Hard to believe that one year ago today I was busy getting stars in Pilot Wings Resort (and capitalizing on Amazon’s “Buy 1 get $15 off” deal). But today marks the one year anniversary of the release of the Nintendo 3DS in the U.S., so let’s take a moment and reflect on the little handheld’s first year of life.
Admittedly, the early parts of the 3DS’s life weren’t quite the smashing success Nintendo had hoped they’d be. Hell, they weren’t the smashing success consumers had hoped they would be. Coming out at an awkward time (i.e. nowhere near a holiday season), with a less than stellar launch line-up, and with a fairly commanding price for a handheld, the 3DS certainly seemed to struggle out the gate. As far as the launch line-up went, it was hard to find much beyond Pilot Wings Resort, Steel Diver, and Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars, and once the launch was over it was months before any other major releases came out (though some nice filler came out to kill the time with in the meantime).
But many of us early adopters never gave up on the dream. One day we knew we would have our new Mario, our new Mario Kart, our Resident Evil (ahem, the good one), and a plethora of other titles to enjoy in our glorious glasses free 3D world. But it was a long and, quite frankly, tumultuous wait before we would get to that point. The biggest shock came when Nintendo announced that they would be cutting the price by $80, a fairly dramatic cut for a system that hadn’t been out for half a year yet, and a move that had many people wondering if the 3DS was doomed to become the next Virtual Boy.
Of course, during the time of the price cut things weren’t exactly going bad for 3DS owners. The eShop finally opened up on June 6th and during the summer we got The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D as well as Star Fox 64 3D. Nintendo also made peace with the early adopters by bestowing them with 20 ports of classic NES/GBA games. Of course, some of the choices for these games left me scratching my head (Yoshi’s Cookie? Mario Golf? Mario Kart: Super Circuit on a system that just got Mario Kart 7?), but regardless, it was a nice gesture.
Of course, once Christmas hit all of the doom and gloom was pretty much gone. Earlier in the year the 3DS had gotten ports of N64 classics The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Star Fox 64, but around the holiday season, we finally received what we had been wanting all along: Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7. And to be sure, they did not disappoint one bit. Nintendo also snuck in some downloadable gaming goodness with a wonderful title named Pushmo that had critics abuzz. And those rumors of Nintendo killing off the 3DS? Gone, since the 3DS’s sales numbers had surpassed the original DS during the same time frame.
And more recently, Resident Evil: Revelations and Kid Icarus: Uprising have graced the 3DS, giving it one final injection of excellence before celebrating its first birthday.
So in retrospect, how did the 3DS fare during year one? Well, I challenge you to reflect on the first years of other handheld systems and consider how they compare. Personally, I think the 3DS’s first year runs circles around those of any other Nintendo handheld (at the very least), so I would say that Year One has been an absolute success, and now I anticipate what all greatness will be coming to the 3DS in Year Two.
And now for my personal 3DS stats. Feel free to share your own on our boards!!!
JP’s Records:
Steps Taken: 193,300
Titles Played: 107
Top 10 For Time Played:
1. SMT: Devil Survivor Overclocked (54:36)
2. Tales of the Abyss (50:47)
3. Ocarina of Time 3D (40:22)
4. Mario Kart 7 (39:40)
5. Fire Emblem (34:25)
6. Super Mario 3D Land (31:27)
7. Resident Evil Mercenaries (25:43)
8. Super Street Fighter IV (23:53)
9. Shinobi (23:24)
10. Pilot Wings Resort (22:21)
Top 10 Play Frequency
1. Internet Browser (144)
2. StreetPass Mii Plaza (122)
3. Notifications (86)
4. Mario Kart 7 (74)
5. Friend List (70)
6. Super Mario 3D Land (69)
7. SMT: Devil Survivor Overclocked (67)
8. Nintendo eShop (63)
9. MGS Snake Eater 3D (58)
10. Super Street Fighter IV (50)
Top 10 Average Time Played:
1. Donkey Kong (GB) (1:45)
2. Zelda II (1:41)
3. Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX (1:36)
4. Ocarina of Time 3D (1:33)
5. The Legend of Zelda (1:23)
6. Netflix (1:19)
7. Tales of the Abyss (1:13)
8. Kid Icarus: Uprising (1:12)
9. Metroid Fusion (1:09)
10. Gargoyle’s Quest (1:04)
