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Forums - Nintendo - Analysis on the Frequency of Quality titles on Nintendo Handhelds: 2003-2011

Salnax on 29 March 2012

My insomnia is getting the better of me, so I decided to take a look at the number of quality titles on Nintendo handhelds per year. For lack of a better definition, "Quality Title" will be any game that got a "Green" Score on Metacritic. The Results were... interesting.

 

GBA 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
90+ 3 0 0 0 1
75+ Exclusive 49 27 17 11 3
75+ Inclusive 51 28 17 11 3
DS 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
90+ 0 2 0 1 1 3 0 0
75+ Exclusive 2 19 18 34 42 45 41 20
75+ Inclusive 2 21 19 35 42 45 42 21
3DS 2011
90+ 3
75+ Exclusive 17
75+ Inclusive 17
Total 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
90+ 3 0 2 0 2 1 3 0 3
75+ Exclusive 49 29 36 29 37 42 45 41 37
75+ Inclusive 51 30 38 30 38 42 45 42 38

 

By "Inclusive" and "Exclusive," I'm referring to the various incarnations of identical Pokemon and Nintendogs games. Here's a chart of the Inclusive Data.

 

 

Some things to note:

1. 2011 was a mixed year, but this has happened before. 2005 was very similar, with about as many quality GBA games appearing as DS games.

2. Either the GBA had a stellar library, even compared to the DS, or 2003 was the greatest year in the history of handheld gaming. Perhaps the PSP did more damage to Nintendo's market share than we thought.

3. On odd numbered years, Nintendo handhelds have 2 or 3 stellar games. On even years, you will find 1 max. This suggests that we won't have as many top tier titles as we did in 2012, despite probably having more quality 3DS games.

4. The DS peaked in 2009, over four years after launch. This suggests that we might not see the 3DS at its best until 2015.

5. I spelled Total wrong. Bad Salnax!



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Salnax on 29 March 2012

So far this year, we have 7 3DS games and 2/3 DS games that make the cut.



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Conegamer on 29 March 2012

Not bad. I think this year should be good for the 3DS!

You should do the same thing for handhelds and see how bad the Wii's lineup really is...



 

Here lies the dearly departed Nintendomination Thread.

Salnax on 29 March 2012
RolStoppable said:
Salnax said:

 

2. This is where the flaws of the Metascore analysis kick in. The GBA was porting heaven for SNES games while the DS drove more on original games, so the GBA had quite a few easy 75+ scores. However, the PSP might indeed have had an impact on Nintendo handhelds by leading reviewers to score DS games lower due to graphics, so fewer games made the cut to score 75+ on average for petty reasons.

3. If we trust reviewers on what a stellar game is and what isn't. I see a 0 in 2006 which happens to be the year of New Super Mario Bros., so this makes it hard, if not impossible, to take gaming journalists seriously.


2. Any particular reason there were more SNES ports on the GBA, despite the DS actually having all of the buttons of a SNES? Just curious.

3. NSMB missed the mark by a fraction of a point. But even if we put it into the 90+ category, the trend remains the same. Odd years have more "God Tier" games than Even years.



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Salnax on 29 March 2012
RolStoppable said:

2. Handheld gaming was seen as second rate gaming by developers all over the world before the seventh generation, so good original games were few and far inbetween. Most SNES games weren't eight button titles, so the porting process wasn't cumbersome.

The move of Japanese developers towards handhelds is simply due to circumstance. The PS3 was a failure and expensive to develop for and since the PS2 was inevitably on its way out, another solution had to be found. The Wii was out of the question (because it's a terrible, terrible system), so that only left the DS and PSP. But once the PSP received a boost in popularity due to Monster Hunter, the DS started to be more and more left out as well.

3. NSMB is just the most obvious example, I am sure there are more. Especially when a game like Phantom Hourglass counts towards the elite. It's like somebody rolled a dice to determine what qualifies as stellar.

2. Ah thanks.

3. I get your point in general, but your example disheartens me. Phantom Hourlgass is my favorite 2D Zelda.



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