Banning the Xbox 360 in US?
21 hours 17 mins ago
It might be a good idea to wait to buy the 3DS until the middle of 2012. What if the Vita's launches strong and Sony holds off on a redesign? What if Nintendo redesigns the 3DS and clearances the old model in late spring of 2012? What about skipping both and sticking with an Android/iOS device? If anything, gamers should know by now with the handheld market it best to wait at least 6 months before purchasing.
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I everyone held out on buying the 3DS till the middle of next year, then the sales figures between now and them would be appalling, and that may well make Nintendo do something drastic and probably foolish; Nintendo's stock prices would drop like a stone, and it might even mean discontinuation for the 3DS, or even worse, ruination for Nintendo.
It wouldn't be quite so bleak for Vita, since it wouldn't miss out on such a long period of potential sales. But even with Vita, Sony would doubtless suffer greatly from such a ploy on the part of the public.
The launch of the 3DS is an example of what NOT to do. No second analog stick? It's 2011. That cradle thing incorporating a second stick and the price drop after six months are a sign.
... wait, you're being serious?
And to gameplayingfool, although it is indeed a smart idea to be cautious, in a way it is the public's duty to support these companies. At least, that is, if you want said companies to stay in business and keep producing the hardware and games that you want to buy. Look at what happened to poor old Cing because not enough people bought their games. High quality does not immediately mean high sales.
Also, your point about 'a stable product that is relevant for years', and your implication that the DS wasn't such, is fallacious. The DS may have had several redesigned over the years, but none of them rendered the older ones redundant. The DS Lite made no difference whatsoever in terms of what games you could play, and all the DSi added was download games. You could still play all of the normal cartridge games on a normal DS. In fact until I got a 3DS, I myself still had an original DS, and it served me just fine.
There's no point upgrading to a redesigned console, because all it is is shinier and looks different. There are seldom any worthwhile changes in terms of actual hardware. Even if Nintendo were to release a new 3DS model next year, it wouldn't make an original 3DS immediately redundant.
Ruination for Nintendo
If Nintendo's share prices go down by, for instance, 20%, due to nobody buying a 3DS over the Christmas period, then that means that Nintendo as a company is suddenly worth 20% less, and they have access to 20% less money. In the good times, when the DS and Wii were selling strong, those profits also went to shareholders. That's how a modern company works. They do not have a huge sum to fall back on.
And of course they still have a lot of money to make up for all of the 3DS' R&D costs, which would have been considerable.
You're just outright misinformed, or stupid if you'd prefer. Nintendo is a huge, ugly bastard that can't just be ruined by a single rough patch.
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