Nintendo will be launching a new portable gaming system in October. It’s called the Nintendo 2DS. It’s a 3DS without the 3D, and it’s shaped like a thin piece of cake.
“This is an entry-level handheld gaming system,” Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime told Kotaku earlier this week when we got our hands on the unusual device.
THE DETAILS
The system is compatible with all 3DS and DS games. Its two screens are the same size as those of the original 3DS, smaller than those on the Nintendo 3DS XL. The 2DS’ upper screen will not render graphics in 3D, though the system’s two outward-facing cameras will still take photos and video in 3D, saving those files on a memory card so that they can be transferred to hardware that does display stereoscopic 3D imagery.
The system launches on October 12 in North America, the same day as the release of the first major next-gen handheld Pokemon games, Pokemon X and Y. Those games will only work on post-DS systems, a line that now includes 3DS, 3DS XL and 2DS.
The 2DS will sell for $US129.99 and will be available in red or blue. That price makes it $US40 cheaper than the Nintendo 3DS and $US70 cheaper than the Nintendo 3DS XL (and recently price-dropped PlayStation Vita).
“We expect consumers to use it just the way they use a current 3DS,” Fils-Aime said. “And, really, from a target standpoint, this is designed for that entry-level gamer. For a family of four with two kids, when you’re looking at spending either $US169.99 or $US199.99 for two this holiday, now you’ve got a more affordable choice with Nintendo 2DS.”
The system will also launch in Europe but is not announced for release in Japan.
Fils-Aime referred to the 2DS as having a “slate-like” design. The form factor is unusual in that it doesn’t fold. It’s the first non-clamshell Nintendo handheld since the 2005 Game Boy Micro. All subsequent models of the Nintendo DS and 3DS have been able to fold up, allowing their screens, buttons and control pads to be protected when the system wasn’t being used. The unbending 2DS leaves its screens and controls exposed to the elements of whatever bag it is tossed in, though Nintendo is also selling a pouch for $US12.99.
“We expect it to be carried around the way you carry a 3DS right now,” Fils-Aime said.
The almost square form factor for 2DS is unusual for any gaming or non-gaming hardware. In a shift from the design of the 3DS, the system’s circle/control pads and buttons flank the 2DS’ top screen — the one that typically displays the action in new games — instead of the bottom one. The 3DS was made to be held by its bottom half, but that 2DS control placement requires players to hold the new flat unit higher up, as if choking up on a baseball bat.
The flat 2DS is more evenly balanced than the 3DS, making the overall feel of holding the unit comfortable, at least to the extent that your 5’6″ adult author here and the 6′-plus Fils-Aime can attest: “I find that holding it in my hand, my hands don’t get as tired as when I’m holding the 3DS XL.”
Nintendo wasn’t permitting photos of the 2DS when they showed it to me, so I traced it. Here’s a comparison of me holding a 3DS, 3DS XL and a sketch of the 2DS.
The system sports all of the online and multiplayer functionality of the 3DS. It comes with much or all of the same built-in software that the 3DS had, including the augmented-reality game Face Raiders and the basic role-playing game Find Mii. It can still be put in a sleep mode for “streetpassing” (read: exchanging data) with nearby 2DS and 3DS systems, though this time that mode is enabled with a switch.
Like its 3DS brethren, the 2DS uses an internal rechargeable battery. Nintendo isn’t commenting on battery life other than to say it should be in line with other company handhelds. The unit charges with the same AC adaptor used for 3DS systems.
The machine comes with a 4GB memory card. Its stylus is the same size as that of the 3DS XL.
Overall, it doesn’t appear that Nintendo is cutting major features to save price, aside from whatever savings it is getting from the non-folding form factor and from using a non-3D screen. The only other cut feature that we noticed while handling the unit involved the built-in speaker, which is mono on the 2DS as opposed to a stereo pair on 3DS. The new system has a headphone jack which will output stereo audio.
Despite near feature parity between 3DS and 2DS, Fils-Aime nevertheless denied that simply cutting the cost of the current 3DS to $US129.99 was a better option for Nintendo than introducing a brand-new handheld. “The reason we do this is, obviously, there’s a limit to how low hardware can go from a profitability standpoint,” he said. “This device allows us to reach lower consumer price points and still generate some profitability for the company.”
The lack of support for 3D graphics could indicate a cooling interest in stereoscopic graphics, though Nintendo themselves never made 3D mandatory even on the 3DS. Both 3DS and 3DS XL allow users to turn the machine’s stereoscopic effects off. The 2DS, clearly, won’t even let them turn them on. But Nintendo isn’t disavowing 3D. What they are acknowledging is that they’ve long recommended the 3DS’ 3D effects only for gamers seven and up. If the 3DS’ 3D is a deterrent keeping parents from buying their child a new Nintendo handheld, the 2DS does away with that. It’s fitting that such a system would come out day and date with the biggest, newest release in the kid-friendly Pokemon series. “This device allows us to get to that five or six-year-old demographic,” Fils-Aime said, “But in terms of the Pokemon demographic, you and I know that it’s six to 66.”
HANDS-ON IMPRESSIONS
Nintendo let me try two working units of the 2DS at their offices in New York City earlier this week. Both appeared to function just fine, though the screens seemed small to my eyes, given that I’ve become comfortable playing with the 3DS XL and its nearly double-sized screens.
The most notable difference between units isn’t really the lack of 3D graphics but the form factor. While it may appear ungainly and certainly doesn’t fit in a pants pocket, it felt good in my hands. The circle pad, d-pad and face buttons were all easily accessible. Their placement on both sides of the upper screen directs one’s focus more squarely on the upper screen, creating a little bit of the feeling of playing a game on a Wii U GamePad or original Game Boy Advance.
I was not able to test the comfort of playing a game that makes heavy use of the touch screen, the lower screen. But the fact that a 3DS XL-sized stylus ships with the system should help hand comfort. It also helps that the system is fairly light — lighter than the 3DS XL — and easier to hold with one hand.
The shoulder buttons on the 2DS are thicker than those on the 3DS and have a concave depression. That curvature makes the system easier to cradle and also helps with any one-hand play, presumably comfortably freeing the player’s other hand to wield a stylus for touch-based games.
The overall build of the machine feels solid, but the design does look lower-budget. There’s a lot of plastic to this thing with relatively little surface of the unit devoted to screens. Compare that to the 3DS XL, Sony’s Vita or any popular smart phone and tablet, and it feels less than cutting edge. It does feel sturdy, though, so despite its sliced-bread shape, it doesn’t feel like it will snap.
It’s probably best to consider the 2DS in the same league as other experimental off-shoots of Nintendo’s handheld line. This isn’t the obvious improvement that the DS Lite was over the DSi or the 3DS XL over the 3DS. This is more akin to the oddities like the Game Boy Micro or the DSi XL… hardware that’ll work just fine and is targeted at a different group of gamers that may prove to be a small niche or an underserved crowd waiting for a system they’d otherwise have missed.
Comments
91 responses to “Introducing… The Nintendo 2DS. No, That’s Not A Typo.”
Seriously, though, this is meant for kids. This is the equivalent to the Wii Mini or the Game Boy Micro.
It’s still insane, but, y’know, let’s keep it civil.
So a wii and GBA is not for kids?
Well this one does look much less likely to be easily broken by youngster rough-housing.
Man, I love the stealthers on this site that never contribute anything useful and just sit around in the dark thumbs downing comments based on seemingly nothing. I’m looking at you, @TDark
Haha heaven forbid I thumb down a comment hey? I love the users that have such a self-entitlement because they make comments on this website. Guess who I’m looking at
Clearly your thumbs down contributed a lot to society – I’m sure shithead feels really terrible about their question whether GBA or wii was not already designed for children, as do I for the thumbs down on my comment.
I just don’t know what my life holds from here.. It’s scary. Hold me.
I don’t remember ever seeing a label on a Wii or GBA box saying “Ages 2-12”, so no. I still play my GBA on the bus to work.
You know funnily I almost think this is the “girlfriend” version as odd as that sounds. Imagine a guy owning a 3DS*. The girlfriend enjoys it but can’t justify buying their own. Blam, now you have a secondary device so you can play local multiplayer – it won’t fit in a pocket but it will fit in a handbag and you’ve already got a library of games to play.
*I’m in no way implying that there are not many female 3DS owners currently.
Him: Hey babe, I know you’ve been enjoying playing my 3DS lately so here, have the budget 3DS …
Her: Wow, you really know how to make a girl feel special.
C’MON! She’s worth the extra $40 isn’t she?
Wat
http://24.media.tumblr.com/d5dd189349f18d02f7f1d3ffdd8a3186/tumblr_mrnhghFOxk1s2xyvxo1_500.jpg
…a Scottish doctor!
So um guys… I know this is a tough discussion to have but… do you think it’s time we put Nintendo in a home? I don’t think it’s capable of living independently any more, it needs 24/7 care.
I think a do not resussitate order is warranted.
Dementia is a cruel disease. I think Nintendo is showing some pretty clear symptoms now :/
We’ve been putting it off for a while, but I honestly think they’ll be happy there.
Wow that came out of nowhere! What a great idea though. I wouldn’t trust a young kid with something as expensive as a 3DS and that 3D effect isn’t recommended for young kids either.
So you work at the Nintendo PR department?
It’s only $40 cheaper than the folding version. Make that $27 cheaper, because you pretty much have to buy a case as the thing can’t protect itself.
For an extra $27, I’d rather it fold.
I understand where you’re coming from, but he was talking about how it’s a good idea for kids. It looks pretty resilient and, like Unholyjew said, the 3D effect isn’t really recommended for kids.
This console is not targeted for you.
I’ve got kids and trust me, you want it to fold. Give this to kids and those screen are going to be ravaged within a month. And my kids like 3D, they think it’s great.
HAHAHA!!! Do you have kids? I have two, and they own 3DSs, and just about every kid they’re friends with own a 3DS.
Um…
So those look freaking rad and I kinda want one.
Me too, I don’t get the hate? As an adult I’m more likely to buy this than the 3DS, looks a lot more comfortable for my large adult hands and I was never interested in 3D anyway. Plus any money saved is always a bonus with the price of power and petrol right now!
I think I’ll buy one, been hankering to play Animal Crossing since release and since I missed the original DS too there are many hours of gaming there for me.
/\ this. I’ve been wanting to play Animal Crossing too. I think this is more of an adults version. Think about it. You want a kid’s 3DS to fold to protect the screens. You want a kid’s 3DS to fit in their pocket cause it’s at risk if they carry it around. And let’s be honest, giving this to your kids is going to get them mocked for having the poor kid’s 3DS.
But for an adult, a tablet style 3DS is not unfeasible. You can be more responsible with it, keep it clean, you not going to carry it around as much. And most adults seem to dislike the 3D feature. For me this is actually not a bad. I kinda wanna play some 3DS games here and there but it’s not worth splurging on a whole system for it so a budget 3DS for a casual 3DS user fits me fine.
They should collaborate with Ken Kutaragi to release the Nintendo4DS
I don’t understand why Nintendo didn’t put a second thumbstick on the right hand side. There’s plenty of room. And it would have guaranteed more sales from people who didn’t want to use their Circle Pad Pros on their 3DSes anymore.
It’s really hard being a Nintendo apologist sometimes. On one hand, we have Nintendo saying that they can’t revitalise franchises like Star Fox and F-Zero because they can’t think of an interesting way to make another entry, yet they announce products like this that while they fill a niche market gap, they do exactly what Nintendo don’t want their games to do. This console expands their roster in a completely uninteresting way.
That is actually a great point. Why the hell didn’t they add another analog? Probably so they can sell a new 2DS Circle Pad Pro.
There’s no second analogue stick because it would fragment the market. Developers would be able to develop with two sticks in mind and owners of original consoles will be forced to adopt the new hardware or the add-on. We won’t see a second built in stick until the next generation.
Besides, people seem to forget the Circle Pad Pro adds two extra shoulder buttons as well.
EDIT: also, there are only a handful of games that support 2 sticks as it is.
I love how every time Nintendo does anything different everyone freaks or and brings back the doom predictions of the 64 era.
They are making a cheap, easy to hold version of the 3ds that won’t hurt kid’s eyes and releasing it next to the biggest kid’s game this year. If someone can give me one good reason why this is a bad decision, I’ll buy them dinner.
The 64 era was actually very sucsessfull for Nintendo, N64 may not have sold as much as Playstation but had no piracy and no where near as many replacement consoles bought which actually hurt Sony’s profits as console sales lost money for them for most of the generstion.
Add to that Gameboy sales and the Pokemon craze and the fact that they had some of the best selling games of that generation, Mario 64 12 million, Goldeneye 8 million etc.
Maybe not as good as the Nes/GB or Wii/DS eras but looking a lot better than where they are currently.
I know the doom screaming was dumb as hell then and although they aren’t doing quite so well now, the sick price of Nintendo this morning is $15.41. Per share. It’s been a lot higher in other times, but despite EA being a publishing juggernaut, they come in at $8.32 and Konami is at $3 even. Nobody says they are insane and doomed to a life of eating cat food and talking to themselves in the third person. It’s stupid and people won’t stop filling comments sections with stupid.
You do know that you can’t compare differient companies stock prices as they have differient amounts of shares issued.Market capitalisation is stock price multiplied by number of shares and is a measure of what is the public;s opinion of a companies worth.
I know how stocks work. It was a quick and dirty comparison. There’s also the consideration that some companies tend to be ‘hold’ stocks and some tend to be ‘trade’ stocks. Nintendo appears to be one that people hold on to and don’t offer up to the market very often.
Fact is that investors are not running away from them like they have with other tech companies doing risky shit. This is a good move for Nintendo. They have rarely made a misstep and when they have seemed to in the past they’ve often shown to be far more cunning than they appear.
When they start shedding money and investors like sunburnt skin the way Zynga did, I’ll be the first one to call it and predict doom. Until then I’ll call all the people doing the whole “herp derp Nintendon’t is made of idiot jerkwads who hate monies and are retarded derp derp!” thing morons.
Because it’s giving up one of the best features for a fairly mild price difference. When I bought my 3DS, I was very impressed by the 3D effects, especially since you don’t need glasses to see it. This was for for both the games, and the photos that were taken with it. I showed it to friends, and they were impressed. It’s one of the best forms of advertisement. The 3DS kind of feels like a fantastic novel that you just read… and if you were commuting somewhere, you could look at strangers with a mild sense of pity due to their assumed obliviousness for how good it is, and the screen is part of that experience. I’d easily recommend the 3DS over the 2DS without having even touched a 2DS. If I had to buy multiple systems, the savings might be a bit more enticing… but if I had to go the poverty-route, then I’d just buy them second-hand.
With the confusion between the Wii and Wii U, it seems a bit silly to release ANOTHER, INFERIOR version of the 3DS to Nintendo’s console lineup. For $40. It’s a step backwards. That’s not always a bad thing, but I really don’t think that this is one of those times. It’s like if Apple made an iPhone 4.5 which didn’t have touch screen abilities.
It’s hard to say if the 2DS is more comfortable to a kid as well, as Stephen is an adult. The 3DS isn’t uncomfortable though. And if your kid’s eyes hurt… then you could always introduce them to the sliding 3D bar on the right of the 3DS, which can turn the effect off.
I realize the appeal of making a console cheaper… I guess I just would have been more impressed if Nintendo went in the other direction and had redesigns of the 3DS with improvements… like a gold Zelda theme, or retro gold/red Famicom or SNES look for $20 more… or a family bundle(like $20 cheaper for buying two 3DS in the one box).
A lot of people have little interest in the 3D, so that isn’t a selling point to them. Even if they are, the 3D hurts a lot of people’s eyes. Some people have problems viewing it properly and even though you don’t have to use it, people don’t like feeling like they paid for features that they can’t use. It doesn’t matter if that’s an illogical reaction. It’s true just the same. The old system is weighted in such a way that it puts strain on your wrists. The new mounting chages that. Kids have this really odd way of clicking the DS and 3DS so that it sits flat instead of the slightly tilted open position. This make it like that from the get-go. The wedge shape makes it easy to put it on a table and play with the stylus one handed.
You aren’t in their targeted customer range for the product. It’s no surprise that you aren’t interested. I’m not in their market and I’m not interested, either. But I can totally see why they released this and it isn’t the poverty route. It’s not inferior, except in the one single way that a lot of people don’t care about. The 3D is considered to be a health risk to children. Parents will like the idea that their kids can’t mess up their eyes. The hinges on the 3DS can be abused. Parents will like that this is solid and sturdy and can’t be easily broken. It’s also cheaper. $30 doesn’t sound like a lot, but it might be the tipping point that makes Santa put it in the old christmas stocking.
This is an easily accessible first console aimed at kids and is being released alongside the biggest kid’s product in the world. It looks just like the Sony tablet and performs just like the Nintendo that kids want for christmas. They are releasing it a few months before christmas to get kids wanting it and then there’ll be a nice pack-in bundle for December.
They’ve done some dumb things lately, but this isn’t one of them. This is going to be a marketing coup come christmas.
I mostly agree with what you’ve said, although I still stand by everything that I originally did. I think a lot of people are jaded that Nintendo have devoted research time on this instead of other things. It just feels a bit like they’re going after crumbs nowadays. I guess I just would have liked to have seem them release two versions of this tablet simultaneously… a (normal priced) 3DS version as well.
As much as it pains me to admit it, gamers are the crumbs nowadays. The kids/grandmas/nostalia/occasional play while on the train market is massive and worth so much more than us. I’d love a big screened DS with dual thumbs in Advance Wars colours boxed with the new AW. I’d pay extra if it had a super long life battery and the ability to link with the WiiU or some other cool interconnectivity. I’d pay All The Monies.
But there aren’t enough of people like me and probably you. This is good for their business and it’ll help us in the long run if Nintendo are strong and profitable.
I kind of meant how it used to be Nintendo and Sega… there wasn’t Sony and Microsoft. Sega is “gone” and Nintendo seems to be on the same track. They’re still alive, but it feels a bit like they’re toning back and going for crumbs… like they’re conceding the table to Sony/Microsoft. I really hope Nintendo get some consumer confidence back as well as remain profitable.
Yeah, I understand that, but I really feel that although they aren’t targeting us so aggressively anymore, they are on track to stay big, strong, and relevant. I honestly hope you are wrong. Not because I want to be right, but because I want them to be a force in the market. The gaming world would be a far poorer place without Nintendo.
They grew the overall size of the market by millions of people with the Wii and the DS. Except for a few lean years recently (which wasn’t entirely bad management), they’ve been consistently profitable for something like 200 years. Just because they aren’t selling so many units that there are month-long shortages, doesn’t mean they aren’t doing well. they might be changing markets, but they are doing just fine.
Wow the 3DS xl is still $200 in the us?It’s not much more than that here, but over there that amount is a huge barrier to purchasers.This might be a good stop gap for Nintendo till they can lower the price on the 3DS, or a door stop.
Who else checked what date it is?
Yeah, that was a weird few moments (woke up and saw my YouTube subs) – it was on the IGN feed; well they pull pranks all the time… Nope it was on every other channel too!
I’m worried that the much lower price won’t carry over to Australia, considering that the regular 3DS costs the same as the XL, and Nintendo price disparity is a raging bull.
The CPP is going to be monstrous.
As a Nintendo zealot, this is all I have to say on the matter:
http://farm1.staticflickr.com/131/319047856_dbf1ef3e92.jpg
I find it weird when people use that picture in a “What the f*#k is this?” situation because in the actual scene Picard is actually declaring his love.
Completely off topic but it bugs me.
Hate the game, not the player. 😀
Thanks for ruining that meme for me now … thanks a lot
https://i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/6579715840/h576036F7/
Now I don’t know what to think
Cute.
I’d eat that.
EDIT: Oh wait, it’s a console. I thought it was cake. :O
This is pretty clever from Nintendo. Wedges are useful for all sorts of things but I will hold firm until the 1DS.
When it dies you can use it as a trendy doorstop.
The exact thing i do with my broken PS3
how do you put it into sleep mode?
just found out there’s a sleep switch, slightly less panicked now.
Did you mean DSlite over original DS? DSi came after lite
will there be a circle pad pro?
I just got the circle pad pro for my original 3DS and they’re awesome. I find the stick isn’t quite as good as the one on the 3DS, but it certainly makes some games much better.
yeah, i got the cpp for the xl. i like to use it for games that don’t use the pad because it’s contours are a bit more comfortable.
Hrmm.. I don’t see a lot of reason to not just buy either a 2nd hand, refurbished or on sale 3DS or 3DS XL… It seems to be pretty left-field and even though they gave the reason for this model, is $30 x 2 really that big of a difference? If you’re struggling to make ends meet, why are you buying a game device that is going to continue to cost money after the initial buy (ie. the games still need to be bought)…
i don’t think it’s a matter of selling to poor people without disposable incomes, i think it’s just about consumers justifying the initial purchase. kid’s are gonna smash mum and dad for pokemon this x-mas and this will make it a bit easier to appease the beast.
Gameboy Micro is where it’s at 😀
Considering it’s bulky, non-portable size, it’s inability to fold and lack of 3D, I would say the price difference is not big enough to make it attractive. It’s a great idea to have a budget, gimped version to expand the market of a console but the price needs to reflect how scaled back it is. This price isn’t a budget price, it’s more of a slight discount.
This is a good thing. Means I’ll be able to identify the poors on the bus and not sit near them.
All beings are equal on public transport.
So whilst Sony and MS chase superiority, Nintendo chase mediocrity.
Instead of enhancing their technology, they hamper it.
All in an effort to save $30? How much does a 3DS game cost again? $50 to $60?
I don’t know about you, but i’ve been seduced time and again by the awesome tech that is in consoles and handhelds. That seems to be the crutch that Nintendo leant on when releasing the 3DS.
But now we’re supposed to be enamoured by old tech, that has failed to impress, that has now been hampered.
We’re supposed to be enticed by portable gaming units that could not fit into a single pocket ever made?
I suppose this device has a market. I suppose they’ll sell a certain amount of them. But no way is this device going to re-spark the market. It’s not a great beacon for Nintendo, and is more a worrying sign that instead of evolving they’re putting more investment into devolving.
For those of you that have said to the naysayers that Nintendo know what they’re doing, I show you the 2DS.
It’s not for you. that’s why you are uninsterested. I think this will do well. It won’t smash sales records, but it will do well.
It’s for the mum or dad that’s doing the Christmas shopping and chasing bargains. It’s supposed to be a discount to appeal to people looking to make every cent count. iphone is rumoured to be doing the same thing with a budget phone. The economy is tough man.
The economy is tough – that’s a totally fair point – but, all they need to do to make the 3DS more affordable is to drop the price $30 – or throw in a game for free, or 2. Bang, done. No need to spend millions developing a machine which DOES do pretty much the same as the 3DS, just not as well.
I would have preferred that they spend the money developing a 3DS that’s slimmer, has a built in 2nd stick, and/or better battery. Give me an excuse to buy one. Not build something that performs worse than what’s already overdue for a revision.
I think it’s fair to say that the 3D in the 3DS isn’t hugely enticing. I think it’s fair to say that the form factor of the 2DS is much the same as the 3DS when in use. So in some ways the 2DS is excusable. At the same time, it’s definitely a step back – and one that strikes me as unnecessary – especially at this stage – where Nintendo is already being accused of launching a next gen console that is far from being next gen.
I 100% agree with you. I was just pointing out the logistics of what justifies the product in Nintendo’s mind. I bet there’s a lot of people smarter than you and I who’ve figured out how much this would cost as opposed to how much it will expand the market and install base and this was their approach. I think lowering the price or packing in the game with the current 3DS, just like you said, is a much better option personally. This 2DS absolutely a step back. But it’s purely a business move.
On a side note, I don’t think the idea is terrible completely. I think no one would be complaining if it were like, dirt cheap, half the price of the 3DS would make sense. Having it slightly cheaper than the 3DS is not very appealing when a refurbished 3DS is the same price. It makes little sense to buy this thing, you lose so much and only get a small discount.
I agree.
I don’t think the idea, or machine, is completely terrible. And I have to admit there is something attractive about a $149 AUD unit.
BUT,,,
it’s far from an advancement, and that’s what many would want. And in SUCH a competitive market I would say that that is what’s needed.
Nintendo are implementing a standard business practice, which entails delivering a product for a lower socio-economic background, yet it is still just a re-designed 3DS. It’s odd that people don’t agree with you.
The console is an unintuitive release. It is a reactive move to increase profits in the medium-term in an attempt to combat the other console releases. I suppose it works as the hand-held market has been monopolised by Nintendo, but I am disappointed that people will purchase this which in turn supports the mediocrity that corporations often deliver. The Nintendo64 was an instance where they created something unique that made others compete, however, this hand-held will not.
Although the target market is not high-income earners, hipsters, or adults, it is essentially another build of a high selling hand-held. Essentially this is a business play to survive the economic downturn, and in saying that it is still a scabby move on Nintendo’s behalf. The Doomsday predictors of Nintendo are way off – this corporation will be here for a long time will releases like this.
It is unfortunate that people do not vote with their wallet, because the quality of entertainment technology would definitely increase if they did.
The 2DS will sell well…
Quick question.
Has there ever been a more pointless and uninteresting handheld console?
Even the Lynx and Gizmondo had their potential. Their angle.
I’d say its less of a step forward for them and more of an attempt to recapture that Wii market that made Nintendo roughly every dollar in existence. It’s cheap and uncomplicated looking.
I don’t quite agree with the uncomplicated looking. It looks like a 3DS that has lock-jaw.
A portable machine which is, in modern terms, not portable. Yes, yes – no less portable than a tablet – but certainly the most unportable handheld gaming device every created.
And should Nintendo be doing that – releasing unportable portable devices when we live in a world of portable and multi function devices?
A number of years ago I would have agreed with you but phones, tablets, music players and everything portable seems to be trending towards bigger nowadays.
Don’t get me wrong, I think it looks hideous and will give up my XL for one when I’m dead but I understand the direction they’re heading with this one. It’s not a replacement.
The DS Lite was an upgrade over the DS (sometimes called DS Phat). The DSi was released after the DS Lite.
I thought the GB Micro was pretty neat, once upon a time. But as someone who has recently taken the plunge with a 3DSXL, I can’t imagine wanting one of these. I feel like removing the ability to fold it (which both reduces the area it takes up and protects the screens) stops it from being a portable handheld, and therefore removes about 50% of the reason you’d own one to begin with.
I agree that it is no longer as portable as a 3DS, but it is still portable. The dimensions put it in between a Nexus 7 and an iPad and I see people managing to carry those all over the place.
My point is, why this instead of a 3DS. Tablet computers are really a different story entirely.
Agree. Tablets perform a while range of functionality and use and warrant carrying around. The 3DS has a more limited functionality and would make less sense carrying it around to play a game every now and then. People are willing to carry an item of function around but who wants to cart around an item of luxury? It’s not particularly compelling, personally.
I don’t have any statistics to back myself up on this, but from my observations all people seem to use tablets for on their commute are to watch tv shows they downloaded. I carry a Nexus 7 with me to read a book. I would put those things under items of luxury.
I’m an adult and wouldn’t be seen dead carrying a childrens toy around anywhere anyway! Can’t wait for one of these 😛
It still only has the one circle pad, you know what that means! It’s going to need the biggest circle pad pro yet!
http://31.media.tumblr.com/d4cb638ada34a228ea94bc70239f879d/tumblr_ms96siB2ok1s0eipbo1_400.gif
2D and folding aside, why is the the business side of the device that charcoal grey? Did they want this to look fun to everyone else except the player?
Finally! Nintendo realises that no one likes 3D!
For kids? No for cheap fools like me. I’m gettin the 2ds