Nintendo Officially Confirms 3DS Peripheral

[Asriel]

padib said:

Asriel said:

ninty_shareholder64 said:

Asriel said:
I posted this in another thread, but I believe it applies to this thread too:


I still don't believe Nintendo are about to launch a redesigned system. The only solid proof of what the second circle pad peripheral is so far, is that it's an optional add-on for Monster Hunter Tri G, desgined to replicate the Classic Controller Pro layout from Tri on the Wii. We'll only know for sure what it is on the 13th, but I firmly believe the peripheral is a concession to Capcom to get Monster Hunter Tri up and running on 3DS as quickly as possible.

Nintendo won't drop the 3DS because it's under-performing--the signs say anything but that, however, because the 3DS's rocky launch was Nintendo's first major misstep since the launch of the original DS, the vast majority of gaming sites and journalists (and even some more mainstream sources) are insisting that the 3DS is going to be written off by Nintendo.

Take a good look at what Nintendo are doing: They have a renewed focus on 3DS, and are taking aggressive actions to ensure the device doesn't die on the market. They've cut the price massively to entice new buyers, completely retooled and relaunched the promotional campaign for the system, launched a scheme to placate early adopters by giving them 20 (free) classic Nintendo titles, and are bringing their biggest mascot to the system globally in two big blockbusters in the crucial end of year sales season. Most impressively, they've gained a big new title in Monster Hunter Tri, which will cement the 3DS's momentum even as Vita's imminent launch appeared ready to disrupt it. They've also solidified their partnership with Capcom, with two of Capcom's biggest properties (Resident Evil and Monster Hunter) acting as two of 3DS's hottest upcoming titles.

And if even half the rumours spilling out of Japan are true, in-house software development has been ramped up, and Nintendo are about to unveil anything from a new Yoshi platformer to a Mach Rider reboot, or anything from WarioWare to a new Baiten Kaitos. Again--even if only half the rumours are true, significant Japanese publishers will announce new titles for 3DS at the conference--anything from Ace Attorney to Etrian Oddysey are rumoured announcements.

Does all of this paint the picture of a company ready to throw in the towel on 3DS?? It doesn't to me. To me, Nintendo look like they're putting all the weight they can behind the 3DS, to turn it from an underwhelming console to a successful console. They aren't just relying on their in-house software and price cuts, either, they seem to be reaching out to their third party partners. We'll only know for sure what the rest of Nintendo's rescue plan looks like after the 13th, but I don't believe for one second it'll involve a revised 3DS, let alone a system that ditches the name and downgrades the 3D capabilities of the console.

Nintendo are going to push 3DS as far as they can--if all that fails, and third party support and Nintendo's IP's don't sell the system, then they'll go back to the drawing board, but that would be the absolute, last resort.

Agree with almost everything here! Well done!

But why shouldn't Ninty add a pro-3DS with 2 circle pads? Just for the 2-sticks gamers for FPS and better 3rd party support.

It's not necessary, but it could be another way to make more money. The pro-model with better battery and 2nd pad could be at the same price as the Vita, imo.

At first i thought a redesigned pro-3DS would split the market, but it's not really a problem to add a second control sheme to the games. Early adopters could still play every game in the future or update to the pro-model when the games are there, it wouldn't be a piss take to them, imo.

Just a thought.

I wouldn't rule out a redesign in eighteen months time--but I don't think it would work right now, especially not if they announce it a month after hundreds of thousands of new owners have just picked up the current 3DS model. It would damage long-term consumer trust in Nintendo, especially since one of the early problems Nintendo have faced is establishing the fact the 3DS is a brand new machine--it would only reinforce the impression that Nintendo will continually tinker with the DS line, and I believe many consumers would hesitate further in the face of another DS iteration so soon after 3DS has come out. PSP, DS and iDevices manage fine without dual-analog, with the latter proving to be extremely popular gaming devices without any analog at all. Wii has managed fine with its default control scheme of nunchuk/remote--again, one analog stick. 

Nintendo seem hell-bent on establishing it 3DS as it is, and I don't see them swaying from that before this crucial Christmas period. I admit the possibility is there, but to me, all signs point to Nintendo dealing with the biggest problem the 3DS has, and that isn't a lack of a second analog slider--it's the lack of software that will cripple the 3DS before long. Once they've dealt with that, and have a good roster of first and third party titles available and in the pipeline, they'll consider hardware revisions, but not so soon. There just isn't the need for it. 3DS has most definitely underwhelmed and underperformed, but it certainly hasn't approached its death throes, either. 

Like Iwata said months ago, in a message that was largely ignored or misinterpreted--content is king, and with more exclusive, compelling content, 3DS will be rolling along.

Kind of a catch-22 here asriel. The hardware upgrade for Tri is actually to increase development efforts on the 3DS in light of developer interest in its competition: the Vita. You're suggesting they upgrade the hardware after they get the software lineup right, but you're failing to see that devs are demanding more from the hardware and it's stopping them from being interested in making games for the platform instead of for its competitor the Vita.

What do you guys think?

Where's the evidence the hardware upgrade is supposed to bring in more developers? Where's the evidence developers are unhappy about there not being a second circle pad? All of that seems to be conjecture based on the rumours from the French site and the announcement of the second circle pad expansion--and all we know for sure right now is that the second circle pad is compatible with Monster Hunter Tri. Let's not forget Monster Hunter Tri G appeared on rumoured lists of expanding first and third party support--if that rumour has been confirmed, then why haven't people been so quick to assume that good quantities of new announcements are imminent?? To me people seem to have lost focus on the back of this second circle pad hysteria.

Developers were quick enough to support the one stick 3DS--just look at the developer support from last E3 through to spring this year. Developers began to delay or cancel games on the back of 3DS's very slow start. The 3rd party support has melted away (for now) because 3DS hasn't rocketed to a large install base--games were delayed because 3rd parties didn't believe the install base was big enough to sell games to, and that's the problem Nintendo have to solve, not a problem about only having one circle pad. It's a problem every Nintendo platform has had, and one they nailed with DS--they built the base, and third party support came, particularly from Japanese companies.

I'll happily admit that I could be very wrong about the second circle pad becoming standard on 3DS, but I don't see Nintendo doing it so soon. Though of course, predicting what Nintendo will do is a fool's game... I just think that since the French site spread the rumours about second circle pads, and since the expansion was spotted in Famitsu, it's become the root of people's logic with 3DS, clouding people's judgement so that all discussion of the machine's slow start and Nintendo's rescue mission revolve around a second circle pad--before these rumours and scans broke, a second circle pad barely factored into the equation. It was quite clear what had slowed 3DS--a poorly thoughout line up, no blockbuster at launch, unclear marketing and brand management, a high price point and a future software list that was thin on near-term releases. These are the problems Nintendo need to address. I don't think for a second that adding a second circle pad will bring in masses of third party support--if Nintendo show they are serious about pushing 3DS, and reach out to their partners, then the support will come. For me, all the signs point to that happening.

Of course, this time tomorrow we'll know for sure what's going on. I look forward to our rampant speculation being put to rest!