radiantshadow92 said: [...] Come soon, June 19th. [...]

That's the strangest and spookiest flying dick I've ever seen. Not that I've seen many other strange and spooky flying dicks in my life. Actually none.   

Not to beat a dead horse, but I did a little research this morning on some of my points.

The Gameboy Advance was released in 2001 as well as the Gamecube. According to the chartz, the GBA alone (standard and SP model) sold 81.49m units while the Gamecube sold only 21.75m. Even with taking out the GBA:SP's 43.57m units, the GBA, a 6th gen handheld, handily beat it's 6th gen console counterpart in sales. The original GB has so many iterations and such a long life, I couldn't really find a good way to seperate it against individual generations.

Second, as far as a system needing to beat it's predessesor in order to be a success, they only problem with this is that sometimes outside forces make this nearly impossible, but not because of any shortcomings on the systems side. For instance, the SuperNintendo did not outsell the NES, but that can easily be due to the emergence of real competiton in the Genesis. To that same point, if/when the 3DS does not sell as much as the DS, it could be argued that the rise of mobile/iphone gaming(the Iphone was released 3 years after the DS), and Sony releasing their sophmore handheld (which hopefully they learned from past mistake and will be a very real competitor), could be just as big of factors as the 3DS hardware itself. Thoughts?

I realized i messed up, my bad, never smoke and post. My point still stands, why are people complaining when they knew what games would be available?? This coming from an IGN person who is supposed to be in the know is worrying

Ok my response is TL;DR so I'm just going to hit home the most important point in one sentence: The biggest mistake of the 3DS is that it's called a 3DS.

Something like 12% of adults in the UK (Brits may have shittier teeth than most people but eyes?) can't even see stereoscopic 3D properly. http://kotaku.com/5584737/12-of-british-people-cant-see-3d-properly That's a pretty big minority that you're alienating. That doesn't include the people that get eyestrain/headaches/ill from the 3D. It's not Nintendo's style (unless you count Virtual Boy) to be so "exclusive". I understand this is why Nintendo put in the 3D slider. But then the people that don't want the 3D (for one or more various reasons) will have to pay $250 for a 3D device when they're not even going to use the 3D. That is poor value. And for people that are fine with 3D, glasses-free 3D gaming on the go isn't exactly very convenient and the conditions aren't very ideal. I can't imagine that stereoscopic 3D would be very convenient while playing on a bus or in the passenger seat of a car for eg. And a lot of people have complained that glasses-free 3D on the small screen isnt quite like watching 3D with the glasses on a 3DTV/monitor or a theatre. Oh and once again, the "no children under 7 should be playing with 3D" warnings on the box are going to scare parents away from buying that stuff for their kids.

With all the stuff going against the 3DS, I just don't get why Nintendo couldn't have created someone without stereoscopic 3D (DS2 probably wouldn't be a good name because it would confuse people into thinking that it's just another DS and not a real sucessor), priced it at $180 and called it a day. I understand that Nintendo is afraid that business as usual would open them up to disruption (by Apple and Google). But what happens if Steve Jobs announces an iPhone with a stereoscopic 3D screen? Then what? They come out with an iPhone almost every year (I think iPhone 4 might be the first to actually last 2 years). Not every 5 years like a console. And they're already coming out with Android smartphones with glasses-free in the future. You can't rely on gimmicks to stay relevant. And as I've stated before, Ocarina of Time, Star Fox 64 and Metal Gear Solid 3, etc. are very much home console experiences and the mass market does not want home console experiences on the go. They want pick up and play. Also the added development costs of steroscopic 3D is offputting to small developers. By calling it a 3DS, the 3DS is pigeonholing themselves into the 3D thing. Much like the N64 and Gamecube were 3D obsessed for the most part (look at the N64 logo. It's 3D. The Gamecube logo. Cubes are 3D). It's cheaper for smaller Japanese studios to make a 2D RPG on the NGP (no one would bat an eye at that just like no one batted a eye at the countless 2D games on the Playstations) without the stereoscopic effects. If you don't put stereoscopic 3D in a 3DS game, what's the point? The whole point of making a 3DS game is the 3D. Even 2D Mario is going to have stereoscopic 3D effects.

3DS doesn't have to necessarily sell as much as the DS to be a success. But I see it taking a big drop from DS numbers and even go below GBA numbers. As for the PSP, it's pretty much the first real competitor to Nintendo ever. For a new player to the handheld market (Sony), I'd say Sony did a good job. They've been very competitive with Nintendo since the Monster Hunter boom (often beating the DS during several periods), practically tied with the DS in hardware sales in 2010 and as of late the PSP has been red hot in Japan. Sony's insistence on bringing home console gaming experiences to their portables is making me facepalm though and this is why the PSP lost a lot of ground in the west.

Also as Rol stated, handhelds didn't always outsell home consoles historically. The PS2 was on top for awhile. I'm not going to go on record saying the 3DS would sell at N64 or Gamecube levels. But it's not going to be mass market in the way that a GBA is, let alone a DS. It's not going to meet Nintendo's expectations. Nintendo expects that it'll outship the DS this fiscal year (Apr 2011 - Mar 2012). I don't see that happening. Nintendo expects that 3DS software shipments will come relatively close to DS software shipments for the fiscal year. Don't see that happening. I think some top execs at Nintendo are going to have a lot of explainin' to do to the shareholders next year. Nintendo is stuck with this 3D thing for at least 5 years. Honestly the single biggest mistake is that it's called a 3DS.

To be fair, 12% of the population isn't very big, and I don't think Nintendo is alienating some mass number of people that want to play it and simply won't get the same enjoyment out of it.  Seriously, only about 16% of the US population seems to have purchased a DS in some form, and many of them bought more than one (I have two Lites myself).  So the number of people who can't play the system is arguably going to be about the same number as those that buy it.  And what's 12% of 16%?  That's not very many people.  

I don't see what the big deal is about "kids under 7 not being able to play it."  For the most part, kids under 7 don't need to be playing video games in general.  My kid is 7 and I prefer him to play outside, despite what a massive gamer I am.  I make him earn the right to play games, and when his grandparents bought him a DSi for Christmas last year, I was wary of the whole thing.  Very few kids under 7 can even play video games with any amount of competence unless that's all they do, and if that's the case, that kid needs to be forced outside a couple days a week before he turns into a fat lazy nothing that does nothing but play games.  

Don't get me wrong, I love video games (obviously), but there's more to life than doing that 100% of the time.  Like eating, and camping, and sex.  Those are good things too (the latter also not for kids).

By the way, I don't think the PSP lost a lot of ground because of the idea of bringing console-like experiences to a portable.  God of War on the thing is just amazing.  The problems with the PSP were a near total lack of exclusives (mostly PS2 or Wii ports), and loading times from the UMD's--which don't translate well to on-the-go gameplay.  Which, Sony seems to be fixing with the NGP as it will use media more like DS cards.  Just a note.

Ok. I guess I was arguing something different than you on the handheld/console sales side. I was pretty much just looking at nintnedo systems vs themselves, not other companies.

I don't like the sentiment that I can't defend or at least point out other factors that could be a part of the "slow" sales of the 3DS without it being labled blame. I'm not blaming, I don't think, but pointing out that there are multiple market factors that effect a products sales.

I'm excited to see how it all plays out. I'm not a blind fanboy, and I see your arguments and think they are very sound.I just think we have a different view on what a failure is.

Why would you purposely alienate 12% of your audience? That is insane. And that's just people who can't see 3D very well. What about the people who get eyestrain/headaches/ill from it? Why does Nintendo have to purposely go out of their way to alienate a good part of their audience? Foolish behavior. Even the 3D movies have cheaper 2D versions. I know Nintendo went the 3D route because they were afraid of being disrupted by Apple and Google. But glasses-free 3D smartphones are already coming anyway.  The HTC Evo 3D is coming out later this year. And now Nintendo is stuck with the 3DS. Nintendo can't afford to rely on gimmicks anymore. When smartphone gaming took off, the DS touchscreen was no longer a novelty. When the Kinect and Move hit the mark, motion control was no longer a novelty. And glasses-free 3D will no longer be a novelty once 3D gaming hits Android phones. Enough with the gimmicks. Focus on serving the consumer, not forcefeeding things down consumers' throats, not by telling a good chunk of your audience that you don't want their business.

Plenty of kids under 7 play videogames and even for kids 7 and up, parents are gonna freak out when they see those warning labels. You know how paranoid parents are about that stuff.

Chains of Olympus sold well but Ghost of Sparta sales were very, very poor. Home console experiences on the go are not the novelty that they used to be. At least outside Japan. In Japan, the home console market has shrunk so much that a lot of the home console gaming (ie. Monster Hunter, RPGs) have migrated to the portables.

Every new Console has exactly the same Problem, i can't understand why a gamer who probably play games the last 20 Years and experienced many Console Launches still cry about this. Everyone knew wich Games the 3Ds will get for its Releas long before its Releas, so he also  could have wait to buy his 3DS till now like me.

Other Consoles need way more time to get a decent Line Up, the PS3 needs nearly 3 Year to get the first real worthy exklusive games.

So I have no worries about the Nintendo 3DS it will get the great games soon enough.

Nintendo simply doesn't have many chart busters for the platform right now. Nothing to make consumers clamor to the 3DS over the DS, or the PSP for that matter.

Malstrom tries to act like 3DS has a strong library, and it isn't selling for other reasons, but for me personally, and many others, is doesn't have that game with that wow factor yet. I really feel that this platform has potential to really take off like DS did, it just needs games better suited for its strengths, and that lure in a mass audience. Remember, DS sales were stuck in neutral until hits like Brain Age, Nintendogs, and NSMB came out. Then the platform caught fire and became the best selling game platform of all time. 3DS doesn't have those "it" games yet. The kind of games you buy a platform for. Pilot Wings sparked a bit of interest for me, until I saw the less than stellar reviews. And come on, another Nintendogs, Steel Diver? ZZZZZZZZzzzzzz

As far as I'm concerned, 3DS might as well not even be out yet until Mario Kart and Zelda are released. I am also curious to check out the new Paper Mario and 3D Mario game, but the main selling point for me right now is the new Mario Kart. Without it, 3DS is a no go, especially at $250.. The third party support seems strong but most of their games don't intereest me, aside from maybe Resident Evil (the real one), and I'm curious to see the Assassin's Creed on the platform. Basically right now 3DS is the Kinect; intruiging hardware and concept, but few great games to support it, especially for the high price.

Basically, the 3DS is currently a $250 DS that plays a very limited library of 3D games.

Street Pass is a really interesting concept and the 3D camera is likely to be virtually every 3DS owner's first forray into 3D photography (albeit really low res, entry level images), but in all seriousness, neither of those command the premium price.

Buy it for the 3DS games; if they're not there, buy it because you love Nintendo or new video game hardware or electronics gadgets in general.