atari2600land's Blog

I'm actually surprised the DS has hung on as long as it has. I mean the DSi has been out for two years and there are (according to Wikipedia) a total of five (non-DSi Ware) DSi exclusive games. Even Pokemon Black/White isn't DSi exclusive. And though I'm sure that the number of DS games will drop after the 3DS is out, I suspect there will be new games for at least the next year (maybe longer, depending on Christmas sales). If people keep buyng games, companies will keep churning out games. And don't forget that a DS game will play on a DSi and a 3DS.

 

The future for the DS is going to be on the dark side - piracy and homebrew. The flash cart market is well established and the DS is very capable of playing older GameBoy and 8-bit console games. I'd do it myself except it sends the wrong message to my son. Piracy may also be the reason Nintendo is bringing out the 3DS, and Sony the PSP2.

 

I agree that the 3DS being $250 is giving me sticker shock, and other than the Zelda remake, the launch titles don't appeal to me. So I'm going to vote with my wallet and wait and see. I probably will pick it up, but not until Christmas or next year when I can get a couple of killer games.

 

Both Sony and Microsoft are hoping they can delay the cost of creating a next generation console until the economy picks up. Sony might want to do it sooner because of the recent security hacks, but they are probably don't have the cash on hand. I also don't know whether the software developers are asking for better hardware. A new console means a big investment to learn, and the higher quality graphics are more expensive to create.

 

I don't know about the Wii 2. The latest market numbers have Wii sales dropping with Xbox 360 sales rising (and PS3 holding steady). But I don't think money is the main issue for Nintendo - direction is. The Wii sold very well with SD graphics and a motion controller. Now Microsoft and Sony have their own motion controllers so Nintendo doesn't have that advantage anymore. Perhaps the 3DS is a way for Nintendo to determine if the Wii 2 will focus on 3D.

I should mention that I don't have a DSi. I'm still using my original DS that I got right near launch time.