Living now on the west coast, I am used to waking up, checking my email and being greeted by new and interesting (though sometimes expected) pieces of news. Yesterday, I woke up to an email that was far from what I could have imagined. Along with The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD Bundle which is a great play to try and get people to purchase a Wii U by remaking a legacy title and presenting it as something new, Nintendo also announced the Nintendo 2DS. That’s right. The 2DS.
Now at first glance, it definitely sounds ridiculous. The Nintendo DS was a success so it spawned the Nintendo 3DS which brought 3D to handhelds. Even after a shaky start, Nintendo was able to pull it together and make the system a success. And now they announce the Nintendo 2DS. It will be a fixed unfoldable design and play the 3D content exclusively in 2D. What? Why take away one of the key features of the 3DS by removing the 3D?
Because 3D sucks. Sure, it’s a cool novelty at the start and a few movies even pulled it off incredibly well but any time I’ve ever touched a 3DS, one of the first things I do is pull back the slider all the way to 2D. Extended viewing periods on a handheld in 3D are a headache in the making and only an exceptional few games like Super Mario 3D Land have done it to the point that it was integrated into the gameplay. For every other game, it was simple forced window dressing.
So if it can drop the price and save the headache, I am all for Nintendo making this change. Truth be told, one of the main reasons I didn’t bother with the 3DS was the price and after seeing how much removing that feature dropped the MSRP, it seems like a much more realistic purchase for me now. Now some quick cynics will say that it is the same as a Nintendo DS if it doesn’t have 3D but that isn’t the case. The Nintendo 2DS will play Nintendo 3DS games which look levels above the Nintendo DS graphics. So there is still a visual upgrade from the original DS formula.
Take a look below at the official press release from Nintendo and make sure to let us know your thoughts on the Nintendo 2DS.
The newest member of the Nintendo 3DS family is designed specifically for anyone looking for a more affordable entry point into the world of Nintendo hand-held video games. Nintendo 2DS will be available in Red or Blue on Oct. 12 at a suggested retail price of $129.99.
Nintendo 2DS plays the entire library of packaged and downloadable games for Nintendo 3DS only in 2D. The system features a distinctive fixed, slate-type form factor, and optional carrying cases will be available in Red or Blue at launch at a suggested retail price of $12.99. Nintendo 2DS maintains many of the same hardware features as Nintendo 3DS: dual screens, game-play controls and touch-screen features. The system also has backward compatibility with the existing library of more than 2,000 Nintendo DS games, as well as access to wireless connectivity features like multiplayer online game play, fun Nintendo Video content and great digitally delivered games in the Nintendo eShop. To view a video of Nintendo 2DS, visit http://youtu.be/sAExBTWIp3M.
People eager to test drive the new system will have the chance beginning in October, when Nintendo 2DS joins a sampling tour in conjunction with Simon Malls that visits several different markets before it wraps up on Nov. 3. For more information about the tour, visit http://www.nintendo.com.
