My insomnia is getting the better of me, so I decided to take a look at the number of quality titles on Nintendo handhelds per year. For lack of a better definition, "Quality Title" will be any game that got a "Green" Score on Metacritic. The Results were... interesting.
| GBA | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | ||||
| 90+ | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| 75+ Exclusive | 49 | 27 | 17 | 11 | 3 | ||||
| 75+ Inclusive | 51 | 28 | 17 | 11 | 3 | ||||
| DS | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | |
| 90+ | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| 75+ Exclusive | 2 | 19 | 18 | 34 | 42 | 45 | 41 | 20 | |
| 75+ Inclusive | 2 | 21 | 19 | 35 | 42 | 45 | 42 | 21 | |
| 3DS | 2011 | ||||||||
| 90+ | 3 | ||||||||
| 75+ Exclusive | 17 | ||||||||
| 75+ Inclusive | 17 | ||||||||
| Total | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
| 90+ | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 75+ Exclusive | 49 | 29 | 36 | 29 | 37 | 42 | 45 | 41 | 37 |
| 75+ Inclusive | 51 | 30 | 38 | 30 | 38 | 42 | 45 | 42 | 38 |
By "Inclusive" and "Exclusive," I'm referring to the various incarnations of identical Pokemon and Nintendogs games. Here's a chart of the Inclusive Data.
Some things to note:
1. 2011 was a mixed year, but this has happened before. 2005 was very similar, with about as many quality GBA games appearing as DS games.
2. Either the GBA had a stellar library, even compared to the DS, or 2003 was the greatest year in the history of handheld gaming. Perhaps the PSP did more damage to Nintendo's market share than we thought.
3. On odd numbered years, Nintendo handhelds have 2 or 3 stellar games. On even years, you will find 1 max. This suggests that we won't have as many top tier titles as we did in 2012, despite probably having more quality 3DS games.
4. The DS peaked in 2009, over four years after launch. This suggests that we might not see the 3DS at its best until 2015.
5. I spelled Total wrong. Bad Salnax!
