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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Why's The 3DS Selling So Poorly In North America?

oniyide on 16 April 2013
Soundwave said:
oniyide said:
Soundwave said:
oniyide said:
Vita bashing aside, people dont care. Its really that simple, they might be content with thier smart phones or lost interest in portable gaming. I cant think of anything else. everything you put down is a good, thing, That is a decent library of games even if some are old ass ports. Pokemon should do something for it come fall, but i dont know how long that will last.


True I think a lot of people are in denial about the absolute collapse of the handheld industry in the West and kinda gloss over this because the 3DS is selling well in Japan, so everything must be OK. But it's still sluggish in the West.

The Vita at sub-5000 this week is just ... wowza.

you dont have to tell me, man. I see whats happening, for the same reasons that Gamerace just pointed out. Japan has always been big on handhelds much more so than in the west. DS was kind of an anamoly IMHO and we are just seeing numbers go back to hwo they were pre DS era. IMHO thats a good thing, that keeps the no name cheap devs away and let them make their nonsense for phones. Let the bigger boys make games for 3DS/Vita, the audience who actually cares about video games.

It seems to me like none of the Western "bigger boys" are bothering with either handheld period. It's almost like a Japanese specialty product being sold in a Western market to a niche audience.

Not sure if i agree with that, its not like they are not getting ANYTHING from western devs. Ubisoft game Vita an exclusive AC, Vita got an exclusive COD, NFS was released. Angry Birds, Lego, the sims, etc. now granted they are not doing anything close to what Japan devs or doing and are not treating it like their home consoles, but i would argue that that has always been the case. Western culture in general was never big on handhelds and that extends to the devs.



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Augen on 16 April 2013

As a handheld gamer myself who loves his 3DS I didn't want to believe it, but time and again I've watch people go for the phone games because "it may no be as good, but free-$2 v. $30-40 is no contest".

So, in many respects the mobile market has driven the perceived value of games way down. People see a phone as a necessity and it only cost $50 (with a 2 year contract) and it also plays games that cost nothing or next to nothing. I don't see how Nintendo can compete with that now. I see the difference in quality and care, but more and more people think a flash game is just fine and no longer invest in gaming like they did in 2007.

If Nintendo can go back and find a model that works on more reserved expectations like the GBA days then they have a future. Sony...well, I'm not sure room for two dedicated handheld devices.



oniyide on 16 April 2013

on a side note i think the idea is that the 3ds isnt exciting as the DS was, that was new and unique kinda, 3ds is the same with 3d and no one really cares about it that much. At least not at the volumes Ninty was hoping for. Im seeing alot of parallels between it and Wii U.



the_dengle on 16 April 2013

Lol. Wait for NPD.



Herolink7 on 16 April 2013
oniyide said:
Soundwave said:
oniyide said:
Vita bashing aside, people dont care. Its really that simple, they might be content with thier smart phones or lost interest in portable gaming. I cant think of anything else. everything you put down is a good, thing, That is a decent library of games even if some are old ass ports. Pokemon should do something for it come fall, but i dont know how long that will last.


True I think a lot of people are in denial about the absolute collapse of the handheld industry in the West and kinda gloss over this because the 3DS is selling well in Japan, so everything must be OK. But it's still sluggish in the West.

The Vita at sub-5000 this week is just ... wowza.

you dont have to tell me, man. I see whats happening, for the same reasons that Gamerace just pointed out. Japan has always been big on handhelds much more so than in the west. DS was kind of an anamoly IMHO and we are just seeing numbers go back to hwo they were pre DS era. IMHO thats a good thing, that keeps the no name cheap devs away and let them make their nonsense for phones. Let the bigger boys make games for 3DS/Vita, the audience who actually cares about video games.

Except the GBA was a monster in the U.S. It was doing much better than the 3DS is at this point.

It's retty clear now that the market for dedicated handhelds have shrunk, I'm not sure there is anything Nintendo can do about it.



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oniyide on 16 April 2013
Herolink7 said:
oniyide said:
Soundwave said:
oniyide said:
Vita bashing aside, people dont care. Its really that simple, they might be content with thier smart phones or lost interest in portable gaming. I cant think of anything else. everything you put down is a good, thing, That is a decent library of games even if some are old ass ports. Pokemon should do something for it come fall, but i dont know how long that will last.


True I think a lot of people are in denial about the absolute collapse of the handheld industry in the West and kinda gloss over this because the 3DS is selling well in Japan, so everything must be OK. But it's still sluggish in the West.

The Vita at sub-5000 this week is just ... wowza.

you dont have to tell me, man. I see whats happening, for the same reasons that Gamerace just pointed out. Japan has always been big on handhelds much more so than in the west. DS was kind of an anamoly IMHO and we are just seeing numbers go back to hwo they were pre DS era. IMHO thats a good thing, that keeps the no name cheap devs away and let them make their nonsense for phones. Let the bigger boys make games for 3DS/Vita, the audience who actually cares about video games.

Except the GBA was a monster in the U.S. It was doing much better than the 3DS is at this point.

It's retty clear now that the market for dedicated handhelds have shrunk, I'm not sure there is anything Nintendo can do about it.

Really? aw f**k that isnt good then. I think they tried to go the PSP route by showing games that couldnt be done on phones, but SOny already tried that and it was moderate at best, people over here just dont care. It sucks.



Otakumegane on 16 April 2013

Nintendo+Samsung partnership phone incoming.

(Somehow I feel this might happen)



http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/profile/92109/nintendopie/ Nintendopie  Was obviously right and I was obviously wrong. I will forever be a lesser being than them. (6/16/13)

Nem on 16 April 2013

Its obviously because the average american seems to have taken a liking to game on the far inferior in confortability ipad and iphone.

Yeah, i figure its all about status over there, and less about quality.



Vinniegambini on 16 April 2013
the_dengle said:

Lol. Wait for NPD.

My thoughts as well. OP claims that the 3DS sell 100-160k a month in NOA; however, according to NPD results released for February, it sold approximately 189k.....

It's not selling poorly - it is moderately successful.



Soundwave on 16 April 2013
Vinniegambini said:
the_dengle said:

Lol. Wait for NPD.

My thoughts as well. OP claims that the 3DS sell 100-160k a month in NOA; however, according to NPD results released for February, it sold approximately 189k.....

It's not selling poorly - it is moderately successful.


The DS used to clear 450k in a month like Feb/March though in North American alone, meaning today the 3DS barely outpaces that on a global basis.

Iwata was right to say they are unhappy with 3DS sales in the West.

A "moderately successful" followup to the second best selling hardware platform ever I think is probably somewhat of a dissapointment.