3DS third-party publishers split on effect of price cut

Nintendo is Nintendo, not Sony or Microsoft. Better graphics on the Wii U are a much needed addition to N's consoles obviously, but hopefully they will always remain true to their roots: what made them great in the first place.

@ DARKNESSxEAGLE : And assuming that big announcement is a second analog stick...I can guarantee you how it will play out.. Complain about non-friendliness to fps titles because of no second-thumbstick Thumbstick added. Complaints about how this should've already been done by now. (other case) thumbstick not added Complaints about there still being no thumbstick. or you could take another past case... $250 portable pricing. Complaints about high price. Price reduced. Nagging at Nintendo and saying this ''is a sign of weakness and the 3ds's horrible quality''. shows the ''standard'' people hold up to nintendo....one that is designed not to be fulfilled.

wow, dead huh. pretty strong statement. i think Nintendo can definitely survive a few more years even if the 3DS doesn't become a big hit. it'll catch up in sales, pretty much like how the DS caught up and absolutely overran the PSP. what i hate about this situation though is the catch-22 lockout these publishers are inducing... almost like a premeditated economic sabotage. publishers say they wait for the system to sell, so they cancel/delay titles. gamers on the other hand, are waiting for 3rd party games to start coming so that they can throw their money away. IT'S A GIVE-AND-TAKE SITUATION, not take-then-give, dumb prick yeah, i'm talking to you mr. anonymous publisher. >:c i know one thing that would sell the 3DS like pancakes. start churning out 3D Hollywood movies in cartridge format, but make sure it's priced reasonably enough (like maybe a bit less than major title games). once those 3D movies start coming out, this hot new 3D portable will sell like crazy to people who enjoy 3D films. like 3D but think 3DTVs too expensive? Get a 3DS.

Complain about Wii's bad graphics. Get visually impressive handheld. Call aesthetics a gimmick. Well done people.

wow, dead huh. pretty strong statement. i think Nintendo can definitely survive a few more years even if the 3DS doesn't become a big hit. it'll catch up in sales, pretty much like how the DS caught up and absolutely overran the PSP. what i hate about this situation though is the catch-22 lockout these publishers are inducing... almost like a premeditated economic sabotage. publishers say they wait for the system to sell, so they cancel/delay titles. gamers on the other hand, are waiting for 3rd party games to start coming so that they can throw their money away. IT'S A GIVE-AND-TAKE SITUATION, not take-then-give, dumb ass. yeah, i'm talking to you mr. anonymous publisher. >:(

and people are looking at the vita having more capabilities but the psp had more capabilities than the ds and the ds was a better handheld

mario kart and super mario are going to do well. mario kart was my first ds game and new super mario was my brothers first ds game. also, most people i know dont just buy games randomly, they usually get them as gifts during holidays. so i think the 3ds will do well this winter.

@ Phil-teh-Pirate : Look,3ds,vita,psp,etc. are GAMING devices.The ability to play games is ''a given'' and Nintendo (or sony for that matter) doesn't even have to do one other thing...not saying that would be a good idea,but the only definite ''given'' for a portable gaming system is that it plays games...anything else is bonus..thus being a feature,and having netflix (from a purely Netflix perspective) on just one (portable) generation so far doesn't make it a given or expected feature.Even if Vita were to have netflix (which I am sure it will) it would still be considered a feature because that is not in the main focus of the vita which is games.

I think the biggest misstake with the launch of the 3DS was the delay of Kid Icarus. If I remember correctly wasn't it supposed to be released as one of the first games at launch? Instead they release games that nobody really cares about...except for maybe Street Fighter IV :P OoT 3D sure it is good but it is nothing new except better graphics and 3D visuals... The Boss features are lame as hell, why bother putting them in if the bosses are still as easy as they ever were? They could have made them twice as hard atleast with some new attacks. Morpha is the most ridiculous boss in the game to be such an epic one same as Twinrova. If I have to be honest, the main reasons to why Nintendo appears to be failing is: 1. They always release something new added features or design that improves the original console slightly pretty fast which makes the early consumers pissed off. 2. The pathetic advertisement from games that mainly comes to the XBox that the new generation is all about graphics and FPS games really takes away the fun out of everything today. Who the **** has decided that FPS games only is hardcore games? And every single FPS game looks the same and is played the same it just sucks and shows lack of imagination. If Nintendo made their games harder just as Metroid Prime 2 Echoes was then it would be great. That is bascily the only thing I miss in Nintendo games.

Well, if you can't trust the words of an anonymous developer, who can you trust? When I buy a system made by Nintendo, i do it for their games. 3rd parties can either come with the good stuff (which many do), or keep shoveling crap and blame it on the friggin' rain for all i care.

@moviequest14 If you're going to get technical about it the Game Gear by SEGA was the first portable media device with full colour screens, it had a TV aerial tuning catridge that could play terrestrial TV. So Nintendo and Sony both ripped SEGA (if you want to play it like that). One use doesn't make it a feature unless it can be considered common practice use across a variety of different systems. It's like saying that a companies first MP3 player plays MP3's as a feature because its the first mp3 player that company has made. Features should be considered unique selling points, 3D is a feature, the Nintendo Store is a feature, Touch Screen tech is a feature. If what you said was the case, why does it not say "featuring both a left and right trigger" in the advertising campaign?

I want the 3ds and the vita to do well man o man do I want those good games to come out and they will even if it takes years like it did for the psp and ds ive found lotsa games I wish I could have my memory deleted for so I can play them again if only the stock market wasn't such a bi#%# and the world didnt rely so much on it might be off topic and might not even relate so no backlash posts please even if I am wrong and the stock market is logical : )

The 3DS simply did not sell as well as expected because it had no blockbuster first party titles at launch (nintendos bread and butter; see SNS/N64/Wii). When Super mario land/mario kart comes out this holiday (most likely in a bundle), it will be flying off the shelves

@ Optical_Order : 3d isn't the only thing 3ds uses though,in fact 3d was something that only came up half-way through the development process.As I have said before...if history repeats itself (which it usually does) then 3ds will remain on top of the vita..take last gen (ds and psp) the very much (tech-wise) inferior ds considerably beat the (tech-wise) superior psp when it came to over-all system life.Now in this upcoming generation you have the 3ds which is now considerably cheaper than the vita (you can buy a 3ds and AT LEAST 2 major new 3ds titles for same price as 3g vita),has more first party titles in plan for 3ds,and will be MUCH more equal to 3ds from a tech-perspective...that means more than likely 3ds will ''win'' but the vita has improved in many more ways than psp so it should be far from a failure.

mattg .... zelda was a remake. the mario and kart are going to be new games. that's what happens then.

the flurry of first-party games coming out and the price drop are going to sell out the 3ds come christmas time. guarantee it. don't bet against nintendo. they might have released the 3ds almost a year prematurely; but history shows that when a new mario (or kart for that matter) come out.... their systems sell.

@buft, Uhh....not to be funny or anything, but what in the world would make you think someone could want to come right out be public w/ something like this & risk losing their income (aka their JOB)?? Sure Ubi has seemed to found a bit of success--as maybe even Capcom could attest to as well. However, judging by the fact that even they have had to choose to cut titles out of the 3DS line (AC & MM, respectively)--coupled by the sentiments of the anonymous dev--there does seem to still be an underlying current of worry in 3rd party participants for developing for the 3DS.

3DS needs more time. Save your breath for another year when the good games come out and everything is situated. However, I'm predicting the Vita is going to blow it out of the water. People don't really care enough about 3D to make the 3DS a huge success. With the Vita's capabilities and competitive price, it's going to garner a lot of attention so long as the games are there.

Release a load of quality games that utilize the unique features of the system. Then put out a holiday marketing campaign that will ignite interest in the 3DS. => Nintendo needs to do these things or the 3DS may sink when PS Vita launches. Of course, Nintendo probably has until March 2012 to get things straight with the 3DS, which should be plenty of time.

@ Phil-teh-Pirate : Well since we are considering any use of media for tv/movies...gba had cartridges that (one put in) could allow movies and tv..so even then Sony was 2nd to do it.But just because a feature has been done before doesn't mean it isn't still a feature (otherwise vita would only have about 1 or 2 actual features since both ar and touchscreen have already been done).It is ridiculous to say something ''isn't a feature'' only because it has been done before.Yes psp has used online streaming video/movies once before but that is the exact point... ONE use doesn't make it a standard or not a feature. (and last time I checked mp3's were for MEDIA..it is a pretty big duh to say that mp3's should be playing movies,but portable gaming systems are just that,meant for gaming and anything on top of that,whether you like it or not,is a FEATURE.)

@ Davi11111111111 : You really are completely ignorant/oblivious to 90% of this article (assuming you even read it) aren't you?

The 3DS long term success is that 3D technology is not viewable by everyone. That if you wear glasses, you are not able to see the 3D effect. If that is true and people without 20/20 vision are not able to experince the 3D images correctly then 3D is never going to become widespread. Nintendo and Sony and that smartphone with 3D capabilities are forever just going to remain niche products. Since not everyone is able to see 3D. Another 5 months Nintnedo will be able to tell if the price drop has had any effect. The 3DS needs to make it to it's 1st anniversary. The world ecomony is tanked at the moment. So videogame hardware and software of all sorts will suffer. Nintendo will find a way to survive they always do.

@nintendoboy16 I think there jealous:P

It seems like Ocarina of Time came and went without so much as a whisper. I thought that was to be the game that made people buy the system. Now its Mario Kart and Super Mario Land. What happens when those games arrive?

Retail isn't euphoric because you gave us the library depth of the PSP... Maybe if you'd WAITED and not just released it on hype-factor alone you wouldn't be having to make price cuts.

3DS FAILED... get over it 'nian'tendo...

it seems strange to me that a publisher would make comments like these and wish to remain anonymous, Ubisoft have seen an eight fold increase in their games and with a title like shadow wars they certainly deserve some praise.

There's simply too many fanboys complaining for no reason. Yes the 3DS popularity wasn't massive at the beginning of it's life (big wow), but neither was the PS3 and that was for the same reasons too, price and game lineup. Anyone smart enough to look past knee jerk reactions can quickly tell these things are both changeable such as the price already changing and plenty of decent games flowing in soon enough. The 3DS has a slow start but it's a fine handheld with a good interface, features and design so I wish it well as much as I do the Vita which has the same issues in my opinion.

If you're concerned about the 3DS' popularity amongst people who currently don't own one (because everyone who owns one is a rabid fan of the hand held it seems), look at it like this; it took the original DS almost 2 years before it had a significant price drop. It's taken the 3DS under 6 months. Thats a scary piece of info, I find it hard to place my bets on it right now. Unless there really is a good number of sane people out there waiting to see if better games come out (even then its really hard to warrant buying it for the sake of 5 or so games) and to see if the Vita is any better. @moviequest14 @redrabbit65 Watching movies and tv on a handheld? Welcome to 6 years ago, it was called the PSP. I don't think this should be classed as a feature anymore, its more of a given that consoles can do this. Even run of the mill mp3 players have this ability now.

@Icehearted Well, I did buy metroid prime hunters for the original DS, if that's the game you are referring to. The controls as you said were indeed horrible. Having said that, I've come to embrace the DS as a console not aimed at FPS. For me it will always be for the abundance of other great genres out there. I wouldn't mind at all if nintendo went back to its metroid roots and made a 2D game again for 3DS! If shadow complex showed us anything, its that 2D games work great on high powered consoles.

@ Bartz77 : Well I am not sure in what other way it could be considered ''popular'' as it sure wasn't favored by the more vocal gamers and gaming media...I never said that you did say it did horrible but many have.It would indeed be almost a miracle for the 3ds to surpass its predecessor considering how incredibly well that the ds/ds lite/dsi did.But it might very well ''beat'' the vita if history repeats itself as it has,considering last gen,the obviously inferior (techwise) ds considerably conquered the psp...this gen the 3ds has a much more even tech-wise playing field with vita and more firstparty titles as a whole,which means 3ds will more than likely be the most successful but the vita also has a ton more Sony support (in 1st party titles) than psp had so it will be far from a failure.

@moviequest14 Most popular doesn't equal number of sales, according to wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_game_consoles, whose data is current to july, the ps2 has sold about 70 million more consoles, infact the psone has also sold close to 20 million more consoles than the wii. And I never said the 3DS was doing horribly, I just said that it probably won't meet the success of its predecessors. In fact I do think it will do well this holiday season, I just think over the long run it won't be "as" successful.

@ Bartz77 : According to Guinness World Record's 2011 it is ''the most popular home console''....but even with that aside the fact still remains that almost every system to date has had dry spells and the 3ds isn't doing HORRIBLY,especially considering that it launched so far from any major Holidays.

@moviequest14 Just a little fact check, the most sold home system of all time is the Playstation 2, not the Wii, but you are right that most console's have a dry spell sooner or later of games, but when they are in the beginning of a console's life it is hard for them to recover, and more than likely the 3DS won't live up to the success of it's predecessors in terms of impact and legacy, in some part due to this initial dry spell.

Did anyone else notice how nice those new Metal Gear Solid pics look? The system can render a handsome game for a handheld I think.

DiscGuru: I did notice that the store kiosks were abnormally low for some reason, like you'd have to bend WAY OVER at the waist in order to hit the sweet spot which is kinda embarassing when you just want to have a looksee. I receive no commission on sales, but I'd bet at some point a game is gonna come along and sink it's hook into you, don't discount the 3d until you've been able to spend a decent amount of time with one.

@moviequest14 - I went in ready to buy a 3DS. I'm willing to accept that you may need to find that sweet spot/setting for comfortable viewing. But if you only try a kiosk 3DS, and you are like my GF and I, you won't be very anxious to buy one after the initial headache. --I still might get a 3DS when a new Zelda appears: but the headaches they can cause are a reality.

@ icehearted : Exactly...that is the problem,you/others see the negative factors for the short period that 3ds was having some problems but even once they have significantly improved people still decide to ignore the positive and focus on the negative solely and (not including you into this category at all as I have no idea > ) many praise and worship the vita solely for its good features and don't even mention any problems it might have in design or sales (besides the ever-present ''smartphone crap''.).The 3ds didn't have a ''bountiful and plentiful'' season to say the least at initial launch but almost every gaming system has dry spells (even wii,the most sold home system of all time is having a very dry period right now with few games being released) but the only difference is 3ds has had it earlier than most and has a 95% chance of being one of Nintendo's more successful portables,this article in itself is proof of that.

If third-parties want to make money on a system, they need to make good games for it. 3DS isn't selling well because there aren't enough good games for it from Nintendo or anyone else. Do we even have to guess who would have won the war between Nintendo 64, Sega Saturn, and Sony PlayStation if none of them had third-party support? The first PlayStation didn't crush the competition by itself. Give 3DS some decent Square-Enix games and watch the sparks fly.

@cboyuno I agree with you, actually. My outlook and that of others of the same opinion is more "why did they limit themselves like this to begin with?" I remember playing Metroid on the DSL and hating that I had to use the stylus on the screen to aim. It felt cumbersome and unnatural. Dual analog could have eliminated the necessity of having to work around a limited control scheme and free up developers to make games that control in ways more suited to their own ideas. The use of the stylus in some cases is fine, but shoehorning it into everything on the platform is just a bad idea. As for the Vita, I'm more in the wait and see camp. I can, for example, imagine games like Metal Gear Solid, Bioshock, or Assassins Creed on that system more easily than on the 3DS.

@Icehearted Well If you look at how people are reviewing the 3DS system you will see that none of them are worried about one analog stick. In fact, many people really like the design. (Now personally I like the Vita design and non-laptop style better, but having said that...) The games coming out for 3DS look a lot more promising than the games for Vita. I consider myself a hardcore gamer. I play just about every system and most of the triple A titles that come out. I still see the 3DS as more suitable for me. Mario Kart, Paper Mario, Star Fox, Ocarina of time,these are all games that many people grew up playing and their remakes aren't unwarranted. The other handhelds did not stumble as much at release, but you need to acknowledge that the 3DS is much more expensive, considerably more gimmicky with the 3D (which has people on edge). Now here's the thing. I can't be the only person out here who has the money, wants to buy one, but isn't. The reason? There are only TWO good games out right now. Only one of those is worth the purchase for me. Why should I fork over $160 to play one game for 5 weeks? I already own Street Fighter IV for XBOX 360 and Resident Evil 4 for Gamecube. Many people are waiting for games. It has nothing to do with the console.

@moviequest14 Actually I was focusing on the issues it has rather than the article as a whole. I don't remember the GBA or DS stumbling as much out of the gate. I then expressed my own thoughts as to why, and that the holiday shopping season was going to be the real gauge as to consumer interest in the 3DS, normally because present months have historically seen dry spells in sales for both software and hardware. I haven't called it a failure, but it's clearly floundering.

Well at least Assassin's Creed:Lost legacy lives up to it's name the game is indeed lost for 3DS.

I know many people that are not gamers but own a wii. That is why nintendo do so well. That will not happen with the 3DS, it is to specialised, and I do not believe will ever be as mainstream as the DS or Wii. They assumed to much with the release, and its going to cost them.

When I read news about games just from the "profit perspective", I wonder what matters most for the game's industry (although I know the cold hard answer)

@ icehearted : You obviously didn't read the main focus of the article ''Sales Charts have already shown the 3DS price cut has spurred sales of the system significantly, and it appears to be boosting software sales as well.'',the fact that a large portion of the article shows how 3ds sales are significantly up yet people continue to talk about how it is failing is beyond me...

The holiday shopping season must seem miles away to these people. I'm betting that if there isn't much of a turn around by then this thing will start to hemorrhage projects like crazy. If that happens I can only hope developers stick to dedicated gaming platforms like the Vita or whatever and not jump on the smartphone bandwagon. Let's face it, the 3DS was just not ready, and Nintendo made some pretty odd choices (one analogue stick, not enough original new content, shoddy marketplace implementation) that could ultimately hurt them.

@redrabbit65: I agree they're not shortsighted, but it could just be arrogance too. Any tech company on top can make that error.

@nintendoboy16: Yep, no one knows when it will come, but in case of Nintendo handhelds one KNOWS it will come sooner than later. So people either wait for that new iteration to come, or the gmaes they want [Mario, Zelda et al] to be available].

@DBZKING1234 Sarcasm, right?