By Justin Polak

 I purchased a Nintendo 3DS at a midnight launch on Sunday, March 27th. Although I already gave my first impressions on the 3DS, I have had more time to explore my feelings on the handheld, both from personal experience and some statements Nintendo has made relating to it. Although I am happy with my 3DS overall, I can’t help but envision problems in its future.

I’m not sure if Nintendo is being wise about competition from Apple with its slew of apps on the iPhone, iPad, etc. Reggie Fils-Aime, President and chief operating officer at Nintendo of America, has said that he doesn’t think Apple is a viable gaming platform. This idea baffles me as it makes me feel that Nintendo has missed how their own success from the Wii came about. Prior to the Wii’s launch, if you told anyone who followed the game industry that Nintendo would catapult themselves back on top of the console world, most people would double over laughing.

See, while Apple doesn’t have nearly as much handheld revenue as Nintendo, it’s easy to see thatApple’s share of the pie is growing. The reason why the Wii was so successful, especially right out of the gate, was because it appealed to the casual market, an untapped resource at the time. Currently, Apple is luring in the same type of people in the same manner. I work with a bunch of people who still hold the opinion that video games are a children’s format for the most part, but they are quick to bust out their iPhone and play a glorified flash game. To me, this is exactly like seeing older adults and grandparents giving the Wii a shot, it was something far more simple to interact with, therefore more appealing to partake in. Oh, and it’s an easy way for game companies to make a ton of money.

As far as how all this connects to the future of the 3DS, it concerns me greatly that Nintendo is essentially sticking its nose up at “garage developers.” I understand that Nintendo doesn’t want a lot of shovelware (pause for laughter), but again, the most simple ideas are sometimes the best ones. If you don’t believe me I’m sure a few angry birds would like to have a word with you.

As if Nintendo doesn’t feel it slammed the door hard enough on it’s fans, they made the 3DS region locked, which is to say that it is impossible to play imported games (until someone inevitably comes up with a work-around). Region locking usually is standard practice in the game industry, but it makes me wonder why Nintendo let the original DS slide on that issue in the first place. I realize that this isn’t really a big deal outside of a few hardcore enthusiasts that can’t wait to play a new game before it is localized, or worse, a game that won’t be making it to their shores. However, this move seems like the icing on that cake after everything I have learned about Nintendo’s current attitude.

Hey, remember the last time Nintendo got arrogant? They had a great thing going and the Nintendo 64 seemed like it was going to continue Nintendo’s dominan—

Ohhhhhh….

Hey idiots! Listen to your customers! Let normal people make games for your download service! Stop burying your head in the sand and pretending that Apple isn’t a problem! Are you guys suddenly deciding you want to make less money and have another company sneak up on you again and knock you back to last place? Look, I love Nintendo, but when they make moves like the ones mentioned above it seriously makes me wonder if they like the feeling of being outdone by their competition! They’ll never admit this, but Nintendo could have easily crashed and burned after Sony took over. And here’s the kicker,the Android market is just as dangerous, so either way, Nintendo better watch their backs.

As far as the 3DS goes, I’m sure many great games will be unearthed for it. The 3D is cool–for those who aren’t negatively affected by it–but it’s not enough to keep the handheld above water. In the next couple of months, the only game I am excited for is the Ocarina of Time remake. I don’t even care if the game is in 3D or not, and it worries me that I am getting pumped up for a game that was first released in 1998. Sure, the game’s getting a face lift and Nintendo has promised new features, but Nintendo better have more up it’s sleeve than remakes and older franchises that rely on 3D technology…especially since, again, it’s not working for everyone!

I’ll admit that I could be a worry wart, or that I am borrowing trouble. Even if Apple does grow even beyond the most positive analyst’s expectations, who’s to say that the 3DS won’t thrive regardless? Well, there was another company you might have heard of that marched to the beat of its own drummer. They took a lot of risks, and some ideas took off at supersonic speed. At one point, they were on top of the market and everything seemed to be shifting their way despite all odds. Then a slew of bad business decisions and abysmal hardware eventually dethroned them, and they are currently yet another modest developer. Say it with me:

SEGA!

I think comparing Nintendo to Sega at this time due to an unknown threat is a bit harsh...who's to say that, just because the 3DS is Nintendo's most successful launch with no games, a new product out on the same day and in a slow period of the year, that the 3DS will fail? Analysts have been predicting this for years, and whilst Apple et al on their phones can't get 'proper' games (FF, DQ, MH, COD etc.) exclusives on their phones, people will buy the console versions IMO.

And  also, for the past 25 years, Nintendo has been fine without garage developers. And all the other 'gaming' circles for that matter. There's a reason why Nintendo aren't allowing 'garage' devs make games for their systems, because 99.99% of them are terrible! Sure, the Wii had some problems, but so do all market leaders...and that's still nothing compared to the IPhone market. After...Angry Birds and...World Of Goo and...well, that's the issue isn't it? there's hundreds of thousands of cheap games on the Iphone and Android,  yet I can name all the good ones on one hand. Until Apple start making games or start caring about their marketplace rather than just letting everyone have a go, 3rd parties won't invest heavily in it, and it won't take off as a viable gaming platform.

So sure, you can say all this now, but just because you say it, doesn't mean it will happen. Nintendo are old enough and wise enough to know what they're doing, and judging by the initial 3DS launch, it's working. Again.

What do you reckon? (P.S, sorry for the colour, I'm working on it!)

http://www.primaryignition.com/2011/04/02/justins-words-of-wisdom-nintendos-questionable-moves-and-the-3ds/

Updated OP with my opinions, bolded important points for easier reading

Nintendo has been fine without garbage developers.. ops I mean garage developers.. let alone most third party too.. they basically build the wii user base on their own with their own games!.. wooptidoo.. angrybirds got popular.. what else?.. nintendo will be fine.. and they wont go the way of the sega.. they have enough profits to last them 2 generations.. and they selling the 3DS at a profit.. not at a loss.. so guess what that means!..

I agree. There's no reason Nintendo should be worried about Apple or garage devs. 

Just the media hating on Nintendo as per usual it would seem

I don't think there's really any threat from cell phone applications to real games; it's like saying that people will give up eating proper meals bought at restaraunts and the grocery store, because they can by a candy for 1 cent at the gas station.

Sure there is a place for candy, but they're never going to take the place of a full meal.

Maybe, just for a second, we should stop pretending to be analysts and shareholders and remember we are gamers. 

Yeah, maybe Nintendo should transform their business into being a small throwaway game platform. From a business perspective. But for us gamers there's something at stake here: The way traditional companies produce their games. Who is going to put 3-4 years of work and dedication and fine tuning into making Mario Galaxy or a new Zelda? if "Angry Birds is the new Super Mario Bros."? If 5€ is the new price ceiling?

Speaking for myself: What's the use of a game company's financial success, if they don't produce stuff I want anymore? I like Nintendo for what they do, not for how much money they make. I appreciate clever indie stuff, but I'm a gamer for the few, big masterpieces you only get every 3-5 years or so. With the current indie / app hype, it's chic to bash the traditional game industry for being bloated, over-budgeted, elitist. But most of my favourite games wouldn't even exist without the masterminds, big budgets, long development periods and high retail prices. Look at other media: What about your favourite records or movies? Who is complaining about the big budget of "2001:A Space Odyssey" or a Stevie Wonder album?

Size and quality are not necessarily connected, but often they are.

I don't care about garage developers. I've never bought a phone game outside of tetris and ddidn't buy any dowloadable titles for the 360, ps3 or wii outside of scott pilgrim and Lost winds.

Knowing a small "shovelware" developer, the bar for getting a DS (and probably 3DS) developer kit is pretty low ... and with digital distribution of games, I would expect the bar to be set lower.

With that said, I highly doubt that Nintendo wants nearly as many developers or apps as the iPhone has; and they would (probably) be entiely happy if the top 1% of apps found their way to the 3DS, and they received a similar number of original apps for their system. Essentially, having Agry Birds on the 3DS would be something Nintendo wants, having the 99 low quality Angry Birds clones is not something Nintendo wants.

The size/quality issue is fast becoming a non-issue for the iOS and Android markets.

There will always be free and $.99 cent apps for the simple fact that users continue to purchase and download them. But the belief that these are the only options available couldn't be further from reality.

Final Fantasy III on iOS was just released. Square Enix has an entire back catalog of games on iOS at a fraction of the price they sell for on dedicated handheld platforms with more to come. They look better than other portable versions too.

I'm beginning to suspect that everyone who thinks all the games available on smartphone platforms are low quality throwaway titles don't actually own one and have minimal if any experience using one as they have little to no knowledge of either what's available or what's being developed by publishers ranging from one-man garage developers to the Square Enix, Activision and Electronic Arts of the soft publishing world. Just in the past year alone, the smartphone games market has changed drastically in terms of resources being invested by the majors.

Granted, personal preference in gaming platforms is just that; personal preference. But don't try to fool yourself into thinking they aren't being treated as soft development platforms by the major publishers for past and future projects.

Not entirely though, but I imagin a lot of people actually have switched to gaming on an iphone or w/e rather than DS because it suits their needs more. Silly analogy ...