Regardless, the mere fact that Nintendo feels something like this needs to exist, even for a single game, is a sign that the company has little confidence the 3DS can stand on its own in the marketplace. Some reports suggest the add-on also includes a secondary battery pack and additional shoulder buttons, which would seemingly acknowledge the problems with the hardware go deeper than just the lack of a second slide pad. Not much is known about Nintendo's plans for this add-on as of yet - all we seem to know for sure is that it's a first-party product and that it may be packaged with the sure-to-be-popular Monster Hunter 3G in Japan. It's as if Nintendo is telling consumers, "Not only was the hardware we released a few months ago too expensive, but it's also not well-suited to control today's games as is. Then came today's revelation, via a Famitsu article, that Nintendo is planning to release an optional "expansion slide pad" attachment that adds a second slide pad along the right side of the system. The move may have been prudent, but coming from a company that was very recently arguing that consumers should be willing to spend extra money for "high-value" games, it's a move that didn't reflect confidence in the hardware. Nintendo's first reaction, after acknowledging the problem, was cutting the price by nearly a third much sooner than anyone expected, and offering a parcel of free, downloadable games by way of apology to early adopters. The impressive gimmick, combined with Nintendo's unblemished track record in dominating the portable gaming market for decades, led many inside and outside Nintendo to think the 3DS would be as big or bigger than the insanely successful DS.įast forward to March, when initial sales for the 3DS came in much lower than expected worldwide. Press and analysts couldn't stop marveling at the quality and simple wow-factor of the glasses-free stereoscopic 3D technology. Think back to last summer, when the 3DS was the surprise hit of the 2010 E3 show. I’m beginning to think Nintendo has swung like a pendulum from extreme over-confidence in the 3DS prior to its launch to extreme under-confidence in the system’s quality now that it’s actually available.
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