Topic: 3DS to be saved from shovelware?

With the incredibly popular DS system, I watched in agony as the ratio of nonquality vs quality DS games increased year on year. I counted games reviewed vs games ignored by gaming websites increase to 1:20 over the past 3 years of the DS's life(!) with rare gems only to be noticed by the truly informed. Is the 3DS to be saved from such a fate? My theory is that the 3DS is more risky for publishers, so therefore we should be getting quality over quantity, the best case scenario IMO.

It's a bit sad - even for good DS games, the number of reviews is very small for those released in the last couple of years. I guess that's what happens when review sites move on to next-gen stuff.

I have a feeling that a similar situation will happen on the 3DS. It's doing pretty well in terms of sales, and has an install base that's only going to get bigger. Developers are going to want to take advantage of that, and if they can offer 3D as a gimmick to sell games to unsuspecting buyers they're going to do it.

I think with any reasonably popular system there will always be a ton of horrible, horrible shovelware. Can't be helped, unfortunately!

Never saw the point of counting a systems number of shovelware titles... You judge a console by it's amount of good games, not it's bad right? So what's the point of complaining about shovelware on a console when the console in question might have a bunch of great games?

Farming simulator??

Well, I certainly noticed the decrease in buy-worthy DS games year on year. I went from buying 5-10 a year to just 1-2 a year...so it's not just the poor ratio, but that there simply was a decrease in focus on quality, which directly results from too much software on the system. I think the 3DS will be saved because of several keys. Developers must use the 3D effect, and must correspondingly develop content that suitably uses it. Also, there's the eShop, which can accommodate non-3D titles, and would not clog up the pipeline for boxed releases. Let's just hope it's not worth it to developers to publish sub-par games with the 3DS!

Have you actually looked at a 3DS shelf in the store? There's already quite a lot of shovelware, and it's only going to increase as the years go by. No system is safe from shovelware.

Also, @JuLoDaS, I don't know if you had a DS at launch, but it started out with a ton of shovelware, and it took months for the DS to get some good game. Then the games just got better as it went up until it's final year. That's how it goes with most consoles actually - the quality goes up until it finally drops off. Having a 4:1 shovelware ratio is not uncommon, either.

Don't like it? Don't buy it.

But no one buys most of the shovelware unless they have a 3 year old kid or something.

@Mickeymac
Yeah I remember the DS launch period. I waited until the Mario Kart DS bundle before I took the plunge. However, I'm noticing a distinct improvement in 3DS software under the same one year launch period. I just don't think the 3DS will be able to sustain a high quantity of software like the DS resulted in, based on the morphing market trends, which will hopefully result in an improved ratio of quality vs shovelware.

also, btw I'm not JuLoDaS. I noticed he uses the same picture as I do, but I chose it for myself before finding that out...not sure if I should change my picture for the sake of confusion

You're totally right. Shovelware is on every console. For every Super Mario Bros, there's a M.C Kids/ Macdonaldland (Don't laugh. This does exsist.) For every Skyward Sword there's a Ninjabread Man. For every Banjo-Kazooie there's a Clayfighter 63 1/3. No console is safe from shovelware. Fact.

Sorry, can't read usernames on this dinky iPod touch...

Anyways, it all depends on how well the 3DS does, with a bad economy there might be more shovelware. They pay the bills for the smaller companies after all. And I don't think the 3DS' demographic is any different from the DS'. Not exactly sure what would make you think otherwise.

Seeing as you need to make games in 3D. I'm guessing it would cost more and keep a lot of shovelware of shelves.

@Mickeymac
I think the 3DS demographic is a little different, at least at this point. The 3DS offers very little incentive for the shovelware demographic to move from the DS. Why would people buy a 3DS for shovelware when 90% of 3DS owners most likely already have or had a DS. Now, I also agree that the success of a system may be indicated by its volume of software, which provides a sufficient niche for smaller companies to sell their smaller games, but the 3DS still has a long way to go before it can satisfy that niche. Ultimately, if the 3DS produces great software, then I welcome the shovelware. My point is that, most likely the 3DS won't achieve the sales of the DS family, and thus there will not be room for shovelware due to market crowding. Thus, it is in the best interest of developers to focus on quality for the sake of the market. It may not directly benefit smaller companies if they do not produce as much content, but it will raise the prestige of the system. The overcrowding phenomenon is what I would consider to be what tarnished the Wii and DS, even though they were still quite successful. The polar opposite of this problem is and will be experienced by the PSVita. In fact, I believe the 3DS is resting on very lucky balance, and I look forward to seeing how it moves forward as both a successful and hopefully prestigious platform. I'm very impressed with the really good titles that have come out this year, and am glad to see they are not being overshadowed by the problems of the DS late in its life.

actually, if the economy does the same for the gaming industry as it's done in the past for the movie industry, the complete opposite is true, (while almost certainly a coincidence, this gaming generation got really good basically at the same time the economy got really bad)

The DS has a ton of quality games, a lot more than Wii did, which has been criticized for its "shovelware"

You're the first person to say that about the DS though, I wouldn't think that on my own. I've always thought the DS has a really diverse and quality library of games. Third parties supported it like crazy. Yeah there's those random games no one gets, but its nothing compared to the amount you see on Wii for instance. 3DS will have its share of questionable games, but so will every game system.

I seem to agree with pretty much everything you ever say. I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

The DS is a terrible system in the market. Yes, I know I just did that, seeing how much I love my 3DS. But come on! Those games out now for DS (Except for the new pokemon games coming out) Are games based off of weird movies and Pet simulators. The DS is near it's end, yes. But why aren't they doing like they did for the NES? Dropping a major title developed by Nintendo to end the system off. (Pokemon is developed by Game Freak, so it doesn't count). I don't think the 3DS can suffer the same fate, though. They are harder games to make, and I seriously doubt any parent would buy their kid: "Super Horsez Party 3D" Unless they were completely stupid. Even a parent could tell that a good game like Nintendogs or Brain age would be better than a Ubisoft copy. I think the 3DS will be safe.

Speaking of which, once I was in a wal-mart looking for 3DS games to possibly get, and I saw this parent and her daughter asking the employees if they had "Horses for the DS", and they seemed pretty desperate to get it. I ended up finding it in the bargain bin for about 5 Dollars, and when I told her it would be better off for her to get Pokemon or Nintendogs if she hasn't already, they told me that the horse game would be "Better because it's cheap." I feel bad for them...

Thankfully 3DS games aren't in the Bargain bin that much. The only games I saw in the bargain bin were Steel Diver and Mahjong Cube (Which are both great games, BTW)

What is this logic.

@TheDreamingHawk: I actually found a few more games in my local store's bargin bin. Games like Stafox, Ridge Racer, Asphalt, Rayman 3D, and Cooking Mama

And those all deserve to be there, IMO. Yes, even Star Fox - it's not worth $40, but at least at a Bargain price, it'd be a good buy.