As always, to each his or her own, but:
The 3DS graphics processing power blows the DS out of the water. There's no way the DS Lite and DSi are going to be able to produce graphics like we've seen (second-hand) in the 3DS tech demos so far. The graphics are, I'd say, on par with the Dreamcast. (<3 Dreamcast.)
I find myself consistently drawn to new gameplay experiences. It's why I own a Dreamcast Fishing Rod, a Playstation 2 Eyetoy (a very underappreciated accessory, IMO), a wireless Playstation 2 guitar controller, a GunCon 2, a Wii Balance Board, USB microphones (compatible with the PS2 and Wii), and copies of Boktai, Boktai 2, and WarioWare: Twisted. So the idea of a handheld with 3D graphics that don't require glasses has my attention. I'm also itching to try out the 3D picture-taking feature; stereoscopic photography is the sort of cool tech that already interested me.
If you read between the lines, you could hear Iwata saying, "We know we haven't paid enough attention to third-party developers and we're going to make it right." Rather than just empty rhetoric, Iwata followed the claim of stronger third-party support with a list of developers already making games for the 3DS--and that list is what moved me from, "Well, that's cool, I'll probably get one eventually" to "DO WANT." It remains to be seen how third-party support plays out, but Nintendo's E3 presentation is a strong first showing.
Again, I'll probably wait for a second generation model to buy a 3DS. I've owned my DS Lite for a few years now, so I'm not upset that Nintendo is releasing a new handheld. I didn't go in for the DSi because there weren't enough new features to justify the higher price tag. If I was going to drop $170 on a new handheld, it would have been on a PSP. (Now that I've decided to skip buying a PSP 2000, I'll be putting the money I would have spent aside for a different video game purchase.)
As for the Ocarina of Time remake: You all know that I still haven't finished OoT. I'll probably finish it before the 3DS comes out, but that's a topic for
a different thread. I don't take issue with Nintendo remaking OoT for the 3DS. It makes sense if you think about it: Nintendo revolutionized 3D gaming with Super Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time. They already ported SM64 to the DS; now it's OoT's turn. Just as OoT showed off the capabilities of the N64 (all without load times, it's important to note), the remake is going to show off the capabilities of the 3DS. It's a smart business move: Use an existing and much-loved property to introduce a new tech and platform. I don't think 3D is going to make the Water Temple any less evil, though. Seriously, whoever designed the Water Temple
hated the human race with a burning passion.
Different games have different tastes; a feature of new tech may apply to some people, but not all. If the 3DS isn't your thing, then that's fine. But I think Nintendo hit a grand slam with the 3DS presentation. They found the hook that's going to motivate all the people who owned a DS Lite or DS Phat and passed on the DSi to stand up and consider buying a new handheld--not only in the American market, but in the Japanese market as well.
Even Nintendo's emphasis on a new handheld in 2010 while its competitors push new products for home consoles suggests they have a much better understanding of the markets (again, not only America, but also in Japan). At least in Japan, mobile devices are where the gaming money's at. Why else would Dragon Quest IX, a historically blockbuster console-based series, be released as a DS exclusive (and then proceed to sell boatloads of copies)?
Sure, the DSi XL just came out, but I don't think most people who would drop cash on a DSi XL fit in the "early adopter" category. So comparing Nintendo to Sega (both releasing new iterations of existing gaming hardware) doesn't really apply in this case. Were the DSi and DSi XL really necessary? Probably not. But I certainly don't think they're going to hurt 3DS sales in the long run. Nintendo may have a hard time convincing DSi XL owners to buy a 3DS at launch, but if the DS is any indication, the 3DS will see a second generation model two years down the line and still be selling in massive numbers.
We can talk about waggle and gimmicks and "core gamers" all day long, but I don't think anyone could reasonably argue that Nintendo doesn't have amazing business sense. I feel like I'm finally getting to find out what Sega, a company that made some excellent hardware ahead of its time (Dreamcast, Game Gear, Sega CD) could have done if their company had been headed by people with a shred of business sense.
Having watched both Nintendo's and Sony's E3 presentations this year, it really felt to me like Nintendo is setting the trend and Sony (I can't speak for Microsoft; I didn't see their conferences) is doing its best to improve on existing tech and keep up. Sony, it seems to me, bases their next move off focus groups--a decent idea in theory, but, at least in the context of gaming, probably a poor idea in practice. Nintendo, on the other hand, does what they want to do, though they temper it with smart business practices (except for the Virtual Boy, but hey, everyone makes at least one epic blunder).
To quote Wayne Gretzky: "A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be." And to quote Lrrr from Futurama: "Instead of shooting where I was, you should have shot where I was going to be. Muahahahaha!"
Nintendo's "blue waters" strategy paid off with the Wii and they're doing it again with the 3DS. The third-party support roster for the 3DS showed that Nintendo is aware of the risk of hubris and is looking to patch up past weak points.
Please don't misunderstand; I still plan to buy a Playstation 3 when I can reasonably afford it and I don't think the Wii is enough, by itself, for more serious gamers. I recognize how weak the Wii's online features are compared to the PS3 and 360 (then again, I mostly play single-player games on consoles and multiplayer games on PC). I remain cautiously optimistic about Nintendo's support for third-party developers on the 3DS. And I'm still upset by Nintendo's baffling refusal to publish Soma Bringer (arguably the best multiplayer action RPG since Secret of Mana) in the US.
But there's a reason why people joke that Nintendo prints money: They understand where the market is headed and they push it in that direction.
TL;DR version: The 3DS is more powerful, has awesome 3D, Nintendo has amazing business sense, but WHY WON'T THEY PUBLISH SOMA BRINGER IN THE US?
EDIT: I'm somewhat embarrassed I wrote that much about Nintendo and the 3DS, but I'd probably just post the same ideas in multiple smaller posts at some point. At least now I can point back to this post and say, "Already answered that" like when I post to
my list of Wii game recommendations in reply to people who say there aren't any good games on the Wii.
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