3DS Console Discussion

[Serebii]

But correlate that to the development time and resources needed.

 

I'm worried. A lack of interest was seen after Nintendo's conference (although it made its way back up in the second half of the trading day, it promptly fell straight back down the next day). Sony saw marginal interest after their conference (But keep in mind, Sony has fingers in maaany electronic pies).

 

We could be looking at the early indicators that our current perception of handheld gaming is dying.

In the eyes of investors and analysts, perhaps. In the eyes of gamers, no.

[heroicjanitor]

But correlate that to the development time and resources needed.

 

I did, that is actually revenue not profit btw, and is for all platforms. Thought it's probably really cheap to make, the margins on other games are way higher. If they took the opportunity to make loads of games at the same time they would not see such a big return either.

[Debug Mode]

In the eyes of investors and analysts, perhaps. In the eyes of gamers, no.

 

You're probably right. The core gamers did manage to keep the Gamecube afloat after all.

 

I did, that is actually revenue not profit btw, and is for all platforms. Thought it's probably really cheap to make, the margins on other games are way higher. If they took the opportunity to make loads of games at the same time they would not see such a big return either.

 

But it's still a game with one of the highest return rates, and that's exactly what this industry is progressing towards. Increased mobile phone development is one thing but look at the likes of Call of Duty. Minuscule modifications of the engine, guns are re skinned to their relevant time line, DLC that sells by the millions which are usually just crammed full of past maps.. Heck, I'm sure most of the cost associated with the COD franchise is just simply advertising.

 

The previous example may seem completely unrelated what with it being a console title and all, but it's definitely a sign of where the industry is going. And that calls into question whether the 3DS is a worth while platform for such titles when customers who think of handheld gaming are quick to use mobile phones as a first example.

 

Smaller margins do not mean less profit. Look at super markets. The less one item costs because of the reduced margin, the more the customer is willing to buy. I think this is where handheld gaming needs to be fighting. I have absolutely no qualms myself with paying £30 for some handheld titles (now £35-40 for the 3DS on the high street). But look at some of the shit that's being offered. Shovelware and shit are tarnishing the big titles that have had a lot of work put into which gives off the perception that you could have a lot more time with a mobile phone title and pay a fraction of the price.

 

Long post is long and I really went quite wide on the subject, so apologies. But here is a tl;dr summary:

 

Angry Birds has an incredibly high return

Industry progressing to low cost development for big titles

Small margins =/= Less Profit

High cost of handheld console software may be the problem

[Burny]

@Debug_Mode There is one catch though: Who would've expected Angry birds to make the money it did?

 

I see Angry Birds and pretty much nothing else. Where are the other low-cost-ultra-high-return Smartphone games that had similar success to Angry Birds? Is Angry Birds just a social phenomenon or is it actually possible to repeatedly manufacture such a successful title?

 

A far more interesting indicator would be how much revenue the top X of Smartphone games during the last years generated and if that would indeed imply the grass is greener there for devs.

 

 

As for the general industry progressing towards low-cost development, pretty much the opposite has been the case concerning retail titles. What they save in time and money by reusing engines, they spend on turning games into movie-like experiences with similar production values. Many publishers may take the cheap route with DLC, but that doesn't make the actual game cheaper to produce.

[Debug Mode]

Before I reply to Burny, some news has come in. A SHIT STORM BE BREWING.

 

The 3DS is now hacked. Source. Only one game has been shown to be working so far from this team, but they seem confident the compatibility will be improved.

 

Happened earlier than a lot of people were expecting, but it looks like other the next few months we're about to see the security holds up for the device that many third parties were hailing. That and we'll probably be faced with the cat and mouse updates like PSP users..

 

@Debug_Mode There is one catch though: Who would've expected Angry birds to make the money it did?

 

I see Angry Birds and pretty much nothing else. Where are the other low-cost-ultra-high-return Smartphone games that had similar success to Angry Birds? Is Angry Birds just a social phenomenon or is it actually possible to repeatedly manufacture such a successful title?

 

A far more interesting indicator would be how much revenue the top X of Smartphone games during the last years generated and if that would indeed imply the grass is greener there for devs.

 

 

As for the general industry progressing towards low-cost development, pretty much the opposite has been the case concerning retail titles. What they save in time and money by reusing engines, they spend on turning games into movie-like experiences with similar production values. Many publishers may take the cheap route with DLC, but that doesn't make the actual game cheaper to produce.

 

No one expected it admittedly, but it happened. This caused investors to turn heads to the mobile market which is worth a lot. The problem is, the amount of titles that are available bog down the overall sales figures for each title.

 

For the western market, I'm completely unsure about the top selling mobile games. But that's because a lot of them go for different market approaches like the free to play approach (much like the social network games that are having a boom right now) that get their money through optional content, advertising and through those tricky market data researches they some times conduct on users phones that are hidden in the ToS.

 

But for the eastern markets, you get a lot of high profile games and gaming networks being offered through mobiles. Final Fantasy IV: The After Years is a pretty good example as that was available on phones before it was even considered for the Wii or PSP. There's gaming networks like Mobage Town which supposedly has over 20 million subscribers paying a monthly plan. This is even available on Japanese dumb phones! (but of course, there's content exclusive to smart phones like Eternal Hunters)

 

The big point I'm trying to make here is, you don't have to charge for a game to make money. There's so many different approaches to the games you can get but none of them seem to be utilised on consoles and handhelds. But my argument still falls in the respect that I cannot find any statistics to back it up for a lot of the western market.

 

But I do feel like I went a little strong into the low cost development argue, but it does come across that way. The big annual titles all reek of slight modification and re-skins with a lot of their original content being mainly cut scenes. And let's not forget how much some publishers LOVE their slice of shovel ware.

[Magnus]

Regarding the 3DS being hacked, I'd have a lot more sympathy for Nintendo if they hadn't decided to region-lock it.

[Debug Mode]

Regarding the 3DS being hacked, I'd have a lot more sympathy for Nintendo if they hadn't decided to region-lock it.

 

I somewhat feel this way, but I'm going to feel bad for all those potential sales that could have led to some awesome franchises.

 

If this leads to custom firmware though, you can bet your ass I'm going to get on it. Would save me buying another 3DS when I'm out in Japan.

[Mike]

So, I was very annoyed last night - I opened up my 3DS onto the menu screen, and there was a problem with the top screen. Difficult to explain, but it was almost like everything that should be white on the screen was dark grey / black, almost like the backlight wasn't on. After closing up the 3DS and reopening it later, it was back to normal, but when I went into the camera application, the problem cam back. Next time I opened it, it was back to normal again, and it has been ever since.

 

I really hope it doesn't mean that I have to send my second 3DS back to Nintendo, but I'm not keeping it if this continues to be a problem. And if I do send it back, they'd better fix it rather than sending me a replacement, as I'll be very annoyed if I lose all my Mii / Streetpass / photo / pedometer data, as well as my place on the Ambassador programme..

[Ganepark32]

You're not the only one having problems with your 3DS, Mike.

 

I thought one of the recent updates was supposed to fix the 'press the power button 3 times before the console turns on' problem but it's not worked on my console. I'm having to press/hold the power button at leats 3 times to get it to boot up. At least it's booting up but it's a problem that was reportedly fixed in an update clearly hasn't worked for me.

 

My battery also looks to be iffy. Gave it a full charge on Tuesday (it was on the charger for at least 4 hours) and it lasted little more than an hour and a half with playing Ghost Recon (and this was at lowest brightness setting, 3d off). Charged again fully later and got just over 2 out of it with the same settings. Was getting much more out of it when I was playing through OoT 3D so don't know what the problem is but the battery is definitely losing its charge much faster than it should.

[Hero-of-Time]

I thought one of the recent updates was supposed to fix the 'press the power button 3 times before the console turns on' problem but it's not worked on my console. I'm having to press/hold the power button at leats 3 times to get it to boot up. At least it's booting up but it's a problem that was reportedly fixed in an update clearly hasn't worked for me.

 

Mine still does this aswell. I've also got a dead pixel on the top screen.

[david.dakota]

You're not the only one having problems with your 3DS, Mike.

 

Me too. I have problems with the lights not correctly showing when charging - so the 3DS has been taken off before a full charge on a couple of occasions. I keep meaning to send it and the charging stand back.

 

All things considered, I feel the 3DS is Nintendo's worst designed product ever.

 

The 3DS is now hacked. Source. Only one game has been shown to be working so far from this team, but they seem confident the compatibility will be improved.

 

Happened earlier than a lot of people were expecting, but it looks like other the next few months we're about to see the security holds up for the device that many third parties were hailing. That and we'll probably be faced with the cat and mouse updates like PSP users..

 

I am not sure anyone though the 3DS was any less likely to be hacked than a PSP or whatever, the big thing surely was the T's and C's of purchase; ie making the device unusable if illegal software was used. I still think this has some significant mileage worldwide as an anti-piracy measure.

[ReZourceman]

Oh. Thought the press 3 times to turn on thing was just me not pressing hard enough. Lol.

[david.dakota]

Mine still does this aswell. I've also got a dead pixel on the top screen.

 

With the original DS didn't Nintendo cover dead pixels under warranty? Do they still do this for the 3DS?

[Debug Mode]

Mine seemed to be all right after the last update, I thought it fixed my power button issue. But it returned to it's normal 'press multiple times' behaviour =\ I wonder what the fuck is up with that.

 

Maybe the upper screen presses down on it every now and then and has kind of ruin the power buttons sensitive? I'm just guessing really, but the interior of the device is so poorly designed I'm surprised they let it go through. Although mine gets marks on the top screen from the analogue stick and the right border of the bottom screen that can be wiped off, many people (including my friend) have had it scratch the top screen.

 

That and we seem to have dodgy hinges again.. not as bad as the first batch of DS lite's hinges though.

[nekunando]

I'm kinda glad I'm not the only one experiencing these problems turning the console on.. I thought it was maybe just me

[Ike]

Yep, getting the power button bug as well. I seriously doubt it's a software issue.

[Serebii]

Strangely, I only get the power button issue on my UK 3DS, not my Japanese one

[Mr-Paul]

I don't think I've ever turned my 3DS off, I just close it and stick it on the charger!

[Pit-Jr]

I don't think I've ever turned my 3DS off, I just close it and stick it on the charger!

 

Same here. That cradle is a godsend and i hope the Vita gets one too.

[Magnus]

The cradle does the exact same thing as plugging the AC adapter directly into the 3DS does. It only saves about three seconds.

 

I mean, I love convenience as much as the next guy, but it's literally the difference between just putting your 3DS down or putting it down and plugging in the adapter. Three seconds, tops.

[Coolness Bears]

I feel the usefulness of the cradle is that I don't knock my 3DS off things so easily. (yes I am clumsy.)

 

Plus it looks cool when lined up next to my other consoles. Plus the easiness of getting it on and off with out having to fiddle about trying to find the wire.

[Pit-Jr]

The cradle does the exact same thing as plugging the AC adapter directly into the 3DS does. It only saves about three seconds.

 

I mean, I love convenience as much as the next guy, but it's literally the difference between just putting your 3DS down or putting it down and plugging in the adapter. Three seconds, tops.

 

 

Time is money!

[Magnus]

I don't think your time is as valuable as you think it is.

[Burny]

I mean, I love convenience as much as the next guy, but it's literally the difference between just putting your 3DS down or putting it down and plugging in the adapter. Three seconds, tops.

It's a psychological thing more than anything. The cradle suggests there is a set place to put your 3DS into when you're not using it. People are probably more likely to constantly have the cradle plugged and placed on some shelf than just having the charging adapter plugged in all the time. In that sense, "just dropping" the 3DS on it is indeed more convenient than plugging in the adapter first. Assuming they are using it that way.

 

@Pit\-Jr: You'll be happy, the Vita gets a rather classy cradle. You'll have to buy it separately though.

[Magnus]

It's a psychological thing more than anything. The cradle suggests there is a set place to put your 3DS into when you're not using it. People are probably more likely to constantly have the cradle plugged and placed on some shelf than just having the charging adapter plugged in all the time. In that sense, "just dropping" the 3DS on it is indeed more convenient than plugging in the adapter first. Assuming they are using it that way.

It's all very clever when you think about it.

 

It takes three presses to turn on the 3DS because it makes people more and more eager to play the console with every press of the power button.

 

Those tiny rubber feet leave marks on the screen when you close the console so that you're not going to ever want to stop playing for fear of ruining the screen.

 

The console launched with no good games so that all those averages games will have a chance to sell, plus it's a way to get people to broaden their horizons.

 

The console shipped with just one analog nub so that everyone who bought a console at launch will spend money on the redesign.

 

The console is region-locked so that people will buy several consoles from different regions to play all games - watch Nintendo arbitrarily decide which games get released where.

 

David Dakota calls the 3DS "Nintendo's worst-designed product ever". I say it's the best.