• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Why is Nintendo's eShop so bad on 3DS?

W

Wynnebeck

Banned
Is it because Nintendo is trying to gain more third party support for games on 3DS or are they slowly trickling them out? I just went into the eShop looking to drop some dosh on a nice DD game and as I'm going through each block, my face gets more and more sour. By the time I found the games I maybe wanted to buy, they were full price! Doesn't Nintendo have some sort of discount if you buy digital as opposed to retail? I audibly went, "What the fuck!?" when I went into Virtual Console because all the games were of NES and Game Boy variety. The game I was looking at was Dillon's Rolling Western and I was too sad to even buy the game since $10 for a potential 2-3 hour game scares me. NintendoGAF HELP!
 
They have sales all the time.

Plus spending ten bucks for a 2-3 hour game is better than spending sixty bucks for a 2-3 hour game.
 
Dillon lasts more than that.

I actually enjoy navigating the shop on 3DS far more than on Wii, Wii U, and even PS3. I like the feature category design.

What's your beef with the VC, now? NES games are the same price as they were on Wii, and Game Boy prices fluctuate depending on depth of the game. What more are you wanting, exactly?

My only main complaint is the lack of a master list, which the Wii U has, oddly.
 
It's because if digital is cheaper than everyone would just buy the digital version and ignore the retail version.
 
The e-shop is truly an abomination. Kid me galavanting about through wondrous Mario worlds makes me feel bad for Nintendo now - stuff like the e-shop, account system, basically any modern day feature brings me back down.
 
Honestly, I just dislike the interface.
It's awful, unorganized, and a complete pain to use.

The games on it are gold, though.
Dillon's Rolling Western is one you should definitely check out, even with the price.
It does feel rather steep, but it is worth it.
 
What? The eShop is really great right now, and it's having sales regularly as well.

In fact, I'm compelled to make a thread about it soon.
 
I thought the shop was great, every time I go on it recently there's a new $10~ title that looks fantastic and a few demos to check out. I'm looking at Harmoknight and Crashmo now.

Retail releases are still expensive on there, yea.
 
The interface makes me want to vomit. I honestly avoid going there at all costs and when I do go in there it's like picking something out of the toilet that you accidentally dropped in. In and out as fast as possible.
 
I am thoroughly disappointed with the virtual console selection. They are sitting on a goldmine of games that I am sure almost every Nintendo fan would want to jump on, but yet we barely get anything. It is a damn ghost town.
 
GulAtiCa said:
Prices aside (which is reasonable besides retail). The games offered are amazing.
Click to expand...

KillerTravis said:
What? The eShop is really great right now, and it's having sales regularly as well.

In fact, I'm compelled to make a thread about it soon.
Click to expand...

metsallica said:
I've purchased dozens of games on the 3DS eShop, and loved nearly all of them. Not sure what you're talking about.
Click to expand...

Where are you guys finding these sales because I couldn't find them at all.
 
Wynnebeck said:
Is it because Nintendo is trying to gain more third party support for games on 3DS or are they slowly trickling them out? I just went into the eShop looking to drop some dosh on a nice DD game and as I'm going through each block, my face gets more and more sour. By the time I found the games I maybe wanted to buy, they were full price! Doesn't Nintendo have some sort of discount if you buy digital as opposed to retail? I audibly went, "What the fuck!?" when I went into Virtual Console because all the games were of NES and Game Boy variety. The game I was looking at was Dillon's Rolling Western and I was too sad to even buy the game since $10 for a potential 2-3 hour game scares me. NintendoGAF HELP!
Click to expand...

Dillon is just as long as Luigi's Mansion 2.
 
Meh, I don't have much problem with the way the 3DS eshop is currently set up. The original games on there are fantastic and well worth the asking prices. There are also sales from time to time. The layout isn't bad with most of the bigger releases getting the spotlight and multiple categories. It could definitely be better but it could also be much worse.

Wynnebeck said:
Where are you guys finding these sales because I couldn't find them at all.
Click to expand...

There was a sale for a game each week for the past month or so. I believe Mutant Mudds is still on sale right now but that's the last game in the sale.
 
Um, have you seen the eShop on the Wii U? The 3DS eShop is the Holy Grail in comparison. At least the 3DS version has organization, and more than 5 demos. Oh, and also a consistent way to find said demos. Nintendo's promote-from-within culture is going to ruin them (if it hasn't already). They need to seriously poach somebody from Steam to get things moving over there. That's the ONLY thing that can make Nintendo relevant this generation. Unless they "double-down" on making their back catalog available digitally, cheaply, and quickly, they're donezo.

I'm not even sure how I feel about that, honestly. What it will mean is a rough transition period, but ultimately Nintendo games new and old on hardware with actual digital distribution platforms. I really don't think I'd be that upset at the end of the day if I got to play Mario from Steam.

It's not like I already don't. Dolphin, anyone? (Piracy disclaimer: you better buy your own game first!)
 
I find the interface pretty good actually, though I buy stuff as it comes along and don't usually browse the back catalog.
 
CuckFupertino said:
Um, have you seen the eShop on the Wii U? The 3DS eShop is the Holy Grail in comparison. At least the 3DS version has organization, and more than 5 demos. Oh, and also a consistent way to find said demos. Nintendo's promote-from-within culture is going to ruin them (if it hasn't already). They need to seriously poach somebody from Steam to get things moving over there. That's the ONLY thing that can make Nintendo relevant this generation. Unless they "double-down" on making their back catalog available digitally, cheaply, and quickly, they're donezo.

I'm not even sure how I feel about that, honestly. What it will mean is a rough transition period, but ultimately Nintendo games new and old on hardware with actual digital distribution platforms. I really don't think I'd be that upset at the end of the day if I got to play Mario from Steam.

It's not like I already don't. Dolphin, anyone? (Piracy disclaimer: you better buy your own game first!)
Click to expand...

whoareyoutalkingto.gif
 
I really like it. It`s colorful and updated regularly with new groupings. It makes me want to browse it and check out the different games available. Something that the Wii shop failed to do with its bland, boring, monochrome setup.
 
I just wish they did a better job organizing the games so I could look at them in a list and pick what I wanted. As much shit as the Vita gets, finding a game I want on the PS Store is relatively easy compared to eShop.

EDIT: Oh great. I go in to mull over Rolling Western and eShop is under maintenance. -_-
 
Wynnebeck said:
Where are you guys finding these sales because I couldn't find them at all.
Click to expand...

Mutant Mudds is $5 right now I believe, escapeVektor will be $5 next week, I think they're doing a sale for a different game very week. European eShop will be having a big sale on retail games right now, so I think it's safe to say there's going to be one here soon.
 
The organization could be better, but the only thing I really hate about it is the lack of a transferable account system. I would have spent $100+ on the 3DS eShop by now if my purchases were tied to an account that I could redownload them from.

I really want to get Fire Emblem, Crashmo, VVVVVV, Cave Story, and more. :-(
 
It is pretty terrible but there's some great content on there, if you can find it.

If the shop had permanent organized sections for everything instead of flavor of the week folders, it would be TONS better.
 
I've never had any major problems with the eShop apart from it having taxes on it and not being able to find a game easily every now and then. I never have to pay taxes on Wii, DSi, PSN, Xbox points, or for phone apps/games. It always leaves me with an odd number of money on my device and I can't pick up two 10 dollar games without having to buy another card (which are hard to find where I live).

One thing they need to sort out is account system. You lose all your games if you get your system lost/stolen. On every other device/platform you'd just be able to sign into an account and redownload your purchased games but not on Nintendo's outdated system.
 
CuckFupertino said:
Um, have you seen the eShop on the Wii U? The 3DS eShop is the Holy Grail in comparison. At least the 3DS version has organization, and more than 5 demos. Oh, and also a consistent way to find said demos. Nintendo's promote-from-within culture is going to ruin them (if it hasn't already). They need to seriously poach somebody from Steam to get things moving over there. That's the ONLY thing that can make Nintendo relevant this generation. Unless they "double-down" on making their back catalog available digitally, cheaply, and quickly, they're donezo.

I'm not even sure how I feel about that, honestly. What it will mean is a rough transition period, but ultimately Nintendo games new and old on hardware with actual digital distribution platforms. I really don't think I'd be that upset at the end of the day if I got to play Mario from Steam.

It's not like I already don't. Dolphin, anyone? (Piracy disclaimer: you better buy your own game first!)
Click to expand...

Did another batch of these people get in recently?
 
I just wish they supported the Virtual Console. Much more appealing than indie games, yet for some reason they think adding one NES or GB game here and there is adequate enough support. Must be too much to ask for.
 
KillerTravis said:
Mutant Mudds is $5 right now I believe, escapeVektor will be $5 next week, I think they're doing a sale for a different game very week. European eShop will be having a big sale on retail games right now, so I think it's safe to say there's going to be one here soon.
Click to expand...

Pokedex Deluxe or whatever it's called is also on sale
 
I think we can all agree that the 3DS eShop music is completely lackluster compared to the DSi Shop and Wii Shop channels though.
 
Sales have been going on for the last month or so every week, but before that yeah, nothing has been on sale on there really. Pilotwings is still $40 too, there are definitely some eshop pricing issues.

The interface leaves a lot to be desired too. Pretty annoying if you want to look at something other than new releases. Virtual Console is a goddamn mess too, stop dripping stuff out at an extraordinarily slow rate Nintendo, Christ.

That said, there's some pretty cool original games up on there. Dillon's will last you well over 2-3 hours. OP.
 
I really don't get the "unorganised" thing. Maybe the NA store is different (I don't think it is) but the PAL store has a bunch of clear, concise categories bunched along the bottom of the screen--"Latest Releases", "Download Exclusives", "Demos", "Virtual Console", etc. How much more organised does it really need to be?
 
-Pyromaniac- said:
The interface makes me want to vomit. I honestly avoid going there at all costs and when I do go in there it's like picking something out of the toilet that you accidentally dropped in. In and out as fast as possible.
Click to expand...

Damn, man. If you can't deal with the eShop, then I wonder how you feel about Sony's store....
 
kittens said:
The organization could be better, but the only thing I really hate about it is the lack of a transferable account system. I would have spent $100+ on the 3DS eShop by now if my purchases were tied to an account that I could redownload them from.

I really want to get Fire Emblem, Crashmo, VVVVVV, Cave Story, and more. :-(
Click to expand...

Take the plunge. You're missing out on some incredible games.
 
The interface is pretty bad but in terms of games the eShop is my favorite DD platform after Steam. VC really ought to step up but original 3DS download titles have been kicking ass consistently for awhile now.
 
jmls1121 said:
This. The quality of the eshop releases is one of the more underreported stories from the last year. OP is crazy.
Click to expand...

It would help if you pointed out what these quality releases are instead of calling me crazy. I'm not trying to troll anyone, just trying to understand why it feels so lackluster.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Saints Row 3&4 is $2 on the eShop
22
177
RPS37 replied
So Nintendo's decision for Samsung 8nm is fully vindicated now
45
358
memoryman3 replied
I use AI daily, so why is it bad if game developers use it too?
2 3
120
2K
Toots replied
What is Nintendo's big 2026 game?
2
74
262
Deerock71 replied
Why are people so obsessed with Bloodborne?
2 3 4 5
219
946
schaft0620 replied
Top Bottom