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Forums - Nintendo - A very simple question for Nintendo fans...

Kwaidd on 02 April 2011

no, they upgraded the power a bit and added 3d viewing if desired.  there is improved online and social functionality.

is it still using older technology in new ways rather than going cutting edge cpu and gpu power?  yes.

had the 3ds been an ngp, then yes...it would be going against the mantra...but as it stands, its not near as technologically advanced or pricey as it could have been.

 

also, just as devs realized that they didn't need motion controls (waggle) in every stinkin game to make it good (in fact the better games make very little and very wise use of motion)...so will it be with the 3DS.  Sure the ability to have games in 3D is there, but devs and consumers alike will realize after this wave calms down, that sure, its there but they don't have to utilize it in every darn game.

on a side note.  I'm not sure that having 85m units in homes around the world and still selling near the same amounts as the 2 competitors every week when they have say, 52m or less in homes should be called nosediving.  I personally can't believe that it can possibly sell that many units/week as it does.  I mean c'mon, 4.5 years later with 85m units installed and it routinely sells 150k units/week?  thats rediculous.



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Chrizum on 02 April 2011

Yes, it's different than Wii and DS. It's comparable to Nintendo's philosophy during the SNES and N64 days.



UncleScrooge on 02 April 2011
RolStoppable said:
Play4Fun said:

Then I guess one could argue with Wii it was, 'slap motion controls on everything and be done with it.'

Nintendo is following the same philosophy but carrying it further.

.The system is moderately powerful, not high-end.

.It has its 'hook' (3D) just like Wii.

. It is a bit expensive, but that doesn't mean they went against their philosophy. Didn't they say a few years back that they wish they had priced the Wii at $300 because it would have sold just as well? Well they are learning from that 'mistake'.

All those core gamers that want 3DS will buy one, then later on it will get a price drop and start selling even more to people who didn't want it at the $250 price.

It will still be cheaper than NGP because NGP will, I have no doubt, come out at a higher price than $250 and Nintendo can afford to drop the price by the time it releases.

The only thing that changed with their strategy is that they are trying to attract third parties more and have more  features than before.

.All those DS games that made it a force to reckon with will come.

Adding motion controls or pointer functionality requires changes to games in order to make them really good, so it requires actual work. For example, a game like Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition was of course still good, despite the approach of "add motion controls and be done with it", but the difficulty level of the game was too low with the new controls at work. Similarly, the developers of Sin & Punishment 2 originally based the difficulty of the game on it being played with a classic controller, but when they played the game using the Wii controller, they noticed that the game was way too easy. So they made the necessary changes and that's why the game turned out to be as great as it is.

On the other hand, 3D doesn't require any changes to the game's design, because it's just an additional visual effect. It's really easy to add 3D to games, unlike motion controls.

Nintendo's philosophy with the DS and Wii was to bring gaming to the masses. Either by removing unnecessary obstacles like overly complex controls or more importantly, by making games that nobody else did care to make anymore. With the 3DS, handheld gaming is made more complicated as pretty much all games will use 3D and thus be built around 3D gameplay. The games that made the DS and Wii highly popular weren't complex 3D titles, but quite the opposite.

With the 3DS there doesn't seem to be much interest at all to make such games. Instead most of Nintendo's output will be games that are similar to the ones they made in the N64 and GC era, including some of those games being ported. The games of those times are what made Nintendo less popular over the years, but for some reason they put a strong emphasis on them instead of continuing with what they started with the DS and Wii (although it has to be said that Nintendo already lost track a couple of years ago which is one of the reasons why the Wii is nosediving in sales).

I'm really interested to see the Gamecube spirit games in action. I have seen none so far. They remaked the best selling Zelda so that doesn't count. Pilotwings, Starfox and Kid Icarus are shoot 'em ups, which profit from being 3D (normal 3D, not stereoscopic 3D - just like racing games). Paper Mario is a 2.5D game. Nintendogs, Mario Kart and Animal Crossing don't need an explanation. 2D Mario has been confirmed. We'll definitely see new versions of Pokemon, Wario Ware, Advance Wars and some 2D platformers.

So to me the answer to the OP is "no." I'm a happy gamer so far

Edit: To be fair, I understand your concern. I'd give it some time, though. We'll see at e3 which direction Nintendo is going to take but so far I haven't seen many Gamecube spirit games announced.



Kwaidd on 02 April 2011

...also, if folks haven't even given it a chance yet, and are speculating on this..you need to do yourselves a favor and get to a demo stand and try the thing out (hopefully with something better than damned puppies).  Its a really great system that offers a lot.  far as im concerned, it is worth all the pennies I paid for it.

as far as nintendo's true idealogy and strategy on gaming?  pure and simple, it's FUN!     and its there on 3DS



Conegamer on 02 April 2011

yes, not so 'casual' orientated, no, they're still making great games

Yes, they're appealing to 3rd parties, no, they're still adding gimmicks

Yes, it's expensive, no, it's worth the price

Yes, it's wi-fi sociable  and friendly, no, it's damn fun

 

What do you mean?



 

Here lies the dearly departed Nintendomination Thread.

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HappySqurriel on 02 April 2011

I would say no ...

In my opinion, the core philosophy behind the Nintendo DS and Wii was to build systems that were unique in the market and to not get caught up in the endless graphical arms race that was driving up the cost of videogame development. In ways you could say that this strategy was developed by Nintendo doing “soul searching” trying to understand why their portable systems were popular and their home console’s weren’t; and the realization that the Gameboy line thrived off of being a unique product while the Gamecube struggled because it wasn’t adequately differentiated from the XBox and PS2.

As far as user interface improvements go, there has been significant effort into improving the 3DS. While they are often minimized, the 3DS slide pad is actually a very good approximation of an analogue stick and the introduction of motion controlls certainly add some options to developers. On top of this, the 3D screen offers the same kind of wow factor to users that motion controls did with the Wii; and much like the motion controls they do so without requiring expensive software development to take advantage of it.

In terms of processing power, the Gameboy was (roughly) a portable NES, the GBA was a portable SNES, the Nintendo DS was a portable N64 and the 3DS appears to be a portable Gamecube; which means that the underlying technology has remained (reasonably) constant over time.

 

 

Realistically, the only reason I think that people truly believe the 3DS is such a depature is because of the price; and I believe that the price difference has as more to do with countries destroying the value of their currency as it does with the 3DS actually being more expensive.



UncleScrooge on 02 April 2011
RolStoppable said:
UncleScrooge said:

I'm really interested to see the Gamecube spirit games in action. I have seen none so far. They remaked the best selling Zelda so that doesn't count. Pilotwings, Starfox and Kid Icarus are shoot 'em ups, which profit from being 3D (normal 3D, not stereoscopic 3D - just like racing games). Paper Mario is a 2.5D game. Nintendogs, Mario Kart and Animal Crossing don't need an explanation. 2D Mario has been confirmed. We'll definitely see new versions of Pokemon, Wario Ware, Advance Wars and some 2D platformers.

So to me the answer to the OP is "no." I'm a happy gamer so far

Edit: To be fair, I understand your concern. I'd give it some time, though. We'll see at e3 which direction Nintendo is going to take but so far I haven't seen many Gamecube spirit games announced.

GC spirit isn't all too different from the N64 games. Yes, so far we haven't seen any of them, but that comes once Nintendo opts for some eccentric design decisions which is what the Gamecube was mainly about. Being different for the sake of different, regardless of if the fans want it or not.


We only have two N64 remakes, though. Ocarina of Time is still the best selling Zelda to date so it is an obvious choice. And Starfox is a shoot 'em up and according to Malstrom (who started this "obsessed over 3D" thing) one of the few games that profit from being 3D.

And I doubt Nintendo wants to be different just for the sake of it. 3D doesn't add to the gameplay in most cases but we also got motion sensors, better online and Street Pass. Nintendo's main objective with the 3DS was to get 3rd parties on board and it looks like they succeeded with this. They also didn't add an incredibly expensive 3D screen (which was what many people judged from the high price point), they just make a truckload of money on each unit sold. And from a CPU standpoint the 3DS may be less "outdated" than the original DS was at the time of its release but it's still far from cutting edge. And Reggie is talking about Blue Ocean and disruption again.

It's just my opinion but I think we shouldn't be overly negative. Maybe it's not Nintendo that is obsessed over 3D but rather some certain popular blog owner who is obsessed over 2D.



Albion on 02 April 2011

Nintendo 2006 is diffrent Company then Nintendo 2011.

Just think about it.

 

 



Conegamer on 02 April 2011
Chrizum said:

Yes, it's different than Wii and DS. It's comparable to Nintendo's philosophy during the SNES and N64 days.

...

...

Is that a good thing though?



 

Here lies the dearly departed Nintendomination Thread.

Rath on 02 April 2011

Not at all. I get the feeling the 3DS is related to the Visual Boy. The Visual Boy failed because the technology simply wasn't there for what they were trying to do, now the technology is there they are trying the same thing again. Obviously if they are dedicated enough to the concept to try it twice under their two different geniuses (Gunpei made Visual Boy, Miyamoto will have been heavily involved in 3DS) then it simply must fit in with their philosophy.