A new Nintendo handheld system is nothing new–hardware reboots of sorts have been tradition for decades (the DS had four different designs, for instance). Through them, you can almost see an evolutionary tree of slow, but steady advancements inching their way towards better systems and, as a result, better games. The latest version of the 3DS demonstrates similar potential as much as it does confusion for consumers.
With the New 3DS, gamers will have no less than four systems to play on and not a clue of what to play on it. The 3DS can play 3DS games, but not New 3DS games; the 2DS can play 3DS (in 2D), but not New 3DS games; and the New 3DS can play all 3DS games. If that didn’t confuse consumers–particularly the casual audience that built Nintendo’s last-generation domination–then you might only look to how the Wii U was once (and still) thought of as a Wii U accessory. I know I want one. I just don’t whether anyone else will know they do too.
Just the name “New 3DS” is likely to confuse folks who might be led to believe that it, along with its New 3DS-only games, is an entirely separate system from the existing 3DS. Nintendo’s Wii Mini may recall the company’s most untimely missteps in marketing and unwelcome distractions in selling new hardware isn’t unprecedented. These new systems may be geared toward the hardcore audience, but its existence can still confuse an unfamiliar public at large.
The New 3DS will be launched later this year in Japan, with a European launch to come in 2015. Meanwhile, Nintendo of America’s declined to say if (or simply when) it’ll bring the new models to the U.S. and abroad. It’s undeniably frustrating for players not knowing whether to import one in 2014, though it might be a smart choice to keep American players’ minds on the three handhelds already available to them–3DS, 3DS XL, and 2DS–in all their colorful bundles come this Super Smash Bros holiday season. If or when the two new 3DS systems come to North America, they need to utterly replace the existing 3DS and 3DS XL models, should that not already be the plan for all markets.
The New Nintendo 3DS boasts a variety of new features: an analog nub (the new C-Stick), additional ZL and ZR shoulder buttons, improved 3D, integrated NFC support for Amiibo, a faster CPU, plus standard and XL (Or in Japan, LL) sizes. Like the 2DS, it’ll also be back compatible with original 3DS games, and unlike it, it’ll come with exclusive games, the first of which is a handheld port of the Wii’s acclaimed (and massive) JRPG, Xenoblade Chronicles, complete with stereoscopic 3D visible from all angles.
What’s most remarkable is that, except for Amiibo functions, power is a primary factor for the system, something entirely unsurprising for Nintendo’s domestic base of dedicated towards handheld owners back east. For once, Nintendo may be on par with its competition in one department. What’ll be most interesting is whether hardware specs will be what moves systems, especially in light of the Playstation Vita’s more unsuccessful push for powerhouse titles.
As far as power is concerned, Nintendo’s already ensured that the faster CPU is put to use for more than just speeding up system navigation and downloads. Porting a title as massive as Xenoblade Chronicles to the New 3DS–and the New 3DS alone–is a technological feat in itself and outstanding proof of the system’s power alone. It’s not the first time a revision of a handheld has been the only one to play certain software (á la DSi and DSiWare), but it’s the very first that it’s pumped out a console level showing.
It’s perhaps no coincidence, then, that the news follows Shigeru Miyamoto’s expressed interest in the company moving beyond the “passive” attitude of casual gamers. “In the days of DS and Wii, Nintendo tried its best to expand the gaming population,” Miyamoto told Edge. “Fortunately, because of the spread of smart devices, people take games for granted now. It's a good thing for us, because we do not have to worry about making games something that are relevant to general people's daily lives.”
Games will, of course, be what sells the New 3DS. Xenoblade will be cheaper (and certainly more available) on 3DS than anywhere else and Nintendo’s probably due for cashing in on the much requested Majora’s Mask remake. Virtual console games, especially from the Gamecube, could be entirely feasible given the additional camera control and upscaled graphics, but new games are the only games driving new systems. Selling third parties on the system will most likely take time and it’s a new (and good) 2.5 D Metroid, or more particularly another Pokémon that could keep handhelds flying off the shelves.
Too much of a good thing can certainly too much of a good thing for any over saturated brand in any market. Whatever the outcome, the New 3DS comes from a company who’s clearly understood making games on the small screen. Though time will tell if the industry’s big enough for this many 3DSs, I’m only disappointed that I may have until 2015 to find out.
