Nintendo 3DS

[Gunstar Green]

I just hope this "only for New 3DS" nonsense doesn't become a trend.

I didn't even know about this because I don't care about Xenoblade. This is kind of upsetting. Same-generation revisions shouldn't be mandatory.

[Tanooki]

I don't agree. If people had that mind set with the GBC think of all those amazing games we would not have got if they didn't allow for both hybrid and stand alone titles. Sometimes you just have to let go and grow.

[irixith]

The N64 expansion pack was so awkward. Only two games absolutely required it to run (DK64 & Majora's Mask)...well, technically Perfect Dark as well, since you can't play the single player campaign, co-op mode and most of the multiplayer without it. Heh. A bunch of games used it to up the graphical quality, while still others needed it for various things. Gauntlet Legends gives you 3 & 4 player options with the expansion pack, as does Hydro Thunder. San Francisco Rush 2049 has a sixth track that can only be played with the expansion pack, and you can't play the Brood War part of StarCraft 64 without it either. What a bloody mess for the consumer and for shops.

At least with the New 3DS, the distinction is made clear -- this game only plays on the "expansion pack" 3DS. Period. There's been many an interview where they've said if it wasn't for the increased capacity of the New 3DS, Xenoblade couldn't have happened. Some existing titles (Retro City Rampage comes to mind) have been updated on the eShop to support the features of the New 3DS, and other titles exclusively for the New 3DS are planned for the eShop route. At least one game (Smash Bros.) is a markedly better experience on the New 3DS, while still running on the old 3DS.

In order to make the New 3DS an attractive purchase, there needs to be more exclusive content for it, which I'm all for. It's almost as expensive as a Wii U, it better have exclusive content! Unfortunately, I think it's more likely the it will go the route of the DSi XL. Yes, it's the superior model of the system, but it came too late in the lifespan with little to no utilization of its features for anyone to really care.

[Exhuminator]

I just hope this "only for New 3DS" nonsense doesn't become a trend.

It won't.

At most you'll see a "better on New 3DS" slogan once in a while.

[Jagosaurus]

You also have to remember we're educated consumers. Most parents & many casual gamers are not... much less random retail workers at Target, who now have the responsibility to educate consumers?... or is Nintendo's disastrous naming schemes to blame on all accounts?

[ninjainspandex]

I don't agree. If people had that mind set with the GBC think of all those amazing games we would not have got if they didn't allow for both hybrid and stand alone titles. Sometimes you just have to let go and grow.

How quickly people forget that Nintendo did the exact some thing with the Gameboy and Gameboy color and the DS and DSi, this is nothing new.

[MrPopo]

I don't agree. If people had that mind set with the GBC think of all those amazing games we would not have got if they didn't allow for both hybrid and stand alone titles. Sometimes you just have to let go and grow.

How quickly people forget that Nintendo did the exact some thing with the Gameboy and Gameboy color and the DS and DSi, this is nothing new.

The Gameboy Color is really a special case; it's very easy to sell "it was in black and white, now it's in color!" The DSi and New 3DS upgrades are much harder to get customers to buy into.

[marlowe221]

Well, the more I play Xenoblade the more I don't want to play it any more...

Kinda sad considering how long I have been telling myself that I want to play this game.

[alienjesus]

I don't agree. If people had that mind set with the GBC think of all those amazing games we would not have got if they didn't allow for both hybrid and stand alone titles. Sometimes you just have to let go and grow.

How quickly people forget that Nintendo did the exact some thing with the Gameboy and Gameboy color and the DS and DSi, this is nothing new.

The Gameboy Color is really a special case; it's very easy to sell "it was in black and white, now it's in color!" The DSi and New 3DS upgrades are much harder to get customers to buy into.

Especially as the Game Boy was 9 years old, so the GBC just felt like a new console - whereas the 3ds is what, 3, 4? And some models like the 2DS and 3DS XL are more recent than that.

Also, as the Game Boy was having a major lift in sales after a pretty starved mid-90s thanks to the release of Pokémon. Pretty easy to sell new GBCs when all the kids wanted a Game Boy for Pokémon anyway. Even when Pokémon was playable on the original Game Boy, it probably seemed like a no brainer to get a GBC for it - colour, less battery consumption, a better screen, and an pretty aggressive marketing campaign - the GBC logo was everywhere in shops and catalogues at the time.

And the kids who didn't buy a GBC probably still made Nintendo money by buying a Game Boy Pocket. That's what I did back then. A lot of the kids buying a system for pokémon were probably tiny when the brick Game Boy came out - and that's if they were even born back then. I would've been 1 myself. Due to the aforementioned slump in games on GB in the mid 90s it's quite likely they didn't have a GB system before then.

Compare that to the New 3DS or DSi, both of which are targeted at either new consumers or existing hardcore fans of the system - as a more expensive option, it'll be hard to convince new buyers to buy it instead of the 2DS or original 3DS/XL. And it'll be pretty hard to sell to existing customers too as they probably feel there's plenty of life in their original model yet.

It's just gullible people like me they're selling to really

[Exhuminator]

Especially as the Game Boy was 9 years old, so the GBC just felt like a new console - whereas the 3ds is what, 3, 4?

That is the primary factor to take into consideration.