Sometimes it's hard to be a Nintendo loyalist. The Wii U had a botched launch, and they confused the hell out of more casual gamers to the point that they thought the Wii U was a Wii accessory. We're still waiting for a steady flow of Wii U games. Nintendo innovates in some ways, but then are so behind the curve in other ways, such as online gaming. Or there's the fact that in a game like Hyrule Warriors, they screw up the co-op by making one person play on the Gamepad while the other gets to play on a big screen (oh yeah, with no online co-op). There have been plenty of Nintendo blunders, both minor and major, but you get the point: Nintendo does awesome things once in a while, and once in a while they screw up. For every triumph, there seems to be a failure.
And yet I am a Nintendo fan, probably until I die. I have a love for Ninty that has been a gigantic part of my life for almost my entire life. I spent my youth playing games developed for the NES. I played these games before I even really understood what I was doing. In the immortal words of Brokeback Mountain, " I wish I knew how to quit you [Nintendo]."
My first blog post was a half-defense of the Wii U... one I still stand by. I enjoy the Wii U, and it sits firmly as my secondary console. I love the Gamepad. I love the exclusive titles I will see on the Wii U. The Playstation may be my primary console these days, but I will not go a generation without having a Nintendo console as, at least, my secondary. While I may play more Playstation, they don't have the loyalty from me that Nintendo does. No gaming company does.
After I got out of a movie last night, I had a message on Facebook from my older brother. It was a link to an article about Nintendo: more specifically, one about a new 3DS. I clicked on it cautiously. It turns out that they are releasing a 3DS with more CPU power, better 3D, more buttons, a new design, and more. It's really quite a wonderful release, and definitely moves the 3DS ahead.
The only problem is, they should have done this from the beginning. This is where I start to get angry.
The 3DS is a monster. I got one last year, and there were at least three games released on it that were among my top ten favourite games of last year. Animal Crossing: New Leaf won game of the year from me. Shin Megami Tensei 4 and Fire Emblem were high up there as well. While it doesn't see a lot of games, it certainly sees its fair share of quality games, and perhaps it isn't good for certain genres due to the limitation of only having one stick, but for things like platformers, RPGs, simulators, etc... it is wonderful.
Luckily Nintendo has decided to fix certain problems, by adding a C-Stick (among other things). Great. Why wasn't this originally in the plan for the 3DS? Or was it and they shipped an incomplete product to us originally? I am all for these upgrades, but they should have been there since the 3DS first shipped. They were painfully behind the times when they decided to only have one stick, and now they've finally decided to add one when people have already bought a fucking 3DS or even a 2DS, which came out less than a year ago.
So now we're expected to buy a new one, or potentially miss out on great games. There's a remake for Xenoblade Chronicles coming, and while I don't need it because I still own a Wii copy like a boss, that's a huge release. What other games will come out?
This shouldn't have happened halfway through its life cycle. They should have just rode the 3DS train until it was time for a new handheld, then implemented a lot of these features because unless everyone is just more understanding than myself, this is bound to create resentment.
Before anybody declares me as some whiny cunt, I'm cool with the 2DS because that was smart: release a version of the handheld without the unnecessarily 3DS shit and charge less. I'm cool with larger versions of the handheld that end up being a little more expensive. What I'm not cool with is segregating the audience by adding things that should have been there from the get-go.
This isn't an article about the confusion that the name may cause, even if that's true. This isn't an article filled with me hating on the advancements of technology. This is simply me ranting about the timing of a release like this. It isn't a money issue, because while I don't have an amazing job, I do well with buying games and consoles. I'm not being cheap, but it's stupid to expect us to buy a new one when the old one has only been out a little over three years.
Another thing that bothers me is that they are fixing something that isn't really broken. While it's true that it could benefit from a a C-Stick, more buttons, stronger technology, whatever, the 3DS is fine the way it is now. Nintendo should be focusing on the Wii U at this point, because they've already performed a magic trick with the 3DS and turned it around. It's time to concentrate on the console that has been a massive failure financially and critically.
Nintendo has not lost my loyalty. I'll get one of these when they're released in North America because I love games and am weak, but I will do so begrudgingly, because at the end of the day I feel like I'm being nickel and dimed. Not that it matters how much resentment I have when I buy it, because they will still be getting my money... but that doesn't make it morally right.
