Rumor: 2D-loving 3DS Coming Next Year

[blarghblarghhhhh]

snip

heres my theory:

nintendo isnt about to release a new handheld after the damage the 3ds has done to there name. However a multi-SKU plan is not out of the question. They can have the 3ds they have now as well as a more affordable SKU with two circle pads but no 3d. I would imagine that taking out the 3d portion of the screen and the components that make it possible would cut off quite a few dollars from production costs.

On the subject of a circle pad add on for the original 3ds. I dont know alot about wireless communications or the overall size of a circle pad but it seems like it might be possible to make one that has a sticky back to it that you just slap on your 3ds and it communicates with the system via wifi. the immediate concern would be the already bad battery life. I however have full faith in nintendo to think outside the box.

 

[Epona]

snip

heres my theory:

nintendo isnt about to release a new handheld after the damage the 3ds has done to there name. However a multi-SKU plan is not out of the question. They can have the 3ds they have now as well as a more affordable SKU with two circle pads but no 3d. I would imagine that taking out the 3d portion of the screen and the components that make it possible would cut off quite a few dollars from production costs.

On the subject of a circle pad add on for the original 3ds. I dont know alot about wireless communications or the overall size of a circle pad but it seems like it might be possible to make one that has a sticky back to it that you just slap on your 3ds and it communicates with the system via wifi. the immediate concern would be the already bad battery life. I however have full faith in nintendo to think outside the box.

What you describe is an entirely different handheld with an entirely different set of games. How would games designed for dual analog support work on the original 3DS? The new handheld would already have all of the buttons the 3DS has PLUS the extra a-stick. The original model wouldn't even be able to emulate it because there would be no extra buttons to work with.

 

[SelectivelyEvil13]

Wow, more proof that no one, ever, under any circumstances, should be an early adopter of Nintendo hardware.

Tell that to me during middle school regarding the Gamecube. *stupid purple box of disillusionment*

Ah well, at least I got into the Wii-Beta.

Jokes aside, this news sounds like it could certainly hold plenty of truth. Nintendo banked on 3D with a little too much fervor in a day in age where more people are gaining access to smart phones that, while possibly more primitive, more likely offer far more in the long term with their versatility. I find that if I ever use mine for games, the brief length of time to distract myself is but a pittance compared to everything else. Investing as much money into a game-only device that is so small (and just another thing to worry about being stolen or lost) just seems to be in the interest of fewer and fewer. Clearly Nintendo did not do enough to court a feasible fanbase for the 3DS because there is little chance that they could pull another Wii and grab a whole new market... A market that probably has no idea what those crazy Ocarina of Time (the Remake!) ads are about and that the whole thing is ruining the last boss battle!

The add-on thing for current owners is curious because I would be truly interested to see how such a thing could be properly implemented assuming the current model is designed that way for a reason in terms of user comfort without additional parts.

 

[F4LL3N]

Or they could release a new Pokemon game and sell 650 million normal 3DS consoles.

EDIT: I'm sure it is just a rumour. It doesn't make sense to release a 2D verson of the 3DS. Wouldn't that just be a DS?

 

[Herr Schatz]

This thing couldn't be doing any worse than if they'd marketed it as 'The Virtual Boy for a Whole New Generation'.

Nintendo do have some pretty sharp thinking suits though, and the idea to completely downplay, and perhaps even eradicate the 3D support is a wise decision. If I had 10 euro's for the amount of people who'd come up to me and said that they'd bought the new Nintendo handheld, and it's got some bizarre, intrusive 3D effect on it that really gets in the way of their gaming, then I'd have no euro's. Hell, if I had ten euro's for everybody who had come up to me and said they'd bought the... OK, you see where this is going.

And I'm confused. Are they saying they want to promote 2D gaming on the console. Is that 3D gaming without the obnoxious effect? Or actually 2D gaming ala Super Mario Bros. 3 or, Altered Beast or maybe even... um... Jazz Jackrabbit? And if so, why do they need a second analogue control nub? I didn't need a second D pad on the Gameboy when I was playing Gex Gecko so what's the fuckin' dilly-o here!?

 

[GeorgW]

Ooh, a new iteration of the 3DS! Surprising! Good thing I waited, I'm much rather have this. I don't care about 3D and a second analog pad sounds awesome.

Ironically, this is supposed to be one of the things to save the 3DS line, but I think this will instead serve to shake consumer confidence and possibly the investors they're trying to bolster.

So it's not surprising, but it may be unfortunate. For Nintendo, at least.

To release a new one is a good move, I'm not the only one that saw this coming. However, the really, really stupid part was announcing it before the holidays.

 

[Something Amyss]

To release a new one is a good move, I'm not the only one that saw this coming. However, the really, really stupid part was announcing it before the holidays.

It's a good move unless it shakes consumer confidence. This is really fast for a new version, even by Nintendo standards. And yes, if it's announced before the holidays, that compounds the issue, but it's not the sole issue. Especially if it changes the functionality of the hardware in a way that will split the games. That's kind of the big reason add-ons don't tend to work well as a whole.

 

[GeorgW]

To release a new one is a good move, I'm not the only one that saw this coming. However, the really, really stupid part was announcing it before the holidays.

It's a good move unless it shakes consumer confidence. This is really fast for a new version, even by Nintendo standards. And yes, if it's announced before the holidays, that compounds the issue, but it's not the sole issue. Especially if it changes the functionality of the hardware in a way that will split the games. That's kind of the big reason add-ons don't tend to work well as a whole.

The add on is a problem, I agree. Though, as a response to Sony, it's a good move. The games ought to improve a lot. However, I don't agree that releasing one at all is a problem. It didn't ruin consumer confidence when they released the DS lite, DSi or the DSi large (or whatever it's called). Sure it's soon, but they have financial trouble and a minimum of a year isn't that little time. It only seems like it's a lot because pretty much all 3DSs have been lying dormant for several months.

 

[Gxas]

So wait... The new 3DS will have toned down 3D capabilities? Now I don't know which to get...

Do I buy one now and get the full-powered one and then buy an attachment for another analog stick (probably the most uncomfortable feeling ever...) or do I wait and buy the underpowered version?

Such choices...

 

[Raeil]

As much credentials as the source may have, I'm extremely skeptical that the redesign is truthful. A second analog stick/pad, I could see, but a redesign of this nature would be out of Nintendo's design philosophy, and a redesign at all would be antithetical to the production philosophy Nintendo has taken with this particular handheld. Repeatedly, Ninty has stated that there are no immediate plans to create a "3DSLite" or anything of the sort. They've also stated that the 3D and motion capabilities were the number one reason they even made this handheld.

Maybe I'm just naive, but slashing the price so early caused them to make a huge apology, an example of guilt over not following their pricing standards. I don't see them doing two different things which would be just as opposed to the two major tenets of the 3DS design and production.

 

[Jake the Snake]

Personally, I'm all for this. The thing that has kept me from getting a 3DS is the piss poor battery life. If they can improve that, I'd get one.

 

[orangeban]

You have to hand it to Nintendo, they're tryers. And at least they are attempting to support the early adopters.

 

[tallguy613]

Why remove or "tone down" the most unique part of the 3DS, the 3D?! The second analog stick sounds cool, but why would they take the 3D away? The only reason I haven't bought a 3DS myself is because I don't think it has a big enough game library. The only really great game that has been released so far was a N64 port. Nintendo needs to produce more games, not less 3D.

 

[AncientYoungSon]

I'm pretty sure this is going to be the last generation of dedicated portable gaming devices. Smartphones are just getting cheaper and cheaper and the games get better and better.

There really is no need for it just like there isn't any need for a wristwatch.

Exactly.

On the subject, as a former rabid Nintendo fan, I can safely say that Nintendo could fall off the face of the earth tomorrow and I wouldn't shed a tear. They've decided that their target market is fat housewives who will want to use the Wii and its expensive bathroom scale as a home exercise device. Too bad Microsoft's Kinect beats the hell out of it with Dance Central, making it infinitely more appealing to the fat housewife market.

Even more glad I never bought a 3DS. I'll stick with my smartphone, thanks.

You have to hand it to Nintendo, they're tryers. And at least they are attempting to support the early adopters.

Was this sarcasm?

If I were an early adopter, I'd be ripshit-pissed that less than a year later, the device got both a price drop AND now a revision with a second analogue stick, meaning the one I have is now the "old model" and we'll likely see games that won't even work on it any more.

If this is true, I don't think Nintendo could've dropped the ball any harder...

 

[rembrandtqeinstein]

I'm pretty sure this is going to be the last generation of dedicated portable gaming devices. Smartphones are just getting cheaper and cheaper and the games get better and better.

There really is no need for it just like there isn't any need for a wristwatch.

Exactly.

On the subject, as a former rabid Nintendo fan, I can safely say that Nintendo could fall off the face of the earth tomorrow and I wouldn't shed a tear. They've decided that their target market is fat housewives who will want to use the Wii and its expensive bathroom scale as a home exercise device. Too bad Microsoft's Kinect beats the hell out of it with Dance Central, making it infinitely more appealing to the fat housewife market.

Even more glad I never bought a 3DS. I'll stick with my smartphone, thanks.

This isn't just a nintendo thing. They had the biggest share of the mobile market pre-iphone so they are just the most prominent player. Sony is also in deep w/ the new psp.



Also your nintendo rant is totally off topic. They are just doing the same thing they have done every gen since NES. There are a few spectacular first party games, an assload of craptastical 3rd party games. A few notable 3rd party games, and some real greatness coming from 3rd party devs at the end of the generation.

It was never the system for the game crackhead who spends every day playing games, it always meant for the casual gamer who plays gets a new game every 1 or 2 months, and occasionally plays games with real people sitting together on the couch.

 

[DuelLadyS]

Ugh... Nintendo, Nintendo, you miss the point. The hardware itself is fine. The problem is GAMES. You want us to buy your game system, we need games to play on it. Not just the newest re-hash of Mario and Zelda, but honest-to-goodness new, decent games. You can't count on gimmick medicore junk to sell to the causal market anymore, they get that on their smartphones for free these days.

Stop tinkering with the system and start getting out those dev kits and focusing on your new, or at least long dormant, properties to get us stuff to play. Like Kid Icarus, that's the most interesting first party 3DS game I've seen so far. (Also, pay attention to Operation Rainfall already... it's not a direct relation, but when you tell a big body of fans you can't be trusted to localize the games they want, you can't expect them to shell out for a new system in the hopes that the games they want will come later.)

 

[Something Amyss]

The add on is a problem, I agree. Though, as a response to Sony, it's a good move. The games ought to improve a lot. However, I don't agree that releasing one at all is a problem. It didn't ruin consumer confidence when they released the DS lite, DSi or the DSi large (or whatever it's called). Sure it's soon, but they have financial trouble and a minimum of a year isn't that little time. It only seems like it's a lot because pretty much all 3DSs have been lying dormant for several months.

The thing is, the DS Lite and DSi were both two years successively after one another. We're talking about an announcement that's under a year from launch of new technology that's selling poorly enough Nintendo cut their earnings projection and the price already. It's not just soon, it's different circumstances. We're looking at a different market, a different product with different sales results, AND a sifferent timeframe. The three combined are probably bad.

And that's before you add the hardware changes, which we're agreed on.

It's one thing to offer a new release on an item that has been selling like hotcakes. It's another entirely to offer a new release on one that really isn't.

 

[theultimateend]

Wow, more proof that no one, ever, under any circumstances, should be an early adopter of Nintendo hardware.

I'm feeling that way haha.

I mean I've gotten quite a few hours out of Zelda, but they keep shitting on me it sounds like.

 

[GeorgW]

The add on is a problem, I agree. Though, as a response to Sony, it's a good move. The games ought to improve a lot. However, I don't agree that releasing one at all is a problem. It didn't ruin consumer confidence when they released the DS lite, DSi or the DSi large (or whatever it's called). Sure it's soon, but they have financial trouble and a minimum of a year isn't that little time. It only seems like it's a lot because pretty much all 3DSs have been lying dormant for several months.

The thing is, the DS Lite and DSi were both two years successively after one another. We're talking about an announcement that's under a year from launch of new technology that's selling poorly enough Nintendo cut their earnings projection and the price already. It's not just soon, it's different circumstances. We're looking at a different market, a different product with different sales results, AND a sifferent timeframe. The three combined are probably bad.

And that's before you add the hardware changes, which we're agreed on.

It's one thing to offer a new release on an item that has been selling like hotcakes. It's another entirely to offer a new release on one that really isn't.

It's a different thing, but why is necessarily bad? Why is it worse to add a solution when you're doing badly? Plus, they only specified 2012, plus it's a rumour, so it could very well be 2 years.
Sure there's an understandable necessity to release a new iteration of a popular device, but isn't it just as necessary to do so with a device that isn't doing as expected?

 

[Something Amyss]

It's a different thing, but why is necessarily bad? Why is it worse to add a solution when you're doing badly? Plus, they only specified 2012, plus it's a rumour, so it could very well be 2 years.
Sure there's an understandable necessity to release a new iteration of a popular device, but isn't it just as necessary to do so with a device that isn't doing as expected?

Because it effectively splits the market and shows no confidence. Plus, we're a little far into hypotheticals to now start saying that it's "just a rumour."