Was 3D a bad decision for the 3DS?

[Lord Ciansworth]

RolStoppable said:

Lord Ciansworth said:

Rol, if "The vast majority either doesn't care or dislikes 3D" was a verifiable fact you would be able to produce solid statistics and market research to suggest that poor sales are due specifically to that. But you can't. We could just as easily infer that poor western 3DS sales are due to the infringement of smartphone/tablet apps on the Nintendo's traditional portable gaming market. There is about as much evidence out there to support that assertion as any of your own.

I'm not saying your assertions are necessarily wrong, but the fact that te 3DS is struggling in the west certainly doesn't prove them.

What's the difference between Japan and the rest of the world? Do they like 3D much more than anybody else? Unlikely, because Japanese 3DS sales have been poor before the price cut as well.

The basic premise in the video game business is that software sells hardware, so we'll look at that. And lo and behold, Japan has gotten much more quality games than the West so far (quality as in games that have traditionally done well in the respective markets). This seems to be the simplest explanation why 3DS sales in Japan aren't atrocious anymore. The Japanese didn't warm up to 3D, rather they just like the games they are getting now.

The simplest way to prove that the vast majority of people don't care about or dislike 3D are sales (or rather the lack thereof). If people liked 3D, they would buy the 3DS right now. But they don't, even though Nintendo is selling the system below cost.

Of course you can feel free and come up with a "smartphones are cutting into handhelds" theory, but PC gaming has never hurt Nintendo before. Why would it now? And NSMB2 is poised to put the nail in the coffin for this smartphones/tablets theory and expose the idiots who support it for who they are.

Well Rol I agree with you in many ways. I think the 3DS has had poor sales largely due to the fact that the software available for it has been sparse and largely sub-par in the west. While I don't personally believe that smartphones infringe greatly on Nintendo's handheld sales, as I see them as different markets, where I took issue with your point is that, while this is my educated belief, I can't produce tangible evidence to prove that belief. Much as you can't produce hard statistics to support your 'apathy towards 3D' theory.

Quite the contrary, I think there is some evidence, such as 3D TV adoption rates, to prove that western markets will adopt 3D technology, given the right circumstances. I would argue that Nintendo has failed to engineer these circumstances by not producing compelling software that strongly utilises 3D. One such way would be to offer downloadable feature films in 3D, another would be to produce new I.P.s, aimed at the casual market, that make use of the 3D feature, in the same way that Brain Training and Nintendogs made use of the DS's USP, the touch screen. They've done neither.