So the 3DS early adopters had the pleasure of paying $250 for a system that Nintendo supported for 3 years. XL owners got 2 years. Man, fuck this shit. MS and Sony better not do this.
I'm fine with their support the last few years, and was ready for the dated-feeling 3DS hardware to get a bump (in fact, I wish we weren't getting a DSi-style half-step, but the next platform probably isn't anywhere close to ready, especially if it's the console/portable hybrid structure people are expecting).
But speaking of the first year, they did flop that initial 3DS launch hard. The eShop in particular not being available until months after launch was pretty impressive. Nintendo efforts were generally short (Steel Diver, Pilotwings) or low on content (Nintendogs + Cats, only three cats between the three games in total), the ones that weren't were bringing back old N64 games for another go around (Ocarina of Time 3D, Star Fox 64 3D). They were supposedly giving the 3rd parties a clear shot. But the 3rd parties phoned it in at best, or didn't have enough time to prepare quality titles for the platform. (Probably a bit of both in some cases.) And when the titles started actually coming, and the system finally looked like it was getting decent, they cut 1/3rd the price off. I'd spent $80 extra to play Dead or Alive Dimensions, Ocarina of Time again, and fiddle with the AR a bit.
"But... but you got NES ROMs! And GBA ROMs!"
Of games I mostly owned and played as much as I wanted to play them years ago.
I guess it's better we're getting a platform refresh that theoretically improves future games while retaining compatibility with older 3DSes, as opposed to a rushed, barren launch again.