The Video Game Critic

Even if the 3DS survives, I hope that it stands as a testament to other companies that the world does not care much about 3D.

I care about 3D i have a 3DTV in my bedroom and enjoy it very much, but it ads nothing to a handheld.

VideoGameCritic wrote:I think things are looking dire for Nintendo on all fronts, but especially the 3DS.  Like many gamers I was intrigued with it at first, but it has been sitting on my shelf lately.  The main problem is that the 3D mania in general is quickly winding down.  Heck, some people are even avoiding 3D in the theaters in favor of the normal versions.

Today is the 20th Anniversary of the Nintendo Virtual Boy. Happy Birthday

Its also the 4th anniversary of this thread comparing the then new 3DS to the Virtual Boy (in a not good way). How do we see the 3DS now relative to the WiiU, the DS legacy, the rise of smartphones ( I wanted to say the rise of Cobra for some reason)

20 years ago, Nintendo kinda sorta hauled out a 3D portable wearable console. Like the Vectrex, the console comes complete with a monitor (trivia question - how many consoles have an optional monitor attachment?) Like the Vectrex, it had to because it does not use regular raster.

What is history's take on the Virtual Boy? Its like the 8 track tape of video game consoles. It looks like a Viewmaster on a stand, which is kinda what it is, really, except with headache inducing red and black graphics instead of nice photos of Mary Poppins or something.

What do you think history's take on the still active 3DS is going to be? What will we say about it in 16 years?

It's so interesting to think that just a few short years ago, many people were predicting the 3DS to be a failure due to a slow start, and being a little generous here, a mediocre launch. It didn't help that Pokemon Black and White was released in the same month as the North American 3DS launch... on the DS. What the hell were they thinking? They could have released it as a 3DS launch title, and I guarantee you those early years would have been so much smoother. And the fact that Black and White 2 was also released on DS rather than 3DS a year later was a dumb decision.

But eventually, the 3DS started to pick up steam and now has a great library of quality titles. And people predicting its death were wrong, as Nintendo is yet again the handheld leader.

LoganRuckman wrote:It's so interesting to think that just a few short years ago, many people were predicting the 3DS to be a failure due to a slow start...But eventually, the 3DS started to pick up steam and now has a great library of quality titles. And people predicting its death were wrong, as Nintendo is yet again the handheld leader.

I wonder about a few things, Logan. The 3DS has sold about 50 million units. A success, right? Yet its only a third of the DS lifetime sales. Handheld leader, but the pond is drying up like a California reservoir.

Second, the WiiU bas sold about 10 million units. The same logic that had Ninty push Pokemon on the DS, to sell more software, has Ninty cannibalizing reasons to buy a WiiU to sell sister software on the 3DS.

If the 3DS had really tanked, would the big N have done something to rescue the WiiU? Ditch the gamepad, cultivate other developers, etc.

Some sentiments on the thread were true - several variant models, 3D as mostly a gimmick , and so on.

Like the Wiimote and Virtual Boy, the r&d for 3D did not have the time needed before production specs were locked down.

I wonder if someone will mod an Oculus Rift to look like a virtual boy.

scotland wrote:I wonder if someone will mod an Oculus Rift to look like a virtual boy.

This would be painful lol.