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[popeutlal]

If they were ports, yes, $40 would be too much to ask, as they go for $10 a pop on the Virtual Console.

But if you believe they're ports...well you obviously don't know very much about 'em.

Mmm...ok. They're enhanced ports with shiny visuals. They still should not have been $40.

 

[Sipowicz]

some of the best games i've played on the PSP would be dismissed as "iphone games" by those who prefer to revel in mediocrity

by the same token though, you have the the iphone/smartphone supporters lauding incredibly involved games that you control with an on screen control pad.

there's good in both systems of them and there's advantages to both systems

 

[IrishNinja]

hey, legit ios question: when i had my iphone, i played interesting games (something like crayon physics, a mystery one for a short while, etc) and a handful of bad versions/ports like MGS, ME, SH etc. i later read i missed out on that game dev one, though. oh! didnt cotton to angry birds but i loved the crap out of plants vs zombies.

for real, what ios games am i missing out on that can hang with the vita/3DS lineup? i imagine we have a thread for this.

 

[AbsoluteZero]

Mmm...ok. They're enhanced ports with shiny visuals. They still should not have been $40.

In the case of Starfox 64, it's essentially a brand new game. Everything from the graphics to the voices are completely new, so I have no issue whatsoever paying $40 for it.

It's one of the best games of all time made new.

 

[StuBurns]

Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP is the 'best' game on iOS I know of.

Although I pretty much only play PokerSmash.

 

[McLovin]

Smartphones are great for gaming but they just simply aren't good for games that require more then two fingers. Virtual joysticks are almost always garbage and you tend to block the game with your fingers. I'll use my android/iphone for touch games but I think that the market has room for at least one more handheld. I think the vita has a shot, because (besides the amazing graphics) it has games, two analog sticks, a reasonable price, and a solid online component. Yeah the battery sucks but I can't play handhelds for more then an hour anyway(my eyes get cross eyed) and its not like you can play games on your phone for more then a few hours without killing the battery.

 

[Boney]

Mmm...ok. They're enhanced ports with shiny visuals. They still should not have been $40.

just because you (and me) won't pay $40 for them doesn't mean that's not the price they should be.

If you want it cheaper wait for a price drop

 

[rpmurphy]

iPhone 5 vs 3DS here we go!

Slashgear: iPhone 5 will Officially Kill Off the Nintendo 3DS

Is it finally time to admit that portable 3D gaming just doesn’t work?

If you’ve been following the gaming business over the last year, you know that the Nintendo 3DS, which allows gamers to play titles in 3D without the need for special glasses, has faced a difficult market. In the second quarter of this year, Nintendo sold just 710,000 3DS units worldwide. Even worse, it could only get 110,000 units into homes in the U.S.

Last month, things looked a little better for the 3DS, thanks to the device’s $80 price cut to $169.99. According to Nintendo, it sold 235,000 3DS units during the period.

But as my fellow game-industry followers know all too well, 235,000 units sold in a single month just isn’t going to cut it for a portable device. If we look back in history, Nintendo’s other platforms, like the Game Boy and DS, were flying off store shelves for years. The 3DS, however, has not.

Unlike its predecessors, the 3DS is facing a slew of issues. For one, the 3D effect falls short for many folks, and after a while, it becomes more like a gimmick than an integral part of the gaming experience. What’s more, the 3DS’ lack of compelling games (which Nintendo says, will be addressed by the end of this year, thanks to Super Mario 3D Land), is holding it back.

But I think it goes beyond that. The 3DS is failing right now, more than any other reason, because of smartphones and tablets offering compelling gaming experiences. And when the iPhone 5 launches in the next several weeks, you can expect it to officially kill off the 3DS.

Now, I say “kill off” to drive the point home, but I don’t believe that Nintendo will actually discontinue the portable for at least another year. For some odd reason, Nintendo believes that it can turn things around with the 3DS. And it strangely feels that consumers who have yet to show that they care about the device will suddenly have a change of heart.

Here’s a news flash for you, Nintendo: consumers do not and will not care about the 3DS. And the iPhone 5, which will likely come with improved components to help deliver even better gameplay to owners, will make that abundantly clear.

But it’s not just Apple. Game developers are also flocking to portable devices, and will have a close eye on the iPhone 5 when that device launches. Companies like Electronic Arts and other prominent developers are increasingly turning to mobile operating systems, like iOS and Android, to offer their titles. And as hard as it might try, Nintendo won’t be able to stop that.

So, when the iPhone 5 launches, I see even more troubled waters ahead for Nintendo. The device will receive an inordinate amount of attention, consumers around the globe will flock to stores to buy it, and in the process, they’ll download games. And when they start playing those games in-between surfing the Web and checking e-mail, they’ll quickly find that buying that 3DS just doesn’t make all that much sense.

Sorry, Nintendo, but if smartphones and tablets already on store shelves are killing the 3DS, the iPhone 5 might just be enough to put the final nail in the device’s coffin.

Intredasting...

 

[The M.O.B]

which will likely come with improved components to help deliver even better gameplay to owners

So apple is adding buttons to the iPhone 5?, SWEET!

:/

 

[watershed]

iPhone 5 vs 3DS here we go!

Slashgear: iPhone 5 will Officially Off the Nintendo 3DS

Intredasting...

I actually chuckled at this article, usually reading stuff doesn't really make me laugh even if it is amusing.

 

[outunderthestars]

I don't think either portable will see the sales numbers of the last generation, but I don't see any reason why they will completely fail.

I do think we could be seeing the last generation of gaming specific portables.

 

[rpmurphy]

I don't think either portable will see the sales numbers of the last generation, but I don't see any reason why they will completely fail.

I do think we could be seeing the last generation of gaming specific portables.

Both handhelds are already multimedia devices with a number of other functionalities. The gaming-only handheld market officially ended when Nintendo released the DSi.

 

[outunderthestars]

Both handhelds are already multimedia devices with a number of other functionalities. The gaming-only handheld market officially ended when Nintendo released the DSi.

Oh come on. They might have features, but they are tacked on, clunky, and are not sales drivers.

Do you really believe anyone bought a dsi to listen to mp3s?

 

[Zoramon089]

Oh come on. They might have features, but they are tacked on, clunky, and are not sales drivers.

Do you really believe anyone bought a dsi to listen to mp3s?

Do you think people bought iPhones to play games? I doesn't matter. They have feature sets that put them above simple gaming only devices

 

[Deku]

Whatever the conventional wisdom is, the outcome is likely going to be different.


Sony will always have an ulterior motive with their decives, and Nintendo's strength remains its singular focus on games. One area where I think Nintendo has strayed is cost leadership. I think they have nothing to fear if they stick solely to sub $100 portables, and that could very well be where we would see their portables heading in the future.

Their biggest challenge isn't smartphones, its developing the infrastructure to deliver content.
I've suggested they need to do a unified store for their VC content at the very least, which they can then leverage on various platforms, including their home consoles.

In that context, their portable could well be a large flash drive with a screen and buttons and off the shelf processor.

Some in GAF will hate it, but it's where dedicated gaming should go. Handhelds isn't going to outcompete smartphones by becoming more complex, and Nintendo's attempt to do so hasn't met with success and has only increased their costs. In that sense, they need to go back to basics.

 

[OrangeGrayBlue]

I don't think either portable will see the sales numbers of the last generation, but I don't see any reason why they will completely fail.

I do think we could be seeing the last generation of gaming specific portables.

The last portable that only played games was the Game Boy Advance...

Anyway, who ever wrote that article a couple posts up seems to have a blood lust to see Nintendo fail. Like... he seems legitimately angry. It's a little off-putting. If the 3DS does less than 800,000 in December in NA I'll gladly accept a perma-ban. This preemptive doom and gloom is getting tiresome. There is one very small, but important factor these analysts are over looking: many people who rely on a phone for gaming are people that have never owned or planned to own a handheld system. It's not taking away Sony and Nintendo's market, it's creating a new one.

 

[DR2K]

The last portable that only played games was the Game Boy Advance...

Anyway, who ever wrote that article a couple posts up seems to have a blood lust to see Nintendo fail. Like... he seems legitimately angry. It's a little off-putting. If the 3DS does less than 800,000 in December in NA I'll gladly accept a perma-ban. This preemptive doom and gloom is getting tiresome. There is one very small, but important factor these analysts are over looking: many people who rely on a phone for gaming are people that have never owned or planned to own a handheld system. It's not taking away Sony and Nintendo's market, it's creating a new one.

GBA played movies.

 

[60_gig_PS3]

sort of ironic but the reason i dont like dedicated handhelds is because they have buttons.

tiny buttons make my wrists hurt.

 

[Father_Brain]

It's by Don Reisinger? He's been sounding the Nintendo is DOOMED drumbeat for years, since well before the "smartphones will kill dedicated handhelds" argument took off.

 

[TacticalFox88]

3DS needs to lose. Vita for life!

 

[Deku]

The last portable that only played games was the Game Boy Advance...

Anyway, who ever wrote that article a couple posts up seems to have a blood lust to see Nintendo fail. Like... he seems legitimately angry. It's a little off-putting. If the 3DS does less than 800,000 in December in NA I'll gladly accept a perma-ban. This preemptive doom and gloom is getting tiresome. There is one very small, but important factor these analysts are over looking: many people who rely on a phone for gaming are people that have never owned or planned to own a handheld system. It's not taking away Sony and Nintendo's market, it's creating a new one.

I'd like to say everything is fine but things clearly aren't. Even if you dismiss articles like that as schadenfreude, Nintendo clearly has problems.

They need to do a number of things they aren't doing, and their strategy to go up the foodchain of products by charging $250 for handhelds has backfired. What I'm concerned about is that this flailing by Iwata, basically drastic price cuts, and throwing games at consumers, show a lack of understanding of what they need to do.

The smartphone threat is in one sense overblown. Nintendo is not going to be a viable entity on the smartphone model of dollar games, but they aren't doing anything to provide an alternative to that.

Certainly a proprietary store with their own content with competitive pricing, and thousands of older games to play would be one such answer. That way, they can hive off their retail $30+ physical business instead of having a decrepit Eshop witih shitty DSI games and nothing else to play.

 

[OrangeGrayBlue]

GBA played movies.

I stand corrected. The point is gaming devices have had secondary features for quite a while, and this tendency has only increased as time goes on.

 

[BurntPork]

iPhone 5 vs 3DS here we go!

Slashgear: iPhone 5 will Officially Kill Off the Nintendo 3DS

Intredasting...

Gotta love the Apple media.

 

[rpmurphy]

Oh come on. They might have features, but they are tacked on, clunky, and are not sales drivers.

Do you really believe anyone bought a dsi to listen to mp3s?

You could just as well ask if games are significant sales drivers for iPods and iPhones, since that functionality was just as much "tacked on" (remember, before touchscreen there was the scroll wheel) as the music player was for the DSi or the PSP which accomplished that even earlier. It doesn't really matter anyway. The intent is clear that these devices are moving away from being designed for one purpose and nothing else. But they still all operate on the idea that the devices are designed to perform some functions extremely well while compromising on others, and that won't change any time soon.

The guy in the article is pretty delusional to believe that Apple will design the iPhone to catch up with the best of portable gaming, because that's just bad business.

 

[Gospel]

iPhone 5 vs 3DS here we go!

Slashgear: iPhone 5 will Officially Kill Off the Nintendo 3DS

Intredasting...

ohh, someone make a thread.

 

[BurntPork]

Awesome news. The original DQM is absolutely awesome.


Change the avatar, but never change, BurntPork.

Mario Kart 7 alone will sell more in the west than all the Vita titles that have been announced combined.

Mario Kart 7 will outsell all of Vita's games by far, but not combined. That's just plain silly. Plus, you have to keep in mind that a lot of the casual audience has moved to smartphones (don't try to deny this, since the 3DS's PSP-like lineup shows that Nintendo knows this and is trying to go after a core audience), and that Vita will get far more western support than Nintendo could ever dream of. Nintendo is neglecting the western audience now, and they need to put more muscle into attracting third-parties outside of Japan. DS beat PSP so badly by not competing directly with it. This time, Nintendo has thrown 3DS right at Vita. They're fighting for the exact same audience and Vita's hardware beats 3DS in every way (except internal storage). Nintendo needs really hard-hitting core games for western audiences. 3DS has next to nothing in that department.

That said, 3DS's strong Japanese lineup will keep it afloat in the west if most games are localized; it'll just not be even remotely close to where DS was.

Not saying it won't happen, but recently surveys have been showing that we've been seeing the major trend of flocking to less expensive systems. I expect that to remain the same with the new portables.

The problem is that 3DS is still expensive. :/

 

[Brazil]

Mario Kart 7 will outsell all of Vita's games by far, but not combined. That's just plain silly. Plus, you have to keep in mind that a lot of the casual audience has moved to smartphones (don't try to deny this, since the 3DS's PSP-like lineup shows that Nintendo knows this and is trying to go after a core audience),

21 million copies of Mario Kart DS sold. 28 million copies of Mario Kart Wii sold.

It's not silly, and it'll happen.

and that Vita will get far more western support than Nintendo could ever dream of.

Yeah, it shows, huh.

Nintendo is neglecting the western audience now, and they need to put more muscle into attracting third-parties outside of Japan. DS beat PSP so badly by not competing directly with it. This time, Nintendo has thrown 3DS right at Vita. They're fighting for the exact same audience and Vita's hardware beats 3DS in every way (except internal storage). Nintendo needs really hard-hitting core games for western audiences. 3DS has next to nothing in that department.

That said, 3DS's strong Japanese lineup will keep it afloat in the west if most games are localized; it'll just not be even remotely close to where DS was.

Nintendo never needed Western support for their handhelds, and Western third-parties never mattered in the handheld market. Besides, what Western support does the Vita have? CoD? Michael Jackson: The Experience?

Yeah, that's a lot better than the 3DS's.

The problem is that 3DS is still expensive. :/

Sure, buddy.

 

[schuelma]

Mario Kart 7 will outsell all of Vita's games by far, but not combined. That's just plain silly. Plus, you have to keep in mind that a lot of the casual audience has moved to smartphones (don't try to deny this, since the 3DS's PSP-like lineup shows that Nintendo knows this and is trying to go after a core audience), and that Vita will get far more western support than Nintendo could ever dream of. Nintendo is neglecting the western audience now, and they need to put more muscle into attracting third-parties outside of Japan. DS beat PSP so badly by not competing directly with it. This time, Nintendo has thrown 3DS right at Vita. They're fighting for the exact same audience and Vita's hardware beats 3DS in every way (except internal storage). Nintendo needs really hard-hitting core games for western audiences. 3DS has next to nothing in that department.

That said, 3DS's strong Japanese lineup will keep it afloat in the west if most games are localized; it'll just not be even remotely close to where DS was.


The problem is that 3DS is still expensive. :/

I don't know why I am doing this, but I really think you are overrating Vita's western 3rd party support.

Its predecessor was basically a dead platform in the west and unless 3rd parties get some major hits early, support will not be any significantly better than 3DS.


I would also add that Nintendo's own properties will sell plenty in the West as well.

 

[wsippel]

Mario Kart 7 will outsell all of Vita's games by far, but not combined. That's just plain silly. Plus, you have to keep in mind that a lot of the casual audience has moved to smartphones (don't try to deny this, since the 3DS's PSP-like lineup shows that Nintendo knows this and is trying to go after a core audience), and that Vita will get far more western support than Nintendo could ever dream of. Nintendo is neglecting the western audience now, and they need to put more muscle into attracting third-parties outside of Japan. DS beat PSP so badly by not competing directly with it. This time, Nintendo has thrown 3DS right at Vita. They're fighting for the exact same audience and Vita's hardware beats 3DS in every way (except internal storage). Nintendo needs really hard-hitting core games for western audiences. 3DS has next to nothing in that department.

That said, 3DS's strong Japanese lineup will keep it afloat in the west if most games are localized; it'll just not be even remotely close to where DS was.

Not sure if they really need it, because I don't think there's actually a market for those games on handhelds. I expect CoD to do about as much for Vita as GTA did for PSP.

 

[electroplankton]

In the West, portable games that sell are Nintendo IP, Nintendo published IPs (Layton, Inazuma, Dragon Quest), some Ubi-crap stuffs, Scribblenauts, some portable version of famous brand (Call of Duty, Guitar Hero) and that's all. Until Vita won't have this support, it won't succeed here.

 

[JimboJones]

The problem is that 3DS is still expensive. :/

You can get them for £129 on amazon uk, thats actually cheaper than some of DSiXL models.

 

[BurntPork]

You can get them for £129 on amazon uk, thats actually cheaper than some of DSiXL models.

I should have said in the US. The mass market upper-limit for handhelds here seems to be $130-150 here. With strong marketing, $170 can do as well as $150, but Nintendo doesn't seem to understand that. 3DS might have sold even better last month if Nintendo were smart enough to put a marketing push behind Nintendogs + Cats. Instead, they're completely ignoring DS's third biggest property. :/

Though, saying Vita will eat 3DS alive was an exaggeration. The two will be competitive, but unless Nintendo starts supporting properties that aren't Zelda or Mario on the west, it'll fall a bit behind.

 

[Sadist]

People thinking western handheld support will make a difference.

Muhahahaha

 

[daakusedo]

People thinking western handheld support will make a difference.

Muhahahaha

Yes, that's one bad argument.
Plus the 3ds/vita battle recycle the theorical more power will help for bigger environments, better ia, physics and groundbreaking gameplay possibilities...

 

[French]

Vita slowly dying everyday.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

I don't know why I am doing this, but I really think you are overrating Vita's western 3rd party support.

Its predecessor was basically a dead platform in the west and unless 3rd parties get some major hits early, support will not be any significantly better than 3DS.


I would also add that Nintendo's own properties will sell plenty in the West as well.

I know your trying to be impartial but you think Nintendo's western support is better than Vita's?

I see this as a strong Nintendo platform with the same returning games plus MH. Vita isn't severely outclassed, especially in the west.

I also like how every game liks this people say "bye bye Vita" or Vita dying". But when Vita gets another game to the stable announced, no one is damning the 3DS.

 

[Truth101]

I know your trying to be impartial but you think Nintendo's western support is better than Vita's?

I see this as a strong Nintendo platform with the same returning games plus MH. Vita isn't severely outclassed, especially in the west.

1st party Nintendo titles outclass anything announced on VITA in the West/Japan about 20x over.

 

[duckroll]

Vita slowly dying everyday.

Dying? Or stillborn? Food for thought!

 

[Infinite]

I know your trying to be impartial but you think Nintendo's western support is better than Vita's?

I see this as a strong Nintendo platform with the same returning games plus MH. Vita isn't severely outclassed, especially in the west.

The big difference maker you seem to be over looking is Nintendo's own first party games which has been a dominant force in the west for the past several hand held generations.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

1st party Nintendo titles outclass anything announced on VITA in the West/Japan about 20x over.

They Japan support is one thing BUT the west, it's not outclassed at all. I will never argue against Nintendo's stable (all be rather repetitive). I will argue this more on the consoles where despite their stable, they are outclassed by Sony 1st party but this isn't handheld vs console. The west is not some unanimous victory for 3DS though. I'm still anticipating no western games for 3DS and quite a few for VITA. Japan is about even for me on both but in favor of Nintendo slightly.

Dying? Or stillborn? Food for thought!

I will never argue against the facts, I'm merely talking SW mind you. Of course 3DS looks to be a sure success especially post price reduction.

I will debate SW any day, especially since it's a valid discussion but not sure if this is the thread.

 

[Sadist]

I know your trying to be impartial but you think Nintendo's western support is better than Vita's?

Well no. The Vita has CoD (we still don't anything about it) and a BioShock game. But two titles just won't cut it.

I also like how every game liks this people say "bye bye Vita" or Vita dying". But when Vita gets another game to the stable announced, no one is damning the 3DS.

Overreaction.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

Well no. The Vita has CoD (we still don't anything about it) and a BioShock game. But two titles just won't cut it.


Overreaction.

Always on both ends of the spectrum

I'm as impartial as I can be but hate it when a competitors lineup is dissed or overlooked.

And yes, 2 won't cut it but the majority of good games (and some ports) are western are much better than what I've seen for 3DS. Too much deviation though and I'm not here to argue or insult anyone's lineup. They are both strong, despite the death calls and such for Vita.

 

[Alrus]

They Japan support is one thing BUT the west, it's not outclassed at all. I will never argue against Nintendo's stable (all be rather repetitive). I will argue this more on the consoles where despite their stable, they are outclassed by Sony 1st party but this isn't handheld vs console. The west is not some unanimous victory for 3DS though. I'm still anticipating no western games for 3DS and quite a few for VITA. Japan is about even for me on both but in favor of Nintendo slightly.


I will never argue against the facts, I'm merely talking SW mind you. Of course 3DS looks to be a sure success especially post price reduction.

I will debate SW any day, especially since it's a valid discussion but not sure if this is the thread.

Are we speaking from a sales point of view or quality/diversity of the games in question here? Because sales-wise, the only title that could rival Nintendo's offerings is CoD and we don't know anything about it.

 

[French]

I also like how every game liks this people say "bye bye Vita" or Vita dying". But when Vita gets another game to the stable announced, no one is damning the 3DS.

It's because the 3DS has a lot more system sellers/big games than the Vita.

 

[Acosta]

BRING YOUR FUCKING STUPID CONSOLE WARS ELSEWHERE FOR GOD'S SAKE.

In other news:

Really excited to see this!

 

[LiquidMetal14]

It's because the 3DS has a lot more system sellers/big games than the Vita.

Don't disagree there.

Are we speaking from a sales point of view or quality/diversity of the games in question here? Because sales-wise, the only title that could rival Nintendo's offerings is CoD and we don't know anything about it.

Sales wise Nintendo has the guns. That doesn't mean the lineup is better by default though. I have cared less about the sales than the quality of the games for years. I want great games to sell on any platform though.

BRING YOUR FUCKING STUPID CONSOLE WARS ELSEWHERE FOR GOD'S SAKE.

I won't go anywhere to argue this. It came up before my post and further deliberated on it.

If you think that's what it is then you're mistaken.

I don't like it when dirt is thrown like "vita dying" though. We all know it will be outsold, the games are what we should be vigorous about though. Not worrying about tongue and cheek, shoot from the hip comments.

 

[Alexios]

I also like how every game liks this people say "bye bye Vita" or Vita dying". But when Vita gets another game to the stable announced, no one is damning the 3DS.

Because everyone is damning Nintendo all the time anyway, a game announced isn't a special time to do it. Shit, we had all those Nintendoomed articles over the stock prices and other shit crop up right after a damn glorious pre-TGS show, lol. Also all the Apple > Nintendoomed stuff which somehow manage to mostly make it Apple vs Nintendo rather than Apple > Hanhelds as if Nintendo is in a category of their own and only that category is Apple heading into. Nevermind all the stuff before the pre-TGS show due to the add on and the other rumours. Vita has yet to get an announcement of this caliber anyway (not necessarily this one game, but all the things showing Square is probably already considering 3DS for the next mainline DQ). And I don't think Vita will die myself, I'm just saying. I think Sony has the potential to take the handheld world by storm just like the Xbox did the console world and shaped the industry's future, if they play their cards right, by getting the Western developer on it and expanding in that area. Just like Western developers took over consoles, they might handle this in a way that they take over handhelds also, diminishing Nintendo's potential victory in Japan further. These developers didn't care about consoles pre-Xbox, they don't care about handhelds still it seems, but things changed and can change.

 

[Cipherr]

N/m someone else said it

 

[Sadist]

And yes, 2 won't cut it but the majority of good games (and some ports) are western are much better than what I've seen for 3DS. Too much deviation though and I'm not here to argue or insult anyone's lineup. They are both strong, despite the death calls and such for Vita.

Really? Which ones?

I'm thinking Rayman Origins, F1 2011, Assasin's Creed and uhh... Lego Harry Potter years 5-7? Which ones did I miss?

Edit: whoops, didn't see Duckie's post nevermind

 

[Laguna]

I know your trying to be impartial but you think Nintendo's western support is better than Vita's?

I see this as a strong Nintendo platform with the same returning games plus MH. Vita isn't severely outclassed, especially in the west.

I also like how every game liks this people say "bye bye Vita" or Vita dying". But when Vita gets another game to the stable announced, no one is damning the 3DS.

1. The user called "French" was the only one who said "Vita is dying" and he actually is a Vita-fan

2. people only exaggerated when huge 3rd party titles like Monster Hunter and Dragon Quest were announced - you know mega-sellers in Japan
3. this announcement pretty much reassures us that there´ll be a mainline DQ games in future be it ports / remakes or even DQ11 and this would be a pretty big deal over there.

4. western publishers aren´t that interested in handheld games on the other hand the Japanese ones are and it´s important to convince them that you have a viable platform - huge franchises that help to create a big userbase helps on this matter