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https://kotaku.com/releasing-cool-new-games-on-3ds-is-such-a-waste-1828135700
As someone that sold my 3DS (and Vita) off well before I got the Switch, I found this a somewhat interesting read (and some decent discussion in the first few comments).
As he notes, a lot of us that no longer own (or game on if they still own) 3DS have probably felt some annoyance at hearing some new game announcement and then being bummed when its "Only for 3DS."
Portable gaming just isn't for me with having some issues with neck and hand pain and aging eyes. A big part of the appeal of Switch to me was the notion of it eventually having essentially the handheld and portable libraries Nintendo had in recent generations all on one machine. That of course hasn't happened yet with games like Samus Returns, the new Warioware, ports of the Mario RPGs, a Luigi's Mansion port coming soon from Nintendo being 3DS only, as well as 3rd party games like Persona Q2 and what not that he mentions.
That's left me at times underwhelmed with Switch, wasting time and money on games I ended up not liking just to have something to play on it (I've stopped that and just accept it will go unused for months at a time here and there) and so on. Thus I kind of agree with his sentiment as it would be nice if those games were coming to Switch either as exclusives or just ports that come to both systems like Captain Toad did recently.
The first (at the time I posted this) comment raised the notion that the huge install base is important for developers. I thought Shreier did a good job of countering that point as follows though:
While I'd need to see more data, that does seem like a solid argument. There are a lot of 3DS out there, but how many owners are still actively using them and are seeking out new games to buy for them? Compared to the Switch base that seems thirsty as hell and port begs for everything?
I will say there is one major issue here that he failed to address--most of these 3DS development teams are pretty small and have been making 240p, lower budget games. They are going to have to expand and get experienced with making 720p-1080p games that look good on both the Switch screen and big HDTVs. Nintendo came out and said that part of the Wii U software drought was even their big first party studios struggled more than they expected them to with transitioning to HD game development after the Wii. It will be an even tougher hill to climb for these smaller portable only studios to make the transition. Thus we probably just need to be patient and give them time. They have no choice but to adapt, or turn into mobile devs as the days of low power/low resolution handheld gaming consoles is over.
To slightly counter my own argument though, they don't necessarily have to make "console level" graphics to succeed. Just look at Octopath Traveler having shipped 1 million copies already with its 16-bit pixel graphics. If they make great games they'll sell well even if the graphics aren't up to snuff with the best looking Switch games from bigger studios.
Anyway, I found it an interesting read and discussion and I'm curious to see other's thoughts on the 3DS still getting games and when/if Nintendo will transition to having the Switch be it's only platform (excluding mobile of course) and have that unified library that had many of us salivating.
As someone that sold my 3DS (and Vita) off well before I got the Switch, I found this a somewhat interesting read (and some decent discussion in the first few comments).
As he notes, a lot of us that no longer own (or game on if they still own) 3DS have probably felt some annoyance at hearing some new game announcement and then being bummed when its "Only for 3DS."
Portable gaming just isn't for me with having some issues with neck and hand pain and aging eyes. A big part of the appeal of Switch to me was the notion of it eventually having essentially the handheld and portable libraries Nintendo had in recent generations all on one machine. That of course hasn't happened yet with games like Samus Returns, the new Warioware, ports of the Mario RPGs, a Luigi's Mansion port coming soon from Nintendo being 3DS only, as well as 3rd party games like Persona Q2 and what not that he mentions.
That's left me at times underwhelmed with Switch, wasting time and money on games I ended up not liking just to have something to play on it (I've stopped that and just accept it will go unused for months at a time here and there) and so on. Thus I kind of agree with his sentiment as it would be nice if those games were coming to Switch either as exclusives or just ports that come to both systems like Captain Toad did recently.
The first (at the time I posted this) comment raised the notion that the huge install base is important for developers. I thought Shreier did a good job of countering that point as follows though:
Just looking at a system’s install base is bad business. It doesn’t matter that 70 million 3DSes are out in the wild if 60 million of them are gathering dust in desks and closets, and the other 10 million are only used for Pokemon. Even if the Switch has only sold a fraction of what the 3DS has sold, what matters most is that Switch owners are actively using their consoles and looking for new games to buy.
Look at what happened with the PS3/PS4 transition. The makers of Dragon Age: Inquisition told me the PS3 and Xbox 360 made up a tiny, tiny fraction of their sales (I forget the exact number but it was 10-20%), despite those systems having far, far bigger install bases than the new-gen PS4 and Xbox One.
While I'd need to see more data, that does seem like a solid argument. There are a lot of 3DS out there, but how many owners are still actively using them and are seeking out new games to buy for them? Compared to the Switch base that seems thirsty as hell and port begs for everything?
I will say there is one major issue here that he failed to address--most of these 3DS development teams are pretty small and have been making 240p, lower budget games. They are going to have to expand and get experienced with making 720p-1080p games that look good on both the Switch screen and big HDTVs. Nintendo came out and said that part of the Wii U software drought was even their big first party studios struggled more than they expected them to with transitioning to HD game development after the Wii. It will be an even tougher hill to climb for these smaller portable only studios to make the transition. Thus we probably just need to be patient and give them time. They have no choice but to adapt, or turn into mobile devs as the days of low power/low resolution handheld gaming consoles is over.
To slightly counter my own argument though, they don't necessarily have to make "console level" graphics to succeed. Just look at Octopath Traveler having shipped 1 million copies already with its 16-bit pixel graphics. If they make great games they'll sell well even if the graphics aren't up to snuff with the best looking Switch games from bigger studios.
Anyway, I found it an interesting read and discussion and I'm curious to see other's thoughts on the 3DS still getting games and when/if Nintendo will transition to having the Switch be it's only platform (excluding mobile of course) and have that unified library that had many of us salivating.