No, not all Nintendo bashing dies on Saturday, just the crap about the 2DS and Nintendo’s refusal to publish games on iOS. There will still be plenty of people criticising Nintendo and their steadfast refusal to do anything other than their own thing, but after that date, those critics will be crowing about what they wish Nintendo would do instead of what they think Nintendo needs to do to save themselves.
I’m not going to rehash the critics here, as I’ve previously written plenty on the subject. Instead, I’m going to lay out the reasons why Nintendo is going to have a breakout quarter for their handheld system, and in the process, rub some noses in all of those doom-and-gloom words written over the last months.
It’s true, the 3DS and 3DS lag behind the DS line in total sales in the same point of their life cycle. Exact numbers are hard to come by, but its close enough to 20%, so we’ll go with that for now. On Saturday, that gap begins to disappear, and the 3DS line begins its rise to the highest selling game console in history.
Pokemon X&Y↓
It doesn’t really matter that by this point in the DS life cycle there was already a proper Pokemon game for the console, while the 3DS has yet to see one. I don’t think that it’s important to release titles at the same point in time in each console’s cycle, but this is a distinction that people like to point out. That said, Saturday is the day for the 3DS to get its Pokemon on, and just like the past, there are two games coming. And they are both going to sell extremely well.
There’s pent up demand for a new Pokemon game for the 3DS, and in my own life I know people that have held out on buying a 3DS while they wait for the new Pokemon games to come along. Pokemon X&Y are going to have a blow-out release week, and while the games don’t sell like they used to, there isn’t a game publisher around that wouldn’t take the sales totals that Pokemon still brings in for any one of their own titles.
Nintendo 2DS↓
Some say that the 2DS is a mistake, while others say that it is a joke. Even more claim that the 2DS is an admission by Nintendo that 3D was a mistake for the 3DS. Newsflash: that mistake of a joke 2DS is going to propel the 3DS line well past the DS in same period life-to-date sales, and that’s what this is all about.
The 2DS was never intended for me, a grown-ass man to buy for myself. It is and always was intended for people like me to buy for our children, the ones that can’t use the 3D feature of the 3DS due to age. Its 2D nature, and its hingeless design make it pretty obvious who this console was aimed at, but that didn’t stop the adults for knocking the 2DS based on their grown-up wants and needs.
One area where the critics were right? The times have most definitely changed. The DS line lived its life cycle without the double-headed smartphone/tablet monster breathing down its collective neck. The 3DS competes with iPhones, iPads and Androids for ever diminishing gaming time. In spite of that, the 3DS has done extremely well for Nintendo, regardless what the detractors like to claim.
What the 2DS does for Nintendo is it provides parents and grandparents the opportunity to gift the little ones a Nintendo handheld console for less than $150. While the 2DS missed the magic $99 price point, Nintendo has a durable, affordable handheld console that removes the 3D feature that many parents are fearful of exposing their children to.
And it’s going to sell extremely well.
The 3DS has kept the Nintendo ship afloat for the last year, and it’s critically important that it continues to lead the way. Pokemon X&Y, along with the 2DS make continued success for the handheld line a lead pipe cinch.
But not all of the critics will be totally silenced, we still have the Wii U to worry about.
http://game-modo.com/2013/10/october-12-2013-day-nintendo-bashing-died.html
