4401

Shame I just moved back home from living in Brisbane for the past 6 months, could’ve been fun.

Lovely city, hope to find a job there and go back =)

4402

While this is true, this time Nintendo has given up it’s prime appeal. That is to say the low price of its systems. Do you honestly think the Wii would have even been a big deal if it was the same price as a PS3?

I mean sure, I agree, power isn’t the be all and end all. But it certainly does matter in relation to the price. Because the price point and launch lineup is mainly what determines how well a console is going to do.

4403

The Wii was the same price as the 3DS at launch. And I’d say the 3DS offers a hell of a lot more than the Wii.

I mean sure, I agree, power isn’t the be all and end all. But it certainly does matter in relation to the price. Because the price point and launch lineup is mainly what determines how well a console is going to do.

Price point changes, launch lineup is irrelevant. It sure as hell wasn’t the DS launch lineup that made it the best selling system in history.

4404

Except that those DS owners aren’t buying. No surprise as the 3DS is much less attractive in 2011 than the DS was on release.

edit: Last week’s Japanese sales chart shows the 3DS dropping from 28k to 23k, now less than half of resurgent PSP sales. Pilotwings Resort is the only 3DS title in the software Top 10, dropping from 6 to 9. Worst start ever for a major Nintendo system?

4405

The one spouting nonsense is you. You weren’t talking about “competition for #1”, you were blathering about “vastly more powerful than the DS” which is roughly equivalent to “smells better than horseshit”. That’s what I was replying to. But the 3DS isn’t exactly set for a great sales success either, the way it looks now.

4406

I thought that platform was dead. I own one, and I’m impressed with the hardware compared to my DS, but there were never enough titles for it I liked.

4407

Well it should, shouldn’t it? Unless I’m mistaken and this is still 2006?

Price point changes, launch lineup is irrelevant. It sure as hell wasn’t the DS launch lineup that made it the best selling system in history.

I’m sorry? I mean this is just wrong, the PS2 still holds that title. And you can’t use the words “launch lineup” and “overall sales to date” in the same sentence for a system that is almost 7 years old.

4408

It is vastly more powerful than the DS, and the DS was very impressive for a handheld at the time of its release. Not sure where the DS hate is coming from, but it’s pretty silly.

That’s what I was replying to. But the 3DS isn’t exactly set for a great sales success either, the way it looks now.

So you’re wrong either way you want to slice it, then.

This is nonsense. Suddenly handhelds should offer more than consoles a few years later? I guess that’s why the PSP failed. I was trying to illustrate that $250 is not particularly expensive for a videogame system.

I’m sorry? I mean this is just wrong, the PS2 still holds that title.

It lost the title for some time, but a nebulous “no, wait, the PS2 has sold 150 million units” press release from Sony put the PS2 back on top in February, it seems. The DS remains the fastest selling system of all time, though, and will be the top selling system of all time permanently by the end of 2011.

On a side note, who the hell is still buying PS2s? Are people putting one in every room of their homes now? Wallpapering guest rooms with them? Then again, I have the same questions about the DS.

And you can’t use the words “launch lineup” and “overall sales to date” in the same sentence for a system that is almost 7 years old.

According to you, “Because the price point and launch lineup is mainly what determines how well a console is going to do.” So yeah, apparently the launch lineup has far-reaching consequences according to you. Except now it doesn’t.

People, the 3DS is going to do very well. You don’t have to buy it immediately. I would argue there’s no reason to buy it immediately or even until Christmas 2011, if then. But if you don’t believe it isn’t going to be a system worth owning in the future, you’re nuts.

4409

Emerging markets, perhaps. The major retailers around here don’t even seem to be selling new PS2 units anymore; it’s just small resellers and used ones.

4410

The DS was, the 3DS is not. We have a different year now, and technology advances faster than Nintendo does. Vastly more powerful than the DS means nothing in 2011, unless the only video game systems you know are from Nintendo.

Not sure where the DS hate is coming from, but it’s pretty silly.

There is no DS hate. It can’t help being old. It was a decent system for its time, unlike the 3DS.

So you’re wrong either way you want to slice it, then.

Having unsuccessfully tried the usual two-step of first claiming that Nintendo’s new system is amazingly powerful, then upon being laughed at doing a 180 and claiming that power doesn’t matter at all, as proven by Wii and DS sales, and lastly being notified that the new Nintendo system in question actually shows no sign of repeating these sales successes, the hapless Nintendo fan reverts to his last refuge: third-grade non-sequiturs.

4411

Well, I would argue the vast majority of the handheld market does only know Nintendo systems at this point.

Nintendo fan

I’m counting on you to bail me out next time Dave Long accuses me of being a soulless Nintendo detractor.

Sorry, I’m no Nintendo fan, really. I just know how the hardware wars roll, and you’re wrong. Can’t judge any system by the first month of sales, especially one that launched at too high a price point with no real library to speak of, but is backed by the most successful handheld maker in the business. If a miracle occurs and the NGP soundly outpaces the 3DS for a year, then maybe you can start to claim what you’ve been claiming in this thread. Until then, history has repeatedly shown that Nintendo cannot be touched in the handheld market.

4412

Isn’t the handheld market really extended to include iPhones, iPod Touches, etc. now?

I also think it’s misleading to compare the price of the 3DS to the Wii. The latter can be enjoyed by more than one person at a time. It can be considered a family purchase. The 3DS, not so much.

4413

No it wasn’t. The DS had pretty underwhelming hardware at launch, too. Less immediately apparent since nowadays we have all this off the shelf smartphone hardware to compare to the 3DS’ guts, but the DS hardware was always shitty, even for 2004. It was billed as “N64 level”, but that was in polygon rate and memory alone, basically. Otherwise it was more like the PSX with perspective correction (and half the polygon rate) since it doesn’t have all the hardware filtering, etc, of the N64.

Now, obviously the contemporary PSP was silly overpowered for the time, but there was an enormous gulf between their relative capabilities, far more than was justified by the price difference. Again, this was an example of Nintendo’s strategy of using “whithered” technology in their handhelds. The 3DS is a continuation of that, a generational leap above the DS, but still only a notch better than what the PSP offered almost 7 years ago, only this time there is no clear benefit in battery life or price.

4414

Sorry, but the ability to play Super Mario 64 in your hand in 2004 was still pretty impressive at the time. The PSP outstripped it in 2005, of course…but in the end it didn’t matter anyway. It will be interesting to see if “everything and the kitchen sink” (NGP) can beat out “focused gimmick” (3DS) this time around.

4415

The DS and PSP were released within weeks of each other in 2004 and at the time Mario 64 was an 8 year old game.

4416

But in Nintendo’s defense, the handheld landscape was very different at the launch of the DS. Back then the DS was pretty much what you’d reasonably expect from a new handheld, while the PSP was considered jaw-droppingly overpowered (as you said). I’m sure Nintendo made a nice profit from DS hardware on day one, but the design wasn’t as blatantly cheap and dated relative to existing competition as the 3DS and Wii.

4417

That’s true. My issue was always that if they weren’t comfortable providing better 3D hardware at that time at that price than they did, they shouldn’t have tried to do 3D graphics at all with the DS. The hideous 3D capabilities of the DS are worse than no 3D at all.

4418

And now: Portal 2. Mild quasi-spoilers in the end video text.

4419

He nails it, imo.

4420

I think he’s pretty much nails it, good but missing the magic and now with too much hand-holding… though I think the first one had too much too.