HUELEN10
Member
As soon as Nintendo announced its upcoming handheld systems, the New Nintendo 3DS and the New Nintendo 3DS XL, and after I had read up on it, I knew exactly what it was. As soon as I talked to more people IRL, I noticed that there were a lot of different opinions and answers; same ended up being true online as well.
This isn't the first time I've heard of similar vibes when it comes to a new Nintendo handheld. This reminds me a bit of when the DSi came out, some people calling it a successor, some people calling it next-gen, and some people even calling it just a DS Lite with cameras. I want to take a look at how people view Nintendo's handhelds, but in order to do that, we need to start from the beginning. Below is a picture with release dates for every single Nintendo cartridge handheld minus Pokemon Mini; in it, are some labels as well. I've chosen these carefully and I believe they best reflect the systems. Before I get started, let me define and clarify these words for the purpose of this thread. I will use console-based examples to clarify more easily.
The Game Boy started it all, and went on trucking for a long time before its redesign, the Game Boy Pocket. The GB Pocket was a sleeker, better GameBoy with a better screen, but originally removed the original's helpful power LED in favor of a red label on the power-toggle (not unlike a Genesis 3). Soon after, it was revised with the return of the light which shone bright for full power, and went dimmer the less battery you had. Two years after its debut, the Game Boy Light was released. The GB Light was Japan only and was sold alongside the pocket; it did not replace it. For (from the information I gathered) a slightly higher price, you got a slightly larger system with a built-in backlight for nighttime play. That same year though, the GB's first successor came to market; her name was Game Boy Color.
GBC was all about having full-color games, but it wasn't merely a Game Boy with color as the name implied; this thing actually had different specs from the Game Boy! Aside from the color screen, it also boasted 2X the clockspeed and 4X the RAM, and it also introduced a new communication method: IR. Because of this measurable (but not mind-blowing) update in hardware, new games could be made. This, of course, meant that these new games could not be played on its predecessor's hardware, just like you can't be expected to play Super Mario World on an NES. Three types of cartridges came to be because of this: Type 1, Type 2, & Type 3.
So even though the leap wasn't mind-blowing, it was still a leap, and the GBC lived fruitfully... for a bit! In just 3 years after its debut, its successor would come along to replace it. In those 3 years, in a move that hasn't been seen since, a Nintendo handheld existed with no revisions, redesigns, or concurrent systems; truly an outlier as you will soon see! Anyways, out with the 8-bit and in with the 32, it's Game Boy Advance time!
This beast of a system came out 3 years after the GBC, and it packed a wallop! The difference from GBC games and GBA games was night and day! I mean, just take a look at what this thing was capable of! It should go without saying, but GBA games could not run on prior systems; the hardware was just way too weak in comparison. Thankfully though, the GBA could actually play GB and GBC games, so people could play 3 generations of Game Boy on one machine! As nice as the internals were for its time, there was a lot of criticism for it mainly because of its hard-to-see screen. Two years and a gorillion 3rd-party accessories and frontlight mods later, it's redesign, the GBA SP was born. Though it lost the ability to use headphones without an adapter, it gained a rechargeable battery, the ability to use an AC adapter (which was not possible in the original without an adapter that went into the battery compartment), and most importantly, a side-lit screen that made it easier to see. In 2005, this GBA SP had a revision which replaced the side-lit screen with a proper backlit one; this revision came out around the same time that the GBA's concurrent came out. that concurrent system was the Game boy Micro. The GB Micro was a sleek, tiny aluminum concurrent system that dropped GB/C BC in favor of size and marketability to the then-dominating iPod Mini fandom. Curiously enough, both the GBA SP revision and its concurrent came out in 2005 and were the last Game Boys ever made, but they we're Nintendo's main draw; a year earlier Nintendo started a shift with a new portable line that would replace it. The system that would start that change was called Nintendo DS, and when it was first revealed...
it was uuuuuuuuugly! Originally marketed as a "third pillar" system, this thing would go to replace the entire GameBoy line, a legacy that lasted 3 systems. After its debut at E3 2004, this monstrosity got redesigned in a slightly sleeker form factor in that same fall, and it soon became a hit. This thing was capable of 802.11 B wireless communication, could do real 3D, and had a touch screen and microphone. to complement its dual-screen foldable factor. Though it could play GBA games (but not GB or GBC carts), the GBA couldn't play DS games, games that were now on cards as opposed to carts. Soon after launch, DS became a runaway hit with tons of content from both Nintendo and third parties, and so as with other systems, Nintendo made it sleek and redesigned and replaced it as the DS lite, a system with all of the features, none of the bulk, and a better screen with multiple brightness settings. Things were going well with it, and it was selling well, but Nintendo decided to shake things up a bit. In fall of 2008, completely out of nowhere, Nintendo announced its new hardware, the Nintendo DSi.
At first, it looked like a slightly newer redesign, but as time went on, we learned that this was not the case. In addition to a slightly revised shape and the abandonment of glossy plastic in favor of a nice matte feel, this hardware has a new system menu, 2 cameras (front and back), and an SD card slot. Internally, it boasted 2X the clockspeed and 4X the RAM, just like the Game Boy Color did a decade prior! It wasn't a mind-blowing leap, but the hardware was certainly beefier, and more capable. Besides boosts in speed and memory, the NIC was upgraded too, allowing to connect to WPA networks as well as the now-outdated WEP networks that the DS was compatible with. Shortly after the reveal, it was learned that like the GBC, the DSi would have 3 types of software for it.
It had beefy hardware compared to the DSi, making it a measurable jump, and it boasted a 3D top screen, gyroscope, and even an analog slide pad (later renamed circle pad). It could play everything the DSi could play too! After it's release in 2011 which started off rocky, the 3DS soon began to gain momentum, enough to release two concurrents in its lifetime. The first was the 3DS XL, and as the DSi XL before it, was a system that was a larger 3DS. The second concurrent came out a year ago, and is called Nintendo 2DS. The 2DS is a non-folding unit sold only in western market that is positioned as a child or entry-level variant that plays everything the 3DS can, yet lacks a stereo-3D screen. In some markets, the 3DS XL was marketed as an "upgrade", so the original model is no longer marketed in some regions. Things with 3DS are looking up, with the imminent release of Smash brothers, but its future is unclear after that; that is, until now.
Just days ago, New Nintendo 3DS was announced. The hardware boasts built-in 2nd analog control functionality and 2 additional shoulder buttons that were previously sold separately as an accessory known as the Circle Pad Pro. Additionally, it improves the way stereo 3D is seen on the screen by way of eye-tracking. It also includes an updated, faster NIC and an ambient light sensor. Additionally though, it boast something else as well; like the GBC and the DSi, this thing is actually more powerful than its predecessor! Like those systems, it will also have games enhanced for it, and games that are made to work solely on it, that previous hardware can't handle because it simply lacks the oomph. The first of these exclusive titles was revealed, and it's Xenoblade!
What will the other exclusive titles be? Will there be more retail ones, or download ones? Will most 3DS games coming out now be new 3DS enhanced cards? Finally, will the lifespan of this 7th cart/card-based Nintendo handheld be short overlooked like the DSi and GBC, or will it go long? These are questions that will be answered in time.
So, where do we go now? As I said in the beginning, I want to take a look at how people perceive these systems. There are some people I know that bought a DSi thinking it would be a next-gen successor an experience when it was in fact a GBC-like successor. Other people, people who got a 3DS, bought an XL to replace it seeing it as a revision instead of a concurrent, bashing the existence of the New 3DS XL instead. Most people I know consider the GBC the successor to the Game Boy, and I'd like to think that after considering what's on the GBC section in the writeup above, you will too. If that is the case, and I believe it is, how can one not see the DSi as the successor to the DS? Just because it's a weak upgrade or gimmicky? If one uses that logic, one runs the risk of calling the Wii a redesign of the GCN instead of its successor (which some people do). Is the marketing force behind some Nintendo branches harming the product? NOA just couldn't let the DS Lite die, confusing the market about DSi and poised the 3DS XL as an upgrade, leading some to think it was its redesign (its GBA SP, its GB Pocket, its DS Lite). Finally, in the case of New Nintendo 3DS, an Exclusive was one of the first things announced, something that was kinda put aside in the DSi reveal. Does this mean Nintendo wants people to realize that this truly is their next system, as stop-gap and GBC-like as it may be? The logo SCREAMS amiibo, is this a mere gateway to it?
How do you view Nintendo's handhelds? How do you think Nintendo will position New Nintendo 3DS?
Random People On The Street And On The Web said:
This isn't the first time I've heard of similar vibes when it comes to a new Nintendo handheld. This reminds me a bit of when the DSi came out, some people calling it a successor, some people calling it next-gen, and some people even calling it just a DS Lite with cameras. I want to take a look at how people view Nintendo's handhelds, but in order to do that, we need to start from the beginning. Below is a picture with release dates for every single Nintendo cartridge handheld minus Pokemon Mini; in it, are some labels as well. I've chosen these carefully and I believe they best reflect the systems. Before I get started, let me define and clarify these words for the purpose of this thread. I will use console-based examples to clarify more easily.
- Redesign: A redesign is simply when a gaming system is redesigned in a new form factor, replacing the original, but is still the same system at its core with the same library. Redesigns may also add or remove certain functionality, but said functionality does not impede or boost the library. Console examples of this would include the SNES Jr to the original Super Nintendo (removed some video out options), the PS2 slim to the original PS2 (added a built-in NIC), and the Wii Mini (aka RVL-201 which was a toploader which had no NIC, SD card, BC, or GCN ports to say the least)
- Revision: A revision for the purpose of this thread is an instantly-noticable change in a specific design of a system that is not a full redesign of the system. To most people though, this revision does not itself classify the system as a different design of the system. A perfect console example would be the DOL-101 model of GCN, which removes component video out, removable logo, and an un-used bottom port. Revisions for the sake of this thread do not refer to the gorillions of original Xbox 360, original PS2, and DS Lite variants; chips get smaller, drives get swapped, and screens get crappier.
- Concurrent: A concurrent is a model of a system that is not a redesign that replaces the system, but rather is sold in parallel to it (aka concurrently). Console examples of this are the Panasonic Q to the GCN and the PSX DVR thingy to the PS2, neither of which were redesigns of their systems, but rather sold alongside them.
As you might have noticed, they are grouped by color. Each color represents one system and its redesigns and concurrents. First, let's start with the Game Boy.
The Game Boy started it all, and went on trucking for a long time before its redesign, the Game Boy Pocket. The GB Pocket was a sleeker, better GameBoy with a better screen, but originally removed the original's helpful power LED in favor of a red label on the power-toggle (not unlike a Genesis 3). Soon after, it was revised with the return of the light which shone bright for full power, and went dimmer the less battery you had. Two years after its debut, the Game Boy Light was released. The GB Light was Japan only and was sold alongside the pocket; it did not replace it. For (from the information I gathered) a slightly higher price, you got a slightly larger system with a built-in backlight for nighttime play. That same year though, the GB's first successor came to market; her name was Game Boy Color.
GBC was all about having full-color games, but it wasn't merely a Game Boy with color as the name implied; this thing actually had different specs from the Game Boy! Aside from the color screen, it also boasted 2X the clockspeed and 4X the RAM, and it also introduced a new communication method: IR. Because of this measurable (but not mind-blowing) update in hardware, new games could be made. This, of course, meant that these new games could not be played on its predecessor's hardware, just like you can't be expected to play Super Mario World on an NES. Three types of cartridges came to be because of this: Type 1, Type 2, & Type 3.
- Type 1 games referred to the original gray GB carts. These could play in every GB as well as the backwards-compatible GBC. When played on GBC, one could, upon bootup, choose a palette of colors that would replace the original game's shades of gray. Results varied, and though novel, colorizing old games did not truly take advantage of the new hardware.
- Type 2 games came in black carts, and played in GB and GBC hardware. Unlike type 1, type 2 games when run on a GBC allowed the game to take advantage of the hardware's enhancements, allowing for more content and actual, varied color palettes. The GBC version of Wario land II and The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX are examples of type 2 carts.
- Type 3 games came in clear carts and could ONLY be played on the GBC. These games included color palettes even better than type 2 games, taking full advantage of the hardware; they could really take advantage of the screen, speed, and RAM to the fullest in ways that no Game Boy could. Great examples include Wario Land 3, Super Mario Bros DX, and Shantae.
So even though the leap wasn't mind-blowing, it was still a leap, and the GBC lived fruitfully... for a bit! In just 3 years after its debut, its successor would come along to replace it. In those 3 years, in a move that hasn't been seen since, a Nintendo handheld existed with no revisions, redesigns, or concurrent systems; truly an outlier as you will soon see! Anyways, out with the 8-bit and in with the 32, it's Game Boy Advance time!
This beast of a system came out 3 years after the GBC, and it packed a wallop! The difference from GBC games and GBA games was night and day! I mean, just take a look at what this thing was capable of! It should go without saying, but GBA games could not run on prior systems; the hardware was just way too weak in comparison. Thankfully though, the GBA could actually play GB and GBC games, so people could play 3 generations of Game Boy on one machine! As nice as the internals were for its time, there was a lot of criticism for it mainly because of its hard-to-see screen. Two years and a gorillion 3rd-party accessories and frontlight mods later, it's redesign, the GBA SP was born. Though it lost the ability to use headphones without an adapter, it gained a rechargeable battery, the ability to use an AC adapter (which was not possible in the original without an adapter that went into the battery compartment), and most importantly, a side-lit screen that made it easier to see. In 2005, this GBA SP had a revision which replaced the side-lit screen with a proper backlit one; this revision came out around the same time that the GBA's concurrent came out. that concurrent system was the Game boy Micro. The GB Micro was a sleek, tiny aluminum concurrent system that dropped GB/C BC in favor of size and marketability to the then-dominating iPod Mini fandom. Curiously enough, both the GBA SP revision and its concurrent came out in 2005 and were the last Game Boys ever made, but they we're Nintendo's main draw; a year earlier Nintendo started a shift with a new portable line that would replace it. The system that would start that change was called Nintendo DS, and when it was first revealed...
it was uuuuuuuuugly! Originally marketed as a "third pillar" system, this thing would go to replace the entire GameBoy line, a legacy that lasted 3 systems. After its debut at E3 2004, this monstrosity got redesigned in a slightly sleeker form factor in that same fall, and it soon became a hit. This thing was capable of 802.11 B wireless communication, could do real 3D, and had a touch screen and microphone. to complement its dual-screen foldable factor. Though it could play GBA games (but not GB or GBC carts), the GBA couldn't play DS games, games that were now on cards as opposed to carts. Soon after launch, DS became a runaway hit with tons of content from both Nintendo and third parties, and so as with other systems, Nintendo made it sleek and redesigned and replaced it as the DS lite, a system with all of the features, none of the bulk, and a better screen with multiple brightness settings. Things were going well with it, and it was selling well, but Nintendo decided to shake things up a bit. In fall of 2008, completely out of nowhere, Nintendo announced its new hardware, the Nintendo DSi.
At first, it looked like a slightly newer redesign, but as time went on, we learned that this was not the case. In addition to a slightly revised shape and the abandonment of glossy plastic in favor of a nice matte feel, this hardware has a new system menu, 2 cameras (front and back), and an SD card slot. Internally, it boasted 2X the clockspeed and 4X the RAM, just like the Game Boy Color did a decade prior! It wasn't a mind-blowing leap, but the hardware was certainly beefier, and more capable. Besides boosts in speed and memory, the NIC was upgraded too, allowing to connect to WPA networks as well as the now-outdated WEP networks that the DS was compatible with. Shortly after the reveal, it was learned that like the GBC, the DSi would have 3 types of software for it.
- Type 1 was simply DS games; these work on any DS system or DSi system provided they don't require something attached to the GBA slot, which was removed on the DSi.
- Type 2 games were titles that were enhanced for the new Nintendo DSi hardware. These games ran on DS mode on a DS, and on DSi mode on a DSi. When played on a DSi, they could only be played on a system which region matched that of the game, as DSi cards were the first handheld games by Nintendo to support region-locking. Notable DSi Enhanced games are Pokemon Black (supports WPA), Idolm@ster Dearly Stars (supports the camera function) and Korg DS-10 plus (supports a ton more advance features, including doubling the number of drum tracks due to the added power and memory of the DSi hardware).
- Type 3 games were DSi only games. These games, such as Konami's Foto Showdown, could only be played on a DSi of the same region. At retail, these games came in distinctive white packaging with a bottom red ledger informing that the title was a DSi exclusive.
It had beefy hardware compared to the DSi, making it a measurable jump, and it boasted a 3D top screen, gyroscope, and even an analog slide pad (later renamed circle pad). It could play everything the DSi could play too! After it's release in 2011 which started off rocky, the 3DS soon began to gain momentum, enough to release two concurrents in its lifetime. The first was the 3DS XL, and as the DSi XL before it, was a system that was a larger 3DS. The second concurrent came out a year ago, and is called Nintendo 2DS. The 2DS is a non-folding unit sold only in western market that is positioned as a child or entry-level variant that plays everything the 3DS can, yet lacks a stereo-3D screen. In some markets, the 3DS XL was marketed as an "upgrade", so the original model is no longer marketed in some regions. Things with 3DS are looking up, with the imminent release of Smash brothers, but its future is unclear after that; that is, until now.
Just days ago, New Nintendo 3DS was announced. The hardware boasts built-in 2nd analog control functionality and 2 additional shoulder buttons that were previously sold separately as an accessory known as the Circle Pad Pro. Additionally, it improves the way stereo 3D is seen on the screen by way of eye-tracking. It also includes an updated, faster NIC and an ambient light sensor. Additionally though, it boast something else as well; like the GBC and the DSi, this thing is actually more powerful than its predecessor! Like those systems, it will also have games enhanced for it, and games that are made to work solely on it, that previous hardware can't handle because it simply lacks the oomph. The first of these exclusive titles was revealed, and it's Xenoblade!
What will the other exclusive titles be? Will there be more retail ones, or download ones? Will most 3DS games coming out now be new 3DS enhanced cards? Finally, will the lifespan of this 7th cart/card-based Nintendo handheld be short overlooked like the DSi and GBC, or will it go long? These are questions that will be answered in time.
So, where do we go now? As I said in the beginning, I want to take a look at how people perceive these systems. There are some people I know that bought a DSi thinking it would be a next-gen successor an experience when it was in fact a GBC-like successor. Other people, people who got a 3DS, bought an XL to replace it seeing it as a revision instead of a concurrent, bashing the existence of the New 3DS XL instead. Most people I know consider the GBC the successor to the Game Boy, and I'd like to think that after considering what's on the GBC section in the writeup above, you will too. If that is the case, and I believe it is, how can one not see the DSi as the successor to the DS? Just because it's a weak upgrade or gimmicky? If one uses that logic, one runs the risk of calling the Wii a redesign of the GCN instead of its successor (which some people do). Is the marketing force behind some Nintendo branches harming the product? NOA just couldn't let the DS Lite die, confusing the market about DSi and poised the 3DS XL as an upgrade, leading some to think it was its redesign (its GBA SP, its GB Pocket, its DS Lite). Finally, in the case of New Nintendo 3DS, an Exclusive was one of the first things announced, something that was kinda put aside in the DSi reveal. Does this mean Nintendo wants people to realize that this truly is their next system, as stop-gap and GBC-like as it may be? The logo SCREAMS amiibo, is this a mere gateway to it?
How do you view Nintendo's handhelds? How do you think Nintendo will position New Nintendo 3DS?
