Discuss: The new 3DS and the emergent "split userbase"... is this a good trend?

Gurrry said:
New Nintendo 3ds - ???????
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Macbook iMac iPod iPad why you so confusing Apple? Macbook is the tablet, right because you have that cover which you open like a book...

If people are interested they will learn what tech does regardless of the name. If they are uninterested then they make guesses.

SaberVulcan said:
This was probably mentioned already, but until I can transfer my digital copy of games across different 3DS systems then this is just a total dick move. I bought the FE:A 3DS bundle... if I can't keep FE:A if I buy a new system, whats the point of the bundle to begin with?
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Good news for you. You have been able to transfer digital content across different 3DS systems for a really long time using the system transfer tool (debuted with something like firmware 4.0). It does require you to have both systems in your possession which is inconvenient.

Next you'll tell me the Wii U uses friend codes...ignorance is terrible.
 
I hope the New 3DS is a dud, no interest in buying a slight revision/upgrade to keep playing games. Or that they wont be exclusive more than Xenoblade at least
 
speedpop said:
Anecdotal, I know, but a friend of mine from the States got hooked big time co-op on the NSMB game on Wii, and then on the Wii U. This directly led to the fact that they all finished the game and needed new Mario - low and behold what's this shit called Super Mario 3D World that included co-op?

I told her she and her husband & co. fell for the gimmick. Most of them never play games too hardcore compared to the resident GAF crowd, but it gave me time to pause and think.
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Wonder if people will fall for the gimmick again in the west with this New 3DS. It'll be interesting to see. I would bet on no, but it's probably at least more effective than adding a U or an i at the end.
 
As I said in the other thread, if there are New 3DS exclusive games I'm done with Nintendo platforms for good. I haven't had my 3DS XL for that long and to think I won't be able to play all 3DS games on it is unacceptable. I hope I'm wrong but if I'm not they'll never see another cent from me again.
 
It's not great, but this isn't new for Nintendo. They did the exact same thing with the DSi (although I don't know how many DSi only games they ultimately put out). The best way to look at this is that it is the successor to the 3DS, because this is basically Nintendo's way of saying they aren't putting out a true successor any time in the next few years.
 
While the design and (I'm guessing) improved functionality is really appealing, I just dont understand the need for this. The Xenoblade port looks markedly worse than the wii port. I'm not saying that a hand held needs to have the power of the wii, but it just doesn't seem worth it to me
ill probably buy one anyway because I'm stupid
 
I don't know how I feel about this. When I get a game, and the company makes an "Ultimate" version of it later for the same platform and doesn't offer the additions as an add-on or offer a discount to owners of the original, I feel taken advantage of. On the other hand, the closest equivalent of this for hardware is the DSi, where they had also said that the DSi would have better specs and some games would be DSi-exclusive, but there were barely any of them, and none of them were Nintendo's big releases. So far the only exclusive New 3DS game is Xenoblade, which is understandable because there has been lots of demand for a rerelease of some sort, the current 3DS wouldn't have been able to handle it I'm sure, and this is less of an undertaking than trying to do an HD version for the Wii U.

It's coming out in Japan for a while before here, so I'll be able to wait and see how they handle it.
 
Is anyone else looking to cash out with thier 3ds stuff? Seriously thinking about it at this time. Might as well sell all 3ds stuff while you can get decent values for it.
 
SmokyDave said:
Why are you so obsessed with the Vita?

It's kinda weird, dude.
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I'm just looking for answer. Huff said 1st party commitments look pretty even for 3DS and Vita, so why can't anyone name at least four major 1st party Vita games in development?

Also, glass houses. :P
 
Valjean Lafitte said:
No wonder you were demodded.
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sorry bro but for me half the games on both platform were bitesize chunks of shit gameplay. Even trying them today usually makes me burst out in fits of laughter from how bad the vast, vast majority of Gameboy games are. Don't get me wrong I liked, um, those Zelda games, but I can literally count the total games that I enjoyed on the entire platform on one hand. That one Donkey Kong game, that one Metal Gear game, those Zelda games, Tetris and one or two others. Never enjoyed a Pokemon game on any platform and I never really liked those Mario games compared to the console counterparts, which were usually vastly superior.

Most Gameboy games were to me were basically starved of content compared to console titles of the age (yes, I know there are a few exceptions), were gameplay stunted due to the lack of buttons and simply felt like an a downgrade in a way that I wasn't really willing to accept. Gameboy Advance was when I finally had a handheld I felt suited my needs.

But I digress! :P
 
As long as the new 3DS gets supported with exclusive software for at least 2 years I won't mind. Really, it depends on how fast this new CPU is. The 3DS was showing it's age and people were expecting a new handheld as early as next year. This console means less of a split user base than that alternative, so I think it's a good decision ultimately. Especially with the Amiibo push, it would be hard to make it take off on 3DS when it requires an external NFC reader.

I do feel bad for those who just bought a 3DS, but there's really no way around that problem. If you have been enjoying the console for a while now, it's hard to complain, especially when if you're experienced with the system you can see that it struggles to provide a fluid and fast OS, something people expect in this day and age. Children are growing up with smartphones, and it's hard to sell a dedicated games console as a superior gaming experience (even when it has better games) if it is slow, and opening the internet or your notifications for example can take close to 10 seconds. If I didn't have a special edition 3DS I would probably trade mine in for a new one when it releases, but wouldn't feel too bad about doing so.
 
I've just searched. lmao the DSi had 4 retail exclusives and they were all shovelware.

The DSi comparison is hardly apt here. This is a new 3DS (terrible name btw) which will be getting exclusive core titles from Nintendo themselves. I understand that the games will not be possible without the hardware boost but the user base will still be split which I would think is not something you would want to do with an already low user base relative to previous gens and software sales decreasing.

We have seen the 3DS is declining significantly in the West and JP. The 2DS had little effect it seems on this decline and I'm doubting if this revision is substantial enough to have an effect. I don't see it at all. This just seems like Nintendo trying to keep the 3DS going for as long as they can by creating a new SKU that can allow Wii/GC titles to be easily ported and pad the release schedule. Furthermore, software sales will be severely compromised with those exclusive new 3DS titles.
 
sörine;127607264 said:
I'm just looking for answer. Huff said 1st party commitments look pretty even for 3DS and Vita, so why can't anyone name at least four major 1st party Vita games in development?

Also, glass houses. :P
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Major? probably nothing. Gravity Rush 2, Murasaki Baby and download only games...
 
Yeah, it's similar to DSi and GBC, but it's a lot more. It's Nintendo's (anyone's?) biggest revision that wasn't a generational transition that I can think of. A second analog stick and 2 more buttons, NFC, plus CPU boost and improved 3D. That's a lot of stuff to add to a 4 year old system. And I think it's pretty great. It's all the stuff gamers were complaining about not being added when the XL was announced. Sure it's a bit late to the party and there are userbase splits to worry about, not to mention questions of when the real 3DS successor will be out, but it's what a lot of us were asking for not long ago.

I'm not too concerned with the userbase, though. What I want to know is will there be enough exclusive content to justify a purchase. I won't get it just for a Wii port and a handful of other titles. But if they're really committing to this and not just trying to boost some hardware numbers then I might get one. First and foremost has to be GBA Virtual Console. Releasing a spec bump of this size and still not having the power to play GBA would be insane. DS VC should be in there too, but I won't go too crazy with this just yet. I talked myself into a DSi because of DSi-exclusive content and I think I ended up with 1 game that supported it, which I played a grand total of 3 times. If not for the handful of DSiWare titles I picked up, it would have been as good as a DS with a broken GBA port. That's my biggest fear with this upgrade. I need that content.

I never expected so many people would actually be unhappy that the 3DS finally got that 2nd analog stick and shoulder buttons and better 3D that we've been asking for, and then hoping that as few future games as possible would require them.
 
So when do we expect the real new Nintendo handheld to show up? Two years from now?

I never expected so many people would actually be unhappy that the 3DS finally got that 2nd analog stick and shoulder buttons and better 3D that we've been asking for
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That's not the second analog stick people wanted. That's some dinky nub thing.
 
vareon said:
Nintendo's probably planning to extend 3DS' life to prepare for whatever they're doing with their next hardware's "integrated architecture". Might be their only choice right now as 3DS is getting really outdated.

Maybe they think customers are used to yearly refresh (as with smartphones) and decided to try it with 3DS?

To me the megaton is HTML5 on 3DS browser.
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I think you bring up 2 great points, that either this could be a 'holdover' until their integrated architecture unit comes out or this is testing the waters for minor upgrades. Even though Xenoblade is my favorite game of the decade, not sure how I feel about playing a game with that scope on a handheld, though seeing a handheld that can run a game like that is still really shocking.
 
This is bad, even by Nintendo hand held standards. It's pure designed obsolescence. They release hardware that was outdated from day 1 and then save the fixes for a revision down the road to get people to double dip. There was no reason this CPU bump couldn't have been there day 1. What makes it particularly scummy is they're releasing it after the holidays in the West when millions of people will be unknowingly buying outdated versions of the system as gifts.

It's also completely hypocritical of them when they raise such concerns about devaluing their software. Pulling stunts like this does nothing but devalue their hardware.

This is also nothing like what Apple and other major cellphone/tablet manufacturers do. They actually release hardware that's at the forefront of tech. New releases are done on a schedule and done yearly so consumers know what to expect. Nintendo just does this shit randomly and the "upgrades" are really just things that should have been there from the beginning.

Product planning at Nintendo just boggles my mind. Their bread and butter is software sales. Why are they locking games to a revision of all things where the user base will be much smaller and limited in the long run? If the 3DS can't play games from a system based on 13 year old tech, then so be it. That's on them for not making the 3DS more powerful to begin with. It's not like they don't have another system that's struggling and could use more software. Especially one that's getting a sequel to the game in the first place. As much as I love Nintendo software it's moves like this that make it incredibly hard for me to support them in the hardware realm.
 
I don't know why people keep lumping the DSi and GBC transitions in the same boat. Yes, they were both only incremental upgrades (in terms of internal specs) over their respective predecessors. GBC, however, had a much more clear-cut difference from its predecessor (color vs. B&W) than DSi over DS, or N3DS over 3DS. The GBC was also marketed (quite successfully) as a discrete platform - within a year after its launch, the overwhelming majority of games released for the platform were GBC-exclusive. That didn't happen with the DSi, and I can't see it happening here.
 
Well it isn't a "good" trend..but in a world where new phones and ipads, etc release every single year, it puts Nintendo in a tough spot.. They needed to do something to help inject new interest and excitement back in the 3ds.. It seems like people were growing bored of the 3DS as it was. They needed to do something new, and just a new color or sku wasn't enough as they've already done so many.

I'm going to get one.. But, I'm going to get the smaller model. I love my XL, but I never take it anywhere.. Too big.
 
The GBC was not minimal update , people were begging Nintendo for a color handheld for years. Plus GBC had double the ram and double the clock speed the GB had.
 
This has nothing in common with Apple upgrades (as if every other computer manufacturer in the world doesn't have even more frequent upgrades), because Apple does not make separately sold software exclusive to a given year's model.
 
Awesome! The new form factor for the regular size 3ds is worth the upgrade by itself. We get a new CPU, 2nd stick, new buttons, and a better screen!! Sign me up.

As for the split user base, there tons of games and apps that only work on certain iPhones/iPads.
 
I'm hesitant to buy this because the real successor to the 3DS will probably be announced in 2 years possibly June at E3. Just my speculation.
 
Ratrat said:
Major? probably nothing. Gravity Rush 2, Murasaki Baby and download only games...
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Thank you for a real answer. I'd say GR2 is comparable at least although I'd also say it's probably going to be a PS4 game.

ShinUltramanJ said:
That's not the second analog stick people wanted. That's some dinky nub thing.
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It's pretty much made just for hunting games. You can contol the camera with the tip of your thumb and can still press X. Will be great for MH4U or FFE, but would probably be pretty awful for something like a fps.
 
Amir0x said:
Most Gameboy games were to me were basically starved of content compared to console titles of the age (yes, I know there are a few exceptions), were gameplay stunted due to the lack of buttons
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It was released before the SNES and had the same number of buttons as the NES. :P
 
Shameful, I will be selling my 3DS and don't want to have anything to do with this company.

That is no way to treat the current user-base.
 
FoneBone said:
I don't know why people keep lumping the DSi and GBC transitions in the same boat. Yes, they were both only incremental upgrades (in terms of internal specs) over their respective predecessors. GBC, however, had a much more clear-cut difference from its predecessor (color vs. B&W) than DSi over DS, or N3DS over 3DS. The GBC was also marketed (quite successfully) as a discrete platform - within a year after its launch, the overwhelming majority of games released for the platform were GBC-exclusive. That didn't happen with the DSi, and I can't see it happening here.
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This is a bit revisionist. GBC was planned and initially marketed as a colorized Game Boy, not a unique platform. It was intended as a stopgap but it's surprise success led Nintendo to delay GBA (the actual successor) and refocus on GBC for awhile with unique games due to the rapidly growing userbase. It really wasn't treated as a discrete platform ever though, that would be something like GC to Wii.
 
Amir0x said:
Most Gameboy games were to me were basically starved of content compared to console titles of the age (yes, I know there are a few exceptions), were gameplay stunted due to the lack of buttons and simply felt like an a downgrade in a way that I wasn't really willing to accept. Gameboy Advance was when I finally had a handheld I felt suited my needs.

But I digress! :P
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Somebody never played Astro Boy Omega Factor!!! :P
 
I find it funny as fuck. They just potentially made shit that much harder on them and on retailers (like myself) whoa re going to have to explain to clueless parents that their New Nintendo 3DS purchase has games that can only be played on the New Nintendo 3DS and not on their 2DS or Nintendo 3DS or Nintendo 3DS XL and you see where I'm going with this. Will families eat this up? Quite possibly. We could also see some ridiculous backlash.
 
Valjean Lafitte said:
It was released before the SNES and had the same number of buttons as the NES. :P
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hey maybe you'd be surprised to learn I didn't like very many NES games either. I mean more than Gameboy because of the systems superior capabilities, but still wasn't a huge fan. SNES as well is what turned me into a true gamer. I just have specific baseline standards I guess :P
 
I just don't see dev/pubs sacrificing the 45M install base of the regular 3DS, when these same exact companies are releasing cross-gen games well into 2015. Financially it doesn't make sense, and even from a technical standpoint there are ways they could work in extra features for the New 3DS without ignoring regular 3DS owners.
 
Uncle Rupee said:
I just don't see dev/pubs sacrificing the 45M install base of the regular 3DS, when these same exact companies are releasing cross-gen games well into 2015. Financially it doesn't make sense, and even from a technical standpoint there are ways they could work in extra features for the New 3DS without ignoring regular 3DS owners.
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Third party doesn't have a huge presence on the console, so indeed, very unlikely that they will shift to the new platform unless it's a major success. Even then, standard 3DS games will work just fine on New 3DS.

Nintendo themselves are going to have to push the new software.

This really comes off as a stop gap move before their next handheld. Port some games to it for a couple years, sell more hardware.
 
I have got back on the Nintendo bandwagon fairly hard over the last year getting a 2DS and Wii U. But if the next portable Mario or Zelda game (Or worse, Metroid) require this, I'm also done with them.

This seems like a desperation move to get more money from your existing user base.
 
The 3ds has only been out 3 years and now its being made redundant.

At least a true sucessor would have been something. Now people are expected to buy the new 3ds for what is really just a minimal upgrade. The worst part about it is the 3ds should have had this from the start, especially the second stick. Why now? after 3 years of complaints, why now? should have left ir for the nexr true ds imo


People mention dsi but I think this will be more like gbc. A camera would always be a minor gimmick for games. More power, buttons and a second stick change the game in a big way so I expect more exclusive software.
 
Uncle Rupee said:
I just don't see dev/pubs sacrificing the 45M install base of the regular 3DS, when these same exact companies are releasing cross-gen games well into 2015. Financially it doesn't make sense, and even from a technical standpoint there are ways they could work in extra features for the New 3DS without ignoring regular 3DS owners.
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There aren't going to be many retail exclusives imo. There probably will be a lot of retail enhanced titles though and a ton of digital exclusives (if this thing can run Unity/Webkit).

People are getting too overblown about the split userbase, this is basically a 3DSi.
 
Smash Bros supporting New 3DS and not supporting circle pad is kinda telling.
Not that circle pads are mandatory for that game but still...
 
Overall, not entirely against the idea, but if they are going to create upgraded hardware with games that won't work on older systems, they really should make the name more distinctive. People get confused enough as it is. Since they are sticking with a similar name, I don't think they'll make many games that take advantage of the hardware, or if they do, it'll be something like the n64 expansion pak where games might run better on the new system but still work on the old. In that regard, probably won't be a huge blow to 3DS owners, but I'm sure some are probably ticked off by xenoblade being only for the new system.
 
Taking a step back, it seems like a half-assed approach to me and they run the very real risk of alienating existing consumers that won't want to rebuy the console for such a slight increment.

And yeah, GBC did it but the color was a very visible and worthwhile increment.

DSi did it when DS was still hot and in the end, there were few DSi exclusive retail games.

I'm curious to see what exclusives they'll do besides Xeno.

Edit: as far as I'm concerned, I'll wait and see. I already own a 3DS XL that I don't play much, so I won't be buying an upgrade for one game. Particularly if said upgrade is a stopgap with a 2 year life cycle.
 
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