Nintendo Says 3DS Beats App Store With "Quality"

[StewShearerOld]

Nintendo Says 3DS Beats App Store With "Quality"

Nintendo believes gamers want better experiences over a massive library of games.

It used to be that videogame systems competed with other game systems and that was it. Nowadays, most every device imaginable offer some sort of gaming functionality, eclipse traditional consoles. Others would frame things differently. Discussing the competition between the 3DS and iPhone App Store recently, Nintendo representatives described it as being a battle between "quantity and quality."

"The website 148apps.biz recently calculated that there are currently 139,000 different games actively available on the [Apple] app store," said Scott Moffit, a sales VP speaking at Nintendo showcase. "Obviously there are good games available for mobile platforms, but the Nintendo 3DS has a record of quality that's hard to challenge." According to Moffit, the 3DS has close to fifty games with Metacritic scores of 75 or higher, another eleven with a score of at least 85, and 5 ranking above 90. There is contention as to the actual value of such rankings, with even Metacritic admitting good scores are not always an <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/104041-Metacritic-High-Score-Alone-Doesnt-Equal-High-Sales>indicator of fiscal success. That said, Moffit's point is clear: whatever advantage the App Store has in the amount of content, it can't compare in terms of gaming excellence.

Granted, there are some excellent 3DS games that are unique to the handheld. Likewise, fewer junk games cluttering its library could make it easier for Nintendo to highlight its best exclusive titles. That said, the iPhone, and other mobile devices for that matter, are far from impoverished when it comes to good games. Prominent franchises like Final Fantasy, Grand Theft Auto, Dead Space and more can all be found in the App Store and personally, while I might buy a 3DS for games like <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/10165-Fire-Emblem-Awakening-Review>Fire Emblem: Awakening, I'm not representative of the typical consumer. Many, looking at the iPhone they already have might very well think, "This is good enough."

Source: <a href=http://kotaku.com/nintendos-plan-to-make-the-3ds-stand-apart-from-the-ip-478465787>Kotaku


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[VoidWanderer]

So the Nintendo eShop has some great games on it compared to the App Store...

But how many people own an ipad/phone/pod compared to a 3DS?

 

[TheEvilCheese]

Well, as for buying a 3ds for Awakening goes, it's pretty standard. 3DS sales in the UK went up 50% last week (awakening was released here on Friday) and the game itself was 3rd in the sales charts for the same week (after injustice and infinite.)

But yeah, the quality games on handhelds (both of them mind you) are far better than the app store offerings in my opinion. I'm all for touch controls where they're appropriate but a lack of buttons doesn't lend itself to ports which almost all of the best games on the app store are.

That said, Nintendo really need to step up their digital game, which they seem to finally have understood if recent statements are anything to go by. Promotions like this [http://www.nintendo.co.uk/Misc-/Nintendo-3DS-So-Many-Games-Promotion/Overview/Overview-750393.html] and the news that 30% of FE:A sales in NA were digital make me hopeful for the 3ds.

 

[JediMB]

Why, yes, Nintendo, the App Store does have a lot of shitty games.

That comes with the territory when you actually make your platform relatively indie friendly.

Which is a GOOD thing.

 

[EstrogenicMuscle]

Why, yes, Nintendo, the App Store does have a lot of shitty games.

That comes with the territory when you actually make your platform relatively indie friendly.

Which is a GOOD thing.

Nintendo is still with a mentality that curation is the most important of important. It is what made Nintendo save the industry when Atari crashed it.

The problem is that curation only helps so much when you only have so many games to begin with.

I would agree one thing about the 3DS, aside from the eShop not having much to offer, I much prefer the culture and the titles available on the 3DS to Google Play. I can't get Pokemon or Tales of the Abyss on Google Play or iTunes. Not that I would deal with iTunes' customer unfriendly policies.

I'm personally with Nintendo on this one. But there is a limit to curation. What I'm tired of is owning so many devices. I wish I could just buy one video game platform, sign into a good service, and buy and download every game I've ever wanted to play. I love Nintendo's culture of good products and curation. But I still feel a bit limited.

I want good games and a massive library. I want to use an Operating System on my devices that lets me do whatever I want. A good OS should be open and customizable. Something as personal as Windows is good, and something as open as Linux is even better. And I'm tired of all these systems being these little pockets of games when there are hundreds of thousands of games out there. Can't I just play my games on a few devices instead of hundreds of them?

Why must I play Fire Emblem, Tales of Xillia, browse Firefox, and operate Sony Vegas all on completely different devices? When I was a little kid, it wasn't such a big deal. In 2013 it feels like I'm drowning in arbitrary hardware that one has to own for exclusive software because companies say so.

 

[Dr.Awkward]

Yes Nintendo, we know you like to put games through a certification process - You've been doing that since 1985, and it did save the industry once by stemming the tide of clones from flooding the console.


Of course, that same "certification process" didn't save the Wii from being buried in shovelware, did it?

 

[Atary77]

I'm still curious as to why Nintendo hasn't said anything about bringing Earthbound to the 3DS for download.

 

[Terramax]

Temple Run is more fun than any game Nintendo have made in years.

/thread

 

[Something Amyss]

The problem is that curation only helps so much when you only have so many games to begin with.

Indeed, the eShop/3DS just doesn't have the quantity to reach that point. Additionally, if they're talking quality, there was a LOT of junk the last time I was on the eShop. They don't seem to be achieving much through curation.

Nintendo definitely has some console-selling games, But I doubt they're selling on that much else.

 

[Jumwa]

Of course, that same "certification process" didn't save the Wii from being buried in shovelware, did it?

This is not to say Nintendo is off the hook on it, but the blame also rests with other big publishers who saw Nintendo's success with the Wii and casual games as "hey, we can make tons of money if we make crappy games for idiots too!" Instead of realizing that Nintendo's casual games were carefully crafted, good games at their core regardless of what market they went for, they put their D-list design teams on a shoe-string budget to pump out crap for an easy cash in.

Nintendo didn't have much of a choice there, as the big publishers weren't exactly companies they could say "no" too and expect to survive.

Sad, the whole Wii experience. I feel like there was a lot of missed opportunities there, both with Nintendo and publishers that ignored it until too late, and then only to cash-in half-assedly. Still had some amazing Nintendo titles, but overall it was a lowpoint for Nintendo home consoles, as I see it.

 

[JediMB]

What I'm tired of is owning so many devices. I wish I could just buy one video game platform, sign into a good service, and buy and download every game I've ever wanted to play. I love Nintendo's culture of good products and curation. But I still feel a bit limited.

I'm definitely with you on this one. I wish Nintendo or Sony would just have the guts to create a fully-fledged handheld/phone hybrid. Sony's attempt with the Xperia Play was half-hearted at best and never went anywhere. Preferably Android-based, and maybe with a dual-OS setup that makes it possible to just shut off most of the smartphone functions when you want all resources dedicated to a game.

And on the console side of things, I wouldn't be opposed to a partnership between Nintendo and Microsoft. Microsoft know the western market, whilst Nintendo have it easier in Japan. Microsoft excel at the practical stuff like online functions, and Nintendo know how to think outside the box. (I'd rather not have to pay for basic online services, though, so Xbox Live would have to be reworked.)

 

[Zeckt]

I feel that nintendo is being quite disrespectful to the people who actually make quality games on the iphone. I can just browse mine as proof with games like Adventure bar story, Across Age, Plague Inc, Mage Gauntlet and Dungeon village and MANY others. I would rather that gamers themselves go through our own approval process where the good games remain at the top of the lists and the bad fall way to the bottom. I don't need some corporation telling me what I can and cannot play.

To simply label everything on a platform as trash is getting into the fanboy mentality. What's on the 3ds from indie developers? gunman clive? I'll take both, but I will primarily use my iphone as it has MORE quality games as to nintendo with it's very few.

 

[EstrogenicMuscle]

I'm definitely with you on this one. I wish Nintendo or Sony would just have the guts to create a fully-fledged handheld/phone hybrid. Sony's attempt with the Xperia Play was half-hearted at best and never went anywhere. Preferably Android-based, and maybe with a dual-OS setup that makes it possible to just shut off most of the smartphone functions when you want all resources dedicated to a game.

Android would definitely be the best choice in my mind. But I'm biases in favor of Android because I don't like the business practices of Apple.

If it did happen, that would be great because it would help for Android/Google to further challenge Apple's market dominance. What better way to take down Apple than to have multiple companies join in to tag team them?

And on the console side of things, I wouldn't be opposed to a partnership between Nintendo and Microsoft. Microsoft know the western market, whilst Nintendo have it easier in Japan. Microsoft excel at the practical stuff like online functions, and Nintendo know how to think outside the box. (I'd rather not have to pay for basic online services, though, so Xbox Live would have to be reworked.)

Well, it would sure be good for both groups in many ways.

Microsoft consoles would finally have a foothold in Japan. And Nintendo would grab a lot more of the Western "hardcore" market.

Now that I think of it, they're both the companies who have the "Mii" thing going. They could just fuse the two together and have a Mii 3.5.

Your suggestion has my approval.

 

[Johnson McGee]

The only games installed on my phone are from the android humble bundle because I know those ones are good. Trying to sort out good games from the mountain of excrement that is the app store wasn't worth more than one attempt.

 

[Covarr]

I honestly spend more time gaming on my phone than on my 3DS. Games like Sonic CD,and Super Hexagon are all far better than the vast majority of the 3DS library.

Nintendo, you only get to pull the quality over quantity card when you have the very best games. Having more "pretty good" games and fewer bad games simply isn't enough, when your best can't compare (at least on this console). When Animal Crossing, Zelda, Mario & Luigi Dream Team, and Yoshi's Island come out, then you can say things like this. When the best you have to offer are the too-short SM3DL, the too-bland NSMB2, and the too-niche Fire Emblem, you're not in a good place to be criticizing the quality of your competitors' offerings.

P.S. Thanks

 

[Ultimatecalibur]

I honestly spend more time gaming on my phone than on my 3DS. Games like Sonic CD,and Super Hexagon are all far better than the vast majority of the 3DS library.

Nintendo, you only get to pull the quality over quantity card when you have the very best games. Having more "pretty good" games and fewer bad games simply isn't enough, when your best can't compare (at least on this console). When Animal Crossing, Zelda, Mario & Luigi Dream Team, and Yoshi's Island come out, then you can say things like this. When the best you have to offer are the too-short SM3DL, the too-bland NSMB2, and the too-niche Fire Emblem, you're not in a good place to be criticizing the quality of your competitors' offerings.

P.S. Thanks

Only focusing on the first party games leaves out third party games like Monster Hunter Unlimited 3, Zero Escape, and Etrian Odyssey 4.

 

[EstrogenicMuscle]

I honestly spend more time gaming on my phone than on my 3DS. Games like Sonic CD,and Super Hexagon are all far better than the vast majority of the 3DS library.

Sonic CD is pretty obnoxious to play on a phone, I've tried.

And to each their own. I really do enjoy the library of the Nintendo DS better. But then again, I really like my jRPGs. jRPGs don't work very well with a touchscreen, though it is arguably more fun than attempting Sonic CD.