A while back I posed the question of whether it would be such a terrible thing if Nintendo abandoned the home console market, where they face stiff competition, and concentrate solely on their latest handheld device. I can't seem to find the old thread.
Whilst not expecting or desiring this to happen, I posited the notion that such a scenario wouldn't be the devastating blow to the fans that it probably would've been during the GameCube years (when Nintendo's revenue was largely reliant on the handheld arena, not least Pokemon).
Home console level games (Resident Evil on 3DS comes to mind) now look possible on portable machines, perhaps not to same graphical level, but I personally view such a difference to be becoming less and less important.
Anyhow, I'm not posing this question again, but rather asking whether the 3DS is the first Nintendo handheld to surpass the current home console (currently Wii of course) in regards to technology (in terms of the 3D development at the very least)? Perhaps you could say the Virtual Boy achieved this (if nothing else). In that case, is the 3DS the first successful (sales are already very impressive) Nintendo handheld to surpass the current home console?
Interesting. I don't know the specifications myself, can anyone enlighten me? As my rudimentary understanding has it, the 3DS would be running at double capacity it wasn't directed towards producing the 3D effect (as every screen has to be produced twice).
[is] the 3DS ... the first Nintendo handheld to surpass the current home console ... in regards to technology ...? No. ... is the 3DS the first successful ... Nintendo handheld to surpass the current home console? No. [wouldn't] the 3DS would be running at double capacity [if] it wasn't directed towards producing the 3D effect... No.
What is the meaning of life? That's so easy, the answer is TETRIS.
Fair enough, it could well be that I have deficient understanding. Viewing in 3D seems to me to be a major development in gaming, at least to do so without glasses. I don't remember when such a major development for Nintendo took place on a handheld. such things such as moving in 3D and motion sensor technology were debuted on home consoles. The Game Boy didn't do anything as significant that the NES didn't do, neither the GBA in relation to GameCube. The DS did touchscreen though I suppose. When you look at the long life of the Game Boy (which survived a few home consoles lifespan) it seems that handheld technology is moving faster than ever before and keeping apace with home consoles more so than before.
I guess the difference is you WANT to see it as revolutionary and the way I understand it is that it is a natural evolution of the handheld market, one that has progressed incrementally where a gimmick or two is introduced to drive evolution.
GB, GBP, GBC, GBA, GBA SP, GBm, DS, DSL, DSi, DSiXL, and 3DS
GB: Portable GBP: Portable and Compact GBC: Portable, Compact and in Color
GBA: Portable, in Color and Better Graphics than GBC GBA SP: Portable, Compact, in Color, Lit Screen and Better Graphics that GBC GBm: Portable, More Compact, in Color, Better Lit Screen and Better Graphics than GBC
DS: Portable, in Color, Lit Screens, Touch and Better Graphics than GBA DSL: Portable, More Compact, in Color, Better Lit Screens, Touch and Better Graphics than GBA DSi: Portable, in Color, Better Lit Screens, Touch, Built-in Shop and Better Graphics than GBA DSiXL: Portable, in Color, Better Lit/Bigger Screens, Touch, Built-in Shop and Better Graphics than GBA
3DS: Portable, in Color, Better Lit Screens, Touch, Built-in Shop, 3D, Accelerometer and Better Graphics than DS
The 3DS will be an awesome new toy, no doubt about it. Nintendo has long cornered the handheld market. On pure numbers, households are more likely to own multiple of the same handhelds compared to multiple of the same consoles, so their handheld division has and will be a dominant and successful force even in comparison to their own console division. Would it be considered revolutionary without the 3D, no. I don't consider it revolutionary even with the 3D, but I'll still enjoy it.
What is the meaning of life? That's so easy, the answer is TETRIS.
I think the 3D to be a bigger development than those others detailed, even though I'm not actually that fussed about it, I just want a lot of the games that'll be on the 3DS system. A lot are quite minor developments in comparison. Case in point 'colour' on a handheld, something achieved on Nintendo's home consoles long before the GB Color came out. I'm finding this discussion interesting so far.
@CowLaunch: I find this topic uninteresting, no offense, but I only wished to clarify my answers so you didn't think I was trolling you. The point of color being mentioned IS that it is minor as is all developments in handhelds, they're all minor and incremental improvements. I thought you answered your own question, so I didn't feel further need to clarify, but the equivalent of touch interface (DS) beat IR (Wii) to market, so this isn't the first time handhelds beat consoles when it comes to technology. Ultimately, in the long scheme of things, 3D is yet another incremental improvement. Its not revolutionary in the sense that I'm thinking about, but it'll still be fun nonetheless.
@Corbie: I don't find it to be revolutionary, but I'll still likely enjoy the 3D gimmick for many years and many handheld iterations to come. What else matters? Given enough time, after the hype dies down, you may come to the same conclusions as I do.
What is the meaning of life? That's so easy, the answer is TETRIS.
I think it's interesting. The console is powerful enough to put out what looks to me like Wii-level graphics, and not only that, but it does it three times, once on the bottom and twice on the top to create the stereoscopic effect, to my understanding. That's something. I know things like the Nomad have duplicate console graphics on handheld before, but this seems not only to do what the Wii (graphics, motion) and DS (other features) can do but push it further by adding 3D. DS may have pushed touchscreen technology but it was behind the Cube in the graphics department, looking closer to the 64.
As for your original question, I probably answered differently then, but I think it'd be interesting now. I don't like how Nintendo splits themselves between two platforms. Sometimes what game they put on handheld versus home console seems arbitrary, and I'd rather own just one system, even if it had to be a handheld.
The very fact that people are discussing whether the new 3DS Mario game is/should be a Galaxy sequel, I think demonstrates the convergence between Nintendo's home console and portable console capabilities. We had seen this already developing with the likes of portable Mario Karts getting closer to home console equivalents. That the developments that have led towards where we are now are incremental doesn't make it any less noteworthy in my opinion.That a change is gradual doesn't make it less of a change. A with the colour example, the NES had colour, whereas the Wii doesn't have 3D. That's a pretty big difference in the industry, at least in terms of Nintendo's focus and output in the last 30 years.
I think perhaps the perceived weakness in marketing the 3DS, that you can't see the 3DS on sites like this, could possibly turn out to be it's strength that keeps the hype going; that you have to see it to believe it yourself.
With 3D movies out and 3D TVs available, it would have seemed to me likely that the development would have first occurred on a home console. That it hasn't interests me.
I know people who thought the advent of 3D gaming on N64 was a gimmick, and whether you prefer 2D or 3D, it is pretty clear that it wasn't just a gimmick. I guess it depends on how Nintendo handles things and what they and other companies have in store to succeed their home consoles. For instance, I wonder if Paper Mario will appear on 3DS and Wii/successor? So far Nintendo seemingly had a specially made Mario RPG franchise for handhelds.
3D at the movie theater interests me little, so I'll be intrigued to see how impressed I am with the 3DS, however I think the impact of the console will be huge. I guess only time will tell.
CowLaunch, I've thought about this idea you have, about Nintendo eschewing the home console market and focusing on the portable market with the advancing technology. You could easily explain this away using sales figures (The Wii has far outsold the "stiff competition"), but its more than that. You can't replace a home console experience with a portable console. Just because the 3DS is similar to the Wii in graphical power alone doesn't mean that they offer the same experiences. They're both very different consoles. Let me give you a concrete example. My best friend and his girlfriend are somewhat casual gamers who JUST bought a Wii console. It crossed my mind that they could have gotten a 3DS if they waited just a couple of weeks with the money they spent on that. But did I tell them they should have done that? No. Although I'm certain they would get a kick out of the 3DS, and I plan to show mine off to them, these two are very much into playing videogames together. You just can't get the same kind of "togetherness" feeling playing on a portable console, especially one with a narrow viewing angle. Playing local wireless with two 3DS's still isn't the same, and costs twice as much. In fact, the Wii is probably the best console out there for enjoying games "together" with other people, given the other consoles' focus on playing games online, locked in a dark room alone.
No offense, but the 3DS is making the Wii look medicore right about now. As for CowLaunch's question, I am going to say I wouldn't mind if Nintendo dropped out of the home console market. I play on portables a lot more compared to on consoles, so it does not bother me
Unless the next Nintendo console isn't significantly more powerful and/or innovative than the Wii is now, I say Nintendo might as well drop out of the home console race.
Unless the next Nintendo console isn't significantly more powerful and/or innovative than the Wii is now, I say Nintendo might as well drop out of the home console race.
I was gonna say something contrary to that statement, but in all honesty I would not mind that.
Some very good points are presented here. I have always enjoyed handheld games more than console games, and now the 3DS is really bridging the gap. Not only are the graphics similar, it now has the equivalent of an analog stick and possibly superior online capabilities. The price is even the same as the Wii's launch price. I do not think that the 3DS's 3D is a gimmick. Based on my short time with it, the 3D added to the immersive quality of the games. I believe that Nintendo will probably introduce innovative and possibly groundbreaking uses of the extra dimension in a new Mario game, and similar to how Mario introduced 3D gaming on the N64, he will introduce a new realm of gameplay and design.
That is, of course, purely speculation and not based on any information. But based on my encounter with the 3DS, I have concluded that the 3rd dimension is anything but a gimmick. I really didn't want to go back to playing my boring DSi, which is really saying something. I felt as if I were peeking into another world, and it was captivating.
But besides the 3D, I do think the only thing the 3DS lacks that the Wii has is the console-generated multiplayer. That being said, if Nintendo loses its current edge in the console realm, it could easily fall back on support of their handheld(s).
this might have been true during the Gamecube, but with the Wii, Nintendo's dominance over the home console market is so huge, that it has no reason to ever let go. It's a knockout victory of the generation and beyond. And as for surpassing, are you kidding? I love the idea of 3D in the 3DS but even if the graphics were the same, the Wii has the pointer, the motion control, all the wii remote features, motion plus, balance board... it's a whole different market and experience. It's a better bet to say that Nintendo will continue to "juggle both balls" for very long time.
I love the idea of 3D in the 3DS but even if the graphics were the same, the Wii has the pointer, the motion control, all the wii remote features, motion plus, balance board... it's a whole different market and experience. It's a better bet to say that Nintendo will continue to "juggle both balls" for very long time.
i would have to agree with this. even though the graphics of the handheld may have caught up to those of the home console (though it's not really a fair comparison considering it's not going up against a Wii 2), both the home and handheld consoles still have entirely different things to offer. i love the hell out of the Bit.Trip series, but I have to say I love it more in surround-sound and without having to squint at a tiny screen to see what's going on, y'know? :3
BEST THREAD EVER future of NL >:3
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