Nintendo 3DS: One Year Later

Releasing one year ago today in North America, the Nintendo 3DS has had one bumpy year.  Starting out of the gate deemed a "horrible" launch by the gaming media (funny how they forget previous console and handheld launches) and lower than average sales to making a total turnaround with an incredible price drop and the release of some quality first and third party games.  The Nintendo 3DS has sold more in its first year on the market than the best selling handheld of all-time, the 3DS's predecessor, the Nintendo DS.   There are no signs that the 3DS's sales will be slowing down anytime soon.  When everybody jumped on the bandwagon that Nintendo was heading for their doom, the legendary company proved to never count them out.  Having supported the 3DS since day one, I want to look back at what Nintendo has done right with the 3DS this last year and what Nintendo still needs to improve on as the 3DS moves forward.

When it comes down to it, the Nintendo 3DS is a well-designed gaming machine.  The Circle Pad has amazing feel, the touch screen works like a charm and the no-glasses 3D, while a gimmick, is just stunning that we no longer need cumbersome glasses to see real depth to our video games.  My personal favourite built-in feature on the 3DS is the Activity Log, which logs all the games you have played and how long you played them for.  The Activity Log also keeps track of how many steps you take with the 3DS.  Close to every time I finish playing a game on my 3DS, I check how long I played it for and how it ranks among all the other games I have played on my 3DS.  With the 3DS, Nintendo has looked to improve their online service.  So far I have been impressed with the Nintendo 3DS's online capabilities in the both Mario Kart 7 and Kid Icarus: Uprising.  Everything runs silky smooth with no lag whatsoever and you can always find people to play with.  Both Mario Kart 7 and Kid Icarus: Uprising is how to righty do online multi-player for the 3DS, so developers take notes and hopefully we will be seeing great online offerings from other developers in the near future.  Nintendo's new focus on creating affordable and unique downloadable games for the 3DS is great step in the right direction and has created some great games like Pushmo and Sakurai Samurai so far.  While all that is great, the meat and potatoes of every system be it a console or a handheld are the games both first and third party.  Like all Nintendo systems, the first-party support for the 3DS is phenomenal as Nintendo creates games that use everything that the 3DS has to offer perfectly.  The third-party support is good so far as big console franchises such as Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid, Street Fighter and Dead or Alive find a home on the 3DS.  More than the last few generations, Nintendo is looking to strengthen their releationship with third-parties and the 3DS looks like their first step to solving a problem that has plagued other Nintendo systems.

While there is a lot to good to say about the 3DS, there are quite a few things Nintendo needs to improve on and one thing they should avoid at all cost.  I love the Nintendo eShop, but it needs to be re-designed.  The layout now is just too cumbersome to find what exactly you are looking for.  Other than the featured items, it is hard to find the certain games, mainly the DSiWare, as they do not have defined sections.  Nintendo should take a note from the Wii Shop Channel as it has a nice clean design that breaks everything into nice neat sections.  The eShop desperately needs this type of design to make it easier for gamers to find all the games hidden under the clutter.  Hopefully with the inevitable Nintendo Network update, we will see a newly designed eShop.  On the topic of the eShop, in the last few months the support for the eShop has become satisfactory at best.  Nintendo needs to step up their game and start making each weekly update to the eShop be monumental with releases of new demos, new 3DS Virtual Console games and new downloadable 3DS games each and every week.  Also Nintendo needs to let gamers know what is coming out for the 3DS as it seems like we are left in the dark until Thursday rolls around.  The biggest complaints most people have with the 3DS is it's battery life being short and the lack of a second Circle Pad for certain games mainly shooters.  While Nintendo has addressed the lack of a second Circle Pad with the Circle Pad Pro attachment, people and the media have been begging for re-design of the 3DS.  Personally I think that would be a huge misstep on Nintendo's part as it would alienate those gamers like myself who put down 250 dollars to buy the 3DS on day one.  I hope Nintendo does not cave into the pressure and stands by the design of the 3DS now, but improves on these things with the 3DS's eventual successor.

Overall, the 3DS's first year has been one crazy ride, but it was well worth it.  I am very happy I got this system day one as it has provided me some amazing experiences.  Be it completing classics such as Ocarina of Time and Star Fox for the very first time, jumping into an online race in Mario Kart 7, defeating Bowser in 3D with Mario or experiencing Pit's return to gaming glory.  These are all experiences that I could only have on my 3DS.  It is a splendid handheld that is a steal at 170 dollars.  With a rocky yet extremely successful year one in the books, the Nintendo 3DS can only go up from here.