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3DS and Vita Face Tough Battle Against Smartphones
An article at the Opposable Thumbs blog looks at the struggle between portable gaming devices and smartphones with access to a plethora of inexpensive games.
"...most games simply have to be 'good enough' and convenient. If you already have a smartphone and an hour to kill, plenty of top-notch games can be downloaded in a minute for a dollar. With the 3DS or Vita, you're being asked to buy expensive hardware and then feed it with games that cost $40 and up. Smartphones also present a compelling deal for small, adventurous developers: it's inexpensive to create a game for these platforms, and developers don't have to worry about physical storefronts, packaging design, or cartridge manufacturing. Sony is now pushing for a digital platform that relies heavily on downloads with the Vita, but Nintendo still seems to believe the future rests with expensive, physical carts. Trying to buy one of the few digital games available on the 3DS via the system's e-shop is a slow, frustrating process."
I kind of agree. Maybe the next step for Nintendo and Sony should either be:
1) Open the platform for indie development and offer an online store where people can submit games (similar to Xbox live games)
2) Start creating games for mobile phones
Nr. 2 seems very unlikely, so I think their best bet is to open the platform up for indie development.
race to the bottom is going to seriously affect the gaming industry.
Maybe when 6 buttons and an analog stick are standard equipment for smart phones Nintendo might have something to be afraid of; multitouch implementations of buttons and dpads/sticks are terrible and take up screen real estate. Clip-on accessories are available for some phones, but most people don't have these, there's no standardization, and thus most games won't support these things; it also contradicts the premise that people are playing these smartphone games when they're bored and just have a few minutes: they aren't going to lug around the clip-on button pad all day every day just in case they're bored for a few minutes.
Oh, and there's the fact that an unlocked smartphone costs more than a 3DS or PS Vita, and you need to pay a subscription for the ability to buy or redownload games. If you don't trust your kid to use a smartphone unsupervised, a dedicated games machine would be a better option.
If you have a dumbphone and are still under contract, then you don't have a smartphone laying around. If you're not technically apt, you don't have a smartphone laying around. If you have an Android/Blackberry and you want an iOS game, you're SOL. If you have an iPod touch, the CPU is too crappy to run the more complex games at full framerate.
Then there's different markets. If you're 40+ and never owned a games machine before, you might download Angry Birds to see what the fuss is about. If you check IGN every day, chances are you'll realize that different systems get different games and there are games that interest you on every platform -- this means you will be interested in games that are only on the 3DS, even if you hate the hardware and have an iPhone.
Analysts seem to be repeating this argument ad nauseum, because they see portable gaming systems as less convenient than mobile phones. This is true, but missing the point. I bought a DS not because I wanted to play games when I'm out that happen to be new, it's that games I'm interested in playing happened to be released on a portable system.
The real question is, why would developers make games for the 3DS instead of smartphone only? The answer has to be: because that's where the gamers are -- the gamers willing to pay $40 per game. That means high production values and budgets, and high-quality games made by large teams for 18+ months. It could also be that something they REALLY want to make requires an analog stick or buttons, but that's less likely.
Personally I appreciate these high-quality large games that aren't just ports of home console games, but are things that wouldn't be released on any other system -- they're too large for a smartphone and too small for a home console.
Corruption is convincing someone that the selfless ideal is the same as their selfish ideal.
Real Racing, Peggle, Flight Control, Lemonade Tycoon, Infinity Blade, Trainyard, Rage, Tower Defense: Lost Earth, Reckless Getaway, Zombie Gunship, Sonic Racing, Civilization Revolution, Bomberman, Plants vs Zombies, Boost 3D... just to name a few. I've spent hours and hours on these great games. They all feel very good in combination with the small touch screen of a smartphone and some of them look & sound amazing as well.
I'm currently playing Anomaly: Warzone Earth and thats just a fantastic title. It's these kinds of quality games Sony & Nintendo should really be worried about. When I'm able to get those games for just 1 or 2 dollars each and run them on a device that I'm always carrying with me anyway, there's just no reason for me whatsoever to get a Vita or 3DS. I already own a DS Lite and enjoyed it a lot. But since I got my smartphone, I've rarely touched it to be honest.
Pretty good is actually pretty bad.
The people who say that iPhones and tablets are going to kill handheld gaming systems are the same people saying that netbooks and laptops will replace the desktop computer. They're different systems with different intended audiences and are completely distinct in terms of user experience.
It's not about "killing" anything, it is about where the money is. In that regard, the desktop PC is already long gone. Sales have been declining, laptops have been outselling desktops for years and profit margins are nearly non-existant. The desktop PC has become a products for some niches (office workers, gamers, some professionals), but the general public isn't too interested in desktops anymore. That doesn't mean the desktop is "dead" or you wont be able to get a desktop in the future or something, but it's defintely not as mainstream as it used to be.
Same thing with handheld gaming devices. They wont go away. They wont die. But they will be a whole lot less dominant, and that's mainly because of people playing now on their smartphones instead.
Pretty good is actually pretty bad.
Yes, I think this is basically right. As somebody who would describe himself as a gamer, I can honestly say I've got little to no interest in smartphone games. In fact, I haven't even bothered picking up a smartphone myself.
Thing is, smartphone games can't hold my attention for more than a few minutes. My handhelds get most use when I'm travelling - on the plane or train to my destination, or while I'm away. When I'm at home, I have access to a gaming PC and all three current "big" consoles - so unless there's a really strong handheld exclusive title, I'm not going to bother with a little screen there. And for an 8 hour flight - or even a 2 hour train journey - the kind of games you get on smartphones just won't cut it - and nor will their woeful controls.
There's a lot of doom and gloom around handhelds at the moment because the 3DS is failing (and if things haven't picked up by Christmas, then I think we can start saying "failed" in the past tense). As a 3DS owner who tried to give the machine a fair shake, I can tell you now that the main reasons for this are:
- A lack of decent games to play now (despite the nostalgia-fuelled review scores, even Zelda hasn't stood up that well to the test of time) and a lack of interesting games in the pipeline.
- Game prices which are, I would estimate, 30%-40% too high - for both boxed and downloadable games.
- Dire battery life which is inadequate for any trip of over 3 hours or so.
- A 3D effect which is impressive for a few minutes, but then headache-inducing and nigh-impossible to use on the move. Oh - and which results in big "not for children under 6" warnings all over the thing.
- A sense that in technical terms, leaving aside 3D, the machine is actually lagging behind the 7 year old PSP.
- Rubbish online functionality, with an eShop that is a usability nightmare.
- Less significant than the other reasons, but still not trivial - region locking.
However, all of the above are specific mistakes on the part of Nintendo - not elements that are essential components of the handheld gaming market. Moreover, in the 3DS's biggest region of failure - Japan - it's not smartphones its losing out to, but the PSP and even its own predecessor. It feels a bit odd and worrying because the habit in recent years has been for Nintendo handhelds to Just Not Flop (TM), but it's not unprecedented (Virtual Boy).
Sony will avoid some of the mistakes above with the Vita, may or may not avoid others and could possibly add some mess-ups of its own - but we probably won't know until much closer to its launch. The launch games lineup is, at least, much stronger, which gets around one of the 3DS's biggest problems. I would say the main deciding factors for the Vita now (given that price and games lineup are known) will be the price of games and the battery life.
It's not just about games. With the proliferation of smartphones, kindles, etc. It really comes down to what would I rather do with my idle time? Instead of paying for a 3DS or Vita, I can read a book; watch netflix (yes, I know you can do that on the 3DS, but thats not a differentiator); play a cheaper game; or surf the web (see netflix comment above). That's why smartphones are going to kill the 3DS and Vita - it is easier/cheaper to waste time on them.