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Despite the proliferation of smartphones and tablets, I still believe that the 3DS is a relevant gaming device worthy of everyone’s attention. While some “industry experts” might still claim that there is no more room to spare in this dog-eat-dog world of portable gaming for Nintendo’s latest handheld, I stand firm in my belief.
There is no denying that Apple successfully murdered tech companies on its ride to the top (Huawei and Nokia are names that come to mind immediately), but Nintendo’s portable devices aren’t that flimsy. Swiping and tapping the screen is just too attractive to more people, perhaps. But it doesn’t mean that a market that has proven itself loyal in the past will suddenly disappear in favor of a “smarter” phone.
Here are a few of the many reasons why my faith has never faltered for the 3DS.
Snake Eater, Pokémon, Zelda, and Mario
I’ve tried reliving the days when I would pretend to have stomach cramps and level up my Charizard in the school clinic on the iOS. It just doesn’t feel right. Some of the best titles and characters in portable gaming history are actually not found anywhere else but the Nintendo consoles. Due to the 3DS’ backwards capability, you are given a wide library of games that– and I might be being biased here– are better than anything ever produced for the PSP or iPhone.
Zelda, arguably the most loved fictional character in portable gaming (the only close contender is Pikachu, which doesn’t take away from my point), is back with new titles, and it’s looking like there is going to be more in the future.
Search for the Snake Eater demo on YouTube. It speaks for itself. But if it doesn’t register to you quickly enough, Snake Eater is probably the best tech ever made for any mobile console since the time of cavemen (pre-Internet).
Free Internet? Yes please.
Being British has many perks aside from sounding posh and serious all the time. One of which is actually having unlimited access to the Internet, all thanks to the 3DS. Just a few months back, O2 partnered with Nintendo to provide this awesome service for all gamers in the country. Select locations (including high streets like Central London, Chelsea, and your local McDonalds) are now called “Nintendo Zones,” which allow 3DS owners to, without hassle, connect to the O2 Wi-Fi Internet. The only setup needed is downloading the latest system update.
There are 29,000 Nintendo Zones all over the world. That alone makes the 3DS a device worth a look.
A Portable 3D Theater
Forget Blu-ray, portable 3D cinema is virtually available for any 3DS users worldwide. Films like Legends of the Guardian are now revealed in all the 3D glory they deserve because of the no-awkward-glasses-needed technology of the portable device. Even the British Film Institute is interested in creating 3D films directly ported to the Nintendo console. In 1951, the BFI commissioned 3D short films as part of its innovative drive for cinema. “Now, 60 years later, these films are about to astonish a new generation, viewing them on Nintendo 3DS,” said Jan Fauli, the BFI’s Archive Production Curator.
The core of these is, of course, the 3D technology itself. It’s very impressively done, despite it not being the selling point of the device anymore.
Nintendo used Future Sight! It’s super effective!
Because the gaming titan invested so much in its mobile gaming platform, more are expected to arrive in the future. The 3DS is not the end of the line, positively. In fact, many gamers see the platform as the starting point of this long road towards a better mobile gaming experience. The cool guys at Techno Buffalo even discussed in good length what’s in store for 3DS fanatics in their podcast.
Whoever said that the iPhone’s app domination or the PlayStation Vita will take over the portable gaming world probably haven’t gotten their hands on the perfect Nintendo 3DS yet. What are your thoughts on the 3DS? Do you like it, or do you love it?
About the author:
Nadia Hyeong is an avid gamer and chick lit lover. She is in love with anything related to mobile– mobile gaming via the 3DS, mobile writing on Kindle, mobile phone window shopping on O2, and mobile streaming of Breaking Bad. Read more of her articles on Techie Doodlers and follow her on Twitter.
I’ve always thought it funny how critics claim that smartphones and tablets are killing dedicated gaming handhelds. My main gripe is that they like to tout the sales numbers of phones and tablets in comparison to the sales numbers for devices like 3DS and Sony’s Vita; uh, why wouldn’t the numbers for the gaming handhelds be less when people buy phones and tablets out of necessity 99% of the time? No one is standing in line at Metro going, “huh, should I buy a 3DS or the cellphone that I need?” People can say what they will about the prevalence of gaming on mobile devices, but I still believe that there is a large market for dedicated gaming devices, and the 3DS is living, breathing proof of that. What we’re seeing is an expansion of the video game market, not the death of part of it.