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    Nintendo 3DS

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    The Nintendo 3DS is a portable game console produced by Nintendo. The handheld features stereoscopic 3D technology that doesn't require glasses. It was released in Japan on February 26, 2011 and in North America on March 27, 2011.

    Nintendo goes just a little crazier...

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    Phoenix654

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    Edited By Phoenix654

    I've been a gamer since I was 3 or so, when my family picked up an NES at last. It came with a Mario/Duck Hunt/World Class Track Meet game cart as well as two controllers, a Zapper and the Running Pad. We were a Nintendo family for a long time, seeing them all the way through the nutty decision that was the N64. After that point, I'd started working and could afford my own systems, where I bought and Xbox, eventually followed by the PS2 and GameCube (mainly to be a Smash Bros. device). It seems that lately, Nintendo has been going steadily crazier if only for the hell of it. They seem to think that unconventional decisions and bizarre marketing choices are what makes them... them.

    It's just that... Nintendo's always been an odd company when it comes to video game decisions and it's mostly worked for them. No one could have expected the amazing success that the DS or the Wii would have when they were first announced and good for them for going down the path less travelled by. They just don't seem to know how to maintain such successes without seeming jaw droppingly nuts. Today's announcements of Wii U price drops and a new DS model are the perfect yin and yang examples of the house that Mario built.

    On the one hand, lowering the price of the Wii U is a good idea. The abysmal sales, lack of software and poor messaging ("Isn't it just an new controller for my Wii?") are keeping the system from being more accepted and successful. Lowering the price will help, but it's still just 100 bucks shy of the flashy new PS4. It's the right move, but it might be a bit too late for the Wii's successor. The 2DS, however, just seems like an exercise in insanity.

    Let's take a look at a 3DS. It's foldable, it's compact, it has an interesting feature in it's 3D screen that is possibly underutilized but still neat. So Nintendo has taken all of that into account and thrown all of it out the window. Now you have a solid square of plastic which won't fit into any carrying case designed for the 3DS (brilliant in terms of selling carrying cases), doesn't look terribly compact (I can't imagine fitting it into a pocket on anything I own) and lacks the feature that was the original systems show pony piece, the 3D screen. All of this obviously helps drop the price... but only by $40. If it were an even hundred ($99.99 MSRP, let's say), this system would be flying off the shelves come holiday. At $129.99 though, it still seems a bit much for what you're getting. Not that it matters, since the 3DS is the top selling console currently, but that may be because people are saving up for the big consoles this November.

    All in all, it's a typical Nintendo move, it's just their cup of out-of-left-field*. And we're not even playing baseball. Besides, now we can look forward to a 2DS XL in the future... an even less portable handheld system. I know people will bring up iPads & tablets as being larger than the 2DS already, I know. But those are multi-use items that I can also read a newspaper/book on or check my email or watch a YouTube video. All the Nintendo tablet will do is play games... which is what Nintendo stuff always does. Maybe they aren't crazy after all. Maybe it's just Nintendo business as usual.

    *See GameBoy Micro, Complete history of...

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    awesomeusername

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    #1  Edited By awesomeusername

    Nintendo is the Capcom of hardware.

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    Oscar__Explosion

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    The 2DS will be flying off the shelves come holiday. It's a cheaper unit that is less prone to breaking vs. the current 3DS. Perfect for kids.

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    DarthOrange

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    #3  Edited By DarthOrange

    Now I only have to pay $130 for a Pokemon machine instead of $170 or $200. I agree though, if they could have hit $99 this holiday the thing would sell like crazy.

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    xyzygy

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    I really love it. I like how there aren't any moving parts and I think it just looks really slick. Can't wait to get my hands on one.

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    Phoenix654

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    #5  Edited By Phoenix654

    @oscar__explosion said:

    The 2DS will be flying off the shelves come holiday. It's a cheaper unit that is less prone to breaking vs. the current 3DS. Perfect for kids.

    Oh, I completely agree. It's tactically brilliant. I just feel like it's another confusing piece of hardware. There's a Polygon opinion piece that expresses it perfectly in the following sentences...

    "DS games run on the DS, 3DS and 2DS; 3DS games run on the 3DS and the 2DS, but not the DS; and there are no 2DS games.

    Wii U runs Wii and Wii U games, but to play Wii games you'll need to run the Wii on the Wii U. Wii doesn't run Wii U games. The GamePad is portable, but it's not mobile, and it's like a DS, but it doesn't play DS games."

    It'll sell, it'll confuse, it'll be textbook Nintendo.

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    Sooty

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    The 2DS will be flying off the shelves come holiday. It's a cheaper unit that is less prone to breaking vs. the current 3DS. Perfect for kids.

    Well there are two ways to look at it; screens exposed, but no hinge to break.

    Either way kids will fuck it up.

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    Sooty

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    #7  Edited By Sooty

    The 2DS will be flying off the shelves come holiday. It's a cheaper unit that is less prone to breaking vs. the current 3DS. Perfect for kids.

    Well there are two ways to look at it; screens exposed, but no hinge to break.

    Either way kids will fuck it up.

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    MikkaQ

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    #8  Edited By MikkaQ

    @sooty said:

    @oscar__explosion said:

    The 2DS will be flying off the shelves come holiday. It's a cheaper unit that is less prone to breaking vs. the current 3DS. Perfect for kids.

    Well there are two ways to look at it; screens exposed, but no hinge to break.

    Either way kids will fuck it up.

    True plus, it's not like this has been a problem in the last 9 years of the DS being around, or the GBA SP before it. Those hinges are reliable enough.

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    toowalrus

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    What's wrong with you people? GBA Micro was fuckin' rad. I'm still pissed that my brother dropped mine in the toilet and broke it. Jerk.

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    Flappy

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    What's wrong with you people? GBA Micro was fuckin' rad. I'm still pissed that my brother dropped mine in the toilet and broke it. Jerk.

    I can understand dropping it, but the toilet of all places?

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    BisonHero

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    It is kinda crazy that this is the first Nintendo platform to get a redesign every single year.

    • 2011: 3DS
    • 2012: 3DS XL
    • 2013: 2DS

    I'm worried that they're going to try to continue that pace.

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    MysteriousBob

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    #13  Edited By MysteriousBob

    The 2DS is designed for children. Am I the only one who realises this? Its actually a pretty fucking smart decision outside of its rather poor name.

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    Example1013

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    Part of the problem with the 3DS from the start has been adding a "feature", which adds a significant amount to the costs of the hardware, that doesn't work right like 80% of the time, and then on top of it is unusable by ~1-4% of customers (assuming the distribution of stereoblindness in Nintendo customers is relatively similar to that of the general population).

    Personally I know I had 0 interest in buying a 3DS because I'm stereoblind, and paying an extra $40-50 overhead for a 3D feature that I will literally never be able to use is silly. I might pick one up eventually now that there's a lower price-point that doesn't include the 3D hardware.

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    Scampbell

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    #17  Edited By Scampbell
    • Cheap(ish).
    • Simplistic design.
    • No dangerous 3D.

    The perfect Christmas present for young children.

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    Scampbell

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    #18  Edited By Scampbell
    • Cheap(ish).
    • Simplistic design.
    • No dangerous 3D.

    The perfect Christmas present for young children.

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    Phoenix654

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    What's wrong with you people? GBA Micro was fuckin' rad. I'm still pissed that my brother dropped mine in the toilet and broke it. Jerk.

    Unless you wanted to read text of any kind without straining your eyes... I just know I never sold many when I worked at a nameless giraffe mascoted toy store. Not until the black Friday when they went for half price anyway; Then they all vanished.

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    Sooty

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    #20  Edited By Sooty

    @example1013 said:

    Part of the problem with the 3DS from the start has been adding a "feature", which adds a significant amount to the costs of the hardware, that doesn't work right like 80% of the time, and then on top of it is unusable by ~1-4% of customers (assuming the distribution of stereoblindness in Nintendo customers is relatively similar to that of the general population).

    Personally I know I had 0 interest in buying a 3DS because I'm stereoblind, and paying an extra $40-50 overhead for a 3D feature that I will literally never be able to use is silly. I might pick one up eventually now that there's a lower price-point that doesn't include the 3D hardware.

    Not sure where you are getting this 80% figure from, sounds like you have a faulty 3DS.

    The 3D works fine. It's a lot better on the XL than it was on the original 3DS, I enjoy playing with the 3D on because it also makes things appear less aliased, of course some games use it much better than others.

    This lower price point gives you what exactly? A horrible design, less portability, mono sound, less durability and what looks like something that is ergonomically obtuse. Yeah that's really worth the price drop, there's nothing wrong with buying a 3DS and not using the 3D, it's you who is making a deal out of 'paying overhead'. Suck it up, if the 3D was the main reason for the price then you wouldn't have seen the other compromises I just listed in this new 2DS model.

    The 2DS exists so parents can buy 2 or more for their children and save a nice chunk that way, otherwise there's absolutely no reason to buy this over a regular 3DS which is what, $30-40 more isn't it? Now if this was $99, I could understand the temptation, but at $30-40 less, hell no. If you are buying a single unit the 3DS is clearly the better buy, if you are that strapped for cash where $30-40 is a dealbreaker then don't buy one at all.

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    Example1013

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    #21  Edited By Example1013

    @sooty: EDIT: Honestly I don't feel like taking the time to type out all my points. Try sticking to facts next time though, as most of your "points" are either conjecture or opinion.

    This edit will also create new pages on Giant Bomb for:

    Beware, you are proposing to add brand new pages to the wiki along with your edits. Make sure this is what you intended. This will likely increase the time it takes for your changes to go live.

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