Gaming Why Was the 3DS Expected to Do So Well So Early?

[Nathan Drake]

With the recent price drop, and well, since the 3DS came out, people have been complaining about the selection of games. Owners and non-owners alike have voiced their opinion saying they are disappointed, and that there should be more there at this point. Undeniably, the system does feel like it was launched too early in respect to ready system features. People were expecting some big first party title right away though, which I'm having issues understanding. Somebody has pointed out the DS line up for the first year was awful. There were only a small handful of worthwhile games, and once again, there wasn't necessarily something that appealed to everybody.

People ignore this fact though. Most people are fairly ignorant to the idea that the DS existed before the DSlite it seems. The first year of the DS sucked horribly, but nobody really noticed. By the time the lite model came out, there was enough of a selection that everybody was happy due to it having been the better part of two years already. The DS was not popular at first. It took the momentum created by the sleek, new lite model to get the ball rolling. It was a system that it was cool to have, but didn't mean much in the long run at the time. The system rose up to be the best selling handheld Nintendo has ever produced through the course of multiple revisions and nearly seven years of market life so far.

Taking its predecessor as an example as well as looking at how the first year is generally bumpy for any system, I have to ask.

Why were people expecting so much out of the 3DS right away? And I don't mean just hype. Four months after, people are calling the handheld a failure due to some early game cancellations and the like. It doesn't make any sense. Even after four months, the majority remain over expectant. This has led to Nintendo rushing out some big name titles very early into the system's life. We have a couple of Mario games, as well as other big name titles all coming out between Q4 2011, and Q1 2012. Will fan demand lead the 3DS to have a shorter life in the long run?

 

[nando]

the DS wasn't 250 dollars.

 

[thela_kid]

and didn't get a price cut of nearly 100 dollars so early after it's release

 

[Nathan Drake]

People knew full well what they were purchasing. People thought the price was steep at the time and still made the purchase. A game system is kind of like an investment. You can't expect too much too early, or you end up disappointed.

The DS was also $150 at launch, which was, once again, really pushing it for the price of a handheld.

 

[thela_kid]

People knew full well what they were purchasing. People thought the price was steep at the time and still made the purchase. A game system is kind of like an investment. You can't expect too much too early, or you end up disappointed.

and that's a lesson i sadly learned the hard way. i was told when buying it that it was awesome and had amazing games coming after the week after i buy it and that it has all these next-gen features. damn you salesman! damn youuuuu!!!!

 

[Weaselpipe]

I for one waited for a deal to come up- I was skint on launch day, when Tesco were knocking out 3DS for £175 each under a big sign saying they'd be £220 the day after. 2 weeks later, HMV had a deal where you could pre-order any upcoming game (I chose DOA) and get the console for £175. That's already a £45 saving on something I desperately wanted/needed due to my breaking my DSi and wearing my DSPhat into the ground.
When the choice was DSiXL for £159, or 3DS for £175 there was no contest...

All Nintendo consoles start slowly- SNES shipped with Super Mario World as they knew the release list for the first 18 months was pretty shocking. The N64 had a handful of games between '96 and '98. Gameboy Colour started the trend of "don't have many games so make it backwards compatible"- a trend the GBA, Wii, NDS and now 3DS have continued. The Gamecube coasted through it's first year and a half on poorly made ports of PS1-2 games from third party dev's who then blamed Nintendo for the bad reception- had the GC included an N64 cartridge slot it may have done better than the PS2 (a console that dropped in price by about £75 before it's first year was over).

The thing with all those other Nintendo consoles, is that they were released with their main competition either non-existant or already on the market allowing for competitive pricing. The SNES appeared a good couple of years into the Megadrive's life, likewise the N64 followed the Playstation, GC the PS2. The Wii was a month ahead of the PS3 but Sony had already announced their prices. The NDS had no rivals for a year, them when the PSP appeared Nintendo released the Lite and were finally releasing games for it.

So no-one really expected a blaze of glory, Nintendo are masters of the slow-burner

 

[Rayder]

I don't know, I have my opinions as to why it didn't do as well as expected, but they might not jibe with everyone else's opinion....

Crap battery life compared to DSlite and DSi XL.

The initial high price.

Constant firmware updates with cryptic or no clear explanations of what they are updating. (this is a thorn in my side that I can't deal with)

Lack of AAA titles at launch.

The defects that cause the bottom half to leave marks on the top half of the system.

The lackluster 3D effect.

The lack of Ninty's ability differentiate the variances between the DS and DSi from the 3DS. (you might be surprised at how many people don't know the difference)

The worry that the same shovelware will be made for the 3DS that has been prevalent on the regular DS.

There are lots of reasons. But mostly, I think it was the high price, which Ninty has addressed. We shall see.

 

[dragonkid6]

Meh Ninty has always made a system that many doubted would be worth the money they put in it. Nearly all systems have been put down but point is, they are always cutting edge in some unique way. When they announced the 3DS MANY ignorant gamers were wondering "why 3DS it's not better that 1080p". But they don't pay attention to the market, any movie goer will tell you that the there was dramatic increase of 3D films made available over the last 2 years and they were selling equal to regular films. We are in the era of 3D and the style of stereoscopic 3D has changed from last year to this year and the 3D uses that style.

When they first announced the 3DS I told my friends "this the is the year, starting next year the PS3 will have 3D games made playable on 3D tvs, and X360 will have to wait for a new system cause I don't think it has the specs for 3D with it's current model." And I was right. Ninty is always first with forever game-world changing systems.

People need to get over themselves and putting down Ninty just cause they bought a Wii before a PS3/X360 and wanted the same games dull down to a 480p system(from 720p/1080p). Get over it, you saw the price difference of $600 and $250 and made your choice, you not stupid, even worst most people are America and act like they can't tell when the deal it too good. I bought a Wii for Brawl even tho a different designer took over the project and every other game sense then was just extra(I got 63 games now and beaten 40+). Some games you don't beat you just keep playing, i.e. Mario Kart.

Anyways, stop hatting , the 3DS is badass the graphics are amazing for a handheld Ninty system, Ninty is not SONY the PSP has to be better than the last PSP not better than a 3DS. The 3DS has to be better than a DSi, and it is. Another thing, stop crying about game resolution down sampling. Anyone who has been gaming from one system to the next should already be used to this, get over it.

NES

 

[Ergo]

It was expected to do well out of the gate because the Wii and DS were immensely successful (though people forget the DS kinda just limped along until Nintendogs showed up), but it was just priced too highly for the current economic situation (the Vita is going to have huge, huge problems in this regard, at least outside Japan, with the 3DS offering a preview) and there simply isn't remotely enough compelling content to make it worthwhile....at $250.

 

[1234turtles]

because they made so much hype at E3 and were saying by june they would have many games and well they dont

 

[Nathan Drake]

because they made so much hype at E3 and were saying by june they would have many games and well they dont

No, they said that by June, the eshop would be up and running, as well as the web browser. Guess what, they were. There was a big June update promised. Nintendo never said there would be a AAA game selection within four months of the international release. Every system is hyped to hell at its birth and near release these days too. People need to learn to ignore it and form their own opinion of the machine in question.

 

[ShadowSoldier]

I think it's because it was riding off the success of the DS (which everybody loved), that with the stronger hardware, everybody couldn't wait to play it. And they probably figured "it's Nintendo, it'll be cheap".

 

[Hanafuda]

I actually doubt that the 3DS is doing that much worse than Nintendo expected in the USA or Europe, but it might be very very short of what they'd hoped for in Japan. I haven't seen any numbers though, just guessin. That earthquake/tsunami/nuclear meltdown crisis put a hurtin' on Japan, right about the time the 3DS launched, and they're still healing. You don't go out and buy a new funbox for your kid when you're worried about drinking radiation.

 

[DroRox]

I just really think nintendo shouldn't have led us all to believe they were releasing all the games shown at E3 last year with the 3DS. I honestly thought at least half of those would have been made available at launch. But no apparently it was in the span of 2011-2012. The hype nintendo caused wasn't fullfilled in the eyes of the expectant fans. That was their mistake.

As for me I'm pretty content with my PES 2011 and Street Fighter 4 3D. And when I get back to the states Ocarina of Time should last me a while at most.

 

[Slyakin]

Nintendo (and even Sony with the PSV) are releasing their handhelds at the worst times possible. Japan is still recovering and the economic crisis is hurting a lot of countries. The high price of the 3DS was the main offender, but as time goes on, the popularity will surely rise.

 

[Guild McCommunist]

NES

 

[Slyakin]

NES

 

[Guild McCommunist]

What about those MGS Collections and Tomb Raider collections?

You rate like any other game, just as much as remakes.

I'm just saying that you shouldn't say "Buy a 3DS because you can play all your DS games on it!"

 

[Slyakin]

What about those MGS Collections and Tomb Raider collections?

You rate like any other game, just as much as remakes.

I'm just saying that you shouldn't say "Buy a 3DS because you can play all your DS games on it!"

Right, right, I was just kidding.

I really think that the consumer should give all systems one good year to see if they shine or not. People ignored the PSP, but if they gave it a year too, they could have seen some amazing stuff. It's kind of the same with the 3DS too.

 

[_Chaz_]

Right now it's a standoff between the consumers and the developers.
If developers don't develop, consumers won't consume. If consumers don't consume, developers won't develop.

However, it's worth saying that consumers don't get paid to consume.