Future of the Nintendo 3DS

When the Nintendo DS first launched, it was revolutionary. Gaming's first touch-pad gaming console. The launch titles were filled with amazing games that are still fun to play today.

When the Nintendo 3DS first launched, it was not revolutionary. It wasn't the first 3D console, as the PC has already gone there with NVIDIA. However, it was the first 3D gaming console to not require 3D glasses.

The DS, DS lite and DSi consoles all sold very well, and the games that came out in the first few months of its launch are amazing games that all received high scores overall.

Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the 3DS. It was supposed to launch with all kinds of amazing titles such as Mario Kart 7, Animal Crossing 3D, Kid Icarus Uprising, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, Star Fox 3D - these were all games people were expecting to be released at the launch of Nintendo's 3DS. We knew they wouldn't all be released at launch, but at the time they had all been announced and at some time, developers and gaming news sites had told us to expect these to be released at launch or close to launch. Not a single one of those games launched with the 3DS. In fact, only two of those have released to date (The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D and Star Fox 3D).

The fact of the matter is, the hype for the 3DS wasn't nearly as big as any of Nintendo's other consoles, except for a few. It also didn't turn out as unique and amazing as most of Nintendo's other consoles, which is why it didn't sell very well. On launch date, only a few stores were sold out of Nintendo 3DS consoles and games, but the vast majority still had plenty that were left-over after its original launch.

I went to EB Games on the day it launched to pick up something else, and there was no line-up for a 3DS, and they had a big pile of them. When I went to get a Nintendo Wii a few weeks after it launched, all of the stores I went to were sold out. I tried and tried for two years, but stores never seemed to get them in, and at the time I couldn't order one online, but I finally ended up getting one when they started to get more in stock at my local Future Shop.

Nintendo's Wii was in high demand for many years, but the 3DS couldn't even sell-out on the first day. What happened, Nintendo?

At least there's a good line-up for 2012 for the 3DS, because currently the only game with above a 90% average (Metacritic) is The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, which isn't even an original game - they just remade an amazing game and naturally, it got good scores. The highest scoring new game is Star Fox 3D, which just came out yesterday and has an 83% average. There are really only five or six good 3DS games right now, so hold off on buying the 3DS until next year, when it will likely get more good games and drop in price further.