DKC Atlas Forum

[Blaziken257]

So, I'm guessing that most of you have heard of the 3DS... it's the successor to the DS, with true 3D effects and has some DSi features like a camera. If you don't know what it is, then look it up on the Internets.

Now, I'll introduce this topic in ways that most people don't... am I the only person who has no interest in this thing? It just seems so overhyped. For starters, the lineup seems weak (then again, that happens with a lot of systems), and as of now, out of all these games, only a few even remotely interest me, like Mario Kart 3DS (let's hope that they fix the messed up item balance from MKWii). And it's also overpriced. It's supposed to be US $250, which, although it's less than the Japanese price (equivalent to US $300), that's still high, and it's more than any other handheld that I've seen (at least Nintendo ones from what I can remember). Sadly, it seems that the trend with handhelds is to get more expensive over time, and the price is also the same as the Wii was when that first came out.

Next, the 3D effect. Since I'm sensitive and get dizzy easily, I'm probably not going to enjoy the 3D effect at all. I saw Avatar sometime last year, and while it was a good movie, the one thing that it didn't need was the 3D stuff. I almost got sick from that. Even worse, I've heard that Nintendo warned that young children shouldn't play it, which is not a good sign. Let's hope that this isn't the next Virtual Boy.

And yes, I'm aware that you can turn off the 3D. So maybe I shouldn't be complaining as much, but the hype around this thing is the 3D effects. Even the name -- 3DS -- emphasizes this, so basically I won't enjoy the main point of the handheld in the first place.

Not to mention -- the battery life. Oh boy, just 3-5 hours for 3D games? Part of the reason why Nintendo has been dominant was because the various Game Boy systems as well as the DS had good battery life. It wasn't something that you had to think about all the time. I mean, for example, the Game Boy crushed the Game Gear partly due to this. Now it's hardly portable if I have to keep recharging it at home all the time. Oh, and for regular DS games, it isn't much better -- 5-8 hours. No thanks, I'll stick to my DS Lite with 15-19 hours (more than double the life!).

And like the DSi, which I never saw the point of getting, there's no GBA slot. So I'd be paying more for a system that plays less games? Ugh. I'd rather keep my DS Lite and be able to play GBA games on it. I don't care if GBA games are "outdated", games don't suddenly get worse just because they're old.

Oh, and seeing in the past that Nintendo makes countless upgrades to their handhelds (Game Boy Pocket, Game Boy Advance SP, Game Boy Micro, DS Lite, DSi, DSi XL), I'm guaranteeing that Nintendo will make an upgrade to the 3DS too. So even if I want a 3DS, it makes more sense to just wait for a redesign instead of getting two handheld systems and have the first one collect dust. I got the original DS in December 2005 (yes I'm aware that I got it a year late, because initially there were no games that interested me), then was disgusted to hear that the then-new DS Lite was going to come out. I wouldn't have even gotten the DS Lite, but my original DS started screwing up (the L/R buttons both stopped working), so I just got a new one. I like the bigger stylus anyway. So I'm not going to let that happen to me again...

Oh wait, it has a camera? Well, I already have a standalone one. It takes high quality pictures, has 20x zoom, and can take them in high resolution. I doubt the 3DS will have any of that, except that it's a 3D camera, but that isn't enough to change my mind.

Oh wait, it has a Virtual Console for the Game Boy? Well, the Game Boy was my first handheld ever, so naturally I have a lot of games for it. There's little point to getting them again, barring battery issues (which actually makes a difference, since a lot of Nintendo R&D1 games that I have, like various Wario and Metroid games, have erased on me several times for no reason, so the VC would actually be useful here in that respect). But other than the battery thing, it's not too special to me.

So... do I have any reason to get this thing? As of now, no. Unless there's some game awesome enough to interest me (not that this will happen anytime soon, as Pokémon Black & White are compatible for the regular DS), I won't get it. Sorry. I know that a lot of people will disagree with me, but I personally don't care, and nobody can force me to get a 3DS.

Although the red one looks way cool, because red is my favorite color.

[CaptainEddie]

Well, the launch window lineup isn't looking very nice. However, there are several games I'm excited for:
Mario Kart 3D
Paper Mario 3D
Kid Icarus looks good, too.
MegaMan Legends 3
Ocarina of Time 3DS
Star Fox 64 3DS

The 3DS is just bringing in a lot of amazing franchises that hook me right in.
I made a stupid decision and got a DSi when it came out, and I was really angry when Nintendo anounces the 3DS six months later.

However, they've won me over with software.

As for the battery life, the system comes packaged with a chrager that attatches to the bottom of the system and charges it, while the charger being completely portable. But yes, Nintendo will most likely have revisions, so the best thing to do is wait.

[HavocReaper48]

Personally I think the system was a good idea but the price is a turnoff for me (More than a Wii, if I recall correctly?). The software lineup looks alright, I look forward to the first three games you listed Eddie. However, knowing Nintendo, they will make fifty revisions of it:

-3DS
-3DS Lite
-3DSi
-3DS XL
-3DSi Lite XL

And there's still no GBA port. Even if they have a Game Boy virtual console which I also look forward to, I'll probably wait for the 'Lite XL + pricedrop or until they develop a Donkey Kong Land Returns.

EDIT: Nintendo will probably address the battery life in the 3DSi or something.

[CaptainEddie]

It's the same price as the Wii was at launch. I think I'm just gonna wait for it to come out in that cool red color I saw and for some more games to come out.

The loss of the GBA port is sad, yes, but I have two GBAs, an SP, and a DS. I'm not exactly hurting for GBA machines.

The battery life doesn't really bother me now that the charger is portable. I'm ure the charger plugs into the wall or whatever, but still. It's a pretty neat contraption.

[Kiddy14]

The 3DS will launch at $4,999 MXN here in Mexico (lol that's $4'999,000 MXP), that's about $415 USD.

I like the improvements they've done, but personally I'll wait till the price lowers.

EDIT: So it keeps getting higher, they announced it is actually going for $5,990 MXN, that's effectively $500 USD.

[teh epicnes]

I've heard rumors about a Super Mario world styled game for the 3ds. It's either going to be a remake or something new. Whatever it is, I hope the rumors are true. (No rhyme/ poem-like sentences intended.)

[CaptainEddie]

During E3, they were running Super Mario World (among other NES and SNES) in full 3D. Whether they plan to release these games in 3D or if it was just for presentation, we don't know. But they weren't remakes, just ports running in 3D.

However.

A new Mario Kart and a new Paper Mario is being developed on the 3DS. Shigeru Miyamoto has also announced that he's working on a new Super Mario platformer for the 3DS, but it's a completely new project, not a SMW remake.

that's about $415 USD.

It's only running for $250 here. :p

[Tiptup Jr.]

Yeah, I'll never forgive Nintendo for taking the GBA port out of the DS. f--- that. They'll probably just make us buy them again on 3DSWare.

Also, am I the only one here who's probably gonna turn 3D OFF while playing most games? It's like, do we really need it?

[Jomingo]

Apparently, the 3DS virtual console will not have GBA games (at least at first). So that leaves a pretty huge gap in compatibility.

[Tiptup Jr.]

Yeah, I've heard that, but I don't think it's true. At some point there WILL be GBA games on the service, but you're right, probably not at first. I'm actually surprised no one's developed a GBA slot extension that you can just plug into the DS port... hmm.

[Jomingo]

Yeah they will probably do it eventually.

The GBA slot in the DS port sounds a little risky though. The DS cards are so small, it seems to me that if you go from such a thin card and then to a big bulky GBA slot it could easily snap off.

[Tiptup Jr.]

You might be right, but I'm pretty sure you're envisioning the same thing I am, something that plugs into the DS slot but then has a GBA port that kinda hangs over the back. I'm just still butthurt that I can't play vast GBA collection on my DS anymore... Haha.

But dude, this is coming out NEXT MONTH. I'm pretty excited. If I don't get one at launch I'm picking one up for my birthday in June.

[CaptainEddie]

Eh...the loss of the GBA port really isn't all that big a deal if you have a DS or GBA. So long as the extra space is used wisely, I'm fine with it.

I'm definately not going for launch. But as soon as the red one hits the market, shoot...I'm there.

[Tiptup Jr.]

In my opinion it is a pretty big deal... I mean, before the DSi I solely relied on my DS for playing GBA games, but now I have to use my old, front-lit SP. (As in, not the backlit ones.) It just doesn't look as good. But I might purchase a new SP before they become too old or something.

[CaptainEddie]

It doesn't look as nice, but it doesn't look horrible, either. I still have my original DS, so that's not much of a problem. I use my SP for GB and GBC games. There's some discoloration, but that's easily rememdied by turning the light off. If it's dark, then I just deal with it.

I will not be turning the 3D off, I happen to love the effect and I'm sure Nintendo will figure out some sort of way to integrate it into new frms of gameplay.

[Blaziken257]

Now that the 3DS has been out for more than a year now in the entire world... I'm curious to how opinions from different people have changed. As for myself... I'm still not convinced that I should get this thing. Yeah, there was a large price drop, and a few games... but it isn't enough to make me want one.

The price drop (from $250 to $170 in the US) may have seemed appealing at first, but after some consideration, it's actually made it even harder for me to care about one. A 32% drop after the system was released for less than a year (less than half a year in the US!) just leaves me with a bad impression. It was done because sales weren't doing well, and while they're apparently better now, I still have the impression that it won't be very successful in the long run. Plus, $170 is still more than both the DS ($150) and DS Lite ($130), even when they were new.

Then there are the games... out of all the games announced last year, the only ones that had any appeal to me were Mario Kart 7, Super Mario 3D Land, and to a lesser extent, Kid Icarus: Uprising and Luigi's Mansion 2. But really, I don't absolutely need these games (partly because I already have a lot on other systems), even if they are good.

I had high expectations for Mario Kart 7... then it was heavily rushed for the Christmas holiday last year. From what I've seen, it's by far the buggiest Mario Kart game in existence. Yeah, I know that past games, like MK64 and MK:DD, have had bugs, but this one is worse. I've seen loads of videos of glitches. The worst one is a game-breaking shortcut in one course (it involves falling off the track and having Lakitu put you back on the track much farther into the course), which is a huge problem online. And no, Nintendo won't patch it... I don't know why. There's another one where you can pass through Wiggler in Maple Treeway. There's another one where every time you get hit by a Spiny Shell (seriously, it's in this game too?) on DK Pass, the game freezes. Great. I've also seen one where the screen freezes after unlocking certain things. Then there's a different one where the Bullet Bull occasionally goes backwards. There are loads more, but I forget them all at the moment. Ugh... I guess rushing a game is OK in the short term, but in the long term, it will just deter people like me from wanting to play it. And when people look back years later, it will be seen as mediocre. If I do ever get it (not likely at this point), I'll probably get it used at a very low price, because it definitely isn't worth $40.

I did try Super Mario 3D Land at a Target once, and it seemed pretty decent. However, I have so many Mario games that this will probably be too similar. I'd still probably get it if I ever got a 3DS, but I wouldn't get a 3DS just for this game. There's also never been a Mario game that I've liked better than the Lost Levels, either.

I don't know much about Kid Icarus: Uprising, but it seems to get good reviews. I hope it's better than the NES game, at least, which was hard for the wrong reasons (one-way vertical scrolling where there are always pits below you -- just like the heavily flawed Ice Climber, as well as very long levels with no checkpoints, and if you die, which is easy due to the pits, you don't even keep the hearts you collected). Well, over 20 years have passed, I'm sure it will be.

I don't know much about Luigi's Mansion 2 either. If it's like Luigi's Mansion, it will be OK and I may get it if I had a 3DS.

Those four games aren't enough to convince me to get a 3DS, though. There's one game that could have heavily convinced me to get one, and that would have been Pokémon Black and White 2. Usually when I get a new handheld, I don't play it much (or at least I mostly play games from previous handhelds on it) until a Pokémon game comes out. So this could have been a perfect opportunity. But there's one problem... it will be for the DS. Yes, the DS was released in 2004, and there are still games coming out for it in 2012. And since I will be playing it a lot, I'll stick to my DS Lite for a long time, thank you very much.

Also, if Retro hypothetically made a Donkey Kong Land Returns (or something like that) for the 3DS, like HavocReaper48 had mentioned, then that would have heavily convinced me too, because I've always loved most of the Donkey Kong games. But there's no Donkey Kong game on the 3DS that I know of, so there's another wasted opportunity.

I'll probably wait about a year to get one, but only if things get better during this year. Right now, I don't see much of a point. And by the time I want one, an upgrade (which seems to be the trend since the Game Boy Pocket) may emerge, so I'll probably end up getting that. An upgrade seems necessary, too, since I've heard of some second stick add-on thing that seems to be common in some games (I don't know much about it). And I heard the bottom part of the 3DS scratches the top screen from normal use if you close it and carry it around. I heard the camera on the 3DS is awful too, so that could use upgrading too. And let's not forget the atrocious battery life now. Yeah, I'll probably wait for an upgrade since I already waited so long...

[Gaz]

*moderator removed over 9000 line quote*

And the names for Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 suck a LOT! Nintendo needs more creativity.