Daily Archives: January 21, 2011

Nintendo 3DS is now priced, dated, and overconfident

Long have we all wanted to know, and now that the day has come, I wish I could un-know all the details about the forthcoming Nintendo 3DS. See, before I learned that Nintendo’s newest piece of future tech was releasing on March 27, 2011 for a disgustingly gross $249.99, I was curious about the system. Genuinely interested in seeing how the glasses-free 3D worked, and whether any of the games were worth pursuing, in 3D, in 2D, in 1D. And now…not so much.

Alas, it comes down to price. No surprise there, as I’m always conscious about spending money and getting what money is worth. Two hundred and fifty bucks is about seventy-five to fifty bucks too much. I was very shocked to see a portable handheld gaming device priced higher than home-based consoles. The new wireless Xbox 360 is, I think, only $199.99 right now. I guess the 3D gimmick was enough to rack on some more dollar signs than needed. Also, analysts are suggesting that 3DS games could retail for $40 to $50. That’s sickening. Heart-breaking. I already feel grumbly enough buying a new Nintendo DS game for $35, believing that to actually be too much.

For the curious, here’s a list of confirmed launch titles:

  • Pilotwings Resort
  • Nintendogs + Cats
  • Steel Driver
  • Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked
  • Super Street Fighter 4 3D Edition
  • Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D
  • Madden NFL Football
  • The Sims 3
  • Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D
  • Lego Star Wars 3: The Clone Wars
  • Ridge Racer 3D
  • Dual Pen Sports
  • Super Monkey Ball 3D
  • Thor: God of Thunder
  • Crush 3D
  • Bust-a-Move Universe
  • Samurai Warriors: Chronicles
  • Dead or Alive Dimensions
  • Asphalt 3D
  • Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Shadow Wars
  • Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D
  • Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell 3D
  • Rayman 3D
  • Rabbids Travel in Time

Yowza. A lot of pre-existing games with the 3D tacked on the end. Where’s Kid Icarus or that Zelda remake? Nothing there really shouts “launch title” or “killer first-party game,” demanding that this hardware being a must purchase. Least not for me. Maybe the world is full of closet Nintendogs & Cats fanatics, and all of them will buy out every Nintendo 3DS in every store in every state, starting riots and chaos and the end of the world sooner than predicted. We’ll find out in only a matter of weeks, and I’ll be watching very cautiously. I do hope to eat my own words.