Iwata gives the 3DS 4 months to "make it"?

Fucking 3DS is awesome. Great hardware, great concept.

Ruined by fucking marketing and policy - the launch was about as weak as the american Saturn launch. Also, region locked. (Damn it! I want that Japanese game with the ninjas with big boobs and stuff. And Gundam.) That was almost a deal breaker for me. I still went and got it because I would be portable-less otherwise.
<80's stoner voice>
And c'mon, it's fucking glasses free 3D. That is fucking awesome! It's, like, from the fucking future, and stuff. You have to be REALLY jaded to not consider Nintendo games in 3D an awesome fucking concept.
</80's stoner voice>

I'd be mad I paid 250 dollars for it, but this always happens to me when I buy a new system at launch - so I kind of expected this. Also, the downloadable games and stuff, which I will certainly like.

There's like a golden rule: If Xerdo buys it, it will probably either tank or get a massive price cut. If Xerdo doesn't buy it, then it will become rare and much more expensive and awesome and Xerdo will never again afford it. I suck.

At this point, the price drop might save the 3DS. But also, there is another way.
I might be discussing something forbidden here, but the Playstation was very popular in Mexico because it was the one with the mod chip and the copied games. This after a launch where nobody even KNEW what a Playstation was (Mexico was a Nintendo-Only territory for a long time) - and nobody sold the games or accessories. Then, suddenly piracy, everywhere, and Playstation everywhere. It beat the N64 and Saturn without much trouble.

Maybe once the 3DS is finally cracked and there really is a working R4 for it it'll start selling like hot cakes, or like the original DS (shitty launch, suddenly sells like a trillion units).

The public is hypocritical like that. They will rant about how much the system sucks and it's lame and whatnot, but once piracy is readily available for it, it will suddenly become popular. PSP and DS had it happen. Why not.

I saw this happen down here too, not only with the PSX, but also with the PS2, Wii and original Xbox. Nobody bought them down here until there was a sort of modchip for them. The original Xbox was a huge hit here because of the "virtual chip".

Now, I'm not endorsing piracy, at all. But I'm sure I'd consider getting a hypothetical working R4 for the 3DS if it means I can play imported games safely, or homebrew on it. Maybe the rest of the public secretly thinks this too.

 

Doesnt the R4i allows you to play pirated 3DS games already?

 

Piracy does not save consoles. If it did then the Sega Dreamcast would have been one of the greatest success stories of all time.

 

Exactly. Piracy may increase word of mouth advertising of the platform and games, but it really hurts sales. Particularly when even dumb consumers can figure out how to pirate. DreamCast is a great example since ANYONE with a CD Writer could give or sell someone a CD-R with commercial games that they could pop in their DreamCast exactly like a real pressed disc.

DS piracy has certainly hurt the platform as it is dead easy. People will tell you that the PS3 picked up once piracy was possible. While some certainly bought the system to get in on that, other factors are more likely to account for the uptick in sales.

People do this often. Look at people that bought NeoGeo AES consoles to play the games they already played in the Arcade again at home. Or people that play games at a friend's house or by rental or emulation and decide to buy the system and games for themselves.

For example I've played Castlevania Dracula X and Lords of Thunder on PC-Engine. But I still spent over $250 to get my own PC-Engine console. While it may not be a mainstream example, price doesn't always hinder buyers. It's definitely about the games/experiences available. Lower price just gives incentive. A very high price will hinder but something in between isn't so bad. $250 for 3DS was too much for what was available at the time for me personally. But at $170 it makes it more likely but what really will make me buy one is when games I want are out, not so much the price drop.

 

Nope. DS flash carts just keep getting updates to allow them to still function on the 3DS. AFAIK no progress has been made towards a 3DS flash cart - publicly.

What it really boils down to is that the video game market is pretty well flooded with consoles and accessories. People have bought what they wanted and can't afford anything until the economy improves. $250 is a huge chunk of change for most of the US.

 

I don't think anyone is buying a 3DS to "play games they already own". When I bought the 3DS it was so that I could play the latest Pilotwings game, the new Kid Icarus, and the inevitable new Mario games.

I doubt anyone is going to pick one up simply for the VC games, OoT, and Star Fox. To me, those are just an added bonus.

 

They're pinning their hopes on 3D Mario Bros 3 and another Mario Kart. That's not good. Nintendo hopefully will learn something from this situation. You can't just rehash the same old shit every 4 years and expect the public to lap it up. What we need is new content and a wider variety of gaming experiences.

Their answer to appease the early adopters is what? Give them 10 NES/GBA games! It's crazy.

 

I don't know about first world markets, but piracy does move units in the third world. I know we are all connoisseurs in here, and we don't pirate, and I certainly do not. But I'm sure most of the uneducated public, who are not even smart enough to differentiate new machines from each other and whatnot, think of the R4 as a neat trick and a factor in a purchase.

Once again, I'm not endorsing it, and I'm not getting the R4just yet (I would if the 3DS does fail like the Virtual Boy, though, or if it allows me to run my own imports somehow. Highly unlikely, both options, I know).

I'm certain, though, many people delayed their purchase of a 3DS because of the Internet rumour threats that their machines would be bricked if they used an R4. I myself really thought about not buying it when I found out it was region locked (I loved DS imports). That too might be an issue.

Now, people say it was piracy that killed the Dreamcast, which is one of my most loved consoles of all time. I don't think piracy was the number one issue at all. Marketing killed the Dreamcast. Piracy was sort of like an extra burden on it, probably.

But in the third world, piracy certainly moves units. Much less so this generation, but it did in previous generations for sure.

Once again, I'm not a pirate, and I'm not endorsing it, but it might be a factor.

Another completely unrelated factor - Didn't the 3DS launch in Japan right after the 11 March disaster? That was also a factor, for sure, at least for sales in Japan. It's like the worst thing that happened to the country in the last 50, 60 years, it HAS to have affected the market.

Maybe as the Japanese economy picks up, sales will pick up as well.

 

I got a DS flash card just so I could put all the DS I own on one cart rather than dealing with the pain in the ass that is having to carry around a lot of carts and swapping between them.
I would definitely not call the 3DS hardware great, even at $170 it's way overpriced and outdated. Besides, HTC and LG are already coming out with phones that have 3D screens, so pretty soon it won't even have that gimmick going for it.

 

OK, I think I worded that poorly. Imagine the Xbox720 comes out, and while there are a handful of new games, the majority of what Microsoft is putting out is ports of Xbox games. A launch you can get Grabbed by the Ghoolies. That's foulard up by Foreza 2. Then they release Gun Valkyrie; but with an updated control scheme. People would think they were nuts.

So I don't understand why everyone gets excited by N64 games. These are games that are available now... they were available last year and for years before that. They sat on the shelf at games stores collecting dust. But when Nintendo brings out their same old wares with a shiny new coat of paint, people do the pee pee dance and faint.

Why don't people hold Nintendo accountable? "OoT? Give me a NEW Zelda, bitch! I've already bought that from you 3 times! Starfox64? You've had 6 years to make a new one! What the hell???"

That being said, I don't mind them being offered up in the VC for the system, but to offer them as your example of tentpole first part games shows how little respect Nintendo has for their customers.

That "buy a used 3DS and get the free games" plan is looking more and more tempting:

"Nintendo's 10,000 yen 3DS price drop doesn't take effect until August 11, but the system can already be had for cheaper than that. As reported at Nikkei, used game shops were quick to slash prices for used 3DS systems following Nintendo's price drop announcement on the 28th.

On the 29th, Book Off, a retailer which sells used books, clothes and media, slashed its used price from 23,000 yen to 14,000 yen.

The system's current new price is 25,000 yen. It will be 15,000 yen starting August 11.

Sofmap, a subsidiary of Bic Camera that, unlike its parent, also deals in used product, slashed its used 3DS price from 22,800 yen to 13,800 yen. Sofmap's reacted to the announcement even faster than Book Off, as the price apparently went into effect on the 28th itself.

Those who'd been planning on selling their 3DS should have done so the day before the announcement, as buyback prices were also cut. Before the announcement, Book Off was paying 15,000 yen for your 3DS. Now, the buyback price is 8,000 yen. (These are base buyback prices for systems that have boxes, instruction manuals and look pretty much new. The shops tend to take off a few hundred yen here and there for little issues.)

According to the Nikkei report, used shops usually make stocking decisions based on anticipation of price drops or hardware revisions. The 3DS price drop was so unexpected, however, that some retailers complained that they were unable to make stocking adjustments.

As Book Off was buying back 3DS systems for 15,000 yen just before the announcement, and the new used sales price is 14,000 yen, it appears that they're taking at least a 1,000 yen loss on current stock. Sofmap's numbers are even more harsh. Sofmap was buying systems at 16,800 yen the day before the announcement, meaning a 3,000 yen loss on every system.

Used game systems in Japan tend to be in a like-new state, with shops even listing if there are any markings on the instruction manual. Anyone who buys a system, regardless of it being used or not, before the 11th and logs in to the Nintendo e-Shop will qualify for the twenty NES and Game Boy Advance game downloads that NIntendo is giving away to early adopters. For 3DS holdouts who want the lower price and all the free games, used may be the way to go."

 

I don't think N64 have really been portable before. Atleast OoT and Starfox weren't.

 

Does every console game have to be portable? Or have we reached the stage now where portables simply play console titles on the go (like the Turbo Express (PCGT)) and there is no portable market/ home console market?

 

I'm fucking tired of Zelda Ocarina of Time, and I would never even consider getting the new version. Then again, I never liked the original that much to begin with.

But the other day, I played the re-release of Link's Awakening. Just hearing the town music or the ballad of the Wind Fish, suddenly, I was 14 and discovering things and myself awakening again. It just clicked. It was like a dream, of sorts.

This feeling, I think, is what Nintendo is trying to sell. To many younger people, I don't know why, Zelda OoT represents this feeling of their youth, of exploring one of the first epic games of their lives. I myself cannot understand this particular game, but I have bought Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI so many times to know the feeling. But Nintendo games of the 90s just have that way of being SO perfectly made that it just hits you harder. I think it's that.

Or am I just very stupid today?

But yes, Nintendo have gone overboard with the nostalgia. The greatest Nintendo was that of the early 90s, that actually took risks and did new things with their franchises. Rehashes will give the older generations something to look back to, but where's the new stuff?

They should make a new fucking Starfox already, damn it. And a new F-Zero. And all the cool stuff that made the SNES awesome. And maybe even, that spirit of innovation could instantly save the company, who knows.

 

I understand that feeling. I love classic games. But my feeling is that Nintendo has been relying way too much on the past to try and sell the future.

Japanese companies as a whole are having a problem with innovation now. It's not just a Nintendo problem; but perhaps we've noticed it with them more because they have less third party games.

 

I honestly don't care if Nintendo creates new franchises or not. Every Nintendo game is solidly coded and engaging. (Wii Music not withstanding). I can be certain that I am getting a good game is it came from a Nintendo studio.

Why would I care that it is another Mario game? Mario Galaxy is completely different from Super Mario Sunshine(Best mario game ever, BTW) and Sunshine is completely different from super Mario 64.

New Super Mario brothers is different from any mario games of the past decade.

It's not like we are on our 20th Mario Galaxy installment. Every Mario game has a different gameplay mechanic(star bits, water gun, other stuff). It's not like we are playing the same game over and over. We get a radically different Mario experience on every console.

Would people have been happier if it had been Marvin Galaxy? With Funguys instead of toads? Hot sauce that allowed him to throw fire? A pet prehistoric creature that he could ride but did not resemble Yoshi? (And I suddenly realized why I never became a game designer. Clearly I suck at it.)

Just because it says mario does not mean it is a rehash. Were you aware that there were no fire flowers or any sort of power up for mario in Sunshine? Not one. That title could easily have been made into a new series. Just because the main character is named mario makes it not fun?

What am I missing?

I would also like to add that there are very few decent 3rd party studios. I like some Konami games, but there is no other studio that makes game I like to play.

 

@Xerdo

What are new videogame prices in Mexico? For each console and handheld currently on the market..

I ask because I know of the piracy situation down there and I'm curious how much videogame prices factor into casual prices (aside from ignorance).

 

Prices are not as bad here nowadays, hence I don't pirate anymore. I mean, I plead guilty to downloading many an ISO of japanese PS2 games a few years ago, but yeah, my pirating days are over now that software is available officially. Hell, ever since Play Asia started recognising my mexican debit card and I got decent work, I lived both in heaven and in bankruptcy.

But the 90s, man, it was murder. And games were impossible to even find, much less buy. I remember clearly that Final Fantasy 8, around april or march of 1999, cost me 600 pesos. 600 pesos is about 50 dollars nowadays, but in 1999, 600 pesos was like 85 dollars. And well, I made about 100-200 pesos a week working as a teenager.
And yeah, I was mocked for getting the originals, but god damn it, they were so much prettier.


Software is relatively cheaper now.
Hardware, though, is fucking expensive. 3DS is still sold for about 4000 pesos. PS3 sells for about 4500 to 5500 pesos if you get it cheap. 360 is about 4000 to 5000 pesos. A mexican worker makes that in a month from one job. A whole month's wages for an average person is barely enough to buy a PS3.

Portable games are priced at about the same price as 360 or PS3 games, though, and that hurts.
Right now, new 3DS games range from 499 to 699 pesos, perhaps 799 if it came out last week and it's a very popular franchise. (That's about... 45 to 65 dollars, give or take).

DS games are cheap but it's hard to find specific titles. I got Megaman ZX for 199 pesos the other day. Chrono Trigger was 300 pesos. Apollo Justice was 249 new (21 dollars), but I'd NEVER, EVER seen a copy of any other Phoenix Wright game in any game store, EVER. My sister went to Fresno as an exchange teacher, and she got me Super Robot Taisen OG Saga - which I've never, EVER seen in any stores here. Impossible to get, most DS software. I don't know exactly why.

But yeah, a new DS, not a 3DS, but a regular old DS Lite will set you back at least 2800 pesos in Best Buy - and that's like 250 dollars.

Wii games are fucking expensive, though. Always 599, 699, even 899 pesos.
360 and PS3 are cheaper for some reason (still, they release at 699 to 899 too. They just get cheaper fast).

Still, you can go to the fucking "Tianguis" (Open air bazaars that sell everything from tomatoes to pirated games to original games and counterfeit university diplomas) and get an R4 card for... I'd say, 250, 300 pesos. Pirated Wii games are sold at five games for 100 pesos. PS2 got to 10 for 100 pesos or 15 pesos for one game. (Less than a dollar a game!)

This is why I say that piracy has always moved hardware down here. Not as much nowadays, but still a lot. Minimum wage in Mexico is FIFTY PESOS A DAY. Middle class working people make a whole lot more than that (let's say five, six times minimum wage, more or less) but it's a good reference for perspective.

I have two jobs that required a master's degree, and I make about six to ten times minimum wage (on semesters when I get all my hours, which are not the norm)- which leaves me enough to buy one or two used games every couple of weeks, when I save my money, and when I actually have work. If I had to pay rent, I wouldn't be able to afford that luxury.

And when I was under-employed, new games were few and far between.

Sorry for the double post, but you explained my feeling in three lines up there, maybe better than my wall of text.

 

Are there any big videogame chains in Mexico, like Gamestop in the US?

 

Of course there's Wal-Mart and Best Buy and Blockbuster, but they're very fucking expensive. Blockbuster is great for used games, though. I paid 19 pesos for "Harvey Birdman" the other day. You find really cheap stuff in Best Buy every now and then, but not very often.

Forgot to add that the big music stores, Mr. CD and Mixup also carry games. They are insanely expensive, though. Sometimes you find reasonably priced stuff, but not often either.

There are games-only retailers too.

There was "GameXpress" - which became "Game Planet" a few years ago. They were the only option to get PSX, and in some rare cases Saturn, games back in the mid 90's. They knew their stuff back then. Then at some point they became very commercial and the sellers didn't know shit, and they didn't carry a lot of RPGs anymore.

Today's GamePlanet is still a bit expensive, now they can also "buy" your used games for a pittance, and the employees don't know shit. Still, they have preorders, and they have used games and systems, so it's a bit less bad now.

There is also a newer one called "Gamers" - and many of those stores used to be GamePlanet or GameXpress - but apparently it's a complete different company. This one is weird, because there used to be a magazine called "Gamers" that had the same logo, and then many cheap accessories packaged and labeled with the same logo when the magazine was around. I remember buying a "Gamers" labeled X360 pad with a Mexican soccer motif for like 300 pesos.

But now it's a game store, and not cheap at all. There are at least two that are labeled "Games for less" - but they are "Gamers" too. And sometimes the prices are like 10% lower, and sometimes they are the same exactly.

It's really hard to distinguish between Gamers and Game Planet. Until very recently, I thought they were the same company. "Games for less" ten minutes from my house used to be a Gameplanet - and they didn't change anything about the stores other than the stickers and labels, and the prices were almost the same. But now it's a different company.

Both are pretty much identical.

 

You know, part of what is hurting the 3DS are the umpteen billion versions of the DS.

The DS came out in 2004. The DSLite came out less than 2 years later. Then the DSi came out a little over 2 years after that, and finally the DSiXL came out a whopping year after that.

Some may say that that is standard practice for handhelds and point to the Game Boy line. But the OG Game Boy came out in '89. The colored Game Boys came out in 1995, 6 years later. Of course, those only had different colors, no other real improvements. The Game Boy Pocket, which was smaller and took less batteries, came out in '96, 7 years after the original.

The Game Boy Color was virtually a new system that was BC with the Game Boy, so I'm not considering it.

With the GBA, the the SP did come around 2 years later, and the GBA Micro came about 2 years after that, but only the SP was a really big improvement (though I think the Micro is great).

Nintendo's problem now is that they keep saying the 3DS will not have a revision, but obviously nobody believes them.