3DS: New Hotness or Virtual Boy all over again?

Well E3 is over, another Expo has come and gone after unveiling the latest and greatest in video gaming technology. One of the big things that was revealed this year was the new 3DS, the latest Nintendo handled system.  Now I am a big Nintendo fan, and I will totally support them in everything they do. HOWEVER…I will play devil’s advocate this one time with the 3DS. Is it really worth it? Is it really necessary? Lets look at some reasons why it isn’t.

Over-Complicating the Simple

The whole ‘slider’ system at the top of the screen allows the players to adjust the screen settings and 3D-ness (yes its a new word I made up) of the screen. This shows Nintendo is always looking out for us. Always making sure to cater to each of the different player’s needs. Every person in the world has their own unique lateral view, and the slider allows you to adjust this. Thanks, Nintendo!

However, for some people or younger gamers,  this feature will be far too complex for one to grasp. And then they will turn around and blame Nintendo for not thinking of the player and figuring not to blame their own genetic make up and line of vision. Which pretty much goes agaisnt what I said before about Nintendo always thinking about the individual gamers…whoops.

Will it Work For Everything?

At the presentation we saw ALOT of game companies already on board for this. And several companies already have games ready for this system on the release date. Now I am sure alot of the games they had on display at E3 were amzing, and they looked OUTSTANDING in 3D. Along with amazing reception the crowd gave as they listed off the companies that will produce games for the 3Ds (lets ignore the dead silence and snickering the crowd gave when they said THQ), shows that Nintendo is very excited about this. Now let’s take a step back and be really honest here, I can gaurantee you 25% of the games that are made with 3D rendered polygons will look like crud in 3D. I know people will disagree but this is MY personal opinion here based on the track record the DS has. I see many good games that look really fugly, or hey maybe I am being biased, prove me wrong Nintendo.

DS isn’t really new stuff anymore.

Now lets be honest here people. Nintendo never really presents anything NEW per say when it comes to their line of portable systems. Pretty much what they did, and its pretty ingenious of them mind you, is that they never put out anything grand and new. All they do is gradually add one new thing to the DS, which is the same thing Apple does with their products, what this does is that it keeps the product fresh in the minds of the consumer, it makes them want to purchase the new product for new technology, and it still lets them continue selling the previous model.

However…it’s still the same thing. Nintendo, I love you with all my heart but stop releasing a new DS every other year! With your track record we will probably see a 3DS followed by a 3DSi and then a 3DSXL in over the span of 3 years! Let us ride the product for a bit before unveiling a new hotness.

Virtual Boy

Nuff Said…

Now I say all of this not because I am anti-Nintendo. I am all for Nintendo and the machine that prints the money…however I just feel that we should sit back and really think about if a system like this is really the new amazing thing or is it a machine fad that will last for only so long before we are back to using a normal DS. Time will tell and as I said before, prove me wrong Nintendo.