Kaboom

Nobody likes a tattle-tale!

"Replacing it with the new and improved My Nintendo."

Uh-huh. Yeah. Sure.

My nearest Super Walmart was doing a midnight launch, and had a whopping 46 units in stock. I got there around 10, was roughly the 25th person in line, and spent the next two hours cozied up with my 3DS in an electronics aisle. By around 12:45 I was home and getting my shiny (well, matte gray and purple) new SNES Classic hooked up.

Everything in this article could not possibly be more correct.

From an owner of a standard New 3DS who had to campaign for over a YEAR to be able to buy it in the US, then wait another year to get the black variation he wanted from the start... Nintendo of America's leaders are complete morons for neglecting this beautiful little machine.

When you refuse to release something until a year after it debuted in other regions, and release it only via 3 or 4 spread-out "special" bundle releases, which you then do practically nothing to advertise or keep available in stores, all-in-all essentially cutting away any chance of success it may have had from the start... then any bad sales numbers are 100% your own stupid fault and simply a self-fulfilling prophecy.

It's stupid that the best entry in the entire 3DS line, the standard New 3DS, was only available as "special offerings" in the first place (after two freaking years of campaigning) and ended up so scarce. What's going to happen when people like me who adopted it need repairs or replacements done in a year or so?

I already have a Wolf Link from Twilight Princess HD... what I need is a re-release of the other Zelda Anniversary amiibo so I can finally get the Toon Link and Zelda duo.

I already have the digital version on Vita from backing the game's KickStarter, and was planning to double-dip for a physical copy on Wii U at one point... but I'm glad I never did, because now I can get it for Switch instead.

So probably $30 at the most per YEAR, which isn't too shabby at all. That's chump change compared to PS+ (although it probably won't offer as much). Definitely within the "even my perpetually broke butt can afford that" price range.

I was actually kind of let down... Just about everything announced was either uninteresting to me or a downgraded port of a Wii U game. It's a bummer that the new Pikmin game will be ANOTHER stupid 3DS side-scroller. First Chibi-Robo, now Pikmin...

Mario Maker 3DS was especially disappointing. I was ecstatic about that at first, but then they revealed that it won't have online sharing. I mean, what?! Really? That's gutting half the appeal of the entire concept right there. There's zero reason to get this version instead of the Wii U one.

But on the bright side... the Pokémon news at the start was cool (Alolan Raichu gets a gnarly exclusive Z-Move, hot diggity!), and the new Legend of Zelda amiibo look great. The LoZ line is the only one I'm completionist about collecting (it's my all-time favorite game franchise), and at this rate I'm going to need an exclusive shelf just for them.

I don't see "standard New 3DS for North America" on that timeline anywhere, so... no, still disappointed and extraordinarily unhappy with Nintendo of America.

I don't WANT you to sell me an external NFC device for my old 3DS, Nintendo of America.

I want you to sell me a standard-size New 3DS so, among a host of other reasons, I can use my amiibo without extra accessories.

@renaryuugufan92 It's just one of many perks. A big one for me, actually. I'm tired of being tempted by new "limited editions" all the time, and I'd much rather buy ONE system that I can easily customize in different ways at my whim. Add on the fact that I find the original 3DS a bit cramped but the body and screen size of the XLs too big for comfort, and the standard-size New 3DS is the perfect option for me.

@IceClimbers Better idea: Nintendo releases the damn thing here like they've done for everywhere else, I actually DO purchase it because it's showing no signs of being replaced yet, and it remains the best and ideal version of the 3DS, kept for posterity even after the advent of its successor.

I don't care what else gets announced or discussed, as long as the standard New 3DS is announced for North America. Any Direct from this point forward lacking that is an automatic fail in my book.

Well of COURSE Japan's Club Nintendo rewards are better than North America's, even for the entire system's last hurrah. At this point I'm so used to it that I can't even get upset anymore.

(I really, REALLY want that SNES shirt and the Mario Kart 8 OST...)

@Wolfgabe I'm doing nothing but spitting the truth. When they give me reason to think otherwise, I'll change my tune.

If they'd said something like, "due to marketing/stock issues, the standard size New 3DS will be releasing later," which would be an HONEST and totally acceptable answer, there'd be no problems, no ill will, and everything would be fine. I'd be annoyed and a little disappointed by the further wait, but I'd continue happily buying Nintendo stuff and counting myself as a loyal fan. I might have even bought an XL from them to tide me over.

But they're not doing that. They're giving roundabout answers which are vague at best, and at worst sum up to, "screw our fans, they're not worth the effort," all the while clearly shortchanging their market in a way unlike any other Nintendo branch. For that, they deserve every ounce of harsh criticism I'm giving them.

@AirElephant As much as this would be considered a bad thing in most other contexts, I really, REALLY hope you're right. If Nintendo of America's just using some twisted marketing strategy and stalling the standard New 3DS's release, that's still better than not releasing it at all.

I'm not going to be tricked into giving them money for an XL in the meantime (I'll probably grab a USED one sooner or later, though), but as long as the standard size is released one way or another, I'll be cool with it.

There are no alternate "perspectives" to be heard or debated about, there are no excuses, and there are no reasons possibly good enough for what Nintendo of America is doing.

The XL outselling the smaller models is a worldwide trend. It happens everywhere. But EVERY other region's Nintendo branch STILL had enough basic respect for its market to offer them the same fair choice between the smaller and larger models. In those regions, if you're part of the relative minority who has good reason to want the smaller model, YOU CAN GET ONE. You have the ability to go to a store, purchase a standard New 3DS, do a system transfer, and use it to play your games from that same region.

Nintendo of America evidently cares so little for its "core audience" that it does not think they deserve that same ability, and they won't even offer a straightforward or honest answer about it. When concerns are expressed, they're met with generic email replies about "business decisions," form letters that gloss over the issue and include paper trinkets to try to placate us, and tools like Damon Baker saying that they were willing to piss off the loyal gamers who help keep them afloat because they're somehow working with a "different market."

I don't know exactly what they think that means, but the only thing more than marginally "different" I see about sales in North America compared to other regions is that we like collecting Amiibo a LOT more than anyone else (http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/library/events/150217/04.html). If Nintendo of America doesn't think that, with a little marketing push, we'd go bananas for collecting faceplates too, then they're an even more incompetent and disconnected company than we've all previously thought, and that says a LOT.

Because that's what the real "bottom line" is. The reason Nintendo of America hasn't (yet) released or announced the standard New 3DS is because they're a crappy company. They have a crappy attitude towards their fans and consumers, or they have a crappy excuse for a marketing strategy, or they have a crappy grip on reality, or some mix of all three.

Well, regardless of the quality of their hardware and software, crappy companies don't get my business. The letters, emails, phone calls, tweets, Facebook posts, and personal boycott of Nintendo's systems and games will continue until Nintendo of America owns up to their mistake. The day they announce the standard New 3DS is the day I start supporting them again.

"The core audience... we weren't going to win with them on that decision. But we had to think about expanding the user base, we had to be able to market it and make it easy to pick up for consumers."

You want to win over the "core audience" when it comes to the New 3DS, Mr. Baker? Here's an easy solution, free of charge.

RELEASE THE DAMN THING.

You don't even have to confuse the poor, unintelligent American sheeple by putting it in physical stores. Just sell it to us directly online, as an OEM-style thing. We'll import our faceplates and accessories if we have to. But your company's asinine region-locking policies prevent us from enjoying our games on a standard New 3DS any other way.

I swear, everyone in charge at Nintendo of America must be smoking something really potent. It's just one pants-on-head stupid decision after another with this branch.

The lack of the non-XL New 3DS brought the Nintendo Direct down to a solid fly-covered F, when it would have otherwise been a B+.

You don't take a steaming dump on your market like that and expect them to like it.

@russellohh Take heart... we're getting some Pokemon Game Boy VC games in a few weeks. It's "only" Puzzle Challenge and the TCG instead of the main series, but still.

To this day I've yet to have any need for a Circle Pad Pro, so I'm not particularly disappointed that Smash Bros won't support it. But it's still nice to know WHY that's the case, and this is certainly a good enough reason.

What SHOULD be happening with GBA Virtual Console games is that Nintendo should be bringing them to both the Wii U AND the 3DS simultaneously as part of introducing a proper cross-buy system.

But that would make too much sense and make too many people happy. So obviously Nintendo's not going to realize they should be doing it.

Nintendo, you make AWESOME games, but really awful decisions sometimes.

At least now I know how long the sale lasts. I'll try to pick up a $50 card on Wednesday.

Already planned to grab me some Space Harrier, and I think I'll indulge in another Ninja Gaiden game to suck at while I'm at it.

Kind of wondering if that ETA of "later this month" still stands for the YouTube app, though...

"Heavily altered" or not, I'd kill Kuririn to get a copy of Dragon Power.

"Heavily altered" or not, I'd kill Kuririn to get a copy of Dragon Power.

Go screw yourself with a rusty machete, Namco-Bandai.

FFFFFFFFFFFF- even more of these?!

Sega, Nintendo, whoever... GET OFF YOUR donkey. We in the West know these exist and we want to buy them. So stop sucking and announce them already.

Is it just me, or are developers like EA here almost trying to convince everyone the Wii U isn't worthwhile by not developing games for it in the first place? The Wii U is being singled out for no good reason, as if these companies WANT it to fail and are trying to handcraft a situation where that happens.

Nooooo!

//Has traumatic flashbacks to NES Ninja Gaiden's repeated delays//

You can still only actually create a Nintendo Network ID from a Wii U. We SHOULD be able to create and use one on a 3DS by now, but...

Niente for me this time around. Holding out for Zelda next week. If Kirby's Dream Land 2 were coming out today or something, then I may have squeezed a few bucks out of my reserve...

In hindsight, perhaps negotiating and securing the international release would explain the delay.

Yes, yes, yes, and more yes.

Saving my cash for Oracle of Ages and Seasons in a few weeks. Hopefully they won't get inexplicably delayed like Ninja Gaiden was and Harvest Moon GBC evidently is now...

Awesome! Somebody give me $30.

And just like that, Japan has already claimed a solid lead on the West that Nintendo of America will never get off their butts and catch up to.

Graaaah! Come on, Nintendo America, we still haven't gotten the LAST 2 Dragon Quest remake games. Step it up!

Anyone who doesn't already have Sakura Samurai needs to get it NOW.

I'll be getting Nano Assault eventually, but right now I'm saving my eShop cash for when Mutant Mudds has its turn going on sale later this month. So this week it's just that Pokémon Mystery Dungeon demo for me.

See, if more games had price cuts for their eShop versions like this, we might be more inclined to buy them digitally.

Just grabbing the Naruto demo for now. Dig Dug is tempting because I'm a total Virtual Console whore, but... the forthcoming GBC Harvest Moon has me instinctively saving my money now.

"Niche" Japanese titles getting Western attention are nice and all, but what about some of the bigger series that already have an audience in both the East and West? I'll be over here waiting for Dragon Quest announcements.