OK I did it. Got a 3DS, need downloadable games recommendations.

[Aaron Koolen-Bourke]

Sorry if there's a thread about this, but couldn't find one. I'd love some downloadable title recommendations if you have em.

[Leggetron]

Well, first thing - Legend of Zelda: Four Swords is free for a limited time, so get that quick smart.

The first two games I downloaded were Super Mario Land and Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, mostly for nostalgia reasons. That said, Link's Awakening is an excellent Zelda title.

I've also got all of the Ambassador Programme titles currently available - did you pick up a 3DS first-hand? If so, I guess you're out of luck there. I also imagine that Excitebike is no longer free?

The only other game I think I paid for was Plants vs. Zombies, just cos I love that game and don't own it on anything else atm, so why not the 3DS. It's better with the stylus, too, as opposed to using your fingers on a phone.

I realised the other day that with Ocarina, Four Swords, Link's Awakening and the original two NES games, I have five Zelda games on 3DS now :P

Other than downloadables, I picked up Star Fox 64 3D a few weeks back, which is a pretty sweet game to have - good fun for quick blats

[Aaron Koolen-Bourke]

Ooo, forgot about Four Swords and have never played that.

Cheers for the recommendations. Yeah I got it first hand so no ambassador games for me.

Aaron

Originally Posted by Leggetron

Well, first thing - Legend of Zelda: Four Swords is free for a limited time, so get that quick smart.

The first two games I downloaded were Super Mario Land and Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, mostly for nostalgia reasons. That said, Link's Awakening is an excellent Zelda title.

I've also got all of the Ambassador Programme titles currently available - did you pick up a 3DS first-hand? If so, I guess you're out of luck there. I also imagine that Excitebike is no longer free?

The only other game I think I paid for was Plants vs. Zombies, just cos I love that game and don't own it on anything else atm, so why not the 3DS. It's better with the stylus, too, as opposed to using your fingers on a phone.

I realised the other day that with Ocarina, Four Swords, Link's Awakening and the original two NES games, I have five Zelda games on 3DS now :P

Other than downloadables, I picked up Star Fox 64 3D a few weeks back, which is a pretty sweet game to have - good fun for quick blats

[Vivasanti]

/envy still want one of these but im gona wait for the price to drop more :|

[Leggetron]

As much as I truly do love my 3DS, I'd have trouble recommending one to anyone at the moment given how mint the PS Vita is looking...

Still, can't wait for Mario Kart 7, Resident Evil: Revelations, Snake Eater 3D etc.

[Aaron Koolen-Bourke]

Originally Posted by Leggetron

As much as I truly do love my 3DS, I'd have trouble recommending one to anyone at the moment given how mint the PS Vita is looking...

Still, can't wait for Mario Kart 7, Resident Evil: Revelations, Snake Eater 3D etc.

Yeah the Vita does look great but there's two problems with it

1) It will be as expensive as the original 3DS price which puts it out of my reach
2) It doesn't have Mario Kart 7, nor Super Mario 3D Land

@Vivisanti Yeah and there's bound to be a redesign at some point.

Even though my Flame red one is a new model/style, it still suffers from the vertical top screen marking problems which was a little bit annoying. And my one came with a free scratch on the bottom screen

[Leggetron]

I get people's trepidation with the Vita's price point. But when you really think about it, $550 for the 3G model is pretty damn good value. There's a lot of awesome tech in there, and it kinda is a little bit like a PS3 you can take anywhere.

That said, I was never among those that thought the 3DS' price point was unreasonable either

People seem to have no problem paying in the region of a grand for a smartphone, which is cool. But when you really compare the tech contained in the likes of the 3DS and the Vita with current top-end smartphones, the handheld consoles are quite reasonably priced imo.

But yeah, it's not like I have $550 to spend on a PS3 at the moment, let alone a Vita.

[Aaron Koolen-Bourke]

Yeah I don't have a problem with the price for what it is, just compared to my wallet

I think people have been conditioned that if you get a high end phone, 1k is normal, because it has a phone, but just for a games machine it's a harder sell.

Would love a Vita too but that' ain't gonna happen unfortunately with baby 2 on the way. Need to save pennies for the Wii U

Originally Posted by Leggetron

I get people's trepidation with the Vita's price point. But when you really think about it, $550 for the 3G model is pretty damn good value. There's a lot of awesome tech in there, and it kinda is a little bit like a PS3 you can take anywhere.

That said, I was never among those that thought the 3DS' price point was unreasonable either

People seem to have no problem paying in the region of a grand for a smartphone, which is cool. But when you really compare the tech contained in the likes of the 3DS and the Vita with current top-end smartphones, the handheld consoles are quite reasonably priced imo.

But yeah, it's not like I have $550 to spend on a PS3 at the moment, let alone a Vita.

[accidental]

The PS Vita is definitely cheap for what it's worth, especially as an early adopter when the profit loss on the unit is at it's peak.

Console manufacturers are among the few industries that lose money on the hardware to make profit on software/consumables. Which is why the PSP was so bitter for Sony. They lost money on each unit sold only to have a big chunk of them used for piracy.

The trouble with this business model is that it is only profitable when the product cycle is nice and long. Now that handhelds are competing with smart phones, they'll really struggle against the rapid pace of that industry. Handhelds can only take advantage of Moore's law every 4-5 years whereas smart phones do it every few months.

[Aaron Koolen-Bourke]

Originally Posted by accidental

The trouble with this business model is that it is only profitable when the product cycle is nice and long. Now that handhelds are competing with smart phones, they'll really struggle against the rapid pace of that industry. Handhelds can only take advantage of Moore's law every 4-5 years whereas smart phones do it every few months.

Yeah the next 5 years is going to be really interesting to see develop, especially in the handheld market.

I imagine in a year or two we'll have smart phones as powerful as the 3DS (Maybe they are already?) and maybe getting close to Vita. Imagine if they then got actual physical controls, I wonder how that would change things?

Putting my "wild speculation hat of rambling" on here for a minute, do you think that if say Apple came out with the iPhone 6, grunty as hell and it shipped with a dual stick controller addon, we would see a move of the traditional 3rd party handheld games to those platforms and therefore a massive blow to traditional handheld companies? Most people would use it as a phone without the add-on and be happy with touch games, but those wanting "more" from their games could keep it attached or attach it at home. Would a split market work?

Obviously I'm ignoring the pull of 1st party titles that will never switch platforms, but as a general move, I wonder if something like that would work? It would be something that could sway me. Console quality games on a handheld that's also my phone - 1 device to carry. I want to carry my 3DS around with me and I'll try and do it for a while but I imagine that eventually I'll just give up and leave it at home.

[accidental]

I don't think you'll ever see Apple release a hardware peripheral for the iPhone/iPod Touch in order to play games. Third parties are, but they'd have to sell wildly to have any impact, and they're not.

It won't happen on Android either because there are far too many manufacturers handsets and designs to allow a standard to develop.

The massive blow is already being dealt to handheld consoles by iOS devices. I think they're undoing the work that Nintendo did capturing the casual market with the DS, as well as taking some of the core gamers who can't be bothered carrying more than one device (same reason MP3 players and point-and-shoot cameras and pocket video cameras are also getting hit).

The GPU in the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S (SGX543MP2) is in fact a dual-core version of the exact same quad-core GPU (SGX543MP4) that is in the PS Vita. The Vita, of course, will squeeze more out of this GPU considering the system is optimised for gaming, but it's an indicator of just how powerful smart phone GPUs are already before the Vita's launch, let alone in 5 years time.

[Leggetron]

Originally Posted by accidental

The GPU in the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S (SGX543MP2) is in fact a dual-core version of the exact same quad-core GPU (SGX543MP4) that is in the PS Vita. The Vita, of course, will squeeze more out of this GPU considering the system is optimised for gaming, but it's an indicator of just how powerful smart phone GPUs are already before the Vita's launch, let alone in 5 years time.

Haha, came back into this thread to pretty much post exactly this ^

As far as portable gaming goes, there's always going to be that trade-off where no one wants a large phone, but you compromise the gaming controls/experience on small smartphone devices. Simply put, I don't know if we'll ever see a one-stop-shop device that can please everyone.

[Aaron Koolen-Bourke]

I guess I don't mean an after market addon, but something that ships with it. As in the iPhone 6 comes with one in order to get it into EVERY iPhone 6 owner's hands.

Good point re the camera etc. Years ago I just couldn't think of myself having 1 device for sounds, phone, camera because there wasn't anything good enough. Now though, an iPhone can definitely handle most of my photo, music and phone requirements.

I agree that iOS has taken some of that market that the DS made, which is why Nintendo seem to be going more core this time around. The 3ds, by it's very design means that main gaming happens on the top screen, where there is no touch. I almost wish that if they were going more core, that they dropped the other screen and use that cash elsewhere.

Originally Posted by accidental

I don't think you'll ever see Apple release a hardware peripheral for the iPhone/iPod Touch in order to play games. Third parties are, but they'd have to sell wildly to have any impact, and they're not.

It won't happen on Android either because there are far too many manufacturers handsets and designs to allow a standard to develop.

The massive blow is already being dealt to handheld consoles by iOS devices. I think they're undoing the work that Nintendo did capturing the casual market with the DS, as well as taking some of the core gamers who can't be bothered carrying more than one device (same reason MP3 players and point-and-shoot cameras and pocket video cameras are also getting hit).

The GPU in the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S (SGX543MP2) is in fact a dual-core version of the exact same quad-core GPU (SGX543MP4) that is in the PS Vita. The Vita, of course, will squeeze more out of this GPU considering the system is optimised for gaming, but it's an indicator of just how powerful smart phone GPUs are already before the Vita's launch, let alone in 5 years time.

[Leggetron]

I love the fact that the DS/3DS has two displays, and I love the overall design of the device. I think the two-display thing is one of its bigger advantages over smartphones when it comes to gaming to be honest. It's awesome to have map info or even a quick-access inventory right there!

[accidental]

Originally Posted by Leggetron

… no one wants a large phone …

Samsung's Galaxy Nexus disagrees :P