Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Did You Board the Nintendo 3DS Hype Train?

Bean 1, since he can't use a 3DS, volunteered to drive the hype train.
Coffee Beans
When Game Stop started taking pre-orders for the 3DS back in December, I made a quick trip down to the store closest to my house on December 27, and put $50 down to reserve it.

Just today, I went back by that store and canceled my Nintendo 3DS pre-order.
Reserve receipt on left, 12/27/10; cancel receipt on right, 3/29/11...same associate both times.
Now, why did I cancel my 3DS pre-order?  Well, there are few reasons, and here they are:

     1)  Not super interested in any of the release titles.
     2)  School is now registering for Summer/Fall classes...which means MORE money for school.
     3)  The reports of the annoying 3DS black screen of death that are going around.
     4)  No Netflix or online shop channel, or web browser...yet.

Filtered Thoughts
While I have stated before I wasn't really interested in any of the release titles, the AR cards/games are still what I want to check out the most.

Saturday night, technically Sunday morning, I was chatting with Keith from RespawnAction.com, and he had just picked up a 3DS from a midnight release at GameStop.  It was between the time that he picked it up, and later when he was talking about it, that I saw the first reports about the 3DS' black screen of "death".  While I know the issue isn't "killing" the systems, I do think it's really odd for it to be happening, and it appears to be annoying for some new 3DS owners.

On Monday(yesterday), my college started doing early registration for Summer/Fall classes, and it looks like I'm going to be piling on the hours during at least the Fall semester.  More hours = more money.

The lack of Netflix isn't a big issue, but more of a feature that I'm looking forward to the system getting.  The lack of an online shop channel and web browser though, is really kind of a bummer right now, because once a browser is functional, hopefully I won't need to carry around my iPod Touch anymore...though I think it's going to be interesting to see how functional the 3DS browser really is.

I'm hoping in the next few weeks, that Nintendo figures out what exactly is causing the "black screen of death", and they can fix it with a firmware update quickly.  I'll be watching for any news on it, as that may be a determining factor for me moving forward.

Anyway, here are a few links to 3DS impressions, from people that purchased the system, and didn't have it "gifted" to them by Nintendo...at least that I know of:
     Keith - Nintendo 3DS Unboxing, First Impressions, SSFIV 3D Quick Look
     Tony - My First Day With the 3DS
     Gaz - Day One in the Life of a 3DS Owner
     The Dread Pirate Guy - 3DS Impressions - Day 1

Questions
If you didn't get to demo the 3DS before it released, and you purchased it, what are your impressions of it?  Is it worth the $250 ticket price to get on board?


Did you board the 3DS hype train?customer surveys


If you're interested in the Nintendo 3DS, but haven't purchased it yet, you can see prices for it on Amazon.com linked below:
  

14 comments:

  1. How ironic would it be if you were asked, "Well sir, would you like to make a pre-order? Resident Evil The Mercenaries is due out in June!"

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  2. @Keith:
    Haha! He did ask me if I had purchased it somewhere else, which I guess is a fair question.

    I was surprised that they didn't even call me Sunday or Monday, seeing if I was picking it up though. I know the receipt states they'll hold pre-orders for "48 hours", but with a new system, I figured they would be double checking.

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  3. So far no regrests! Choooo Chooooooooooooooooooooooooooo chug chugga chugga chooo chooooo!

    I traded in my DS Lite (I owned 2) and got $75 bucks (originally paid $129 for the lite) for it. If you do trade in your DS at Gamestop remember to bring your charger. $50 for the DS Lite + $25 for the charger.

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  4. I like to watch quietly from the RR crossing as the hype train screams past. There really is no compelling software for me yet, although the built in stuff does sound nice to me.
    I know I'll have one eventually, I'm gonna need it soon anyway, my 2yo took over my DS Lite.
    I'd have one tomorrow if they announced GBA games for its virtual console, though. Particularly, Metroid Zero Mission, but aside from that, not much that I NEED to get.

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  5. Even though there's not a lot of launch games, there are a TON of hidden games within the system itself. They are small and simple, but they've each been really engaging. And ordinarily, I'm kind of "eh" about what I consider tech demos. The diversity in games really sets it apart.

    Super Street Fighter IV is very good. Lego Star Wars III is fun. While these aren't the games I bought the system for, and the lack of online is confusing and questionable to me, the 3D works, the overall graphics are excellent, and I really like the level of backwards compatibility they implemented for regular DS games. Not to mention the pedometer.

    It's a bit barren on the 3DS wasteland, but I don't regret my purchase. Besides, once the "hype train" really takes off, I expect it will be near impossible to find one of these for the rest of the year.

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  6. Wow this comments field doesn't like me. It ate my comment twice now. LOL - okay, shorter version of what I typed before: I fell into the waiting for a price drop group.

    I wanted to get the 3DS, but I generally play my consoles or CPU - I don't travel much and my PSP is way under-played as it is, and it's not like I don't have games for it that I'm genuinely interested in. So, while the 3DS sounds like fun still, I'll wait for now and try it later.

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  7. I agree with Dread Pirate. It's been finding all the stuff that's hidden in the system and playing with that. I was fishing and having a good fun time, then all of the sudden Lakitu showed up and started fishing with me. it was a great little moment and I managed to capture a picture of it over on Nintendo Okie. I've been very impressed so far with the system and have been loving the 3D because I can actually see it. (I wear glasses and refuse to watch 3D movies where I need a second pair on top of my regular ones.)

    So far absolutely no regrets. The games, while not amazingly deep or long experiences have been fun and they've got a lot of good replay value.

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  8. had a great time with the demo.. looking forward to getting the 3ds....... someday :(

    so in short.. i'd love to board the hype train, but my wallet won't let me.

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  9. I'm afraid that I bought my train ticket MONTHS ago, my friend. I have been saving since before Christmas to make sure that I had the money when the time came, and they announced all the particulars on my birthday in January.

    That said, I can't blame you at all for holding out on purchasing. Although I am enjoying my 3DS quite a bit, there are a few features (like the eShop and Netflix) that I am just chomping at the bit to have.

    Cute kid, by the way. Looks a bit older than mine!

    -BitNick

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  10. As I guessed; money and games. I've started setting aside money for it and some games in December, and even if nothing interesting was available at launch, I'd get it just to play DS games, as opposed to buying another DS and feeling like I had thrown money away.

    My impressions will be up soon.
    I might separate the battery and StreetPass topics from those impressions so that they can go up sooner....

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  11. @Brad J. (The Butcher):
    Thanks a lot for sharing the info! It's kind of interesting, my wife even mentioned this to me the other day, she said, "You know, I hear they're taking trade-ins on old systems."

    Just today she said, "Could you trade both DS Lites for it?" I'm like..."You aren't helping!"

    @Chuckpebble:
    "I like to watch quietly from the RR crossing as the hype train screams past."
    When I read that line, I LOLed...if I had been drinking coffee, my monitor/keyboard would have been wearing it.

    "I'm gonna need it soon anyway, my 2yo took over my DS Lite."
    Our son would probably love to "play" with a DS Lite, but the system would last all of one hour probably before being broken, or lost under a couch.

    @The Dread Pirate Guy:
    "Besides, once the "hype train" really takes off, I expect it will be near impossible to find one of these for the rest of the year."
    I'm really wondering if Nintendo is holding off on heavy advertising for the holidays, because it really does seem like stores have 3DSs just sitting around...I should find out tomorrow in my area for sure, as I may make a few stops to check.

    @Chalgyr:
    "Wow this comments field doesn't like me. It ate my comment twice now."
    I know the feeling all too well! I try to make sure to COPY my comments before submitting, because having them disappear, after spending time on them really is horrible...I'm hoping Google addresses the comments section in the next update.

    "I wanted to get the 3DS, but I generally play my consoles or CPU." Same here really. We have two DS Lites, and they're basically brand new.

    @Tony Miller:
    I've been reading your reviews and Gaz's impressions as well. LEGO Star Wars III seems like a good solid game, and Super Street Fighter IV seems like a great buy if you haven't played a fighting game in a while.

    @My Little Gamer:
    "...but my wallet won't let me."
    Kind of ironic to my post here, as I posted this late Tuesday(technically Wednesday), and my wife called me on her way home Wednesday morning...brakes went out in the car, and the nice repair shop was more than happy to fix it...for the price of a few 3DSs! So, even better I guess that I didn't drop the $250 on it Sunday...

    @BitNick:
    "Cute kid, by the way. Looks a bit older than mine!"
    Thank you...he got his momma's genes! He's almost two, and just today discovered he could fall out of his bed...still not sure how he did it!
    What games did you get with your 3DS?

    @WesFX:
    I went and reserved it in December...and was hoping for something between December and release, to really push me over the edge for a "Must Buy", but it didn't happen...so, I'm playing the "wait and see" game now.
    Looking forward to reading your impressions on it though!

    Thank you all for the comments/feedback! If anybody else has any thoughts on the 3DS hype train, like if you're on it, or not...feel free to leave a comment.

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  12. I bought mine mostly because money was no issue, but otherwise there isn't much to do with it. Unless you're a huge fan of SF4 and really need it on the go. It's pretty much sitting on my desk right now and I have no intention of using it anytime soon. They really need to release must have software if they want people to buy it and the battery life needs to be extended. Until they start releasing GB games on the eShop, I think the DS lite and DSi are much better for now.

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  13. I think Nintendo is a mass brand like the play station which satisfy their video game players.

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  14. While these bankruptcies are not the games I purchased this breadmaker the computer for, as well as the not enough on the web is confusing and questionable in my opinion, the 3D works, the complete graphics are fantastic.

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