The new Nintendo 2DS system gives you all the features of the Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo 3DS XL, minus 3D viewing. And the price makes the world of Nintendo games even more accessible.
Curiously enough, the 2DS actually has only one screen – it’s divided in two by the casing. The entire screen is touch-capable, but the top screen is covered by plastic so you can’t touch it there. Like the Wii U’s controller, this thing just looks weird and unwieldily, and while the price is nice, I doubt it will turn Nintendo’s fortunes around.
Imagine a phone and/or tablet designed and built by Nintendo, with a proper integrated gamepad, capable of output to external displays, with access to Nintendo’s entire back catalog of games – from the NES, through the Game Boy, SNES, Nintendo64, GameCube, DS, and Wii (if compatible with non-motion controls). Of course, new games can be published as well.
Nintendo should not be making yet another device to carry aside from your phone. They should be making a phone.
Can’t quite grasp how big it’s supposed to be from the image. Seems a tad unwieldy, with the buttons being so high up.
If they release this the same time as some new Pokemon game, it’ll probably sell a lot initially, and then fade away into unimportance.
On the bright side, I suppose Nintendo could always fall back to being a software maker, kinda like Sega. Their back-catalog alone would almost guarantee a gajillion purchases via iTunes or Play. Not sure if they’ll ever release an actual smartphone, though. If they did, judging from the looks of this 2DS, it’ll look like something from Osh Kosh B’gosh.
Being a bit of a Nintendo fanboy, I’m quite saddened by their recent form. Miyamoto needs to get back to his old self – consuming copious amounts of druggy mushrooms while chilling in his garden, waiting for inspiration – and come up with something that’ll make everyone want to get a Nintendo console/handheld again.
The Nintendo business is:
New hardware, Mario, Zelda, etc.
When you take out hardware, you take out the last piece of originality Nintendo had.
And frankly I’d say they are running out of gas with those, as there are fewer and fewer hardcore fans willing to buy new hardware just for a handful of first party titles.
Its a shame but the writing has been on the wall for awhile now and I truly think this will be the last generation of handhelds, replaced by Apple and Google phones and tablets. It makes sense though, if you are gonna have the phone on you anyway why carry a dedicated device?
I know since getting my smartphone that is pretty much all I carry around anymore, the netbook strictly for service calls and I ended up giving my DS to my GF’s grandchild. I just couldn’t ever seem to have the handheld on me when i was stuck anywhere while I always had the phone, why not use it?
Here is an image of the 2DS, 3DS, and 3DS XL all together.
http://i.imgur.com/Pw3GaAe.jpg
No thanks, I’ll pass. I’d prefer a special-purpose gaming device that does what it is meant to do (gaming) and does it well. We have enough phones out there running Android or iOS or whatever that try to be more “general-purpose” than they really are, and fail miserably at it. We don’t need yet another, which would inevitably just get lost in the vast sea of the same old shit that’s already out there.
What is with people wanting one portable device to do everything poorly? Seriously, we have enough of that crap already. Nintendo is the only company that still at least attempts to stick to its original goals and not go off the deep end mixing gaming with every other form of entertainment in every way possible like Microsoft and Sony have. The last thing I would want is for the damn thing to stop my game and disturb me during a major boss battle.
Edited 2013-08-28 21:45 UTC
I guess that’s why you can’t surf the internet and watch Netflix with a Wii eh?
Last time I checked, my kids’ DSi and 3DS both had wifi and internet surfing – in addition to a camera and SD card slot.
Edit: oh, and peer 2 peer chat
Edited 2013-08-28 22:40 UTC
Which, along with the Opera browser, is available as an optional download, and I happily ignored them both. My Wii is both Netflix- and Opera-free, and I like it that way. There are better ways to access a web browser and a Internet video streaming service than a video game console.
I wasn’t too much a fan of those features when I originally heard of them and I do not own either system, but the point still stands: Nintendo has strayed far less from the original video game console vision than their main competitors. Can you play DVDs on your Wii? Thankfully not, otherwise you would (in my case unwillingly) be paying for a license just for the privilege of decoding the DRM.
That said, I don’t know what Nintendo’s doing with the camera on those DS variants, but if their past is any indication I’m sure they’ve found some way to have fun by making games that use the camera. They did this with the Game Boy Camera years ago, and if anyone can pull such a thing off (making a fun game out of something as plain and boring as a camera), it’s Nintendo.
SD cards could just as easily be used for game saves or something similar, or downloaded games, so I’m not sure how the fact that it has an SD card is “bad” or “non-gaming.” You’ve got to store data somehow–in the past it was in the EEPROM of the game cartridge itself, and later on proprietary memory cards. Now they just use more standardized memory cards which just happen to also be used in cameras and camcorders, in TVs, in digital audio players, etc. Not sure how that’s a bad thing.
Actually, I’ve heard the Netflix implementation for Wii is superior to other gaming devices…
Personally, I run an old original Xbox with XBMC for streaming movies off my NAS – it works great. The fact that it can run a multitude of emulators is also a bonus.
Unfortunately, it can’t playback high definition compressed videos, so I’ll probably demote it soon. I’ll either replace it with a hacked XB360, or some other device which is flexible enough to do more than “just play games”. Sorry, but the days of having a multitude of devices attached to a TV (which are basically just large computer monitors), is over. I’d rather not waste money and space on a bunch of dedicated devices when something size of a pack of gum can do everything I want.
I don’t play DVDs any longer anyway. I stream most of my video… in case you didn’t notice, the world has changed.
Amusingly, you sort of made my point. These days, the technology in a handheld gaming device is all standardized – it’s the same stuff you find in every other device. Why limit its usage to one task, when it can clearly do more?
Yes, the SD cards allow downloading of games (and other applications) for the DS. There’s an “app store”, just like phones, tablets, etc.
You must have missed it – at this point, a 3DS is just a crippled mini-tablet computer with some extra buttons.
My kids already use my 10″ HP Touchpad running android far more than they use the DS’s – and that trend will continue. If Nintendo doesn’t jump on board, they’ll miss the boat entirely. I’m already considering buying my kids some 7″ Android tablets when the price/features become compelling enough.
The Wii was released in 2006. DVD was most definitely still being used quite a bit back then. I remember the fits of rage people threw back then when they found out that it would not play them, and I rejoiced, happy that Nintendo was sticking to its core and not forcing me to pay for extra crap that I perceive as useless and unwanted. After all–I already had a nice 5-disc DVD player, and had no desire to place extra wear and tear on the optical disc drive of my video game system.
Yes… we might as well have our cars brew our coffee, toast our bread, pour our beer, download our porn and torrents, and wake us up in the morning too. Hey, why not? But really, this is a storage device we’re talking about here. If people want to load theirs with pictures, fine, but I won’t. Not the one I use in my Wii, at least. I would have a dedicated card for that, and most likely a dedicated device to primarily use it with.
I thought I already mentioned that I was not a fan of that system? Or maybe I just said that I don’t own one, I don’t remember and don’t really care. Well, either way, I was never too thrilled with the 3DS’ extra “non-gaming” features. I have slammed it in the past. Now, I just don’t care, because I have got out of portable gaming. I just can’t bring myself to sit cramped staring at a tiny screen with crappy speakers.
Ever think about trying an HTPC? The AMD Bobcat based are ultra low power and have no problem playing 1080P or if you want something with a little more muscle the FM2 APU chips can be had for a song and the crazy cheap Athlon X3s which are great for HTPCs and have enough oomph to play most games easily.
For those that want an HTPC that can game I usually go for an Athlon X3 or X4 with an HD7750, this combo when paired with Steam’s big picture mode make for a nice gaming platform and the nice thing about HTPCs is how many jobs they can perform well, gaming, streaming, chat, surfing, I even have had a customer use his for an office box while he waited on a part for his office PC. Finally add one of those lenovo handheld keyboard remotes and you have a system that is easy to use as a console but not limited to only a few tasks.
But I have to agree about the one trick ponies, i ended up giving my DS away to my GF’s grandchild because I never seemed to have the thing on me when i was stuck waiting somewhere and could have used the distraction but I always have my Android phone in my pocket so i ended up loading some games into it instead. While having dedicated buttons is nice having to carry another device simply wasn’t worth it and the new Android phones play games very well.
Absolutely. But unless you’re a DIY person (I’m not… I broke a motherboard once trying to put RAM in), I haven’t seen a decent one, with a form factor you would actually want to put in a living room, for less than $600.
Please go on… Seriously, how did you manage that? The only kit I ever killed was when I was a kid and didn’t know that static could kill electronics and killed one of my old dumpster dived 286 boxes when I too it apart and set the boards on the carpet…
Long story. I’m half-blind, so that definitely doesn’t help
Dude listen to your old pal, the new kits? IT COMES WITH PICTURES. No crap, you don’t even have to be able to read to put the things together. If you are wanting an ULV system you can get the Bobcat ones already installed in a box for less than $200, all you do then is slap in a stick and a drive and you’re off to the races.
And have you thought about asking the local mom & pop shops if they’ll put together a kit for you? One of my most popular services, for a flat $75 you hand me the kit and the OS disc and the next day you pick up your new system, no muss and no fuss. I bet there is a shop nearby that will be happy to slap one together for you.
Finally is there a college nearby? If the mom & pop shops won’t give you a good deal put an ad up at the local college and see how quick you get a student to do the job for you, heck you could probably get it done cheaper than $75 that way but a lot of shops like mine do the little extras like adding the patches, codecs, and AV. But you go over to any college and a large chunk of them will be DIYers simply because they can get a nicer system for cheaper that way and college kids are always looking to make a little extra cash.
As you can see you DO have options and when you have that HTPC in your hands trust me you will NEVER go back to a console. The amount of roles that can be done by an HTPC is leagues ahead of ANY console, streaming, media tank, jukebox,gaming, surf, chat, DVR, the list goes on and on and on.
Oh and as an added bonus? You can ALWAYS find a use for a PC, even long after its passed cutting edge, unlike the consoles that are pretty much relegated to playing that console’s games when its EOLed. It can be a media server, kitchen computer, web box, heck load it full of emulators and ROMs along with a couple of USB universal console controller adapters and you have the ultimate retro machine, and even a 7 year old P4 can do that job VERY well.
Where can I get one of these? I don’t really need one for gaming, cept for emulators. If it’s fast enough to play the arcade version of Killer Instinct and blu-rays, I’m good
Don’t know where you live so I can’t say for sure in your area, but here its Tigerdirect,Newegg, and Amazon that have ’em, just look up “E350 kit” and there ya go. Never tried a Blu-ray on one, those are encoded with H.264, yes? If that is the case i have no trouble playing 1080P H.264 on my E350 thanks to DXVA offloading a good chunk of the processing to the GPU, which is a Radeon HD6310 in case you are wondering.
But as far as emulators go it plays those just fine, also plays older PC games pretty well, there are even videos of guys playing games like Crysis on a Bobcat but you have to lower the heck out of the graphics. BTW 2 bits of advice,
1.- if you get one get the fastest memory it will take as it does make a BIG difference when it comes to APUs and of course the more memory the better. With mine I saw my performance go up a good 35% just by going from 1066 to 1333 and from 2GB to 8GB, which yes many of them CAN take up to 8GB of memory!
2.- If you get one for an HTPC make sure you get one with a PCI-E slot as there are some that only have a PCI slot (or in the case of the micro-mini like the Foxconn that is the size of a router none at all) which will really limit your choices down the road. one of the nice things about the Bobcat chips is they support what is called “hybrid Crossfire” where you pair a cheap PCI-E chip like one of those $20 HD 5450 cards and it will split the processing duties, this will give you the ability to give the unit a nice speedboost down the line for cheap.
Anyway just Google “AMD E350 kit” and I’m sure you’ll find plenty to choose from and they really do make good HTPCs as long as you know the limitations, for example you want be recording HD video using a Bobcat. But for a media center/media tank HTPC that will do casual gaming? They are cheap, only use 18w under load, low enough power that there are several units that come passively cooled, all in all a pretty sweet unit to build an HTPC or office box out of. Hell I’ve even made a few low power file servers out of them, its pretty sweet to have this little unit that can be set on a shelf in a closet yet still be a good file and mail server while using less power at full load than a P4 did at idle.
Thanks, I’ll look into it
Non-folding dual screen handheld? The layout looks more uncomfortable then the GBA SP and more unwieldy then the N64 controller.
Yet again Nintendo designs something you need radioactive mutant hands to use…
If only the OpenPandora wasn’t so damn expensive.
Edited 2013-08-28 21:46 UTC
I agree that it looks uncomfortable, but what’s with the N64 controller comparison? IMO the N64 controller was excellent in function and comfortable. Beat the hell out of the PlayStation controller. Not only was the N64 controller unique in that it could be held in three different ways, some games allowed two controllers to be used in one. The GameCube controller fit like a glove, but the N64 controller was a good step forward.
You are both wrong, if you have to switch hand positions into one of 3 different placements depending on the game or worse in the middle of the game then the controller design is terrible.
Look, I get it, Goldeneye and Super Smash Brothers where great games in their own right, but that controller sucked even more then the original XBox controller that had buttons that dug into your thumbs after half an hour and was uncomfortable unless you had massive gorilla claws.
Say what you will about Sony as a company, because I too hate them, but they designed a controller that stands the test of time as being the most comfortable and best laid out design thus far.
It’s like I said about the SP, unless you have the hands of an 8 year old that thing is designed to cause hand cramps, compare that to the original GBA, it’s why I modded my GBA with the screen out of a broken SP.
Yeah, I suck at gaming because of the N64’s worst controller design since the Intellivision and the rest of the 2nd gen consoles.
Edited 2013-08-29 01:15 UTC
Who said you needed to switch hands during gameplay? Or in most cases, even from game to game? I can’t even recall a single game that required mid-game switching. Some games gave you the option though. Usually it was left prong/right prong (D-Pad and L shoulder button; traditional style) or center prong/right prong (thumbstick, Z trigger; good for 3D games). Perfect Dark went one step further allowing the use of two thumbsticks by effectively using two controllers as one. There is nothing wrong with being given more a choice.
Now you’re comparing the N64 controller to the original Xbox controller? Seriously, what the hell are you on? I was only just turning 12 when the N64 came out, and I got by just fine with its controller. Same with all my friends. No “massive gorilla claws” necessary. On the other hand, the “original” Xbox controller truly *was* a disaster. You know it’s bad when the company even has to release a new controller within the system’s lifetime. I would say the Xbox Controller S was still pretty bad, and it didn’t really get any good until Microsoft perfected their Dreamcast controller rip-off with the launch of the Xbox 360.
A complete rip-off of a Nintendo design (Super NES controller), “updated” every generation with more ripped-off Nintendo innovations, and poorly implemented at that. I can’t even comfortably reach the L1/R1 buttons, the feel of the D-Pad is abysmal, and the location and feeling of the thumbsticks is atrocious. I’m sorry, but I’ll take the Nintendo original from 1991 any day.
Edited 2013-08-29 02:03 UTC
In most games you where supposed to use the joystick and trigger with your left hand while control the rest of the actions with your right hand, however there here a few games where there where also actions mapped to the D-Pad as well as a left shoulder button, which you had to smack the controller into your leg in order to hit without moving your hands.
Reading comprehension failure much? Both are terrible designs.
If that where the case then Nintendo would have sued over the controller design, the fact is the CD addon for the SNES that the Playstation became was going to use the SNES’s controller just as the SegaCD and 32X used the Genesis controller.
What weird way do you hold the Sony controllers? Everyone I’ve ever seen grab it grabs it the same way, thumbs on the buttons or sticks, pointers resting between the shoulder buttons. You don’t use the tips of your fingers, you roll your fingers across the bottons and you use both the end and middle portions of your thumbs to hit the buttons. Within 5 mins of playing something like MGS most people have mastered the pressure sensitive buttons so that they can hold up enemies instead of just shooting them instantly.
I don’t recall playing *any* games like that, so they were probably shitty games to begin with by not-so-great third-party developers. I wouldn’t blame bad game design on the system or its controller.
Oh, I comprehended it correctly. It’s just that I am in 100% complete disagreement with you. The N64 design was a nice evolution; the “original” Xbox controller was a piece of shit. No comparison, and it’s insane to be lumping the two together.
Sony would have likely been sued, in fact, if they would have used Nintendo’s superior cross-shaped D-Pad. I believe they owned a specific patent, which Sony was able to get past by slightly modifying the design of the D-Pad and recessing it under the plastic so it takes the form of four “buttons”. After all this time the patent has probably long been expired, yet Sony systems still have the same crap design. Other companies over the decades have come up with much better D-Pad designs.
I hold it like I would hold the Super NES controller; sometimes with my fingers resting below the shoulder buttons because it’s more comfortable, but if I need to use them I might occasionally rest them on the L2/R2 buttons. It is very uncomfortable for me to reach for the L1/R1 buttons, and I tend to hate games that make heavy use of them.
Oh, and the analog buttons… you just brought up another of my most despised features. A button should NOT be analog if you have no way to measure exactly how far it is being pressed. The Dual Shock II is the absolute *worst* controller for racing games I have ever used, period. I don’t even want to think of all the times I’m holding X, thinking I’m giving it gas, but the damn thing stops accelerating at 20-40 MPH. Same with brakes. It is horribly bad.
Sorry, Guilty Gear XX disagrees with you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wneMdNs6yNs
Edited 2013-08-29 12:51 UTC
Nope, The N64 controller is, like the original Xbox and the Dreamcast controller among the wost controllers ever designed.
The only modern controller I could ever have an 8 hour gaming session on without my hands cramping up.
Best controllers Sony’s, Genesis and SNES. Best handheld gaming design? Original GBA.
So it sounds like you are twitchy and impulsive, I’ve got nerve damage in my right hand and I have no trouble detecting how hard I’m pressing the button.
I’ve also never had that problem with racing games, and I played Gran Tourismo 3/4 religiously.
Your Nintendo fanboi is showing. Apologizing for their bad controller design won’t get them yo give you a discount. I’ve posted elsewhere about my love for other Nintendo consoles, but I’m not gonna come to your side because you are butthurt abut Sony going their own way instead of making the Playstation an addon for the SNES.
It sounds like you have something else wrong with your hands if you if you can’t even pull off an measly eight-hour gaming session. Hell, I can and have pulled allnighters that have extended every day of the week on practically any given system, all it takes is a game that is worthy of it. Super NES, Genesis, Saturn, N64, Dreamcast, Xbox, Xbox 360–yes, even the PlayStation family. Sony’s controllers just happen to be the least tolerable for the long term, so certain games I never bothered with, and those long gaming sessions usually tend to be less comfortable and much less enjoyable than they could be.
But really, who cares? All this will degenerate into is a flamewar, which you have already started with the immature terms (if you can even call it that–they’re not in any dictionary I’ve ever seen) “fanboi” and “butthurt.” I will just say that not everyone is you, and not everyone needs “gorilla hands” to hold an N64 controller. That’s it; I’m just saying that your claim is outrageous and bullshit. Lumping it up there with the truly worst controllers of all time is truly dumb. Quit trying to pass off bullshit (gorilla hands, original Xbox controller references) as facts.
Fact: You have an axe to grind with me because you have some strange love affair with the N64, as showcased by you screen name alone.
Fact: Microsoft stopped making the original Xbox controller and released a smaller version because most people did not like the massively over sized controller they launched with.
I’ve already rattled off my console history elsewhere in this forum so I won’t do it again, but there is absolutely no apologizing for the N64’s terrible controller, especially when they had a winning design with the SNES controller, one they used to make a retrofit version of the NES controller, well they did the whole console, but didn’t like the top loading NES as much as the old unreliable.
And yeah, a butthurt fanboi is how you’ve been acting just because you can’t accept that someone else thinks that the N64 controller was a bad design.
Think about it, why is it nobody tried to clone it outside of knockoff controllers for the N64 when there are TONS of clones of Sony’s controllers and I even remember seeing adapters to use the Dualshock2 with the Xbox.
Fact: I am calling you out on your bullshit, and if I really wanted I could continue arguing, but I’d rather not stoop down to your level. So I’ll just leave it at that, and continue to be amused that you *still* didn’t give any “facts” to back up your original claims about that system’s controller. Thanks for the laugh, and it’s especially amusing that you have to point out a damn username and resort to personal jabs at people you don’t even know to get your point across. That shows just how poor your reasoning is and demonstrates the shaky ground you base your comments on.
Edited 2013-08-29 21:49 UTC
um… no. The Dreamcast controller is not the worst controller, nor even among them. I absolutely love it and would use it over the pokey Sony controllers all day long (and I do…)
Actually Goldeneye already had the option. I bought another controller just to play like that.
You suck at gaming if you think the N64 controller was unwieldy. It is far more comfortable and functional than the Playstation controllers.
The only thing it lacked was durability of the analog stick…
It is an opinion tbh. I used PS1 style controllers for years and prefer them to anything else except for the Sega Mega Drive 6 button controller.
http://segaretro.org/Six_Button_Control_Pad_(Mega_Drive)
The Nintendo Gamepad I liked the most was the Gamecube’s the analog stick just was far more accurate than either the Xbox 360 (refused to play the original Xbox) and the PS2/PS3 analog sticks.
Edited 2013-08-29 12:54 UTC
The thing I like most about the Nintendo sticks is the notches that aligned at up/down, left/right, and the diagnols. The shoulders on the Gamecube controllers were also cool – large amount of a travel, with a satisfying click at the end.
I also tend to hold the N64 in an unconventional manner:
I hold the stick between my thumb and index, and use my middle to press the Z button.
But, yeah, the Genesis controllers were pretty bad, even the three button. The pad sucked, and they weren’t very comfortable. They Dreamcast controller was great, though. Quite comfortable.
To each their own. The N64 had an unusual controller but I never had a problem with it. The middle and right prongs always fit perfectly in my hands and that’s how I used it for every N64 game I ever played, with one exception – in one side-scrolling game, I used the left (for d-pad control) and right prongs and it still worked great for me. I never played – or heard of – a game that required me to switch during gameplay, but I agree with what had already been said, that any game that required it must have had a dumb developer.
But like I said, to each their own. One size doesn’t always fit all, you know? I don’t think the design is poor, but I can see why it turns off some people and I don’t fault you for disliking it.
I’ve never been a fan of the joysticks on the dualshock controllers, to be honest. FPS’s on PlayStation systems are virtually unplayable for me unless I use a third-party controller. Obviously there are millions of gamers that don’t have this problem, so it’s just a matter of different needs for different people.
No. Phones are terrible gaming devices. They are utter garbage.
I’m of the opinion that what Nintendo should have done is just a straight-up console that is game centric, keeping compatibility with Wii but having much more horsepower, and spent their money developing the power rather than a new, expensive gimick. The DS ended up being a less a gimick and actually something cool. I think they should have made the 3DS something with a pair of larger touchscreens, instead of the 3D part. But, that might have kept the price high without less room to drop it – the high price is what hurt sales so bad initially.
This device, however, is cool for being a cheaper version of the 3DS. The lack of 3D isn’t bad, since when you turn the 3D off on the 3DS, the framerate is goes up. Nintendo also warns against the 3D effect for younger children – this completely solves that. It would be nice if it folded, though.
As for size, it seems to be about the size of the original 3DS unfolded. The screens measure to be the same size as the original (and not the 3DS XL, unfortunately). One benefit of the lack of clamshell design is that it might actually be more comfortable to hold – with the buttons located higher, more of it rests in your palm and less of it is being held solely by your fingers.
I’m going to agree. I want a gaming system, not an all in one convergence whore’s wet dream. No stupid gimmicks, no trying to go retro for retro’s sake, no additional “services” to nickle and dime with and not one single goddamned facebook/twitter/whatever connection.
I want something defiantly single minded in it’s pursuit of gaming. Just games, on the best available hardware for the pricepoint is what Nintendo needs to pursue.
Well that’s you and the guy you replied to… Sorry but the rest of the world already decided they no longer really want “pure” portable gaming systems. Hell, they don’t even want console gaming systems that only play games.
If Sony and Microsoft hadn’t embraced media playback, social networking features, etc. they would be dying off too. The only reason consoles are still relevant is because they offer convergence features – a pure gaming console is a completely dead concept.
As for portables, it is even a bigger problem to be “pure gaming” because it completely ignores half the market – girls… Girls don’t want games, they want instagram, they want a phone, and boys eventually like girls, hence they end up being dragged along at some point…
If you take the total global sales of tablets, iPod Touch and the like, and phones sold for kids age 6-16 you get at least 25 million units a year – that is bigger than the entire portable gaming market by nearly two-fold…
The trick isn’t to make a better gaming device, the trick is making convergence devices better at gaming…
I would go one step further than Thom… Nintendo doesn’t need to make a phone – they need to figure out how to make Android better at gaming. Its too late for yet another custom platform – its either Android or they may as well quit. Because if they don’t do it someone else will and soon enough there will be an Android device that is good at gaming (and can do all the other stuff too)…
No, Sony and Microsoft are the ones shooting off their own feet with all the crap they pull with their networks with all of the advertising and letting the price of games sky rocket especially while the game devs nickel and dime the customers with DLC.
They can’t really compete with computer gaming for once now that Steam, GOG, Desura and the rest put up sales of excellent games for as little as $2.50 fairly regularly.
Online connectivity is what has allowed the console market to eat itself alive with it’s own greed.
I’m sure any of you that grew up playing multiplayer console games like I did with their friends on consoles like the SNES, Genesis, Saturn, Playstation, Dreamcast, PS2 and N64 remember gaming with their friends being a full contact sport, with elbowing, kicking, foot stomping and controller slapping all being part of the fun.
The guys I used to game with we literally wore through the discs on games like King Of Fighters ’99, Armored Core 2, Virtua Fighter 2, Tobal and destroyed controllers playing WWF Raw Is War and NBA Jam and you know damn well you and every one of your friends will swear TO THIS VERY DAY that turning the controller sideways and extending your arms away from the direction of the turn while leaning the rest of your body and extending your neck into the direction of the turn MADE YOU GO FASTER, PHYSICS AND GAME MECHANICS BE DAMNED!
Advertising, game pricing, and DLC have nothing to do with my argument. I agree with you that Sony and Microsoft (and game developers) are shooting themselves in the foot with those things… They are not shooting themselves in the foot with offering Netflix, HBO Go, social network integration, etc.
That’s funny… That is roughly the same price as most games on Android and the Apple App Store. You are making my point for me. Try selling physical media for $2.50… That won’t work, so now you have to sell digitally – so now you need an internet connection.
Once you are selling digital media and your device has an internet connection, how do you explain to your customers they can’t have netflix and instagram because your device is “only for gaming”…?
How is “PCs are better than consoles” an argument against convergence devices for gaming when PCs are in point of fact the ultimate convergence device? If the only thing your PC ran was Steam, I’m pretty sure you would think it sucked…
Edited 2013-08-29 02:23 UTC
The difference is that most Android and iOS games suck due to the fact the there are no real controls, in order to do anything you have to cover up at least part of your screen with your hand.
Thats the reason I gave up buying them and would rather play old games on one of my old dedicated handheld consoles.
In the battle between Angry Birds on my phone or damn near any original black and white Gameboy game, the Gameboy game wins hands down every single time.
Most people are narcissistic enough to think that high scores and game achievements mean anything.
The Netflix argument is a non starter since you can get a roku or a “smart tv” that can do that already.
Edited 2013-08-29 02:36 UTC
I completely agree. Hence why I think Nintendo should put their efforts into making Android better for gaming – part of that (a large part of it) is controller hardware…
Why buy yet another device to clutter up your entertainment center when a console is perfectly capable of doing the same thing? Roku’s, Apple TVs, etc. are not “other” types of devices – they are direct competition for consoles… Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo want to sell consoles to people that don’t even play games – because if they don’t they know it is only a matter of time…
Regardless, the original discussion was about portables… Ever tried putting a Roku in your pocket?
That really is the crux of the argument that no one seems to get – pockets, unlike entertainment centers, only hold so much stuff… Convergence devices will always win in the end.
If thats your argument, then why not just run a line from your comp to the TV.
How about a Slingbox login on a postit note in my wallet?
I’ve never liked watching video on a screen smaller then 15″
That’s funny because that is more or less what I do – at least on my main entertainment center… Currently none of the available devices cut it for me (I do a bit of everything).
My point though is if a $300 device could service my needs I would buy it, and in order for that to happen it needs more convergence features, not less…
But again, we are talking about portables. Imo there is simply no longer a market for a “pure” portable gaming device – the volumes and the margins are both shrinking and have been for a while – I think the point of no return is already behind us.
If Nintendo doesn’t do something real soon now to address this they will no longer have an ability to leverage their years of experience in this area… If they don’t embrace the new market realities they will die, its that simple.
The problem is though that unless that device is a custom built gaming class HTPC it will do all of those things terribly.
The phone should be a damn phone and my gaming handheld a gaming handheld. Facebook and twitter can fuck off.
iOS7 will have support physical controls, and Android has had them for quite some time.
But will that be on the actual device or will that be for those hokey add on controller systems like the arcade base station for tablets to play emulators on?
Because thats a deal breaker on that, it’s way lamer to walk around with a controller in your pocket and have to find somewhere to prop up your phone to game properly instead of just whipping out a Gameboy or PSP.
Most of the controllers have a gizmo where you can clip your phone to them. And unless you weigh 350lbs or wear some baggy-ass jeans, you ain’t keeping a 3DS or Vita in your pocket, so a man purse is pretty much required anyway.
Is there any statistic about people’s usage (or desire for) non gaming features in game consoles? (portable or not).
It’s obvious that the market is heading there, but I’m not really sure about that being a decision driven by customer needs/requests or those of content producers.
Specific statistics? No, I can’t find any. But there is this (somewhat old but still relevant):
http://investorplace.com/2011/08/wii-playstation-3-netflix/
The article goes on to describe why shrinking console sales are worrying Netflix, because it severely affects their bottom line (or it did at the time).
So in 2011 half of Netflix’s customer base used gaming consoles exclusively. In the last two years that number has shrunk quite a bit, since console sales are still shrinking and sales for pure media devices are growing (because they are substantially cheaper).
And people think the solution is to take away the non gaming features???
By the “rest of the world” you mean the bobbleheads in marketing and the non-gamers commenting on markets they aren’t actually a part of.
Stereotypes are awesome.
Sorry, I’ll fix that for you:
Definitely don’t want to offend the PC crowd…
Console threads always offend the PC crowd.
Well played
Edited 2013-08-29 23:32 UTC
I wouldn’t even consider a non-XL model, the standard screens are tiny. Good enough for small children though. I expect there’ll be an XL model released soon, as usual.
Since it doesn’t fold, it might be more durable.
I always though the dual screens was a bad choice since it’s a damn gaming handheld, make it one touch scree, then you lower the price and increase the battery life. 90% of the time the 2nd screen isn’t used for anything you wouldn’t see in the pause menu of a single screen gaming device.
It’s yet again a case of over thinking it, games are what sells consoles, not gimmicks.
jaguar controller
This is a great device and gamers will love it.
Why?
The price is right. You can get two of these 2DS’ for the price of one 3DS. For families on a budget, this is a big plus.
Those who still have a DS, DSL, or DSi, like myself, can get an affordable upgrade that allows us access to the 3DS library.
The screen resolution on the 3DS & 2DS is better than the DSL, so that is a plus.
From the video’s I have seen, the console sits well in young and old hands. I rarely have concerns with controller designs with Nintendo products.
Finally, I am glad it is just a gaming device. Some argue that the people want a convergence. No, the market wants this convergence & is pushing it. I meet very few who truly want every damned device they own to run Facebook, Instagram & Netflix. This idea of a one device to rule them all is a corporate walled-garden wet dream, but is not in the interest of consumers.
The argument that no one wants multiple devices on their TV’s must be younger than 20. If you wanted decent music 25 years ago, a single boombox was not the answer. It was a component stereo system. If you wanted higher quality video on your TV, it wasn’t an all in one, it was components (VCR, Laser Disc, DVD, etc.). Those of us old enough to have used consumer electronics for quite some time know that all in one devices are always cheaper & of lesser quality. This is still true today. A high quality receiver and speakers are still better than a soundstick attached to the TV directly. A high quality stand alone CD player with receiver and speakers is still better than an iPod attached to a portable speaker.
Back on topic, I applaud Nintendo for being the only gaming company left to stay focused just on gaming. I will support them with two purchases – a 2DS & a WiiU – before the end of the year.
I don’t think anyone’s arguing that a peizo speaker is better than a set of surround speakers, a sub, and a huge amp to drive it – but do you really need a ton of components?
For example, does anyone, in their right mind, need to buy a CD player if they already have a DVD player with digital audio output? Take that the next step – is it really necessary to have a dedicated DVD player if your game console plays DVDs and supports HDMI? Are you gaining something important by having a separate dedicated player with its own remote?
And in the era of streaming audio/video, where one can rip their music/video to a large HD sitting in another room, does one really need anything more than a simple media player with a nice browsing interface attached to their TV and receiver?
Don’t project your stereotypical “must be less than 20” crap on me either – I’ve probably got enough A/V equipment lying around to choke a garbage truck – but most of it sits collecting dust these days as I’ve moved most of my content to my NAS.
Yes, you want a high end component surround sound setup that is accurate enough to hear a mouse fart in the wall of a bar scene in a movie that is also powerful enough to rattle the fillings out of your teeth when you play your favorite war game.
Yes, you want a good dedicated DVD player that has a good upscaler for your HDTV.
Playing your audio of the comp only makes sense if you care about quality and only have .flac files. I’m no audiophile, I can however tell the difference between a 320kbps MP3 and a ripped from the CD flac.
If a craptacular all in one device is your thing then use a phablet for all of your computing, entertainment and communications needs. It’s the lamest jack of all trades and master of none there is.
That’s quite suspect claim; surely you never did a proper ABX test…
A statement of fact that most in their 20’s did not grow up with dedicated audio equipment is not stereotypical nor is it bashing. So chill the fuck out dude!
Kivada covered most of the points I would have made in reply so no need to reiterate those now.
But I will say that streaming audio, unless it is lossless, is not in any way the same as playing a Mobile Fidelity Jethro Tull Aqualung CD on a dedicated system.
Sorry, it just isn’t.
Somehow, I doubt you’ve done any ABX testing…
Noooooo…really? You don’t say. You realize they serve two different needs right? Or do you bring your speaker and amp rig with you wherever you go?
Of course, once you connect the IPod to a real speaker and amp there’s not really any noticeable difference. As a bonus you don’t have to change CD’s all the time.
Edited 2013-08-29 19:31 UTC
Bullshit. There is a significantly noticeable difference.
For the majority of people the difference is either not noticeable or not of importance.
…which very often evaporates when proper ABX testing is conducted.
Actually after the first iirc 3 revisions of the iPod Apple started cheaping out on the output hardware, that and name me the iPod that handles Flac natively.
You don’t keep a decent portable sound system in your car? I’ve been looking at the Boominator design http://imgur.com/a/bbRhJ as a base for my own solar speaker setup. For woodland raving and such.
For most people the difference is either unnoticeable or unimportant.
No, I prefer to spend my money on other things but to each their own.
iPods support Apple lossless codec, which is just as good and can be losslessly converted from FLAC. Plus, there’s always Rockbox for older iPods… ;P
Those of us old enough to have used consumer electronics for quite some time know that all in one devices are always cheaper & of lesser quality. This is still true today. A high quality receiver and speakers are still better than a soundstick attached to the TV directly. A high quality stand alone CD player with receiver and speakers is still better than an iPod attached to a portable speaker.
Also if something with a all in one device breaks, you’re screwed especially if it can’t be/costs too much to get fixed.
Don’t know how many people are stuck with a combo TV/DVD set where the DVD player on it isn’t working for one reason or another.
As has been pointed out in a picture, it’s smaller than the 3DS (openned up). It’s true that it won’t fit into my pocket like the 3DS would, but it also doesn’t have a hinge thit will break and become floppy like it did on my DS lite. I think that’s a trade off I’m willing to make. Also, I’m not worried about scratches. My Game Boy Color from 12 years ago still doesn’t have any scratches.
This device is for 3 – 7 year olds. They don’t have a phone.
Also, aren’t phones, like, $600, and tablets around $300? A 2DS at $130 is significantly cheaper.
For the first time in a long time I’m seriously considering purchasing one, but I haven’t had enough time to play video games recently to justify the price. :/
I’m not sure what is meant by this. While the Wii U is having a rather sad existence at the moment, the 3DS has been killing.
interesting but “Available Oct. 12”?
maybe a mistake but then two times because the carrying case should be also still available.. x)
If they can get Mario and Zelda on a phone with battery life anywhere near what a 3DS gets, they will not be able to make them fast enough.
Nintendo should not be making yet another device to carry aside from your phone. They should be making a phone.
Why the hell should Nintendo force upon people who the hell *DON’T* want a phone all the nastiness *OF* a Phone?
Get a freaking life.
So obviously designed for younger kids, it’s not even worth debating.
I was totally against it until I watched a kid playing one online. It looked like a decent handheld in that light.
I love that Nintendo makes their own hardware and that they are not jumping into making a phone.
If I wanted a do everything device that sucked at gaming I’d have an iphone already. No reason to wait for someone else to make a poor gaming device that takes phone calls since there are plenty on the market already.