Jimquisition: The Past Is Not The Future

[Strain42]

One thing I certainly agree with is that the iOS is loaded with great games. I bought an iPod Touch a while back and I carry that thing with me more than my DS or PSP. It can keep me occupied for hours, and if I ever want a new game, it's as quick and easy as being near a wi-fi signal.

I don't own a 3DS, but I know I will down the line. My rule of thumb for any console is that it needs to have at least 10 exclusive titles that I have genuine interest in before I consider buying it.

Currently the 3DS has about 4, and some of them aren't actually released yet. My original plan was to simply wait for the 3DS Lite or the 3DSi or whatever they're gonna call the inevitable better version, but with this price drop coming up soon, I may have to reconsider, as this could push upgrades back even further.

Now if you'll all excuse me, I'm gonna go look for that Free game that was in the screen shot and see if it's any good. If it's not...it was free.

 

[Nackl of Gilmed]

Good episode, Mr. Sterling. I knew there had to be a reason why all the idiots who initially railed against you were wrong. All the points raised here are good ones, but they are all perfectly summed up by the title: the past is, indeed, not the future. Nintendo set one hell of a standard for a variety of game genres some 10-20 years ago, but that doesn't mean they're all automatically super geniuses forever. As a younger and less cynical man, I loved all of the games that they're currently cashing in on with the 3ds re-releases and re-imaginings, but that doesn't mean I'm going to waste my (personally extremely) limited income on a silly fad that is mostly notable as a cause of migraines.

EDIT: now that I've actually read some other peoples' responses, I'd like to add that the economic recession is currently more keenly felt in the U.S.A than most other non-horribly-bankrupt nations. The glorious and all-powerful Australian dollar is worth more than the U.S one, possibly (I couldn't be bothered looking this up because economics bores me) for the first time in history. Just saying this for the benefit of any Americans attempting to predict the economic viability of the 3ds. America's current economic climate does not exactly represent that of the entire world, and a Japanese company would surely be aware of that.

 

[Strain42]

P.S. to my earlier post, if anyone else was interested in the Free game that he showed (Pumpkins vs. Monsters) if you look at the screen, it says it was only free for a limited time, it's back to $.99 when I checked. If it were free I'd give it a shot, but after seeing it, it doesn't look like something I want to play.

I've been addicted to Gesundheit lately though, that's been fun.

 

[Towowo2]

No offense to anyone here, but it'd be depressing if handheld gaming was dominated by smartphones.
The majority audience who buys smartphones probably doesn't give a crap about the progression of gaming as an artistic medium.

 

[FDDragoon]

Quality iOS games? You mean, those games that people play for 10-15 minutes and forget they existed an hour after they downloaded them. I still see no interest in a smartphone or a tablet PC since I live in a rural area and my computer can do everything it can and then some without needing to be recharged every 4 hours. So while game companies may be "embracing" those platforms, I've still yet to see a title on those platforms to reach massive success other than Angry Birds. I actually sat down and played Angry Birds, or as I like to call it "something that was on Newgrounds 5 years ago." So if Smartphones and Tablet PCs are only able to produce stuff that has been on flash gaming websites for years, then color me even more unimpressed.

Meanwhile Nintendo pulled a fast on on Sony with the price drop. Now Sony is forced to sell the Vita at the $249 price point unless it wants to incur a major profit loss per unit sold, and it'll probably still release with an anemic launch library JUST LIKE EVERY OTHER CONSOLE AND HANDHELD. But, seeing as this is the Escapist, I'll probably get banned for disagreeing with a producer. It's what happened to LordKat, and it'll probably happen to me.

So no Jim Sterling, I will not thank god for you. Good day sir.

 

[theultimateend]

We get it, "Fuck Nintendo". It seems at this point you're cherrypicking random unpopular arguments to stick it to them some more. Give it a rest.

I always find it odd when someone cherry picks in order to call someone else out for cherry picking.

His point actually isn't all that unpopular, if it were, Nintendo wouldn't be hurting from the incident.

No offense to anyone here, but it'd be depressing if handheld gaming was dominated by smartphones.
The majority audience who buys smartphones probably doesn't give a crap about the progression of gaming as an artistic medium.

Neither does the majority of those who buy handheld systems who are probably playing Pokemon Rainbow by now.

Black and White are monochromatic colors.

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

But seriously, when do I get my Pokemon Rainbow .

 

[bojac6]

No offense to anyone here, but it'd be depressing if handheld gaming was dominated by smartphones.
The majority audience who buys smartphones probably doesn't give a crap about the progression of gaming as an artistic medium.

Does that actually make any difference? Do the majority of gamers actually give a crap about the progression of gaming as an artistic medium?
I mean, they all talk the talk, but I've never seen a successful organized boycott of a game because it "set gaming back as an artistic medium." I've never heard anybody let that enter into their purchasing decision or any big game studio argue that their game "helps to demonstrate that games are art, so you should buy it."

I guess I don't see what your point is here.

 

[mjc0961]

On the other side of the coin, the next Nintendo hater who says "next virtual boy hurr durr" is getting my boot in their ass. Virtual Boy was just about dead on arrival and even if the 3DS fails, it's already done far better than the Virtual Boy could have ever dreamed of.

Here's an idea, how about we wait until this holiday season is over before writing the 3DS off as either a failure or a success? Vita is only coming out in Japan this year, everywhere else has to wait until 2012. So 3DS has no direct competition (smart phones and tablets are not direct competition, nobody says "I'm going to go buy an expensive phone and a $70 a month contract to play video games"), a lower price, and Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 coming out this holiday. I think they should do decently, but if they don't, then it would be fair to start assuming 3DS is screwed.

 

[theultimateend]

I believe it's supposed to come out after the 3D remake of Pokemon Red. Now, seriously, Black and White are out already?

Yep and I enjoyed them a bunch.

Although some of the art design was really bad. But overall it was one of their best stories and some of the best zone design they've ever had.

There is a reason that Pokemon hasn't gone the way of sonic, they are very methodical about their changes. The balance is there and it makes for a very pleasant experience.

I like a little predictability in my life. There are only so many Dawn of War II's I can take before sequels to games make me sad. (Others may have liked it but calling it DoWII was disingenuous to me).

Have you seen the 3D models on the 3DS? They are excellent, I expect a 3D pokemon to be very fun. There was a lot of life in them.

I mean 3D as in the N64 meaning, like 3D on a 2D plane, I don't plan to use the 3D 3D feature much. Even without it I like the handheld.

On the other side of the coin, the next Nintendo hater who says "next virtual boy hurr durr" is getting my boot in their ass. Virtual Boy was just about dead on arrival and even if the 3DS fails, it's already done far better than the Virtual Boy could have ever dreamed of.

Here's an idea, how about we wait until this holiday season is over before writing the 3DS off as either a failure or a success? Vita is only coming out in Japan this year, everywhere else has to wait until 2012. So 3DS has no direct competition (smart phones and tablets are not direct competition, nobody says "I'm going to go buy an expensive phone and a $70 a month contract to play video games"), a lower price, and Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 coming out this holiday. I think they should do decently, but if they don't, then it would be fair to start assuming 3DS is screwed.

I dunno if you mean the video, I imagine you mean the comments, the point of the Video was that we should judge products based on their current market and success rather than previous experiences.

His example was poor with the SNES and Gamecube thing, he should have gone one generation from N64 to Gamecube. You can see the decline of the N64 as the PSX was gaining steam and that carried into the Gamecube.

However the 3DS has an impossible marketing pitch. "By me and play 1-2 games for 6 months." I mean I thoroughly enjoyed both Nintendogs and Zelda, but the DS had a half trillion fun games by the time I bought it :/. Which was well before the DSlite.

 

[awdrifter]

Sony is smart in releasing the PSV's price early, now gamers are willing to wait for it. If the PSV gets decent amount of good PS3 ports I can see it succeeding. I would love to be able to play my PS3 games wherever I go.

 

[funnydude6556]

Nintendo made so many mistakes with the 3DS that it's just plain stupid, Satora Iwata is at least cutting he's pay. It makes a change for the higher ups to cut their own pay instead of letting the lower management be punished.

I get how with the example you've given Jim, it's true that past events don't always repeat themself although I think sometimes that is the case for example the eyetoy was a failure and I've from people who own a kinect that it's a failure as well. Some technology just never improves.

The problem with the 3DS is that the PS Vita. It's the same price, has a bigger selection of launch titles and has superior technology as well where as the 3DS has virtally no titles and is at it's core just a DS with 3D. They even had a rehash of Ocarina of time but why should people buy that when you can get it on the virtual console for the Wii?

 

[TheMariner]

He actually makes a very good point. But I think we all knew that the 3DS would bomb out of the gate as soon as we saw the abysmal launch lineup. When the good games start coming out for it (and let's be honest, 99% of the good games for a Nintendo system come from Nintendo itself), then I can see sales picking up but there's not many truly strong 3DS games out. That's purely my opinion, of course but most people I've talked to share that view.

As for Sony holding off releasing the Vita until it has a strong launch library, whether that's actually the reason or not it's a good move by Sony the way I see it. Launch libraries have the potential to make or break game platforms out of the gate so it only makes sense to wait until the Vita has strong titles behind it before it launches. I can only hope Nintendo realizes this and does the same for their WiiU launch.

 

[Redd the Sock]

I suppose I coould point out that by the logic of the title that just because it hurt when I hit my thumb with a hammer 5 times, that's no garuntee that it'll hurt the sixth time, but I know that's not the point you're trying to make.

The Game Overthinker (moviebob) did the same thing last year with Sony: pointing out how the PS3's problems were due to trying to live in past glories and not look at the current state of the market. The 3DS needs to compete with things that have much larger and more affordable digital libraries which, even if it doesn't want to fully compete with all the functions of tablets and phones, it needs to at least meet to be a viable gaming system. Even the price drop shows they don't see these as threats to their business model, instead acting like they simply overpriced the dang thing.

 

[xPixelatedx]

I am not sure whats offered in the app store can be compared to whats offered from actual gaming consoles. Unless all anyone really wanted out of gaming was 5 min distractions while waiting in the dentist's office, I don't see how games on the iphone can be a danger to console games; even portable console games. And this is coming from someone who has 50 games on his iphone. You can't even really say they are in the same market, because no one really has to choose between buying a $1 app game and a full price console game. Chances are if someone can afford the console game, they can also afford the $1 distraction, and having both they know the drastic difference between the two experiences.

I don't wanna live in a world where all there is is 1-5 dollar games. I simply don't. They're fun, but they're fun for about a dollar's worth of time.

Yeah pretty much this.

That said I don't know if the 3DS will succeed. If only it first came out with this good price and the mario 3D and mario kart game that are coming this year, things would have been much different. They should have also aimed for a holiday launch, because those are always good. I just think Nintendo got too cocky.

 

[drkchmst]

Thank God for Jim. I have but one question...is there a solution for Nintendo or is Nintendo FUBAR to serve as a lesson to sit next to the original PSP launch.

 

[newdarkcloud]

This really needed to be said. Until really good games are released for it, I don't see much success in the 3DS's future.

 

[newdarkcloud]

This really needed to be said. Until really good games are released for it, I don't see much success in the 3DS's future.

 

[deth2munkies]

We get it, "Fuck Nintendo". It seems at this point you're cherrypicking random unpopular arguments to stick it to them some more. Give it a rest.

I always find it odd when someone cherry picks in order to call someone else out for cherry picking.

His point actually isn't all that unpopular, if it were, Nintendo wouldn't be hurting from the incident.

The point is that I haven't heard this comparison between the DS and 3DS sales numbers before, and I've been reading threads on the subject around the net. In fact, a lot of these shows have been on arguments that are not widespread, but some obtuse argument posted once on a message board at demonoid or something that Jim felt like responding to, and in the last few weeks, he's been using Nintendo as a punching bag and it's getting old.

 

[Zing]

Hmm, I think I'll be the one to point out the obvious here.

Any console that gives you a headache is fucking retarded.

 

[EvilestDeath]

Well done. Love it. Two words. Happy viewer.