 In another opinion piece I wrote, I dissected the questioning of Nintendo’s release of the New Nintendo 3DS as being either a move responding to fan feedback, or as a con to the community and original Nintendo 3DS owners. My opinion was that Nintendo cared, not conned, as they listened to consumer feedback and put their paychecks on the line to respond. I don’t care whether you like Nintendo, hate Nintendo, or what you feel about their new product. But I do care how you, the reader, are mad or not at Nintendo’s failure to launch only the New Nintendo 3DS XL in the United States of America. What message does Nintendo need to understand right now?
Too big to fail is bullshit
The United States of America is the most powerful country of the world, possessing the strongest military; most importantly, the largest/most stable economy and the US Dollar being the world reserve currency. A powerful machine like this is just too big to fail right? The answer to that is 2007-present day world financial crisis. Now I’m not turning this piece about the absence of the New Nintendo 3DS into 2008 financial crisis talk; however, that event is very important to the point I am arguing. Too big to fail is bullshit. This is not just a bad pun on the size of the New Nintendo 3DS XL, but an opinion on a doctrine that Nintendo operated off of with the absence of the release of the regular New Nintendo 3DS in America. How does too big to fail this apply to Nintendo?
 Nintendo has a very large, loyal audience. The gaming giant made a lot of money of the sale of the original Nintendo 3DS. It doesn’t stop there. Nintendo’s first party titles, such as Pokémon X/Y, Fire Emblem: Awakening, and Super Smash Bros. for 3DS have preformed quite well. Nintendo’s 3DS project, games and system, has generated mass profit for the company. To keep the good things going, Nintendo listened to community feedback. They addressed four key criticisms of the original 3DS. These issues are were…
- It’s not powerful enough.
- It should have a second circle-pad built in.
- Should’ve included triggers.
- 3D can only be seen in limited, sensitive area.
Their response to this feedback is the all New Nintendo 3DS series. The new Nintendo 3DS is a vast improvement from the previous installments in the system life. The charger and headphone jack placement would occasionally irritate players. The New Nintendo 3DS series has adjusted the position of the two to a more friendly placement. A pet peeve of all 3DS lovers was the 3D effect. Not the actual effect, but the sensitive and limited view area. The New Nintendo 3DS series features a new feature that tracks your head, making the effect way more consistent. The new C-Stick adds a new dimension to playing. Similar to what many of us gaming journalists refer to as “that red circle thingy†on the Lenovo Thinkpad, the C-Stick is a static input device that picks up upward, downward, and sideways motion. Right now the C-Stick is being best utilized in Super Smash Bros. for 3DS, it will create a deep new gaming experience for players. The ZL and ZR buttons are in a similar position to the C-Stick. Currently best utilized by Smash Bros., but open up a lot of potential for future games. So how did Nintendo deliver their response to the world?
Nintendo did not release the regular size New Nintendo 3DS in the United States of America. They claim it was because they wanted to save consumers from ‘grief’ by having a clear differentiation between all the installments in the system series. That is a foolish strategy considering the release of the 2DS. If it were not for the 2DS, I might understand the choice not to release the regular size New Nintendo 3DS. The problem is this; the company releases a new system in the series, with a completely different form-factor and completely different number in the name of the device. Oh and that device plays games that don’t even have the system’s name on the cartridge! A representative from Nintendo, however, attempts to sell their decision not to release the regular size here.
“Look, the face plates are super cool, but we’re a different market. And now we have clear differentiation between those three systems.”
“Now, there’s the 2DS, 3DS, and New 3DS XL, all of which have their own functionality and features. The different price points give it a clear message for consumers”
Dameon Baker, NoA Marketing
Yes Mr. Baker, yes Nintendo, we ARE a different market. America has the largest gaming market (by revenue). Although America may be 50 states, it is one nation. Although there is diversity, it’s built upon a American cultural foundation. The EU is a confederation of 28 different countries. The people of France are different than the people of Germany. The people of Spain are different than the people of Bulgaria. Yet Nintendo thinks all these different kind of people can handle having another, more portable 3DS. But the people of America, one country and one national culture, can’t?
Nintendo appears to believe they can’t do without the potential profit of a American normal sized New Nintendo 3DS. They are an awesome company that makes awesome stuff; however, many awesome things go through not so awesome problems. This attitude doesn’t only take away from the community, but from the company’s benefit. I love my New Nintendo 3DS XL, and I would’ve handled a regular sized New Nintendo 3DS just fine. You may not be on the brink of bankruptcy or have mass negative feedback from your fans, but taking this attitude that you can sit opportunities out will not work, and may come back to haunt you.
Do you agree? Disagree? Don’t Know? Let us know! Follow Dual Pixels on Facebook and Twitter, tweet me directly, or leave a comment and let us know what you think.
The opinions expressed in this piece do not reflect how Dual Pixels feels about Nintendo as a whole. They reflect the opinions of the author.Â
Pertaining to the face-plates: A different market?
Apparently Nintendo has their collective development heads up their N-butt. Look at anything from cars on down to cell phone. Customers are NUTS about customizing what represents them. And having a phone, or in this case a handheld console, out and about with you is representing who you are. It is a personal product.
Cell phone cases is a huge business as a perfect example. They just lost a massive amount of add-on sales right there. If anything is going to kill Nintendo it will be their inability to read what consumers want. This isn’t any type of death blow. Far from it, but its another missed opportunity to make some stupidly easy bank from their userbase. What drives me nuts is Nintendo knew this back in the days of the Game Boy. Go back and take a look at how many colors they had. How many accessories they had for the Game Boy that was licensed to third parties.
Ok, I’m probably in the minority here, but I for one prefer the XL over the standard version, but I totally understand the disappointment a lot of you feel because of Nintendo’s decision to go XL only (for right now at least). I really do believe the faceplates will come to the U.S.. What I don’t understand is why people seem to think there’s only one kind of demographic out there that Nintendo has sorely mistreated, when there are those of us who much rather the XL. What if the shoe was on the other foot, then I guess I’d be the one saying, “Where’s the XL?!” This is just my opinion of course, I know some people lack the wherewithal to understand what I’m saying, and see beyond their own wants and whatnot, but what if Nintendo did a good job at pleasing a wider audience who were part of a demographic (usually determined by market research) whom prefer the XL format? I’m just saying, maybe we can acknowledge that fact? I really do think the faceplates are coming as Nintendo tends to maximize profits and I’m sure they’ve heard the backlash. If they do not, I too agree that it is a missed opportunity and just not cool to leave their fans hanging like that.
I get what you’re saying if the situation was reversed. That said people who want the faceplate 3DS are pissed because not only do the rest of the world get both options but now we’re finding out Nintendo thinks that the North American market is full of idiots who can’t tell the difference between 2 versions of the 3DS. I saw a pic of the Nintendo of Europe online store that featured all models of the 3DS: 3DS, 3DSXL, 2DS, New 3DS, and New 3DS XL. If Europe can clarify confusion for their market, so should Nintendo of America.
Indeed, I too see your point, definitely a head scratcher at the end of the day. Hopefully the faceplates still come; it would be nonsensical otherwise.
For one thing you can’t even hardly find regular 3DS units anymore. One would assume that model would be phased out and replaced with the standard sized New 3DS. It’s just as confusing now as it would be had they released both new models here. They sent that idiot out to make a fool of himself and NoA which he has done a good job..
I prefer the regular because of smaller size and crisper image…….