I've never regretted my 3DS purchase, but it occurred to me that I haven't really been wowed by any recent 3DS releases. I passed on Smash Bros. for 3DS because the Wii U version seemed better and I've basically never played local/online MP on my 3DS. Code Name S.T.E.A.M. was alright, but I absolutely can't blame anybody for skipping it, it's not a must play. The best thing I can think of was Box Boy, which was great.

It seems like a far cry from the days of Super Mario 3D Land, Fire Emblem Awakening, Luigi's Mansion 2, Mario Kart 7, Bravely Default, Zelda: Link Between Worlds. The local co-op Zelda will only be for specific people, and the new Fire Emblem is still a little way off. Honesty not sure if there are any other upcoming releases I should be looking forward to.

To be honest I haven't noticed. I was probably distracted by new releases on other platforms and forgot about anything new.

Off the top of my head I remember the 3DS remake of Devil Survivor 2 also came out this year. I think the new set of StreetPass games also came out this year. There's also that new Pushmo game, Stretchmo. But outside of the new Zelda and Fire Emblem I can't seem to think of any new releases of note to watch out for.

@bisonhero: Dude no joke thinking about it I don't even know what the last game I got for that system is, it's crazy I might have bought a Vita game before the 3DS lol. Funny you brought this up because I just thought about that the other day, oh well at Least I know a new Fire Emblem is coming so it's all good.

Yeah 3ds seems like its slowing down quite a bit. Hasn't had much going on since monster hunter and majora's released. The only thing I'm really looking forward to is the new Fire Emblem, and that's far enough away that I'm kinda just ignoring it for now.

I dunno, maybe I'd feel like that if I'd been a day one adopter. I only got 3D Land last month (loved it) and I never had a DS, so I've got those games to catch up on too. Fire Emblem and Mario and Luigi are getting new entries in the spring though, and if you like coop, Zelda and Federation Force are coming soon. I'm more worried about the Wii U slowing down to a crawl, but that's been bandied about plenty. Also, we did have Majora's Mask and Monster Hunter this year.

idk, it feels slow but all I've been playing on 3DS lately is Majoras Mask and Xenoblade Chronicles. Both are really awesome games.

They haven't put out much lately for sure.

Feels like it. I bought mine last year and had plenty of both old and new releases to pick up. Nothing this summer though. Kinda feels like everyone is waiting on fire emblem and after that I don't even know if they've announced anything else.

I've been disappointed by the 3DS since launch day. I bought it overpriced when there were still no games for over a year, then the price dropped and since then only a handful of games I like have been released. I had close to 30 games for the original DS but the 3DS barely reaches 10. I think there are good games on the 3DS but I didn't like any of them more than my favourite DS games, I liked Fire Emblem a lot but I hadn't even played a game in that series before.

Yeah, things seem to be drying up. Gunstar Heroes 3D is out on the Eshop this month though. GOTY 2015!

Monster Hunter! Don't forget that. But otherwise, yeah, not a lot this year. I bought the remake of Etrian Odyssey 2 that came out in Japan last year but came out here last week. That's about it.

I'm still trying to catch up on the older games for that system, so I haven't noticed that much. What I'm wondering is why I have a New 3DS when as far as I can tell Xenoblade is the only exclusive for it (with nothing else on the horizon) and I don't need to play that game ever again.

The analog stick helps out a lot for older 3DS games. RE Revelations, Metal Gear Snake Eater for example. But yeah you're right, they haven't announced anything yet that uses it.

@bisonhero now that you mention it, yeah it has been a slow period for the 3DS. I'm not into Monster Hunter at all and I think the last game I bought for it was Majora's Mask.

Box Boy was pretty dope but aside from that and Majora 3D I haven't touched my 3DS in months.

It feels like it, but when I look back at all the games that have come out, there's actually quite a bit.

• Smash Bros 3DS
• Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire
• Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate
• Puzzle and Dragons Z / Super Mario Bros Edition
• Majora's Mask 3D
• Persona Q
• I think the Final Fantasy Rhythm game had a sequel that came out last year?
• Fantasy Life

And then this year we've still got

• Pokemon Mystery whatever
• Yokai Watch
• LBX
• Hatsune Miku (Some people are REALLY into those games)
• Animal Crossing Happy Home Designer (lol)
• Project X Zone 2 (Though this seems like it will get delayed)
• The new co-op Zelda thing
• DBZ Extreme Butoden
• Chibi Robo platformer
• And the biggest system seller of them all, Garfield Kart.

And then next year:

• Bravely Second
• Fire Emblem Fates/Birthright
• Hyrule Warriors
• Mario and Luigi
• Zero Escape 3

Maybe not the most exciting lineup ever, but certainly not terrible. Much better than what's in store for the Vita.

Yeah, there were still technically releases, but they've mostly been known quantities, or stuff that's just not for me. Pokemon, Monster Hunter, Etrian Odyssey Game Disguised As A Persona Game, Fantasy Life: all various degrees of grindathons, and I never quite finished Bravely Default, so if I wanted grinding on my 3DS, I have that already. In a weird way, Puzzle and Dragons might scratch my Puzzle Quest itch, since the actual Puzzle Quest series only ever had one good game. Then Majora's Mask 3D and Xenoblade Chronicles 3D happened, but I have those games on their original platforms. I feel like there were no marquee titles that would really get the attention of reviewers, aside from Box Boy (positively) and Code Name S.T.E.A.M. (more negatively) and I guess Smash Bros. for 3DS except if you own a Wii U then the Wii U version is preferable for a variety of reasons.

The upcoming stuff this year is also a bunch of misses for me, unless the co-op Zelda turns out to be extraordinarily good and I can con some friends into playing it with me.

But yeah, the next year stuff is where I'm at, in that Bravely Second, Fire Emblem Fates, and Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam all seem like they should be solid. I also expect 2016 will be the last year for major 3DS releases.

After Monster Hunter there has been nothing.

The last game I bought for my 3DS was Luigis Mansion 2!

I think the only one I wanted latetly was another Phoenix Wright.

It's definitely been a slow year in terms of games I want to buy/play on my 3DS. I haven't used it a lot. I'm totally into the lineup of games on the way to it, though.

New fire emblem comes out this year?

I think it'll be fine.

I haven't felt this way at all, but I really like the Etrian Odyssey series, so Etrian Mystery Dungeon is still chewing up a lot of my time, and I grabbed Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold last week (it's way better than the first Untold). I haven't beaten Persona Q or Majora's Mask yet, and I still play Monster Hunter on the regular. By the time the new Fire Emblem comes out, I'll probably be ready for some more.

Oh also Streets of Rage 2 came out, so, y'know, there's that.

The only 3DS thing I'm really looking forward to is ZE3.

I usually just play Virtual Console stuff and DS games on my 3DS...

No, but like all consoles/games, ymmv.

Looking at that list above, it still seems rather dry. Most of the big titles that have come out have been last year or very early this year, and two are remakes of older games. The upcoming list lacks any big or notable titles, at least for me personally. The Zelda game seems like a new Four Swords I'll have no interest in playing, I've never been inclined to play the Mystery Dungeon games, I'd be more interested in a proper new Animal Crossing, and the rest aren't in my wheelhouse.

As for next year, I'm definitely going to check out Bravely Second and am stoked for Fire Emblem and ZE3, but it seems like beyond that there's nothing.

Smart phones and tablets hit the 3DS hard it hasn't gotten the same level of support compared to the DS.

@turtlebird95: I wouldn't say it's better than the Vita's lineup. The Vita has a real solid lineup lately with indies and Japanese third parties. Steins;Gate this month, Danganronpa next, Estival Versus, and plenty of other stuff.

@jesushammer: In terms of quantity, I think I'd say the 3DS has more. Quality is subjective, obviously.

I feel like you more or less proved the OP's point.

18~ physical releases is not exactly what I'd consider a lot

@slag: Also, Box Boy is objectively better than most of those physical releases.

Obviously that isn't all of them, just the ones I felt were worth mentioning. I agree it's not the most exciting lineup ever, and I definitely get the vibe that the 3DS is entering (or is already in) its final phase.

But 18 (for the most part) exclusive titles within the range of about ~2 years isn't a lot to you?

It certainly would if it had multi-plat ports to go along with it (e.g. if this was the PS4 that number would be huge for them), but the only thing the 3DS does have is exclusives. There are a few multiplats as you noted but not many.

What I'm comparing it to is what I remember of the DS, maybe it's rose colored glasses but this seems like a fraction of the number you would get in a year there. Granted a lot of them were Garfield Kart-esque garbage but there certainly seemed to be a plethora of releases every year.

Where's the Ghost Trick of the 3DS? The Radiant Historia?

There's still time, so there's still a chance, but I'm not sure it's gonna happen. I wonder if the Ace Attorney team will move onto a new 3DS game after the current one. Same goes with Atlus and Etrian Odyssey. Something new would be nice, but they're kind of just retreading old ground.

@slag: I dunno, it feels pretty similar to me. (If we ignore the shovelware trash anyway) Although admittedly I didn't really buy too many DS games that weren't Pokemon.

@aegon said:

It feels like this is really the generation where JRPGs died. The PS1 and PS2 was still a big boom time. Apparently none of those studios had the cash to make games with that scale at HD resolutions (other than Square), so many of those devs said "Fuck it" and just kept making PS1/PS2 JRPGs but on the PSP instead, or in some cases made 2D JRPGs on the DS.

Cut to the Vita and 3DS, where you have some games that are borderline JRPGs (Fire Emblem is tactics, SMT/Etrian Odyssey is dungeon crawly), and then a few ongoing JRPG series like Mario & Luigi, Persona 3 and 4 rereleases, a Xenoblade port, etc. The Tales of series marches on, as generic and samey as it's always been. Occasionally a Legend of Heroes game will somehow make its way to the West. Dragon Quest continues, but 9 kinda came and went with little fanfare, and 10 never came to the West. Square still makes console JRPGs, but good lord, they take like 8 fucking years to make, somehow, except for when they pump out ho hum sequels to FF XIII.

It's a sorry state of affairs.

@slag: You're definitely remembering the DS life cycle slightly askew, 3rd parties were a bit more prominent, but the biggest supporters were studios like Konami and Sega, who haven't released a whole lot lately as it is, handheld or not. Square and Capcom are still about on par as they were before. Its also worth noting that games that would have once had physical forms are downloadable games now, like Pushmo and Picross.

If someone is the kind of person who needs to have a brand new game every 3 weeks to feel like their purchase is validated, then I guess its got a weak lineup this year. The only NEW boxed game I've bought this year is Majora's Mask, and I haven't even played it yet. Personally, I barely have the time to play the games I already own, and I'm divorced enough from the constant release schedule that I'm not terribly concerned with the rest of the year's line-up. Hell, I have friends that only buy the Pokemon and Street Pass games. Thats it, and they put 200 hours into all of them.

I'm still knee deep in Virtue's Last Reward and Layton vs Wright, and I've got a small pile of stuff I haven't touched yet.

I got a 3ds a good six months ago and have yet to buy a game for it. So its been a slow lifetime for that system as I have yet to find a game to justify its existence.

Well that's exactly my point, the third party support isn't there anymore because Konami, Sega et al have shifted resources to Mobile. e.g. Breath of Fire 6, while a Capcom game, in a previous generation likely would have been a handheld one has to think. Still all in all, non-official sources I've looked have said the DS shipped nearly three times as many hardware units as the 3DS has lifetime. So it would make sense that there is less software for the 3DS since there is a significantly smaller install base.

You certainly have a point about downloadables, I don't really have a handle on how many of those are out. I suppose those are the new multi-plats these days. Maybe that's enough. I do think Downloadables, even now, to some degree are invisible to huge swath of gamers. They don't tend to get much marketing hype, and marketing even today works pretty well in pushing units as well as creating a perception of success.

the every 3 weeks thing is not really fair. I think you are basing that assumption on that what is out there is varied enough that there will be something that appeals to everyone. There certainly is a lot of stuff that appeals to me personally in what Turtlebird listed, but I could see how say shooter fans or platformer or racing fans might be not thrilled by what's there. That is the true downside to a shallow lineup is that for some folks there will be nothing new to appeal to them at all.

and in the case of your friends, if they are the type who plays only one-two games a year they likely aren't the type to care about a deep lineup anyway. For them it may be more of a yes/no kind of question as to whether a new Pokemon is out or not.

@devil240z said:

I mean, there are some exceptionally good games out there for the 3DS. So it sounds like your point has more to do with you making a poor life decision where you misjudged what games appeal to you, and not so much anything to do with how the release schedule has been the past year or so.

Well I got the 3DS for free so you're wrong there. Gamestop never has any games I want in stock and the Eshop never has any good sales. I have to REALLY want a game in order to spend more than $15-20 and most of the 3DS games I have been at all interested are in the $40 range which I just cannot justify. For me the 3DS just does not have THAT game I must own.

Monster Hunter came out this year right? So it was the best year. There have been a ton of good games, maybe just not games for you

This is basically my point, those people represent the bulk of the 3DS consumer base. You can look at the top selling games of the system and they basically break down into Pokemon, Mario, Zelda, and Monster Hunter. Its easy to forget that the enthusiast forum crowd is never the largest consumer group. I'm not saying anyone is wrong, 2015 can mean whatever it wants to different people as far as releases go. I just think its worth noting that what others might consider a "weak" or a "strong" year for a system isn't a universal constant, nor does it really matter much outside of the moment.

This type of thread pops up all the time, for practically every system. The clearest memory I have is how in a lot of the 2012 Giant Bomb GOTY lists, they talked most of the year about not expecting a solid list of games and still wound up with plenty of surprises and bangers. The only differences are the names and the perspectives of the people posting.