So the 3DS is upon us, and I'd be remiss if I didn't make a post on it. After all, I espoused my enthusiasm for it some time ago and have written at length on the handheld market in general. I intend to do a great deal more writing on the subject in the future too, and that includes this.
I was excited about the 3DS. Reading through the first rambling I wrote about it, it sounds like a rabid Nintendo fanboy extolling the virtues of an infallible portable gaming monarch. Having enough time to let the heat leave the room, and now able to hold the system itself in my hand, I can approach the subject with a little more temperament this time around. The 3DS will be a great system, but it won't be perfect.
Part of the reality check comes in the form of the PSP2. Sony did a lot to steal Nintendo's thunder, at least among those who keep up with such things, and once we were yanked back down to Earth from our lofty euphoria among the clouds, we as a community of handheld gamers had a chance to really study the thing, drawing perspective and criticism in the sense of a discerning observer. Soon our analysis brought about comparisons between the 3DS and the original PSP, realizing that many games exhibit similar graphical prowess, along with the single analog pad and short battery life, and some were even predicting the untimely failure of the device, few in number as they were.
Nobody in their right mind will claim a Nintendo handheld's success to be anything but extraordinary, and even the PSP's level of sales wouldn't paint the system as a failure from the right perspective. Some have pointed out that the PSP has sold more than either "next-gen" consoles, and ranks among the top several bestselling game systems of all time. On top of that, the 3DS follows on Nintendo's most successful handheld to date, and the second bestselling gaming platform ever. It's destined to be a blockbuster.
My second article on handhelds was decidedly less cheery on the prospect of the 3DS, in fact it seems to swing the tonal pendulum in the opposite direction. In a nutshell, the 3DS has its limitations, and the PSP2 has very few. If they're at all similar in price, it could work to the 3DS's disadvantage, and Sony isn't afraid to take a revenue hit for long-term success. Battery life has become one of the biggest complaints about the 3DS since its debut, and there's a fair share of quirks and defective systems dirtying its fledgling reputation. Many of those can be chalked up to early production woes, and the fact is that by and large, the system is blowing away expectations in the key area that the system is banking the most on.
Nintendo didn't give it the name 3DS for shits and giggles, and after having seen the system itself in action, many people are finding the effectiveness of its screen astounding. Demoing is crucial to the 3DS's appeal, and as such its success depends more on word-of-mouth and first-hand experience than any other factor. Nintendo has experience using this technique to sell past systems, letting the hardware speak for itself rather than having the marketing do it for them. It's a powerful asset, leading to the two most successful game platforms in the company's history. After seeing it for myself, my attitudes on the 3D have changed somewhat. Really my attitudes have changed a lot, going from curious and interested, to lamenting it as misguided and possibly detrimental, to now being wholeheartedly supportive. I'm officially sold on the 3D, and I now understand why Nintendo bet so heavily on it, setting aside graphical performance and battery life on what on the surface may appear to be a cheap ploy. 3D is what distinguishes the 3DS, it defines it. Without it, the system is just another portable gaming device, hardly different from the PSP or modern smartphones. It's what makes the system more than a simple successor to the DS, and it's what generates excitement. It doesn't matter how primitive the graphics may be, because they're real. It's like objects in a window that you could reach out and touch. It makes the visuals that are there substantial, like they have more weight to them, more immersion despite the lack of technical realism. Other system's graphics may be more advanced, more detailed and convincingly shaded, but how can advanced graphics compare to graphics that are real?
That becomes a question the PSP2 will have to deal with. Going from a 3DS to any other handheld will make you envious of 3D visuals. As good as PSP2 games are going to look, you will play them wishing they were in 3D, and the 3DS does a good job of convincing you that everything, not just games, but movies, television, and all the displays that bring them to you should have 3D, as effortless and beautiful as the 3DS provides it. Not having glasses effectively takes 3D out of the realm of cumbersome and awkward experimentation into that of convenience, practicality, and yes, necessity.
We can't presume on the success of the 3DS however. The PSP2 is going to split the market like no handheld has done before. The past is no indication of the future either, because while the PSP may have been geared to the hardcore gaming base, I don't think it effectively tapped it. The PSP2, with its true-blue dual analog controls, is destined to do hardcore games more justice than a handheld has ever managed in the past, and already it's generated interest from those who have sworn off its predecessor entirely. Graphically the 3DS is like a portable Wii, and the third system Nintendo's released on that visual level, seemingly indicating a funk they seem unable to break through. The PSP2 will be an entire generation beyond it technologically, and well ahead of other mobile devices for some time. 3D, however, will be seen in smartphones as early as this year, and as a feature has a very short time-frame of exclusivity in Nintendo's court. That may only serve to popularize the idea of 3D and spur on preference of their system over Sony's, and it remains to be seen if the PSP2 missed the boat in that regard. But until viewing angles and battery life improve, not to mention some solid drops in price, the 3DS won't convince mainstream consumers that it should deserve the same reception the DS received. While a year's head start will help Nintendo in raw proliferation, they still need some damn games.
