their fan base. I choose quality over quantity. Paying a premium for excellent games is worth it than spending a couple bucks or even 5 or less on superiorly inferior software.

I agree, some people just want a bunch of games cheap, and I know I don't want that because if I did I'd start pirating every game I wanted again. I also prefer 1 game that is $50 to 5o games for $1.

 

[BloodWolfJW]

I own both a 3DS and an iPod Touch. Both are stable gaming platforms, but let's look at the facts:

iPod Touch:
Use Time: Between 1000-2000 Hours
Time of Ownership: August, 2010
Use: Music, Videos, Images, Games, and Social Networking.
Usage: Well, I'm now a high school student, so I'll be using it a lot more than before, but only for music and networking

Nintendo 3DS:
Use Time: Between 200-300 Hours
Time of Ownership: March, 2011
Use: Gaming, Music.
Usage: I LOVE Zelda and the Virtual Console, but the music isn't bad, and the 3DS has barely taken off!

Verdict: Nintendo 3DS

I use my iPod a lot more, but why? Music, and why not the 3DS music? Because the iPod is thinner. Despite the fact that it's fun to hack, the iPod doesn't have a lot of stuff to offer other than "Hey, let's get on facebook, download a free app, and maybe watch a movie!". The 3DS is a very dedicated system, which I believe hasn't really taken off. Zelda, Mario, Kid Icarus, Pokemon, Metroid, Star Fox, and MUCH MORE! Granted, they have lowered the price, but we haven't seen anything yet with Nintendo. They alwasy have something in store for all the haters to hate on. End of story.

 

[chauffler]

yeah i agree with quality over quantity to. but some quality games like phoenix wright were only a dollar on the app store. but even games like that are just boring to play on the iphone because they ruined the gameplay and controls pretty badly.