I had written an email to Sean Malstrom (public enemy #1 on this forum) yesterday about the 3DS/2DS. Thought I'd share it. Sean Malstrom for anyone who isn't aware is an old-school Nintendo fan who doesn't like the N64, Gamecube, Wii U and 3DS. He liked the NES, SNES, Gameboy line, DS and Wii. He argued that the DS and Wii were a lot like the NES/SNES. When really the DS and Wii were heavily reliant on the casual gamers who are now on iOS, Android and Facebook:
Today (October 12th) marks the one year anniversary of the Nintendo 2DS. It launched at $130 USD. Even with the much more reasonable price point, the console still can't sell. The 2DS is $70 cheaper than an entry-level iPod Touch. And I found out that some of their 2DS skus contain a free pack-in game like Mario Kart 7! But they never really re-gained their lost audience. At $70 less upfront than an iPod Touch, you'd think that the 2DS would be an attractive buy for parents looking to get an entertaining toy for their kids.
After the 3DS price drop to $170, I figured that Nintendo would do well with children and parents again. $170 is a good price for a handheld game console historically. The Gameboy debuted at $90 USD in 1989. The Gameboy is a good barometer to compare to given its widespread popularity and its iconic history. Adjusted for inflation, $90 in 1989 is equivalent to $172 in 2014. So you'd think that the 3DS at $170 and 2DS at $130 especially would be a home run right?
The problem though is that while the price of hardware for Nintendo portables is reasonable now (and if you count the 3DS at $170 as being reasonable, it's been reasonable for at least 3 years now), parents don't want to pay $40 for flagship Nintendo portable games anymore and they don't want to pay $30 for the less prestigious games either. Not when smartphone games are so cheap. $5 games. 99c games. Freemium games (free-to-play with optional micro-transactions). They have games like this on the PC too and Facebook. Diehard Nintendo fans still see value in $40 Nintendo portable games and niche $30-40 third-party games. But not parents. Not casuals. Not the king makers of the DS and Wii.
Nintendo is bleeding red ink. If Nintendo wants to stay relevant in 2015 and beyond, they need to revamp their Nintendo eStore. They should link eStore purchases to your Nintendo eAccount so that you can play all the Virtual Console/eStore games you bought with your Wii/DSi on your Wii U/3DS/2DS at no additional cost. Buy the game once and never have to repurchase it again if you want to transfer the game to another Nintendo console in the future. And they should put a greater focus on making cheap eStore games instead of $30-40 retail games. Keep the profitable full retail projects. Ditch the ones that bleed red ink.
And they need to push the eStore hard to third-party and indie developers. Get some third-party and indie guys to make $5 2D platformers and beat-em-ups designed specifically with the 3DS gamepad in mind. Make the kind of games that sold well on the NES, SNES, GBA and DS and of course also focus on providing innovative new experiences to gamers. But keep the budget low and sell the games at a competitive price. Only Nintendo hardcores and the industry whores on the Sony and Xbox platforms are willing to pay $40-60 each for games now. The Nintendo hardcores are not enough to get Nintendo in the black anymore. This isn't 2005 anymore. And only a minority of the industry whores respect Nintendo.
You're never going to see a success like the DS, GBA or Gameboy again. And the dinosaur that is Nintendo won't get in the black again until they change with the times. Nintendo disrupted the market around 2006 with the whole touch screen thing. But then smartphones and tablets adopted touch screens and these devices became widespread and the rest is history.
