Nintendo’s 3DS has had a rough first year trying to gain traction in the handheld space and the favor of gamers worldwide. While it has been selling well when compared to the launch of the original DS system, it has had a hard time shaking it’s poor reputation. The price drop has certainly helped build good will to new buyers, and most early adopters seem happy enough with the majority of games picked for the Ambassador program.
But technophiles and gamers are as fickle as they come, and leaving things as they were wasn’t going to cut it in the long term. Thankfully, in a very un-Nintendo-like move, the company has released an update that has added some much needed functionality to the device, and even made it relevant.
The eShop Cometh
Nintendo has had a well documented misunderstanding of how Western gamers utilize digital downloads and content. Well, thanks to the growth of iOS devices and the upswing in popularity of PSN in Japan, the company has now set its sites on finally, really getting their butts in gear with downloads.
Do you know what has resulted in me buying more games than anything (second to friend recommendations)? Demos. Something that has been severely lacking in the past is now possible in the 3DS eShop. While they won’t be required (a practice still unique to Xbox Live Arcade), at least developers have now been given the option.
PC and console games have their DLC (Downloadable Content). Smartphones have in-app purchasing. It’s common practice to expand a game using this method. Letting your players pay actual dollars to continue to add new content to a game they are already playing is one way developers are using to get a good return on investment these days. But until now, Nintendo has never supported that business model. With the update, the 3DS is now the first Nintendo system to fully support DLC (the WIi had minimal DLC capabilities) and in-game purchasing. Unfortunately, the feature is too new to try out since there aren’t any games that use it. To go hand-in-hand with this, we no longer have to sit with our 3DS open and watch the screen as it downloads the content. The update also added the ability to download while the console is closed and in sleep mode.
Purchasing through the eShop has always been a hassle in the past. Every time I want to buy a game, I would have to enter all of my information into the system. Thankfully, the option to save credit card info is now available. Even better, we can choose to add only the amount needed to buy whatever piece of software you are after, rather than having to add funds in five dollar increments.
But the biggest improvement is in the content found on the eShop. There are finally games designed specifically for the 3DS available, instead of just DSiWare. The Virtual Console has some great Game Boy and Game Boy Color software, with many more on the way, including the inevitable expansion into other portables (and consoles). The 3D Classics are becoming slightly more regular (at once per month). The pricing structure is satisfactory, as full classic games can generally be purchased for around 4 bucks. All that’s needed is perhaps a bit better organization, and the service becomes comparable to console marketplaces. Heck, it’s already more enjoyable to use than iOS.
Accomplishment Unlocked: Mii Plaza
If you’ve had your 3DS for any length of time, or attended any comic book or gaming conventions since acquiring it, chances are you’ve done all there is to do in the Mii Plaza. You have all the puzzles, you’ve collected all the sweet hats. Now what?
There are new puzzles and a sequel to Find Mii in the software update, cleverly [sic] titled Find Mii 2. In Find Mii 2 we go on an adventure to save not just our Mii as king, but also our Mii’s children: the prince and princess of the land. As before, this will lead to the unlocking of many hats which we can use to deck out your Mii when sending it off to other player’s consoles via StreetPass. This time around, we can also hire previously met heroes, so if we’ve been maxing out those coins we might be able to blast through the entire game in one go.
What’s that you say? You are addicted to achievements and/or trophies? Well now Mii Plaza has “Accomplishments”. I tried to muster up as much enthusiasm as I could for that one, but I just couldn’t fake it. The lack of exclamation point was indicative of my feelings toward this particular segment of the update. However, the inclusion of an achievement system is the first real step towards getting us to hold onto our games, if it spills over onto other games & software for the portable.
In the Nintendo Zone
A similar function to those found in mobile phone apps liks Foursquare and Shopkick, Nintendo Zone is a way to connect online in popular stores like Starbucks, McDonald’s, and Best Buy. Connecting through the app at a participating store can get us promotions or coupons for that business, information about the products or services there, interactive features, and more. The first (and only) one I’ve heard of nets $5 off of Mario Kart 7 at Best Buy locations.
The Killer App: 3D Video Camera
In my day, we took pictures in only two dimension and we were happy to have that! Now even static 3D pictures aren’t enough for us. Nintendo heard this theoretical outcry, and we can now take 3D videos in increments of up to ten minutes. There is even a stop-motion/time lapse feature if we’d like to recreate that skeleton battle scene from “Jason and the Argonauts”. The popularity of 3D inclusion in entertainment has always been debate. One of the reasons that it hasn’t caught on is because until now the average joe can only consume it. Trends have shown that technology becomes much more adaptable and accepted (and affordable) once consumers are able to create with it. The 3DS is an affordable 3D video & still camera now, and placed in the hands of kids it now exposes an entire generation to the creation and sharing of 3D content instead of just viewing it. This Christmas expect to see a lot of kids walking around Christmas trees and shooting ornaments up close in 3D.
While the idea of shooting video in 3D is intriguing, it doesn’t change the fact that the cameras themselves are pretty low quality. It’s a real shame and sadly not something that can be fixed without a hardware change.
And The Rest…
Not to be outdone, one of the coolest updates in practice actually dropped with the release of Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7. That is the ability to jump into games that our friends are playing via the friend list. This is huge if we want to have any kind of ongoing support for a modern game. I can’t count the number of times I’ve logged into my 360 or Steam account to play a single player game, saw friends playing multiplayer on something completely different, and joined them instead. It’s great for community building and for multiplayer longevity.
I was an early adopter of the 3DS and I don’t regret that decision. I think Nintendo’s latest foray into the handheld market definitely has it’s place among my video game collection. On the other hand, if you’ve been holding off on the 3DS to see how things would pan out, now might be the time to take the plunge. Not only has there been the massive price drop to a tantalizing level, but there are now games worth playing on the retail shelves, 3DSWare, and a growing Virtual Console with some great classic games. All of the bundles and holiday sales don’t hurt either.
Nintendo always seems to do things at their own pace. Should they have delayed the release of the 3DS until all of this functionality was already in place? Who can say. All I know is that if they keep on making these kinds of software improvements without forcing me to prematurely update the hardware, I will continue to stick with them. And perhaps this latest software iteration of the 3DS shows that the console can improve while I own it, grow and change with new features, and let me finally think about bringing a different device with me onto the couch (or the bathroom).
Jonah Gregory is the Editor-in-Chief of WingDamage.com
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