Coffee Beans
The Nintendo 3DS was released on March 27, 2011 in North America at a retail price of $249.99. The system had 18 games available at launch, from my count, and most had MSRPs of $39.99.
The Nintendo 3DS XL will be releasing in just a few days, August 19th, at a MSRP of $199.99. If you have not purchased a 3DS yet, but are planning to buy the 3DS XL this Sunday you might be wondering if there are any older 3DS games you should take a look at it when you pick up the new system.
For this first "Critics vs. Customers", we are taking a look at the best third party customer rated 3DS launch title, and comparing it to its critic review score averages. We will also take a look at the worst customer rated 3DS launch game, and show what the "professional" critic review score averages were for it as well.
First, you may be wondering what third party games launched with the 3DS last year. From my count there were 13 third party games available to purchase when the 3DS launched last year. Those were: BUST-A-MOVE UNIVERSE, SAMURAI WARRIORS: Chronicles, Madden NFL Football, Combat of Giants Dinosaurs 3D, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Shadow Wars, The Sims 3, SUPER STREET FIGHTER IV 3D EDITION, RAYMAN 3D, LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars, Asphalt 3D, RIDGE RACER 3D, Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D, and Super Monkey Ball 3D.
Can you guess what third party 3DS launch title has the highest customer review score average, from the world's largest online retail site? What about the lowest? Brew yourself some coffee, and let's take a look!
The Brew
If you are picking up a new 3DS system this coming weekend, let's start with an older game you might want to avoid buying according to many customers.
What third party 3DS launch game has the lowest customer review score average? The Sims 3.
The game has a "professional" critic review score average of 52 out of 100 based on 29 reviews on MetaCritic.com, and it has a "professional" critic review score average of 53.71% based on 17 reviews on GameRankings.com.
The customer review score average is lower than the critic averages, by basically 10%.
What third party 3DS launch game has the highest customer review score average? Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D! Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D has an Amazon.com customer review score average of 91.00%, based on 20 reviews. How does the customer review score average compare to the critic review score averages?
As you can see, the customer review score average for the game is nearly 20% points higher than the "professional" critic review score averages from MetaCritic.com and GameRankings.com.
Caffeinated Thoughts
If you had told me that Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D was the highest customer rated third party Nintendo 3DS game from launch, at least according to customers, I would have found that odd. Why?
Because I had looked at most of the 3DS release titles and read reviews on many of them, as I originally planned on buying the Nintendo 3DS day one. From the customer reviews, it really does seem that they enjoyed PES 2011 a great deal; but when reading some of the "professional" critic reviews for the game, it seems that the game had little things that held it back from being a great title. Evidently though, those little things didn't seem to bother many of the customers.
If you have not seen anything on Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D, here is the launch trailer for the game:
Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D might be harder to find now, due to the newer Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 already being released earlier this year. If you are a current 3DS owner or getting the 3DS XL this weekend, PES 2011 might be a game to add to your list if you go bargain bin shopping, or if you find a "Buy Two, Get One Free" sale happening sometime.
Questions
Did any of you correctly guess, without looking of course, the best and worst rated 3DS launch titles? Were any of you surprised to see what the best/worst customer reviewed 3DS launch games were?
More importantly, if you are a 3DS owner and have played either of The Sims 3 or Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D, would you lean more toward the critic or customer review score averages for the games, and why?
If you are interested in either of the titles covered, you can see them on Amazon.com below:
