Every system has a ton of games announced before launch that never see the light of day. Nothing new.

How is this a worrisome trend?

Unless you are a early adopter. You got what you paid for. 

So the question is whether Nintendo can sell over 100 million handhelds to people who are largely only interested in buying Nintendo developed games. 

Personally, I don't think the Nintendo exclusive market is that large.

The irony is that the big complaint a lot of gamers have with platforms like the DS or Wii is that they are flooded with lower quality 3rd party titles, but the reality is that having these titles is a part of what makes Nintendo's business function so successfully the way it has in the current generation. Nintendo gets their licensing fee whether a game is "bad" or not. If publishers of these games migrate over to smart phone platforms (bypassing production and distribution costs), which is largely where the mainstream mobile market is shifting, Nintendo won't have that business and more importantly, won't have any growth. There is a ceiling for the 1st party Nintendo game market whether anyone chooses to see it that way or not. 

The secret to the DS success has not been "quality" despite the fact that it has received some of the best quality portable games of its generation; it has always been sheer volume of developer support, often in the form of budget games. That is to say the same budget games that can be published on non dedicated gaming platforms. 

So the question is whether Nintendo can sell over 100 million handhelds to people who are largely only interested in buying Nintendo developed games. 

Personally, I don't think the Nintendo exclusive market is that large.

The irony is that the big complaint a lot of gamers have with platforms like the DS or Wii is that they are flooded with lower quality 3rd party titles, but the reality is that having these titles is a part of what makes Nintendo's business function so successfully the way it has in the current generation. Nintendo gets their licensing fee whether a game is "bad" or not. If publishers of these games migrate over to smart phone platforms (bypassing production and distribution costs), which is largely where the mainstream mobile market is shifting, Nintendo won't have that business and more importantly, won't have any growth. There is a ceiling for the 1st party Nintendo game market whether anyone chooses to see it that way or not. 

The secret to the DS success has not been "quality" despite the fact that it has received some of the best quality portable games of its generation; it has always been sheer volume of developer support, often in the form of budget games. That is to say the same budget games that can be published on non dedicated gaming platforms. 

If that's the case, then Nintendo will never see the same level of success it has with the DS again unless by publishing Mario Kart, NSMB and another Pokemon game, the 3DS will see the same level of success as the Wii as opposed to the N64 or the GC. 

Even as a gamer who likes the 3DS as a platform, there won't be any mass migration by 3rd parties. At best the platform will see a good catalog of games similar to the PSP, but as the future default development platform for portable games? That's real nonsense. 

The 3DS needs a original blockbuster.

Like any system, a blockbuster helps identify the system and right now, outside of being able to play a few very ports/remakes in 3D and being a much better media hub thanks to Netflix and Nintendo Video, the system has nothing over the DS, except price.

That is the reason why so many are slow to purchase the system compared to the DS and why developers are acting funny. Some would prefer to develop on the Vita and then there are others that are play caution. Once a game that the 3DS can exclusively call its own and isn't hindered out the gate from being rushed to market like RE: Merc 3D was or some of Nintendo's own launch titles, then the system will be fine.


Don't know if Kid Icarus: Uprising is that title but it will be better then nothing.

Kid Icarus has been a long, long absent (20 years absent has to be some sort of record) NIntendo IP, but even if it turns out to be the first gold standard 3DS title critically, it's just not big enough to be a significant hardware mover. 

It would take another Pokemon sized franchise to really push sales to previous DS customers or the extremely significant children's market, or a new Brain Age type app to push sales to the extended market. Unfortunately, Brain Age type games are now better off on iOS or Android devices as lower cost downloadable apps. 

Personally, I really like the recently added features like Netflix access and Nintendo video (Hulu Plus would be another good addition), but like Street Pass (one of the other better features), neither is really cause to buy a 3DS at $250. The vast majority of consumers will be buying them to play 3DS games if at all.

It really is shaping up to the be PS3 at launch of portables; decent initial set of features, more usable features (like the Nintendo eShop and web browser which were absent at launch) added on a so far consistent basis, but hobbled by a fairly high price relative to the software library. 

Whether the platform can stay relevant the way the DS had in the 2 or so years from launch until it has a truly solid back catalog of quality games really remains to be seen. The 3DS probably won't have the same luxury that the DS had in biding its time as it slowly built up its software catalog along with hardware sales. 

An original blockbuster/killer app new IP would sell hardware, but based on what's been announced, I'm really not sure what sort of title could be developed that catered specifically to the unique features of the 3DS. Street Pass integration in some form of social networking games, maybe with an AR type interface, but as for 3D, I don't see how any developer could come up with something that either required 3D mode to be active, or was extremely enhanced over 2D mode, seeing as how a not so insignificant chunk of consumers either can't see the 3D effect, it "makes them sick" or just insist it's a gimmick and refuse to even use 3D mode. 

I think it's just following the other Nintendo consoles in having very little good 3rd party support, which is bad news because Nintendo planned the launch and delayed games to gain 3rd party support

yes....Nintendo should worry...and Amazon stop selling 3DS this past week too...

maybe itll help them look in the mirror and recall once again what made them money before again. Course we may be stuck waiting a gen or two again.