Don’t get me wrong, i’m a big Nintendo fan. The SNES and the Gamecube would definitely be up there as some of my favourite consoles, they were well supported (to start with at least) and i’ve had no-end of fun playing the original Mario Kart, Pilot Wings, Tiger Woods, Mario World, Mario Party and would definitely put them up there with my best video gaming memories.
I’ve just sat down and watched the latest trailer for the new 3D Mario Kart and Mario games for the 3DS. I look at them and think BAM I want some of this action! The problem is, is that looking at the games currently out for it and the games that are coming out for it there are only 3 games that I would realistically play.
You’ve got the two that i’ve mentioned above and then there is Luigi’s Mansion 2.
The current top 20 on Amazon doesn’t particularly inspire confidence that it is currently well supported or that the more hardcore gamer has jumped on the 3Ds bandwagon. I’m not a big fan of 3D in movies or gaming so that side of things wouldn’t entice me either. The problem I guess I really have is that with this and the Wii, the only people that seem to make decent, enjoyable games for it, that I would want to play, is Nintendo.
The price for the 3DS has already received a massive cut, which I guess is one of the main reasons it’s appeared on my radar. On the other hand i’ve been burnt with the Wii though. It looked like it would be a great console that I would sink loads of time into playing some really original gaming. It turned out however that although I enjoyed the occasional game of bowling on Wii Sports, the only game that ever really interested me on it was Mario Galaxy, again only first party Nintendo games. There were some decent games on the Virtual Console, but nothing current, fresh and innovative. I soon traded in my “Gamecube in sheeps clothing” and only once or twice in the several years that have passed have I thought “I really fancy having a go at something on the Wii”.
Which brings me back to my original first world problem: do I get one when a decent deal is on at Christmas, do I wait and get one, or do I scrap that idea, hold off to the next generation of Nintendo handheld gaming and get the next iteration which will more than likely be backwards compatible and in the meantime catch up with some of my pile of shame and dig out my old SNES and Gamecube. Answers on a postcard!…