The Fall of Rise of the 3DS

Winning the handheld war like a Boss.

Let's start with the following, Nintendo is by no means going to lose the handheld console war with Sony.  However, while the initial launch was extremely successful, the 3DS was not what one would call a huge success to start with.  There have been lots of theories to the reason, and there is merit in all of them.  However, I'm here to tell you that the one you've heard the most is not the real reason.

Old, but still valid...

You want this..don't you?

Price point is not the most direct factor.  Yes, I fully realize that $250 is a lot of cheddar to lay on a hand held before games.  However, given the way console launches go, I wouldn't put as much behind that reason as what you've probably heard.  You see the people who usually "early adopt" a game console fall into the more traditional mold of the core gamer.  The demographic is (and get used to this) the males ages 18-34 (due to that demographic having the most disposable income).  Now, Nintendo handhelds are a bit of a different animal here, because of the very broad fan base they have had over the last 20 years.  They've done a wonderful job of appealing to a much more broad fan base.  Anyway, my point here is that after revealing the 3DS as E3 2010, the gamers were drooling for the bloody thing.  Nintendo looked to turn a nice profit off of their hardware (just like they did with the Wii console) and put the price point at $250, which the Sony PSP had sold at for a bit.  So, honestly, I don't believe price point was anywhere nearly of big of a deal as....

Amazing.  Also, 15 years old.

THE GAMES!  Absolutely!  No doubt at all in my mind.  Now I won't in insult the integrity of the games that were available at launch.  Quite honestly, if you want to compare apples to apples, the original Nintendo DS unit had one of the worst launch libraries and follow-up release calenders that hasn't been seen since the Sega Saturn.  In fact, it wasn't until nearly a year later that the games started flowing to the point where the system became respectful, and then went on to become the most successful console ever made.  The 3DS, on the other hand, had a plethora of titles out at launch, and there was some pretty good stuff out there too.  However, just like the DS before it, the 3DS suffered from the same problems.  All the best stuff made available for the first 6 months or so was actually re-releases of games that had previously been made available on other consoles. 

The top selling game at launch was Street Fighter IV, which was a re-release.  Heck, Nintendo did it too with Nintendogs coming out. (And don't you dare argue that the addition of cats made the game a whole new game)  A few months later, Nintendo re-released Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time.  To be fair, this was a 3D remake, with better graphics and a few more bells and whistles.  However, it's still a re-release of a game that's 15 years old.  Then a few months later, Nintendo did it again with Star Fox 64, yet another re-release from the Nintendo 64.  So, what you have is a bunch of hardcore gamers, who all went out and bought the 3DS, only to play games that they played years ago.  Heck, let's be honest and mention as well that both Zelda and Star Fox are available on virtual console as well, $25 cheaper each.  

Free!

Nintendo's reaction was odd, as they took a path I've never seen before.  They dropped the price of the hardware to $170, which is not unheard of.  However, they then apologized to the early adopters of the unit and showed them with 20 free downloadable virtual console games.  This didn't exactly break the Big N, since all of these games were first party re-releases of things they had already made their money back on years ago.  It basically cost them zero dollars to do it.  The gesture was welcomed (as I have my free games too), but I have never seen apology for a price drop before. (Sony.  Guys.  Still waiting on the PS3 price drop apology.  Got one in November for $600..only for it to hit $500 in February...Sony...dudes, you there?)

With a nice price drop under their belts, Nintendo something they should had done back in June.  Release new content.  Not just any new content either.  They released a brand spanking new Super Mario title, then a Mario Kart.  This was what the people wanted, propelled the unit into some seriously nice sales during the holidays in 2011.  The point here is that people want new content, not just re-releases, and with the current "en vogue" thing in gaming being HD remixes, I think the 3DS should teach everyone that new content will always outsell a re-release, even if that re-release is one of the greatest games of all time.

Of course, Nintendo now has to deal with Sony's Vita, which hasn't been that hard since Sony kinda a.) forgot to tell everyone it was coming out and b.) forgot to tell people what's really coming out for it.  The big player here that Nintendo is worried about in the handheld space is Apple.  The casual gaming audience that had always been around for the Game Boy and DS is now starting to peel off into iPods and iPads.  The games are cheaper, but given that the casual audience is more about short bursts of fun convenience rather than a full fledged, polished gaming experience, it will be difficult for them to have these fans side with them over the much more versatile iDevices.