Gaming It Printed Money! In 3D! The Nintendo DS/2DS/3DS/N3DS/Mobile Discussion

I'd rather play it without, but then I've already said a lot about rumble elsewhere. I'm curious as to whether GBA games will remain Ambassador exclusives or whether they'll let late adopters get them as well. I know I'd love to play some of my old GBA games on my 3DS, because yes, I really do need more copies of Final Fantasy games.

 

I have the ambassador games. There was only 10 GBA games and non of them were FF.
Eventually I'm sure they'll make more GBA games available.

 

Yeah, those are the only ones I know that have been released on the 3DS. It doesn't help that I'd buy The Minish Cap if I could!

I did find out some great news though. They're rereleasing some old games with added 3D graphics to make the most of the 3DS and they've already released a few like this. What's exciting for me is that they're going to be releasing Space Harrier with added 3D! It was one of my favourite games when I was young and it'll be a definite purchase when it comes out!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Harrier

I am tempted by the Shantae games. Anyone played them?

 

I have not. Looks interesting though. Cyclops mammoths are my kinda thing.

 

I played Space Harrier on the Sega Genesis 32X back in the day, and I sucked badly.

 

I think the politest way I can put it is to say that you are dead to me.

 

I'm not against a current-gen DS that forgoes the 3D to act as a budget model. In fact I think that's a pretty neat idea that makes the system a more appealing prospect for those without much disposable income (Apparently the system will retail in the UK for £109. That's a very reasonable price for a new model at launch.).

I wonder why they didn't use the signature clam shell design for the 2DS though. It makes it look very unfriendly for those who want a handheld to play on the go.

 

The lack of clamshell is... completely vexing. Then again I don't think I'm the primary demographic, they're probably aiming for kids whose parents will appreciate the cheaper price and lack of easily broken hinges.

In any case, they've managed to finalize the release dates for Rune Factory 4 and Etrian Odyssey: Untold, so I'm significantly more excited for that than any hardware tweaks.

 

DS > 3DS > 2DS

Xbox > Xbox 360 > Xbox One

Can we ban companies from using numbers in console titles?

 

I think the lack of clamshell makes sense if it's targeted at kids. I can see how a kid might accidentally break a clamshell 3DS, and it wouldn't take a lot. I think it'll do well, though I won't be buying one. I think the problem the GBA Micro had was that it was much too small and I don't think it offered anything. So the whole thing was too small to hold comfortably and the screen was tiny which made it hard to see anything. Why have that when you could have a GBA SP for $20 less? That said, it did sell 2.42 million units, so it wasn't exactly a failure.

07jonesj: yeah, the Xbox title thing got weird, though it sort of makes sense with the 2DS. It went from DS (Dual Screen) to 3DS (3D Dual Screen) and 2DS (2D Dual screen). The 2DS isn't replacing the 3DS, it's just a 2D version of it. It's more "well, this is 3D so let's call it the 3DS and this is 2D only so let's call it the 2DS" than anything.

Also, have they given a release date for Bravely Default: Flaying Fairy and/or Space Harrier?

 

They should've just made the 2DS the new, redesigned DS. It's a cleaner break from a marketing perspective. 3DS is a genius name. 2DS is stupid.

 

FWIW, Reggie Fils-Aime went on record essentially confirming my hypothesis. http://www.destructoid.com/reggie-says-the-2ds-is-for-five-to-six-year-olds-260918.phtml

So, yeah, dunno if it's the best of all possible marketing moves, but as a supplement to the current 3DS models it's an interesting idea.

 

I can easily see this being Nintendo's thought process behind the design. But there are a couple of problems I have with it.

1) The Nintendo DS has been considered a child friendly system from the start thanks to its massive library of family friendly games. The clamshell design hasn't been a problem up to this point.
2) By aiming the 2DS just to kids I think Nintendo are approaching the marketing from a completely wrong direction. This should be presented as a fully fleshed out system for any gamer who operates on a smaller budget. A cheaper games console will be welcomed by more than just parents.

The problem is the DS is a last gen system that plays only last gen games. It's called the 2DS to differentiate it from the DS for that very reason.

That being said, I can still see some confusion caused among parents and grandparents who may not be very savvy as to what games are compatible with a 2DS, considering all the system's games are marked with just the 3DS logo.

 

I saw this on Gamespot earlier today, and I must admit that I share the confusion of the editor who wrote the news article on it. What exactly are Nintendo trying to do here? It's only $40 cheaper than the full-on 3DS, which I suppose is enough to get a console plus a game to go with it, but still doesn't strike me as that big a difference. Abandoning the clamshell design is also confusing.The original came out 9 years ago, you'd think if they were having so many complaints about it being too fragile for kids to handle they'd have changed it long ago. Plus you have the point Chewgumma mentioned about the fact that there will be a different logo on the games made for this device.

Very odd.

 

Well, that explains the lack of clamshell - it seems the 2DS's "screens" are just one screen divided by plastic cutouts: http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/08/28/nintendo-2ds-has-one-big-screen-divided-by-plastic

A bold choice.

 

Yeah, didn't expect this at all. I thought the 3DS was doing quite well, and almost definitely not going to get this 2DS (I've already got a 3DS, don't need another). Although I wonder if its to test if people care about the lack of 3D- I almost never game in 3D. Well, its good as a bargain item too- able to play DS and 3DS games, just without the 3D. With the holiday season coming up, a cheap DS is going to sell well probably. Although its really not that far from the regular 3DS and XL models, but you never know. A lot of the details make it sound like a kind of basic unit- only one speaker, one screen (I think the entire screen is a touchscreen, just that the top half is covered). Though knowing Nintendo, they're probably still breaking even at least.

 

I do think agree that there's going to be brand awareness issues though. Nintendo have got to get some advertisements on the TV at least, or it's never going to reach kids, or their parents.

That's the biggest problem here - it's a good idea in theory, but how are they going to sell it, and reach their target demographic?

 

The thing is that the 3DS is doing quite well - they seriously should've just called this the new DS and made a bigger deal out of how it plays anything, even without 3D functionality.

And yes, brand awareness is the chief problem - Chewgumma, I get the naming is to differentiate things, but it's an absolute gaffe in terms of marketing. Why buy 2 when you can buy 3? And what does the 2 mean, is it just 2 screens? Then why is it the 2 Dual Screen? The pun they have with 3DS is good; it tells you it's a 3D system as well as a DS. 2DS sounds like a step backwards, especially considering that this system's selling point is that it's a 3DS without the 3DS. This system is going to be a tricky thing to market - how do you market something with less functionality and fewer features as a big deal?

Calling it the "New DS" would work perfectly fine. Make a big deal about how it's a DS that'll play all DS games, with or without 3D, and suddenly that's a lot more appealing than "THIS IS THE 2DS IT'S LIKE THE 3DS BUT NOT IN 3D." If appealing to gamers on a budget is the issue, then again, drop the 2D part and focus on the lower price. The name currently implies it's somehow less than the other system.

It's not like the current 3DS is much more expensive, either - the XL is easily the most expensive, but even then I keep seeing sales for it everywhere.

 

Technically they're all 2D screens, it's just that the 3DS is tricking our eyes into thinking it's in all 3 dimensions.