Topic: What Kind of Games should the 3DS have?

[Spak-Spang]

True, and am I the only one that thinks 2D gaming with 3D visuals is not a gimmick but would be quite impressive and visually stunning.  Imagine for a second that each layer of sprites has its own depth to create a deep image...much like the movie Tarzan did.  Now if somebody did that with a Super Mario Bros 3 or Yoshi's Island or dare dream Wario Shake graphics that would be the best 2D visuals created.

[Guitar Smasher]

Actually that sounds quite intriguing, although I think it would take a lot of practice to get the proper effect.

[Stratos]

Isn't that basically what the Virtual Boy did for Mario and Wario except in eye-strain-o-vision-red?

[Spak-Spang]

Yes, and it was pretty good.  Except on Color, and it felt more limited.  I think with the more advanced technology it will be better...and the fact that we can probably now have transparency effects in 3D...that could be amazing.

I would love to see a Top Down 2D Zelda with transparent clouds floating above the screen.  AMAZING.  Or using the 3D to help see where a flying monster in the world is.  I really think 2D with 3D is going to be more useful than 3D with 3D.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

This new 3DS could revolutionize Portable Porn.

Porn with depth.

Porn that potentially pops-out.

3D Porn without horrible expensive glasses.

There'd be a slight increase in production cost due to wielding all-new dual-camera setups to capture the action.  I wonder if holding the new setup will pose some challenges for the casual POV Pornographer.

[Kytim89]

This new 3DS could revolutionize Portable Porn.

Porn with depth.

Porn that potentially pops-out.

3D Porn without horrible expensive glasses.

There'd be a slight increase in production cost due to wielding all-new dual-camera setups to capture the action.  I wonder if holding the new setup will pose some challenges for the casual POV Pornographer.

This is an awesome idea, but it may disuade Nintendo from putting a movie player on the 3DS and this is something I really want to see happen.

[BlackNMild2k1]

This new 3DS could revolutionize Portable Porn.

Porn with depth.

Porn that potentially pops-out.

3D Porn without horrible expensive glasses.

There'd be a slight increase in production cost due to wielding all-new dual-camera setups to capture the action.  I wonder if holding the new setup will pose some challenges for the casual POV Pornographer.

This is an awesome idea, but it may disuade Nintendo from putting a movie player on the 3DS and this is something I really want to see happen.

But we'll have internet, and there will be customized websites

Don't click this link.... It's porn for your 3DS and it's NSFW


Now imagine this
   or   

on 3DS with depth and pop out

[Pale]

I'm running out of rain so I guess I'll keep this parade dry.

Anyway, as for the games I'd like to see on the next Nintendo Handheld.

I want to see a reclassification as to what makes a handheld game suitable on the system.  Currently way too many people feel that handheld games are just console games with older tech.  This then morphed into 3D for home consoles and 2D for portables.  This is all just silly.  We should be focusing on game design in this day and age... not technology.

Portable games should be games that require shorter play sessions first and foremost.  They can still be epic games, but you should always be able to sit down and play in 10-20 minute spurts.

They should also take advantage of the fact that they are played in a variety of locations.  Accelerometers and GPS would allow for amazing new games.  Make a Pokemon game where wild pokemon are only available in certain areas of the world during certain seasons. I really liked Jonny's ideas on RFN.  Take the pokewalker idea, build the tech in, and expand on that.

Nintendo needs to differentiate the handheld scene, not just from its competitors, but also from the Wii.  Otherwise it will remain a redundant piece of hardware for many of the blue ocean buyers.  Why buy a Wii if I have a 3DS? Why buy a 3DS if I have a Wii?

That's why, to me, 3D seems to be nothing but a gimmick to superficially differentiate it from the DS.  I hope that proves to not be the case and it ends up just being one feature of many improvements.  I know, that sounds seriously similar to many people's view of the Wii.  I didn't share that view though, and, in a way, I was burned.  Motion controls were really the ONLY significant hardware addition to the platform and I think they will prove to be a much more significant innovation than a silly 3D screen will be.

There, I guess I still found some rain.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

"... not technology."

I can't believe you said that.

[Pale]

Hah, i knew I would be called on that... see the problem is, in order for game designers to NOT focus on technology, the technology needs to be good enough that it isn't a limiting factor.  It's a catch-22.

[King of Twitch]

Super Mario Brothers 3 was done on the NES.

[Ian Sane]

  Hah, i knew I would be called on that... see the problem is, in order for game designers to NOT focus on technology, the technology needs to be good enough that it isn't a limiting factor.  It's a catch-22. 

Makes sense to me.  I see a good videogame system like a blank canvas for game designers.  With each generation the technology increases so it's like giving the artist a bigger canvas and more colours and some more brush types and painting tools.  With the Wii it's like Nintendo gave the artist this new brush that does things no previous brush could do... but then gave them the same size canvas and same amount of colours as the Gamecube.  What Nintendo has done (likely inadvertingly) is actually LIMITED the artist.  If he doesn't want to use their new brush there is no point in him using their new canvas.  This is why we get so much lame waggle because without motion control, you're making a damn Gamecube game.  Sony and MS don't have the special new brush (yet) but they provide the bigger canvas and more colours.  It's more generic and less creative and innovative but ironically by being so it provides the game designer more freedom.  The PS360 is a broad improvement while the Wii is a very specific one.
 
I don't want the 3DS to be like the Wii or everyone will just narrow in on the ONE improvement and we'll get some lame gimmicky nonsense, with the usual great games from Nintendo.  It will pigeonhole devs into just thinking "3D, 3D, 3D" instead of just seeing this big canvas and letting their minds wander.  That's how Wii games are approached - "motion control, motion control, motion control".  I think the Wii is an obvious financial success and Nintendo should try to replicate that aspect of it but creatively the huge amount of junk suggests that from an artistic point-of-view the Wii approach is seriously flawed.  I'm not saying Nintendo should go nuts with the hardware and price the thing out of the market like the PS3 did.  But from a quality perspective there needs to be a significant hardware jump to go with any new features they come up with.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

"but then gave them the same size canvas and same amount of colours as the Gamecube."

But they usually did worse than [GameCube offerings] what was already there.  You'd expect them to be par with the previous canvas, yet they weren't.  That's not the canvas' problem, that's a fault of the worthless "artists".  Jump off a cliff.

Then there's the whole $250 versus $600 entry fee into the museum.

[NWR_insanolord]

This isn't meant as a blanket argument to justify what Nintendo does, so don't take it as one, but there are times when limitations require a developer to exert more creativity than he would have if he'd been able to just do what he originally planned with no limits. Think about it: which games had better music, modern games with full orchestras at their disposal, or 8 and 16 bit games that had to make due with limited sound capabilities?

[Ian Sane]

This isn't meant as a blanket argument to justify what Nintendo does, so don't take it as one, but there are times when limitations require a developer to exert more creativity than he would have if he'd been able to just do what he originally planned with no limits.

Oh I agree.  This is why the original Star Wars trilogy is awesome while the prequels suck.
 
But recently it appears that most developers have not reacted well to the limitations of the Wii.  Yeah, that's a bummer and the third parties are largely at fault but I'd rather Nintendo avoid that with the 3DS if possible.  Part of the cause is probably because the Wii competes for developers with consoles that don't share its limitations.  At least in generations before the gap wasn't so great.
 
Though we don't know what competition the 3DS will have.  Is there a PSP2 on the way?

[BlackNMild2k1]

Though we don't know what competition the 3DS will have.  Is there a PSP2 on the way?

PSP2   - It's coming and we know it

[NWR_insanolord]

This isn't meant as a blanket argument to justify what Nintendo does, so don't take it as one, but there are times when limitations require a developer to exert more creativity than he would have if he'd been able to just do what he originally planned with no limits.

Oh I agree.  This is why the original Star Wars trilogy is awesome while the prequels suck.
 
But recently it appears that most developers have not reacted well to the limitations of the Wii.  Yeah, that's a bummer and the third parties are largely at fault but I'd rather Nintendo avoid that with the 3DS if possible.  Part of the cause is probably because the Wii competes for developers with consoles that don't share its limitations.  At least in generations before the gap wasn't so great.
 
Though we don't know what competition the 3DS will have.  Is there a PSP2 on the way?

I'll agree with this; if all three consoles had the same limitations, you'd see a lot more creative ways to get around them.

[ScaredKitten]

I don't want the 3DS to be like the Wii or everyone will just narrow in on the ONE improvement and we'll get some lame gimmicky nonsense, with the usual great games from Nintendo.  It will pigeonhole devs into just thinking "3D, 3D, 3D" instead of just seeing this big canvas and letting their minds wander.

Wii has reinvented the way we play videogames, and I believe 3DS may be a giant leap for mankind (and a giant barrier for developers). Nobody will be bothered by gfx quality if the 3DS changes the way we see and control videogames. Best-selling games are hardly ever creative - they're just simple fun. And that's what i expect. I expect Mario Kart 3D or Super Mario 3D.

[Kytim89]

I just want the 3DS to do what the current DS models can not do right now and that is play bigger games that are on par with the playstation portable. I want a portable No More Heroes game among others. I just hope that the 3D part of the console does right and does not flop.

[Mop it up]

True, and am I the only one that thinks 2D gaming with 3D visuals is not a gimmick but would be quite impressive and visually stunning.  Imagine for a second that each layer of sprites has its own depth to create a deep image...much like the movie Tarzan did.  Now if somebody did that with a Super Mario Bros 3 or Yoshi's Island or dare dream Wario Shake graphics that would be the best 2D visuals created.

While that would be neat, I don't see Nintendo doing that themselves. That's nothing more than a visual gimmick and adds nothing to game design. They're all about gameplay first and foremost, so I'd imagine they're going to use the 3DS for new gameplay possibilities instead of stunning visuals.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

This new 3DS could revolutionize Portable Porn.

Porn with depth.

Porn that potentially pops-out.

3D Porn without horrible expensive glasses.

There'd be a slight increase in production cost due to wielding all-new dual-camera setups to capture the action.  I wonder if holding the new setup will pose some challenges for the casual POV Pornographer.

This is an awesome idea, but it may disuade Nintendo from putting a movie player on the 3DS and this is something I really want to see happen.

But we'll have internet, and there will be customized websites

Don't click this link.... It's porn for your 3DS and it's NSFW


Now imagine this
   or   

on 3DS with depth and pop out

[Spak-Spang]

Pale I think you are right....and I think Nintendo is one of the best companies on understanding Portable gaming. 

The Brain Age games, Wario Ware games,  Pokemon, Nintendogs, Pokemon Pinball, New Super Mario Bros, even the portable Zeldas are designed with a concept of fast gameplay. 

There are concepts that work better on the go...and what I like about portable gaming is that it is usually more focused on the game aspect and less one the story.  Who has time to waste 5 minutes of their 20 minute game session on a CGI or even story element?

I may bypass the next console generation entirely and just stick with a portable if they keep moving away from games.

[BlackNMild2k1]

This new 3DS could revolutionize Portable Porn.

Porn with depth.

Porn that potentially pops-out.

3D Porn without horrible expensive glasses.

There'd be a slight increase in production cost due to wielding all-new dual-camera setups to capture the action.  I wonder if holding the new setup will pose some challenges for the casual POV Pornographer.

This is an awesome idea, but it may disuade Nintendo from putting a movie player on the 3DS and this is something I really want to see happen.

But we'll have internet, and there will be customized websites

Don't click this link.... It's porn for your 3DS and it's NSFW


Now imagine this
   or   

on 3DS with depth and pop out

 

go cross eyed at it.... see if it pops out at you

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

HOW MUCH MORE CAN THE HOFF TAKE?

of himself.  in 3D.  portable.  naked.

[Toruresu]

MY EYES!!!!!