Nintendo’s bonkers 3DS price-points could hand Apple the lead in handheld gaming
People rattle on about the Steve Jobs/Apple ‘reality distortion field’, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that companies battling Apple in the handheld gaming space are also living inside their own little bubbles and firing out distortion of their own. Sony last year cunningly decided to take on iOS by saying all iPhone/iPod touch games were rubbish, using an irritating little shit as their advertising campaign’s figurehead (nice one, Sony—I’m sure you can tell from marketshare figures how that idea worked out for you). Nintendo has fared better, but is losing serious ground to iOS across all age groups, especially in the USA.
But now, Nintendo’s going to fight back, and Gamespot has revealed the launch of the Nintendo 3DS will take place in Japan on February 26. The line-up for games is the usual mix of remakes, remakes and remakes, and as someone fully immersed in iOS gaming’s diversity, the 3DS offerings don’t look terribly exciting to me, especially since I own the previous versions of many of the launch games on the DS. (“Oooh, prettier graphics” is no longer a selling point, as Nintendo itself largely proved with the Wii.)
The biggest problem though is the crazy price-points. The console’s expected to come in at over $300, which in Brit-land will no doubt mean at least £200 being stamped on the box—in other words, more than an iPod touch. Even better, the games are expected to sell between 4800 yen ($57/£38) and 6090 yen ($73/£50). Even with some serious discounting (and Japanese games often being more expensive than in the US and Europe), these prices are obliterated by the App Store, which usually ranges from $1 (59p) to $9.99 (£5.99) per item.
I’m sure Nintendo fans will lap up the new console, but I fear it’ll—like its predecessor—eventually (and all too rapidly) find itself largely bereft of decent games, relying on shovelware to keep it going. More importantly, the core market of kids is rapidly vanishing. Time was that market at least was Nintendo’s, but kids increasingly want iThings rather than expensive Nintendo kit (and Nintendo itself has warned that the main USP of its new handheld may not be safe for kids). Perhaps Nintendo’s aiming to seriously ramp up its download offerings, or tempt buyers with pack-ins. If not, it’s going to have even more of a fight on its hands than over the past couple of years, and Apple has a real chance to take the lead in the handheld gaming space.
Update: As Lukas points out in the comments, some of the launch line-up comprises new titles in existing series, with “exactly zero to do with” earlier titles. However, having been a Nintendo fan since the NES, and having owned quite a few Nintendo consoles, it’s clear that many titles will involve more than a little recycling, unless the company really has changed its ways.
It saddens me to contemplate the demise of Nintendo (though I don’t believe we’re anywhere close to that yet), but this is yet another step down for the once-proud company that pioneered some of the most well-known characters in game history. You can only rest on the laurels of past innovation for so long.
Mm. I don’t think Nintendo’s going anywhere, but the danger is that it’s about to lose its ‘default’ position. When you wanted a handheld, most people grabbed the Nintendo first, before thinking about the alternatives. iOS is now making a play for that space, and if it becomes relatively niche, Nintendo could rapidly find itself in the same position Sega once did.
I’m pretty sure none of the announced 3DS games are remakes, except for the Zelda title. They are new games based on existing franchises. The Kid icarus game, for example, has exactly zero to do with earlier Kid Icarus games.
As for the console’s price point, this is business as usual for Nintendo. They sell consoles for profit, and there is no doubt in my mind that demand will vastly oustrip what Nintendo can deliver. Nintendo would be stupid to ask for less money when they can get away with it. Like Apple, Nintendo isn’t interested in market share, they’re interested in making money.
The game prices are another matter entirely. Games are already too expensive. Having said that, the 3DS will have a built-in market for downloadable games, and they will be priced similarly to iPhone games. It should also be noted that the kinds of iPhone games you can buy for 5 bucks or less typically are indeed not comparable to the kinds of console games you buy in the store, as Sony points out. Angry Birds is nice, but it’s no Golden Sun.
Which brings me to my last point, your claim that the DS only gets shovelware. This year alone brought titles like Golden Sun 3, Dragon Quest IX, Shantae, Picross 3D, Professor Layton 3, new Pokémon titles, Ace Attorney, and others. The iPhone has nothing that is comparable in scope to some of these titles.
I think Nintendo is doing exactly the right thing. They’re pulling ahead where Apple won’t compete: 3D, hardware buttons, first-party franchises. They’ll do very well.
I don’t think the console’s price-point is an issue per se (I’d sooner see Nintendo being profitable in terms of hardware sales than turning into a Microsoft-style money sink operation), but that combined with the game prices is what concerns me.
As for the games themselves, there are plenty of games with depth and scope on iOS (including a three-quid port of Ace Attorney)—it’s just they cost way less than on competing platforms, leading to the kind of crap Sony was trying to pull last year. (Nintendo at least has stayed away from such comparisons, instead quite cleverly trying to marginalise iOS and then attempting to play Apple and sony off against each other.)
Have to agree with you on this one. Especially when taking the worldwide and rapidly deepening crisis of capitalism, I can’t see who will be willing to pay ridiculous prices for games to enjoy on th bus. Frankly, the 3D thing isn’t that exciting itself either.
On the other hand, I still dislike the idea of an Apple game thing. Guess I’ll just have to wait for my Kindle and load some text adventures on the thins. Till then the Wiz is more than enough.
The Ace Attorney game for the iPhone, like the first Ace Attorney for the DS, is a Game Boy Advance port. There are newer, better Ace Attorney games on the DS.
The best example for a “real” iPhone game is probably Infinity Blade, and even that is very shallow compared to the kinds of games you can get on the DS.
@Lukas: Infinity Blade is Karateka with swords or Punch-Out!! mixed with a bit of SoulCalibur. It doesn’t have a great deal of depth, but then it was never supposed to. Therefore, comparing that to “the kinds of games you can get on the DS” is a bit odd, unless you’re comparing it to twitch block/parry fighters.
There are plenty of games with depth on both platforms, and to suggest there aren’t on iOS does a great disservice to the slew of RPGs, tap-based adventures and the GTA-style games (including GTA:CTW) that exist.
I’m comparing Infinity Blade to DS games because it seems to be the most high-profile, most “real” iPhone game.
It’s true that there’s a GTA game, but that, again, is a port of an older DS game. There are indeed a ton of JRPGs, but they pale (in scope and quality) in comparison to DS games like Golden Sun or the new Dragon Quest.
Dragon Quest isn’t selling consoles over here though.. And nintendo should know that as the DS popularised and was popularised by the very genre, they are trying to dismiss. It is how they beat the PSP (which had the more in dept games, ps2 games). By providing fun things to play on the bus..
Jap market may be very different though, so maybe the 3DS is aimed at there..
@Lukas: Out of curiosity, have you actually played any of these iOS games you’re talking about? The comparison with Infinity Blade makes no sense, as I’ve said. It’s a very simple game, designed specifically for quickfire bite-sized sessions. It’s meant to be something where a single ‘quest’ only takes 15 minutes or so on purpose. It’s hyped, for sure, largely due to the graphics.
I’m not sure what you mean by a ‘real’ game, though. Is Drop7 not a ‘real’ game? Civ Rev? Orbital? Strategery? Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit? Beyond Ynth? Dark Nebula 2? Osmos? Space Invaders Infinity Gene? Monkey Island? Reckless Racing? Chu Chu Rocket? Cut The Rope? Or is there some vague reasoning that suddenly propels a game to becoming ‘real’?
@romanista: Good point, there. When the DS first arrived, it was novelty that primarily set it apart. I remember getting terribly excited by the quickfire and inventive touchscreen games, doodling in Kirby Canvas Curse and scribbling in WarioWare: Touched! As you say, the console seems to be shifting emphasis, pushing more linear games of perceived depth over shorter, tighter arcade games that nonetheless can and often do offer huge longevity, albeit by the virtue of repeat play rather than ‘x hours of gameplay’. (My most-played DS game remains Zoo Keeper, for what it’s worth.)
I find it somewhat confusing that you seem to assume that I’m some kind partisan who complains about iOS games without having played them, merely because I disagree with you. I really don’t particularly care which company “wins” the mobile gaming market, but I do think that you’re wrong with some of the things you say (DS only getting shovelware, 3DS only getting remakes, higher prices for DS games never being justified, etc.).
To answer your question, yes, I’ve played all of those games. In fact, I’ve owned an iPhone since the first one came out, have bought the new version every time Apple released one, have written and released an iPhone game of my own in the App Store, and currently own an iPhone 4 that has way over 150 games installed on it. I also own a DS and a DSi, a PSP, a Wiz, and several other handheld gaming devices. I write videogame reviews for a Swiss gaming site. So I play a lot of games, and feel that I’m capable of making a reasonably objective judgement as to the scope and quality of the titles that different platforms receive.
The word “real” is perhaps an unfortunate choice. It doesn’t really matter whether you use that word, though. What matters is the point that iOS games are less expensive than DS games, but also offer less depth, scope, and quality. There are exceptions, but I don’t really think most (if any) of the games you mention qualify. Hot Pursuit, for example, is a pretty average game on the iPhone, especially when compared to Criterion’s version of the game (the fact that you listed it as a positive example makes me wonder whether *you* have played the games you mention :-). Real Racing 2 would be a better example of a great iOS game that offers depth and scope comparable to DS or PSP titles.
But titles like Real Racing 2 are pretty rare on iOS.
Oooh, ZING!
Yes, I’ve played the games. If not, I’d have been fired by the various publications I write for here in the UK and in the US and Germany. I’ve NOT played Real Racing 2 yet (it’s slated for the next issue of Tap!), but I found HP a hugely fun arcade racer, despite its flaws. It’s fun. It’s like Chase H.Q. LEAVE ME ALONE. I’M OLD.
I think we’ll have to agree to disagree overall, though. I don’t see some quantum leap in quality and depth as you move from iOS to other platforms—I see a sea of turds with some glittering jewels on the top. That’s been the way since I started buying games on my VIC-20, it’s always been the case on Nintendo consoles (right from the days of the GB) and it’s the case on iOS. (One might argue that iOS’s proportion of crap is higher, because of the anything-goes nature of the App Store, but there’s always at least a game a day I want to play, and one a week I want to keep, which is pretty good going, given that I only play a fraction of what comes out.)
Yes, all consoles have a ton of crap (except for the Dreamcast. Every Dreamcast game was pure gold. Don’t disrespect the Dreamcast!)
I’m not saying that the DS doesn’t have crap. I’m saying that at the high end (meaning games that offer depth, good storytelling, professional graphics, aren’t just ports of five-year-old games, and take more than a few hours to complete), the offerings for iOS devices are thin, with the vast majority of games being casual titles, while the DS offers a good number of these kinds of titles.
This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it does make the higher prices for DS games somewhat more acceptable. Or, to put it another way, I’d rather buy one Bowser’s Inside Story, Mario Kart DS, or Phantom Hourglass for 40 bucks, than 20 Angry Birds for 2 bucks.
Another problem I have with the iOS devices is that action games are hard to do well, which is one of the reason why most of the deeper games are JRPGs, but that’s another story entirely.
Also, I’m pretty sure you’re not older than I am. I remember playing Chase H.Q. as well. That was one hell of a sweet game, back in the day. Also, Double Dragon! 🙂