Is There Another End to the Platform Era?

Are platformers in trouble?



Again?



Sunset Overdrive for the XBox One had platformer elements and didn’t really do much of anything. 8 weeks in and its being outsold by the dismal Nintendo Land and the can’t-believe-I-am-still-in-the-charts Mario Kart Wii. The Super Mario games on the WiiU despite decent software-to-hardware ratio barely moved WiiU sales---combining the sales of both games and they still trail Super Mario Galaxy by at least 4 million copies, and trail New Super Mario Bros. Wii by over 20 million.

In case nobody noticed, but LittleBigPlanet 3 came out. In case nobody noticed, it did quite poorly. It trails the original by 4 million copies and can’t even outsell the Vita version---which didn’t do much better either. Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze also came out in 2014, and disappeared off the face of the map by not even hitting its first million copies. The mediocre and jarring Game Boy Color version of Donkey Kong Country sold better for crying out loud.

Last but not least, we have Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker make less than a whisper on the sales charts, not even crossing 500,000 copies. Not saying that I was right in that it should have been a Wario game (the franchise averages 2 million copies per entry, while missing a sequel for the past 6 years), but it does make you think why not label Wario on a game that has you collect money….

Come to think of it, where was Wario on the coin-crazy New Super Mario Bros. 2---which also is part of the downward trend as it sold less than a third of what the original New SMB sold….

So of course, with the sales of the genre on the downward spiral, the question is why, and the next question is how to end the trend? My main theory is that you can find far, far cheaper simple platform games on tablets, on smartphones, on webpages promoting television shows, and many other sources when compared to other genres like sports games, like shooters, and sandbox gems like Grand Theft Auto. Platform games are simpler to create and entertain so therefore you will find plenty of choices cluttering the market, leading to games like Tropical Freeze slide underneath the radar. There are still lots of seventh generation carryover sales, leading to the new-gen games suffering.

The bigger problem is that the high-budget high-profile platform sequels have lately absolutely failed to display why it’s superior to the previous installment and display why you should fork over the money to buy another game in the series. New Super Mario Bros. U was a launch title, yet still looked and played exactly like the Wii version. No level editor, no new characters, no major gameplay changes, and no additional goodies worthy of checking out. Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze looked exactly like the Wii (and 3DS) installments, while failing to bring back the popular Kremlings villains that we had grown to love during the SNES days.

The lack of diversity and creativity is tarnishing the platform genre right now. Treasure Tracker might seem clever, until you realize that it’s just a spin-off from another WiiU game (Super Mario 3D World). Sunset Overdrive is at least a hybrid of Tony Hawk, third-person shooter, and platform---total shame it didn’t create Halo or Destiny sales. However Mario, Donkey Kong, Kirby, Sockman, and Mega Man hasn’t seen dramatic changes or improvements in years, while other platform franchises have been eerily quiet for an even longer period of time (Banjo-Kazzoie, Conker, Earthworm Jim, Wario, Gunstar Heroes, Contra). This isn’t the first time the platform genre had a drought (Sixth Generation anyone?) but was saved in the seventh generation because of the influx of new platform franchises and revivals as well as the rise of indie gaming. But the overkill of games may have led to the fatigue.

To get out of the current funk, we need the platform genre to take the next step forward. Mario should find new and innovative ways to get from the beginning to the end, while simultaneously changing the rules on the 3D platform series. Sonic should refocus on speed and intensity, and should stop imitating the others. Wario, COME BACK ALREADY! Wario Land 2 and 3 are some of the finest platform gaming you’ll ever experience because of its extremely unique level design. Lastly on a personal level, I would love to see Earthworm Jim make a comeback and have an image makeover for the new generation.

Bottom Line: The platform genre has seen better days, as 2014 gave us acclaimed games that were outsold by all the competitors and seventh generation installments. It could be the fatigue, it could be the familiar looks that lost appeal to the gamers, it could be the overwhelming competition from all types of technology, and lastly it could be the slow transitioning to the next creative step. Whatever the reason, the sales are sliding, and it’s affecting even deserving games. The Age of the Platformer is done, and unless the designers can concoct some new recipes, it’s going to be this way for a while….



…especially for Nintendo, which thrives on the genre…..

Super Smash Brothers WiiU: Nintendo's Biggest Game in Nearly 10 Years

Hear me out, and this is the truth:



Super Smash Brothers for the WiiU is the most important video game in Nintendo’s long history since Wii Sports. The entire future of Nintendo is riding on the success of this game---which is shaping to be potentially the biggest triumph since Mario Kart Wii’s 32+ million rundown back when the Wii was king and Nintendo was raking profits like there was no tomorrow.

We all know that Smash Brothers will become a success, but the question is just how much hardware can it move? Can it make the WiiU more relevant and push it towards the crown currently being held by PS4? Can it remove the bad stench of the WiiU’s slow start (and seemingly constant denial from Nintendo)? Just what exactly can Smash Brothers accomplish? Nintendo is banking everything on this one game, with the 3DS counterpart being its sneak preview (which will also deliver plenty of sales, especially with the cool-looking Smash 3DS coming out).

Want more proof of Nintendo’s pure and utmost dependency on this game? Namco is working on this, and Nintendo rarely ever allows third-party companies to work on their first-party franchises—even though I have mentioned how this strategy should be explored more often. They took a proven company that has a popular and successful fighting franchise to lend their touches on what is now the top fighting franchise in the entire game industry. The amount of third-party characters has even increased, as Pac-Man, Mega Man, Sonic, and maybe even Snake will make an appearance. You can make your very own character to use in the game. Over six different composers have worked on the soundtrack, and the CD is available for free as long as you register your two Smash games.

The controllers that are being issued. You can use the Wiimote, use the Wii Pad, use the Virtual Console controller, and then we have a special Gamecube throwback controller being sold prior to the game’s release. We already have tournaments on this game and it’s not even out to the public yet. The game seemingly has taken note of every request fans have made, from customizable characters to new third-party characters, to enhanced online system, and even a (sort-of) ranking system.

The marketing. Nearly every week there are new announcement and updated news about the game, and Nintendo is usually extremely hush-hush about their projects. It has had its own Nintendo Direct conferences online to maintain the exposure in the gaming world. It had a tournament in the middle of E3. The upcoming game is also tied to downloadable content specials that are being shown in the WiiU and the 3DS. You cannot escape this game. If only Nintendo applied this amount of marketing to its other games.

So the question, what is left? Nintendo’s final step has to be bundles---lots and lots of bundles. We are talking bundling Smash Bros. 4 with WiiU systems in different colors, with different features, different memory sizes, and maybe other options like music CDs, Gamecube controllers, etc. Nintendo needs to guarantee that you can’t breathe the WiiU life without having the game close to you. Smash Brothers is notorious for reviving franchises (See: Earthbound, Fire Emblem, Kirby, and to a lesser extent even Metroid) so it would be extremely beneficial for new owners to have this game to see the different gaming worlds Nintendo usually offers. Who knows, maybe Mega Man can once again rise to the prominence it used to have in the NES/SNES days.

Everything is being thrown to make Smash Brothers 4 a success. Depending on the impact it makes this holiday season will determine whether or not the WiiU can ever churn out Wii-like profits, and whether or not Nintendo has to re-evaluate the way it makes and distributes games. It all boils down to this game, this holiday, and the world’s reaction.

Smash Brothers 4 will determine whether the WiiU can go down the path of the 3DS (slow start, ferocious run) or the Gamecube (sustains minimal sales, with few hits here and there).

The Continuing Rise of Sony

For the few of you that continue reading this blog, you’ll notice the lack of articles about Sony.



The reason is very simple: Sony has not screwed up as much as the competitors in recent years. Especially Nintendo.



And their reward? Winning the 2013 Holiday Season and being a few months away from taking first place in the Eighth Generation race.


Sony, led by a great marketing campaign, excellent forward momentum, good arsenal of third-party games has won the holiday season even though there weren’t many exclusive titles for its newest system or its latest handheld. It already is closing in on the WiiU hardware sales and is slowly but surely separating itself from the troubled XBox One (still recovering from its summer of controversy).


The Playstation Vita will definitely lose against the 3DS, and may not even reach the sales of the original PSP. But the Vita is gaining traction in Japan and is handedly outselling Nintendo’s WiiU. A victory is a victory, even if it’s coupled by a couple losses. Let’s also add its sales have increased by over 160% in Europe since the release of the Playstation 4, so there might be a growing market in the England-and-beyond-Europe community.


Sony became smart by making the Vita a piggyback to the Playstation 4 as opposed to a full-on competitor against smartphones and Nintendo (the hardware fight has been pointless for two decades now. Nintendo owns this and it is their battle to lose). So the Vita is an expensive niche that can serve as a controller or a nice accessory to the reasonably-priced PS4.


PS4 has sold 4.7 million copies, and has survived the I-am-accidently-competing-against-my-own-system PS3 crossing the 80 million threshold and still making good money thanks to the mammoth success of Grand Theft Auto V an FIFA 13. And this is with only one of the PS4’s best-selling games being an exclusive, with Killzone on the list. So imagine what happens when Uncharted, Gran Turismo, God of War, Little Big Planet, and whatever Naughty Dog has up their sleeve releases. The main difference between Microsoft and Sony is that while Microsoft has more third-party power, Sony has made excellent strides in the first-party department.


And let’s recall that it has not even come out in Japan. Outselling the XBox 360 9 to 1 last generation, Sony has a lot of forward momentum heading through 2014 as the third-party hasn’t abandoned them like they have Nintendo, and they have yet to unleash their big weapons. It is a good time to be a Sony fan.


With the dust finally settling from 2013’s Black Friday and Holiday Season, it is definitely Sony’s victory as the PS3 continues selling, the Vita is earning a new life as a niche product, and the brand-new PS4 is inches away from overtaking the WiiU and becoming the top dog of the Eighth Generation.




Well done, Sony.

Microsoft's Strange Neglection of American Gamers

This one really baffles me, it really does.




Microsoft is reaching out to the United Kingdom market by offering them a choice between FIFA or Forza 5 when they preorder the Xbox One for the first day. Originally there was some confusion (that Microsoft didn’t clarify) that this was applying to gamers worldwide, not just the British. And the other confusion (Which Microsoft was also late in clarifying) is that it applied to ALL pre-orders when in actuality it applies only to day one pre-orders. Good going Microsoft PR team. Nonetheless, after several weeks and potential pre-orders with the thought of getting a game included at launch, Microsoft cleared the air by stating this was only for the U.K. region.




And now they have offered Forza 5 to U.K. gamers.


As for the Americans…well…nothing yet…if anything happens at all.............



And this my friends is why Microsoft can never quite ever have a chance to seize first place. Why on earth are you punishing the one region that has best supported you all these years?


Between the Xbox and the Xbox 360, 103 million consoles have been sold. Amongst the 103 million, 60.24 million have been sold in North America. In case you don’t want to do the math, it is 58% of all Microsoft consoles sold have been sold in the Americas. Only 30% belong to Europe. Now I know that Sony quite frankly owns the entire European and Japanese market in recent years and Microsoft wants to gain the upper edge somehow.

But why are they punishing American gamers? Why are they being shafted by not getting a free game? It is not like Europe, Japan, or Australia is the biggest gaming market now---this title still belongs to America and its neighbors. In the United States nowadays, video games make far more money than television, music, and movies. Every single winning console in each generation had control of the American market. The Sega Genesis outsold the Super Nintendo in European, South American, and Oceanic market. Guess which one between Sega and Nintendo isn’t making consoles anymore.

And guess what, the PS4 isn’t launching with a video game in the United States either, but gains the upper hand by being $100 cheaper, including its version of a camera, and promising potential backwards-compatibility---just like the Xbox One. So wouldn’t it make sense to make this offer to American gamers as well as European gamers? Wouldn’t it have made sense to announce in E3 or shortly after that you are bundling the Xbox One with Forza 5 (potentially the best-looking launch game between the two major systems) or Madden (Which would come with that stupid NFL feature that Microsoft is so proud of)? Wouldn’t it make sense to continue the momentum of outselling Sony by 15 million copies on the biggest gaming section in the world?

It is insulting and absolutely stupid to make the offer for free games to only one or two smaller regions, and exclude the one major region that requires conquering to win the war. Fun Fact: Every console and handheld that wins Japan and the United States wins the whole darn thing, and usually by a good amount. The Wii overall outsold the PS3 and the Xbox 360 in all of North America and this is after giving up the battling three years early partially thanks to an awesome but forgotten 2010 campaign (Bit.Trip.Runner, Cave Story, Mega Man 10, No More Heroes 2, NBA Jam, Red Steel 2, Sin & Punishment: Star Successor, Spiderman: Shattered Dimensions, Super Mario All-Stars, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Fragile Dreams, Goldeneye 007, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Tatsunoko vs Capcom, Kirby's Epic Yarn, Monster Hunter Tri).


Microsoft, reward the one country that saved your original system, and strongly supported your sequel through all the good times and bad times. Give the Americans a chance to get a free game. And allow us to choose just like the Europeans.



Don’t leave US (see what I did there?) in the dust.



Otherwise, Sony and Nintendo wouldn’t mind claiming some of the American gamer fanbase from you.



Source:
VGChartz

The Necessary, Required, Expected Price Cut of the WiiU

Hey remember when I talked about predicting that the Nintendo WiiU will be eventually dropping its price before the PS4 and the XBox One rolling around?

Well....it hasn't happened yet despite the recent ugly news.

And now the question should not be as to whether or not its going to happen, the question Nintendo should ask is how much exactly should they drop the price.

While the WiiU might be selling at a loss with its current price, the WiiU is going to be destroyed if Nintendo sticks to its price being a mere $50 less than the next-generation Playstation 4 (whom is riding some good momentum) come the holiday season. The deluxe package of the WiiU needs to be less than $300 as soon as possible--at the very latest September.

If I personally ran Nintendo, I would drop it back to a $250 price, with the $275 price if you purchase it with the understated but presentation-dreary New Super Mario Bros. U (Which is on pace to become the least-successful major Mario game since Super Mario Sunshine). You need to separate yourself from the competition now that they are around the corner and looking far more advanced than your product.

Momentum is required to thrive into the holiday season and make good money then, and the WiiU clearly has very little. The long-delayed Pikmin 3 is serving up humble numbers, but not the kind that can jump-start the hardware. The Virtual Console got a big boost from Earthbound, and it arguably would have never happened if it weren't for the PR nightmare involving the Super Smash Brothers franchise controversy. And let's not forget the fleeting third-party support. Perhaps cutting the price to a more economic stature would give Nintendo the necessary 3DS-like boost that could propel it away of obscurity.

Nintendo, let's look at the facts:
WiiU Deluxe--the only package you should get: $350
PS4: $400
XBox One: $500

Game Price Range
WiiU: $5-$60
PS4: $5-$60
XBox One: $5-$60

Wouldn't it look prettier to be $150 cheaper than the competitors while holding a heavier abundance of cheaper games with the Why-in-the-hell-have-I-still-not-reached-my-potential Virtual Console? You can manage the operating at a loss if you manage to slide in some quick bucks left and right with re-releases of games that already exist. There are over 1,500 Nintendo games still not released. You mean to tell me if you get at least 40% of those games available you won't get some money out of it?

Let's refer back to an old IGN article about the Virtual Console and WiiWare to show you the potential money that can cover the lack of software and heavier loss if you were to do the necessary price cut:

Back in 2009 alone, JUST 2009, Super Mario Bros. 3 by itself generated $5 million, which is the equivalent of 83,000 sales of a modern-day video game. If you combine the top 5, that's $18.7 million, with an equivalent of 311,000 sales of modern games. This is ONLY the top 5 combined on a slow year of the Nintendo Wii that actually saw its sales drop 25% that year. And this would be coming from a far far smaller budget than your typical $60 game nowadays. There are 400 video games on the Wii Virtual Console. Is it that hard to transfer it all to the WiiU to help generate sales?

Nintendo, the price cut is going to be a gamble, but it is far better to swallow the pride and look like the far economically better option as opposed to taking a chance at looking expensive AND inferior to the competitors. You have an abundance of new games coming out this fall but you need the arsenal of older games to help quantify the options for upcoming WiiU owners.



So...the question should NOT be IF the WiiU needs a price cut, the question should be: How much?

The Unexpected Comeback of the Nintendo 3DS (And how Nintendo can apply this to the WiiU)

Not sure if you are noticing, but the Nintendo 3DS is kicking major amounts of arse.




Not sure if you are noticing, but the Nintendo 3DS currently has nearly an 86% market share in the handheld battle against the Playstation Vita. Even though Apple has sold over 22 million IPads and 47 million IPhones in 2013 the 3DS continues to put up impressive hardware and software numbers.

Examples:

Animal Crossing New Leaf: 4.4 million
Luigi's Mansion 2 (Surprising, to say the least): 2.1 million
New Super Mario Bros. 2: 6.1 Million
Super Mario 3D Land: 8.5 Million
Mario Kart 7: 8 Million
Ocarina of Time 3D: 3 Million

And now, the handheld is currently outselling the consoles in the U.K. merely two years after we were sure that Apple, Samsung, and the phone companies would eliminate the need for a handheld at all (I was hinting towards that in the past too). My a lot has happened since E3 2010 when the pundits declared that Nintendo was going in the wrong direction with their hardware.




But the truth is, they were.

The 3D craze was a mere fad that was dying, and it was also a fad that does better with kids and families and much less with the more dedicated fanbase. And when it launched, it was quietly a disaster. You can't even name the games that launched with the handheld. Not even a remake of a beloved classic could help it, as Star Fox 3D couldn't even break a million.

So what did Nintendo do? Well, practically bombard the market with a killer blend of sequels, remakes, re-releases, and a couple cool new ideas. As a matter of fact some of these better games were simply buried underneath all the quantity, like Paper Mario and Donkey Kong Country. After selling just 4 million in the first several months, the sales nearly reached 20 million after 15 months. Hey, actually caring about the online service and the downloadable content always makes for a positive note.



Now we have the WiiU in desperate need of help...

....another Nintendo niche system with a different way of playing games..but its a way that gamers have not been emotionally invested in quite like when the Wii and the Kinect first came out.

Despite what they want you to believe, if you simply deliver the arsenal of games required to keep gamers happy, then you don't have to worry about whether or not the niche of the system will become enough to entice people to buy your product.

Newsflash Nintendo: We didn't buy the 3DS for the 3D, we bought it for the superior memory, the superior online features, and the exciting-looking games.

Newsflash #2 Nintendo: We aren't buying the WiiU because of the "inferior" hardware to the competition---we aren't buying it because there has been a lack of software, disk and downloadable. And....we know that a price cut is beyond the horizon.

The WiiU has all the potential to pull off the 3DS-sized comeback. Despite the limitations, this is still Nintendo's first HD system, which in itself leads to lots of potential. We need more games first and foremost, and unlike the 3DS it has the third-party support of a Neo-Geo Pocket. So this means not just the typical sequels like new Mario 3D, a new Zelda, or a new Metroid. We need more Links-to-the-Past to make sequels to neglected or forgotten gems like Kid Icarus, the Mario and Luigi RPG series, and Paper Mario on the 3DS. Nintendo is the only one of the Big 3 that can thrive on a few games selling a lot, because those are usually the system pushers. I promise you the XBox 360 has more million-sellers than the Wii, but n.o.n.e. of them even came close to the success of Mario Kart Wii.

Also, we need more support of Nintendo's past. Earthbound is a decent surprise, but we need more SNES, N64, and Gamecube games available for the WiiU, no excuses. Lastly, once all the games start turning out, we need for the WiiU to not have a price tag that is just $50 less than the next generation systems. This is silly, you need to but at least $50. When the 3DS dropped $75, it was because they knew they shouldn't match the price of superior hardware, and because that way it made the competitors seem that much more expensive. Nintendo has only a few months to repeat this same trick.

But the WiiU can be saved, and Nintendo has proven themselves to be a company that can save systems----and the 3DS' unexpected powerful comeback is their greatest example.

The Holiday Season That Dictates the Future

So with the rather lack of games we’ve been getting lately, the next question is when will Microsoft and Sony pony up and release their next generation of consoles? As of now neither has really officially hinted at a certain release date, although for certain the rumors are flying everywhere. The truth is, and they won’t admit it, the launch dates for both consoles depends on one element:


The WiiU Launch.


Never in gaming has a company had such a head start towards the next generation---unless you count the Dreamcast which came out at the worst possible time. To this day the Sega folks still kicks themselves for not releasing it a year later. Alright, back to Nintendo. Nintendo’s head start is at least one year, and could quite possibly be 2-3 years---which gives them the entire market to themselves for quite some time. If there is an opportunity for some new IPs and some highly-anticipated exclusives, the time would definitely be the 2012 Holiday Season/2013 Spring timeframe.

Nintendo’s head start could whether be good news or devastating news. It is as simple as this: if the WiiU can have a crazy successful Wii-like launch, then expect those two companies to roll over their systems the very next holiday season if not extremely early 2014. If the WiiU were to launch well, then expect them to try to kill the momentum before they wind up six feet under. Expect them to crash E3 2013 with their new stuff and just play catch up.

And trust me, Sony does not ever want to play catch up ever again—the Playstation 3 is the best-selling system amongst the consoles within the last two years but you would never know that. Nobody would ever know that as Sony to this day is losing money from the way they flopped during their launch.

But if Nintendo’s WiiU would pull a 3DS and take off on an extremely slow start, then expect Sony and Microsoft to take their sweet time and aim for a 2014 release, while still keeping their current systems prevalent with their sequels and strong third-party support. They can watch Nintendo squirm for an audience while building a marketing drive and convince gamers to wait around a little bit longer for their eighth generation appearance.

Bottom Line: Don’t take any of my dates as fact, but I predict that depending on what the WiiU does this holiday season determines the set date of the competitors. You are foolish if you think Sony and Microsoft don’t have the next machine in the backburner, waiting patiently to be unleashed. Arguably one of the most important holiday seasons in a business standpoint for the gaming industry, the WiiU will set out to see if the world of gaming still has some life in it and if Nintendo can repeat the mammoth starter success of the Wii---which led to them winning the Seventh Generation war. Only time will tell of Nintendo’s success---and when we will see the other new systems.

The Price Cut Heard Round' the Gaming World

Back in 1995, Nintendo released a system that would propel the company into new heights---of utterly miserable failure. The Virtual Boy was a mess right out of the gate, up until the very end. The launch was poor, the marketing was awful, the system was a mess, there wasn’t enough software, the potential was not utilized, and it was losing money---without any competition whatsoever. They say the suicide rate during the years of 1995 and 1996 were the highest in the 90s (that may or may not be a lie). Nintendo didn’t give it much of a chance because they didn’t see light at the end of the tunnel—therefore eliminating it immediately in terms of shelf life. One year after its release, Nintendo cancelled the system, denounced the system, and pretty much all but butchered the reputation of its creator, Gunpei Yokoi (Who invented the Nintendo Game Boy mind you).


In one of the greatest cases of history repeating itself (up there with the 27 Club and the Chicago Cubs), the Nintendo 3DS stumbled right out of the gate. Because of a poor launch, poorer marketing, lack of software (have they released games yet?), and an inability to separate itself from the shadow of the Nintendo DS, the 3DS has been an utter mess with weak sales, weaker reception, and very little hope in the future. Ironically, the 3-D aspect of the system became more of a turn-off then a selling point as our love for 3-D is depleting rapidly. The Virtual Boy suffered a similar fate when we gamers in the 90s realized that virtual reality gaming is a technological advancement that we just don’t actually want. Ever.


The Nintendo 3DS was inches away from becoming the new millennium’s Virtual Boy. While nothing will ever top the failures of the Game Gear and the Neo-Geo (*insert maniacal laughter*), the 3DS was on a path of quick destruction with the PS Vita on its heels. The PS Vita was offering ITouch-style gaming with the Sony touch—pun totally intended. And with the similar $250 price tag, Sony was ready to deliver a heavy blow and potentially even take over the handheld market. The last time Nintendo did not own the handheld market: 1988. Let’s put this in perspective: Derek Jeter was 15. Little Mermaid and Lion King had not come out yet. The Sega Genesis has not even come out yet.

Nintendo was inches away from losing, and losing big.


And then came the price cut.



Nintendo announces that the 3DS took a price cut, and not just a tiny-usually-$50. Instead of $250, the Nintendo 3DS will sell for $170. And not only that, but those whom already bought the 3DS for the ridiculous original price get an astounding 20 free video games. Check that, 20 free video games. Can I repeat it one more time? 20 free games. I don’t think in the history of gaming has either of the Big 3 offered such a delicious prize for getting a system early. 10 free NES games and 10 free GBA games. Just look at part of the GBA lineup:

Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3
Mario Kart: Super Circuit
Metroid Fusion
WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$
Mario vs. Donkey Kong

Four of those five were among the greatest handheld games in the history of Nintendo. This price cut does more than just save the 3DS—but it allows for a new way to market the product, gives Nintendo a chance to slowly release their exclusive titles without panic, and makes the PS Vita seem much more expensive by becoming 80 bucks cheaper. All the momentum Nintendo had lost has suddenly gained a bit as Star Fox, Mario Kart, Super Mario 3D, Kid Icarus, and more are headed towards the holiday season with a much cheaper system. But the price cut has also shown the gaming world a baffling conclusion: Nintendo is losing faith in their new handheld.

The 3DS has potential of being something special, but it really hasn’t utilized its abilities. The 3-D aspect is an extremely overrated and overstated aspect of the system. Before the price cut I was going to write about how unless Nintendo changed its marketing or perhaps even changed the name of its new system (Nintendo DSX? Nintendo DS2? Nintendo DDD? Nintendo This-Will-Be-Better-Than-PS-Vita?) it was heading down the Virtual Boy road. And just ask SNK, Sega, Nokia, and Bandai, Nintendo doesn’t want to go down that path….again.

This handheld has the potential of nearly PS3-like graphics. This new system can connect online much quicker, can download old-school Game Boy games, and is backwards-compatible. It is practically a super-powerful version of arguably the most successful system in the history of gaming. Nintendo needs to adopt this angle because the 3-D angle is not working, will not work, and will never work again. In two years, 3-D movies will be a mere thing of the past, as we hit our peak during the Avatar phenomenon.


Bottom Line: The 3DS was on the path towards failure (Virtual Boy II jokes were ready to arrive from bloggers and columnists everywhere) before Nintendo threw it a lifeline with a heck of a price cut immediately after its launch and right before the holiday season---and the upcoming competition’s arrival. The decision to reward the current owners while providing a far cheaper price to a system in need of help came at the right moment, the exact right time, and under the perfect circumstances. Moments like this prove why Nintendo is still #1, but moments like this also prove that not everything Nintendo touches turns into gold.

This system is extremely powerful and can really deliver wonderful hours of gaming for years to come—but the software needs to start charging in and the 3-D feature needs to be downplayed down into a whisper. While most bug Nintendo for using their franchises too much, the brand actually has left many franchises in the dust and the 3DS is the perfect opportunity to revive them. The 3DS is the perfect opportunity to take all the elements that made the DS great and improve and expand upon it. And for a moment it looked like the chance was going to be lost, but the price cut is going to breathe new life into this handheld.

Nintendo, don’t drop the ball…again.






Bring me my 3-D Earthbound !!!!!!