Things are different this time

I bought a 3DS and I don't regret it. I know that before this thing is discontinued, Nintendo will release enough 1st party content to make it worth it.

That said, the video game market has changed, and not in Nintendo's favor. All 3 of the big console makers are becoming less relevant to the technological landscape. Microsoft basically survives on a few PC software products, Sony is projecting that it will lose several billion dollars (again) this year, Nintendo just had a lackluster 3DS launch and Wii sales are in decline. None of these companies is really making money off of video games anymore. The unfortunate thing for Nintendo is that that's all they do.

I don't think that 5 years from now everyone is going to be playing simple $1 iPhone games, but the old model is quickly becoming obsolete. I actually think that the 3DS will be a major financial failure for Nintendo and that it will be their last handheld before they make a dramatic change and go the SEGA route, producing games for other devices in a few years. The 3DS is simply not going to sell well with smartphone owning adults and it's far too expensive (especially the games) to be a Christmas gift for most children. I think we will see a major price drop next year and a discontinuation 1 or 2 years later.

system wars is that way---> im sure you'll get a lot of nintendo haters to agree with you there..

nintendos cafe will have a new innovation that will seperate itself from iphone...and the 3ds will sell just like the DS did.

system wars is that way---> im sure you'll get a lot of nintendo haters to agree with you there..

nintendos cafe will have a new innovation that will seperate itself from iphone...and the 3ds will sell just like the DS did.

KBFloYd

I'm not a Nintendo hater, I like Nintendo and own a 3DS.

[QUOTE="KBFloYd"]

system wars is that way---> im sure you'll get a lot of nintendo haters to agree with you there..

nintendos cafe will have a new innovation that will seperate itself from iphone...and the 3ds will sell just like the DS did.

superfluidity

I'm not a Nintendo hater, I like Nintendo and own a 3DS.

then why do you want them to go 3rd party? o-o why are you even saying it on a forum to put it in peoples heads? whats your motive? whats the score here?

then why do you want them to go 3rd party? o-o why are you even saying it on a forum to put it in peoples heads? whats your motive? whats the score here?

KBFloYd

I don't want them to go 3rd party, I'm just discussing business realities. My motive is discussion about the future of the 3DS and the handheld business in general.

You have to admit that at some point in the future, having a separate chunk of gaming-only hardware in your pocket will be a thing of the past, right? I'm basically saying that time is coming much sooner than even I would have thought previously.

[QUOTE="superfluidity"]

[QUOTE="KBFloYd"]

system wars is that way---> im sure you'll get a lot of nintendo haters to agree with you there..

nintendos cafe will have a new innovation that will seperate itself from iphone...and the 3ds will sell just like the DS did.

KBFloYd

I'm not a Nintendo hater, I like Nintendo and own a 3DS.

then why do you want them to go 3rd party? o-o why are you even saying it on a forum to put it in peoples heads? whats your motive? whats the score here?

now, now I'm a Nintendo fan and I can see his point as well ... there's a lot of uncertainty in the video game industry right now ... and I agree his evaluation has some points to it ... but it's a projection seeing only the events that happened as of late... and those arent the only things that are happening right now ... so I agree it has some points but it doesnt present the reality as a whole ... I'm trying to be optimistic and hope that Nintendo will not go down Sega's alley... and that yes the awesome games will come rolling and the economy for the gaming industry boost up

I'm trying to be optimistic and hope that Nintendo will not go down Sega's alley... and that yes the awesome games will come rolling and the economy for the gaming industry boost up

rain_ishigawa

I'm hoping for that too and I hope Nintendo has learned the lesson with the 3DS launch so they don't mess up again with the Project Café. Nowadays you can't expect to sell a new system no matter the promises the system has when there aren't enough games and the few ones that are available are mainly remakes/conversions or at least doesn't have a strong game DESIGNED FOR THE SYSTEM. What games sold the Wii at first? Games like Wii Sports that showcased the system's qualities and made you say "wow". PS3 didn't sold well until the good games started appearing.

I doubt 3DS will be discontinued. People are basing stock on how well it is selling and that is no way to do it. I'm sure Nintendo will tell us how well its doing on Tuesday. I think Nintendo is deliberately making it look like 3DS is doing poorly to keep shovelware at bay.

[QUOTE="KBFloYd"]

then why do you want them to go 3rd party? o-o why are you even saying it on a forum to put it in peoples heads? whats your motive? whats the score here?

superfluidity

I don't want them to go 3rd party, I'm just discussing business realities. My motive is discussion about the future of the 3DS and the handheld business in general.

You have to admit that at some point in the future, having a separate chunk of gaming-only hardware in your pocket will be a thing of the past, right? I'm basically saying that time is coming much sooner than even I would have thought previously.

Nintendo will never go third party, and you should understand the business reality that even if the 3DS sells 40 million units at a $50 profit per unit, thats more than enuff to stablize the company and not go third party

Also, I think the gaming market is increasing. Not to long ago people who played a lot of video games were considered nerd and geeks with no social life at all, nowadays being a gamer is getting more accepted in pop culture. F0urTwenty

I didn't say the gaming market is getting smaller, I said it is changing. It's changing much faster in mobile gaming because smartphone use has become widespread very recently. I wouldn't have made this post before the 3DS was released, but now that it has and we've all seen the consumer reception, I think it's pretty clear that it isn't exactly taking the world by storm.

I could end up being wrong about the 3DS console specifically, but I absolutely believe that the business model the 3DS is based on is on its last legs. It simply won't be viable much longer as smartphones and other portable computers become more and more capable.

[QUOTE="F0urTwenty"] Also, I think the gaming market is increasing. Not to long ago people who played a lot of video games were considered nerd and geeks with no social life at all, nowadays being a gamer is getting more accepted in pop culture. superfluidity

I didn't say the gaming market is getting smaller, I said it is changing. It's changing much faster in mobile gaming because smartphone use has become widespread very recently. I wouldn't have made this post before the 3DS was released, but now that it has and we've all seen the consumer reception, I think it's pretty clear that it isn't exactly taking the world by storm.

I could end up being wrong about the 3DS console specifically, but I absolutely believe that the business model the 3DS is based on is on its last legs. It simply won't be viable much longer as smartphones and other portable computers become more and more capable.

lol wait for cafe

Well I think the OP and some other users here make valid points.

On the one hand, the future of the game industry in its current form is uncertain. We have games and other electronic devices reaching this similar destination, and casual games are becoming a big part of the game industry at the same time. That is partly Nintendo's fault because they embraced the casual gamers a lot this gen, but it is hardly their fault alone and casual games were bound to see growth either way through things like Facebook. People are concerned that folks will begin to favor one-device-does-it-all electronics that can play games over gaming devices, and they're also concerned that game hardware will become obsolete and everything will go the route of digital software.

On the other hand Nintendo and the other game giants aren't doing horrible with money by any means, though it is true that they've all taken dips - this is probably mostly due to the age of their current consoles and consumers looking forward to buying newer ones. Many people still favor game consoles and handhelds over IPhones and IPads and other IStuff because they are tailored to gaming and offer a great selection of quality games which you just won't find on all-in-one electronics that are well-rounded to perform different functions equally well. Maybe in the future a device will come along that excels in all areas, but for now a product like that simply seems too expensive for the average consumer and probably won't happen for some time.

And while it's true that Microsoft and Sony have also embarked into other industry territories besides just games, and offer multimedia consoles and handhelds... The people who bought gaming consoles did so mostly because they wanted to play games. Maybe some of them did it for Netflix, whatever, but the majority did it for gaming. A lot of people own game systems, so I'd say that people are still very much so interested in investing in game devices. I really can't see people walking around with their IPads trying to play Halo with eachother in a subway. Can you?

So uh, what is the business model pal? Got a link for me? Fill me in on the 3DS business model you seem to know oh so much about. Personally, I think your completely wrong and don't have a clue of what your talking about.

F0urTwenty

I was referring to the idea of selling a new piece of portable hardware every few years to run only games. I do realize that the 3DS will be able to do more than run only games, but barely.

I actually feel like Nintendo could have been much more successful if they had looked at what Apple has been doing and instead of going with 3D, had made a very powerful multi-purpose device that also had nice gaming controls and would exclusively run Nintendo's proprietary games. That would have been far more innovative than stereoscopic 3D. It would have been a portable computer with a gaming focus, rather than a portable gaming system with an few other features tacked on half-heartedly.

[QUOTE="F0urTwenty"]

So uh, what is the business model pal? Got a link for me? Fill me in on the 3DS business model you seem to know oh so much about. Personally, I think your completely wrong and don't have a clue of what your talking about.

superfluidity

I was referring to the idea of selling a new piece of portable hardware every few years to run only games. I do realize that the 3DS will be able to do more than run only games, but barely.

I actually feel like Nintendo could have been much more successful if they had looked at what Apple has been doing and instead of going with 3D, had made a very powerful multi-purpose device that also had nice gaming controls and would exclusively run Nintendo's proprietary games. That would have been far more innovative than stereoscopic 3D. It would have been a portable computer with a gaming focus, rather than a portable gaming system with an few other features tacked on half-heartedly.

A portable computer device would have gaming features tacked on half-heartedly, would it not?Ovirew

Not necessarily. They could have stuck with a similar form factor but gone with a larger, higher resolution screen and upped the processing power. They could have included a custom version of the Android OS so that it had all the functionality of a smartphone.

This could have been easily accomplished had they not gone with 3D, which severely limits everything the device can do because of power and processor time consumption as well as keeping the screen low resolution.

[QUOTE="Ovirew"]A portable computer device would have gaming features tacked on half-heartedly, would it not?superfluidity

Not necessarily. They could have stuck with a similar form factor but gone with a larger, higher resolution screen and upped the processing power. They could have included a custom version of the Android OS so that it had all the functionality of a smartphone.

This could have been easily accomplished had they not gone with 3D, which severely limits everything the device can do because of power and processor time consumption as well as keeping the screen low resolution.

I've heard enough. Don't know how to say this nicely but you sir are an idiot. Do you know what the word INNOVATIVE means? Explain to me how making the 3DS more powerful and making it a multi-purpose device is more INNOVATIVE then GLASSES FREE 3D. Bro go sell your 3DS today and go buy an NGP when it comes out, the 3DS clearly is not the device for you. Mods please lock this thread so we don't have to feed the troll anymore, thank you.F0urTwenty

Here you are calling me an idiot and you're the one asking for help from the mods?