[Developer Musings] The New 3DS Dilemma: Developing around Nintendo’s hardware iterations
Nintendo has a notorious reputation when it comes to iterating their handhelds and in the past it has created an environment with a unique set of issues to consider for developers. Whether it was the Game Boy to Game Boy Color, DS Lite to DSi and now the 3DS to New 3DS, every generation there’s always questions among fans regarding the value and longevity of each new system. You don’t have to look very far to see how fans react to mid-cycle announcements like these, but how do developers react when a new system emerges from Iwata’s coat pocket?
We reached out to developers Stuart Ryall, Brjann Sigurgeirsson, and Ken Patterson to offer their thoughts on the announcement of the New 3DS and what implications it has on each of their development processes, if any. Will focusing on the extra processing power and C-stick split their player base too thin? Do these new units put too much pressure on fans to upgrade and consequently put pressure on developers to focus on the new units? How do these iterations impact the overall life of a console generation? Our guests this week help shed some light on the impact these mid-cycle hardware announcements have on developers, and what questions they have to ask when developing with these challenges in mind.
(Unsure as to what Developer Musings is about? Check out our first entry here for an explanation.)
Stuart Ryall – Mojo Bones
Previous Works: Mojo Bones’ first Nintendo effort was Siesta Fiesta. Siesta Fiesta launched on the 3DS eShop back in July.
Upcoming Games: Mojo Bones recently tried to raise funding for a new project titled “Impact Winter”. It’s currently unclear what the game’s status is, but we’re hoping its development will continue! Impact Winter was originally under consideration for Wii U.
I can’t see Nintendo creating a great divide through presenting the new hardware as they have a track-record of introducing these advancements to all their handhelds. The key thing is compatibility. Because software is cross-compatible across all models (apart from a few exceptions), you never feel pressured into upgrading. For example: I owned 3 versions of the GBA, and both the original DS and the DS Lite, but I upgraded when I felt the time was right, rather than due to a particular game or feature.
In terms of the hardware itself, I actually think the New 3DS is a step forward. For a long time people have complained about the 3D effect, which has finally been addressed via the head tracking. We put a lot of work into making Siesta Fiesta shine as a ‘3D’ game, but most of the time the effect gets lost because you need to hold that perfect angle. Faster load speed are great (as menus can be sluggish on the original models) . The extra buttons and C-Stick are obviously software dependant. I’m also diggin’ the new colour-scheme and design.
I guess the most interesting addition is the Amiibo compatibility (which I believe is also coming to the older 3DS models next year). Once again, that’s a big part of what makes Nintendo successful IMO… rather than people having to own the upgraded hardware in order to access these new features – they make them appealing – but never at the expense of their previous fans. There’s always a choice regardless of what hardware SKU you own.
Re: us developing exclusively for the New 3DS: I don’t think that’s likely. I worked on a game that was exclusive to DSi a few years ago, and you’re appealing to a very specific audience (especially at launch).
Brjann Sigurgeirsson – Image & Form
Previous Works: Image & Form is best known for its work on the SteamWorld series. SteamWorld Tower Defense hit DSiWare a few years ago, and SteamWorld Dig released on 3DS as well as Wii U.
Upcoming Games: Image & Form is hard at work on the next SteamWorld game, SteamWorld Heist. The game is due out sometime in Q1 2015. When it’s available, expect it on both of Nintendo’s platforms.
I’ve been thinking about it a bit. Obviously, the real purpose is bringing out something new and more powerful, better battery and what have you, and improve on other areas such as the 3D – before the 3DS goes stale, since that novelty now has worn off.
For the community, I actually think that NFC will be both useful and appealing. although announced for the Amiibo characters, I’m sure they’ll integrate that into Miiverse somehow. Adding more interface elements such as the C-stick is a bold move, which while interesting will pile more work upon developers.
That said, The New 3DS is tricky from a marketing standpoint. Looking at the tentative pricing in Australia (since it’s not coming to Europe/America until next year), it looks like it will cost about the same as a regular 3DS. Nintendo banks on users being curious rather than put off by this unit by labeling it a “newer/bigger/better” 3DS. I haven’t seen any sales figures for the 2DS, but to me that was a simpler product launch to sell: a cheaper, non-3D, less breakable variety for the younger audience. I’m not sure who’s getting the New 3DS, because it won’t have more appeal to non-Nintendo gamers than the 3DS – to them it’s a 3DS. It won’t affect Nintendo’s market share.
Oh, and the name itself is an issue. Nintendo is borrowing the strategy from Apple, who at one point brought out The New iPad instead of naming it iPad 3. That was a bit confusing – was it just an upgrade to the iPad 2 or was it really new? – and definitely annoying in conversation. I felt it was unnecessary, people wouldn’t have minded a higher version number. Instead it brought to attention something that Apple really didn’t want to convey: that The New iPad really wasn’t all that much more than the iPad 2.
Only one thing is clear: Nintendo won’t be able to bring out another version of the 3DS after this, unless they’re ready to call it The Even Newer 3DS, or something similar. Which means that, unless I’m terribly wrong, the 3DS is nearing the end of its lifecycle.
Creating a split userbase between the original 3DS and New 3DS is not unlikely, although it won’t be Earth-shattering. I read that Xenoblade Chronicles is coming only to the New 3DS, since it needs the extra juice. As long as only a few titles go this way, it’s not going to be a watershed. The main issue is that there are not enough differences between the systems for the majority of existing 3DS users to immediately run out and buy a New one, and the lack of total backward compatibility may cause irritation. To date, “shunned” players are annoyed when a game doesn’t appear in their territory. Now Nintendo runs a risk of users feeling that their 3DS is outdated.
We constantly evaluate and re-evaluate our options, so I’m not going to say for sure what we’ll do in terms of making a New 3DS-only game or a title that takes advantage of its features. When we released SteamWorld Dig for PS4 and Vita, we got a lot of surprised remarks about not supporting PS3. The numbers looked like a no-brainer: 80 million or so PS3 owners versus 5 million PS4 owners. We simply thought that the ocean was a lot more blue on PS4, and that those 5 million units were (a) more or less all online, (b) still hooked to a TV set and (c) not swimming in an overload of available games. I’m sure we could have made money by releasing Dig to PS3, but for a small studio it’s always a case of balancing your resources. We decided to put those man months into making our coming game SteamWorld Heist greater instead, and I feel quite sure we made the right decision.
That said, we’re already thinking about the C-stick and the other improvements. But they’re just hardware features, not game changers. When the App Store was young, for a couple of months it seemed like every developer was trying to come up with something cool around the feature of blowing into the microphone. While unique hardware features are cool, we don’t make games that way. Risking to sound cliché, we focus on the game itself. And we have so many fans on the “regular” 3DS that it would be very strange – rude, even – if our next game couldn’t be played on it. I think it’s enough that the game will run faster on the new hardware, and perhaps even look better. The 3DS is still Nintendo’s current-gen handheld platform, and the New 3DS is an upgraded version of it.
Ken Patterson – Big John Games
Previous Works: Big John Games released quite a number of titles between DSiWare and the 3DS eShop. Coaster Creator 3D, Ohno Odyssey, Strike Force Foxx, and Thorium Wars are just a few games the studio brought out in the past
Upcoming Games: Cube Creator 3D is currently in the pipeline for the 3DS eShop. You can download a demo right now! Lionel Trains is in the works as well.
The “New 3DS” allows a studio like Big John Games (BJG) to push the envelope of hand-held gaming a little bit further.
The improved CPU will allow BJG to add more functionality to its games. For example, with more CPU power, our voxel-building game “Cube Creator 3D” could have larger worlds for the player to create and explore; more enemies can be added to these larger worlds. “Coaster Creator 3D” and our upcoming “Lionel Trains” games would benefit from being able to handle more objects in a scene and support more real-time animations.
The improved 3D visibility will encourage us as developers to put more stereoscopic 3D goodies in our games.
With the C-Stick, we can add better control in 1st person and 3rd person games. For example, we would be able use it for aiming guns or turrets in our recent release “Thorium Wars”. In “Cube Creator 3D,” we would use the C-Stick for better control of directional movement. In “Strike Force Foxx,” we would use the C-Stick for controlling the aim of the guns on the chopper.
The built in NFC functionality will allow players to use their Amiibo’s. We would very much welcome the opportunity to add in some Amiibo support.
I foresee BJG releasing some New 3DS updates that run exclusively on the 3DS. The improved functionality also makes some new gaming concepts more viable.
Overall, the New 3DS will add at least two years to the product life of the 3DS and give developers more CPU speed and input controls to make their games even more amazing.
I am excited for BJG to dig into the New 3DS and see what magic we can create with the improved hardware.
Nintendo Everything would like to thank Stuart Ryall, Brjann Sigurgeirsson, and Ken Patterson for their valuable insight and for taking the time to contribute to our feature.
