How the handheld gaming market was born

As the 3DS (the Anti-DS) prepares to launch in America in a few days, it is time for a reminder of how a proper handheld launch should be.

Just as the Wii learned from the NES, it is a crying shame that what the original Gameboy did has been lost.

Behold the Gameboy:

How do you sell a portable game system to a market that doesn’t exist? The only ‘competition’ the Gameboy had was Tiger electronics (I actually own the Mega Man 2 one and, boy, was I ever so disappointed!). But why did people need a Gameboy?

The Gameboy launched for $89. Inside the box came a pair of headphone (which I still bizarrely use to this day) and a video game called Tetris.

Let’s stop here for a moment and notice the gravity of what occurred. People will say “But $89 adjust for inflation today is like… $3543 man!” Actually, 90 dollars is extremely expensive for something you do not need in life. The included crappy headphones (although I admit they were actually good since mine still work after 20+ years unlike every other headphones I’ve had) is not unlike Apple including crappy headphones in their iPod. The point is for the consumer to have a good experience as soon as the Gameboy comes out of the box.

Keep in mind, everyone, that I went straight from Gameboy to DS. I remember it well. Including the headphones was a great touch. The Gameboy had a speaker and it didn’t so much make sound as it made noise. But when you put on the headphones, oh baby. It sounded fantastic! Listen for yourself:

Turn it up, reader! Turn it up now!

This music is awesome even today. Remember, the year was 1989. Putting in those headphones was a glorious act. Putting in Tetris, doubly so.

I’m not exactly sure what process the minds at Nintendo did to include Tetris in the box instead of the Mario game of Super Mario Land. It was the correct decision in so many ways.

Tetris was accessible by everyone. It was a perfect handheld game. It had brilliant music. It attracted people who were not adolescent NES fans (think Wii Sports type players). But more important, it had multiplayer. And by golly, that multiplayer was awesome. Since Tetris came with every game, it was so much fun to hook up Gameboys and play Tetris with other people. I played it all the time. Everyone makes the connection of Tetris has with being a good handheld game experience. But no one makes the connection of Tetris creating a Wii Sports type experience. The Gameboy was passed from person to person as people tried Tetris. When another Gameboy appeared, the link cables came out and people played matches head to head.

Above: The best launch game ever made. The best bundled game ever made. Perhaps the best video game ever made.

Aside from Tetris, there were four other launch Gameboy games.

There it is! There is the 2d Mario (which is mandatory for every Nintendo launch. If there is no 2d Mario… at launch…. Nintendo is not really serious about their console).

This Mario game is actually very interesting. It is not in Mushroom World. It takes place in a totally different kingdom where Mario saves a different princess. This was back in the day when Mario games introduced new content instead of recycling the same old content with new gameplay mechanics. Note the heavy Egyptian themes. Sure, we’ve seen it used in world 2 in Mario 3 or a few stages in Mario 2. But the entire game revolves around the Egyptian mythos and trekking through ruins. It was quite unique.

But Super Mario Land also had interesting gameplay features too. Mario didn’t have fireballs but a superball. Mario could throw only one ball at a time but it would bounce endlessly. Mario could bounce it off walls or tunnels to collect coins with it. This mechanic would eventually evolve into Yoshi’s Island gameplay. Note the multiple exits in the stage. Note how stomping on Koopa Troopas (or whatever they are) causes them to EXPLODE. This definitely wasn’t Mushroom Land. As a launch game, it was pretty good. I still play this game today. Actually, I’ve been playing it for over twenty years.

Tetris as the Flagship game. Then there is 2d Mario. Already, this is an incredible launch line-up. Could it get any better?

Say hello to Wii Sports’ ancestors…

This game was so awesome. Even the music was awesome. A gameboy launch sports game having awesome music. Who would have thought?

And just look at it, reader! Behold the arcade-like goodness. The cheerful fun. It is way more entertaining than any of the 3d crap Nintendo does today. The last time a tennis game was this cool would be… of course…. Wii Sports. And you saw what THAT game did….

Note how these sports games were multiplayer. Although, it kinda sucked to do multiplayer because of the pesky cable and the other player had to have the game too. This is why DS’s wireless capablities and the DS download function were godsends. This is why I can honestly say the game handheld had not improved until the DS came out. The DS finally did a better job at handheld gaming than the original Gameboy did. Took a decade and a half, but Nintendo finally got there. By this pattern, I expect around 15 years until we see Nintendo actually improve on the job the DS did.

One game is left on the original Gameboy launch lineup. Do you know what it is, reader? Keep it to yourself. Here we go.

Hey! It’s Break-Out! It’s an Atari game Nintendo-ized! And look how Mario pilots the Paddle. Is there anything that guy cannot do?

While this game doesn’t seem like much today since Break-Out, being easy to program, is available on almost every handheld device made today, this game was cool back then. This game made the Atari gamer smile. And since the game didn’t scroll (like Tetris or the sports games), it made a good Gameboy game (as original Gameboy couldn’t scroll cleanly).

Let’s pause, breath, and consider how this was the best launch game line-up of any game console, handheld or console, that has ever come out.

Consider!

Tetris- Defined the handheld game experience. Incredible music. Since everyone had Tetris, many, many Tetris multiplayer sessions went into effect. This was the definitive multiplayer Gameboy game. And, most importantly, Tetris attracted gamers who were not Mario and Zelda kids.

Super Mario Land- It’s 2d Mario. It sold like hotcakes. Satisfied the frothing demand for 2d Mario… for a while (since 2d Mario demand is never truly satisfied).

Tennis- See below.

Baseball- Most people do not remember that Nintendo dominated sports games on the NES and Gameboy. The reason why people do not remember this is because the kids who grew up on the systems just played Mario and Zelda and the world forgot the adults who played the awesome sports games (until Wii Sports came out and we returned to gaming, shocking the world with how many we were). This was the Wii Sports equivalent on the Gameboy.

Alleyway- This is a fantastic Atari-esque throwback. The only thing better would be Pac-Man but, of course, that was not Nintendo’s game. Perhaps Donkey Kong might have been better. Regardless, this was a Gunpei Yokoi game. The Gunpei direction of Nintendo handhelds was fun until Miyamoto came in and tried to cram 3d into everything (as he always does).

Now, let us look at the American launch of the 3DS software, and here is why 3DS will SHRINK the market, not GROW it:

Nintendo games:

Face Raiders. AR Games. Mii Software.

FAIL.

Why?

-Tech demos. Instead of making games, Nintendo developers were too distracted playing with the hardware. No one would ever actually buy this software which is why they threw it on the system for free. Believe me, if Nintendo could find a way to sell this software, they would have already done so.

-No multiplayer.

-No shared experiences between customers. Flagship games like Wii Sports, Tetris, Super Mario Brothers all gave customers a way to relate to one another. What is there to talk about with the Mii software? Or Face Raiders? Or the AR cards? Absolutely nothing. It is an insult to say any of this crap comes close to Tetris or Super Mario Brothers or Wii Sports.

Pilotwings Resort

FAIL.

-No Multiplayer.
-Tech Demo. Everyone knows this isn’t really a game but just something Nintendo whipped together so you will go ‘Oh wow!’ at the 3d effects. This is why the game is so lame if you can even call it a game.
-WuHu Island. The ‘island concept’ should be more properly labeled ‘no content’ concept. Miyamoto thinks he is being clever by recycling WuHu Island, but there is more anger out there and disgust than is being detected. The problem isn’t so much that WuHu Island is in the game but that it is the only thing in the game. No other environments. No other content. The only proper place for Wu Hu Island at this point would be in a Starfox sequel where the player gets to nuke it from orbit.

Steel Driver

-No Multiplayer

-DS reject. Recycled and thrown out as a 3DS launch game because Nintendo didn’t know what to do with it. Not much else to say about this game. Not worth wasting the time.

Nintendogs

-Not (Directly) a Multiplayer Experience

-Nothing new except cats. We’ve seen this game before. Who in God’s name would pay $250 + just to get at a game that is essentially the same as it was on the DS? To see puppies in 3d? Get out of here.

Third-Party Games:

• Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition
• The Sims 3
• Madden NFL Football
• Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D
• Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars
• Ridge Racer 3D
• Super Monkey Ball 3D
• Bust-A-Move Universe
• Samurai Warriors: Chronicles
• Asphalt 3D
• Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D
• Rayman 3D
• Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Shadow Wars

Reviewers are surprised that the third party games are more interesting than the Nintendo games (as it is often the other way around). But even the third party games aren’t ultimately interesting enough to get someone past that $250 sour price tag. Seriously, do you think the masses are going to be buying a $250 handheld to play ‘Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3d’? Or Ridge Racer 3d? Come on. Sure, Street Fighter 4 is a cool console port. But it is just a console port. No handheld ever sold due to a console port (with the exceptions of 2d Mario and Tetris). Street Fighter 4 will sell to fans of Street Fighter, but it cannot possibly pull in the broad numbers that Tetris did, that 2d Mario did, or that sports games did.

In a nutshell, here is what is wrong with the 3DS:

1) Too damn expensive.

2) No included games. Crappy tech demos may be called games by Nintendo, but if they were actually games then they would have the value to be able to be sold as any other retail game (as Tetris would have). Everyone knows no one would really pay for these games.

3) No 2d Mario games at launch. What the hell? It is not good enough to have one 2d Mario game coming years and years later. Like Mario Kart, it needs to come out ASAP. And it should be available at launch.

4) No sports games at launch. This should infuriate investors. While I can point to Wii Sports as to why Nintendo should make a sports game for their consoles, I can do better. I can point at the original Gameboy. And I can point at the NES. The total lack of Nintendo sports games (which would have done far better at demonstrating 3d effects and being multiplayer games) tells  me Nintendo is not really serious with this product.

PilotWings Resort and Steel Driver aren’t even worth talking about. The only good Nintendo game is Nintendogs. While it is very important for a new version of Nintendogs to come out, was making it a launch game the right time for this?

Customers do not buy game devices for the hardware or for ‘synergy’ or anything like that. They buy game devices to perform jobs in their daily lives. The reason why customers flocked to the Wii instead of the PS3 and Xbox 360, despite inferior graphics, was because the Wii performed the job of a game console better. In the same way, the reason why Gameboy outsold its color obsessed competitors was because the Gameboy performed the job of handheld gaming better.

The job that Gameboy did was not improved with the Gameboy Lite, Gameboy Color, or Gameboy Advance. “But Malstrom! The screen got better! It added color! It added graphics!” You are talking in the context of hardware. I am talking in the context of jobs the customer wants done.

It wasn’t until the DS that the Gameboy’s job was finally surpassed. Why? DS was a multiplayer marvel with its wireless communication and DS download play. People played DS systems more in multiplayer than industry observers realize. Also, you could snap shut the DS, at any time, and the game would instantly be in sleep mode. That was cool. All of these things were improvements on the original job the Gameboy began.

What the 3DS is doing is being an Anti-DS. It is doing the job less effectively than the DS did. Where is Tetris? Where is 2d Mario? Where are the sports games? Where are the local multiplayer Nintendo titles?

It is an Anti-DS because it has less battery life, is less child friendly (younger than 7 and you cannot play), is more expensive in both the hardware and the games, and is using a brand that is already stale. “But this is launch. Things at launch are not that good, Malstrom.” You can say that, but you cannot explain the trajectory. The trajectory of the 3DS is that every single game will be in 3d. This ended up blowing up Nintendo with the N64 and Gamecube. And home console experiences are going to be friendlier to 3d than the handheld console experience will be for the obvious reasons. For the job of handheld gaming, do players want every game to be 3d? Do they want handheld games to be console games? If they did, then the market would have chosen the PSP instead of the DS.

I don’t think 3DS will cause Nintendo to lose control of the handheld market (due mostly to the incompetence of the competitors). But Nintendo will be shocked as they discover an increasingly uphill battle to sell the 3DS after the ‘easy customers’ are taken care of (all those people buying it at launch and soon after).

I don’t think Nintendo realizes that customers purchase consoles based on their trajectory… of where they see gaming going on those systems. This is why many people buy launch systems… because of the potential. If Nintendo released a 2d Mario on the Virtual Boy, would the Virtual Boy have sold? No. Why? It is because Virtual Boy was on a trajectory that the consumers did not want to go. If 2d Mario came out on the Gamecube or N64, would it have helped? Sure. But it would not have changed things. Consumers did not like where those systems were going with their games. So they stayed away.

Nintendo will make the mistake of thinking that it can place a few ‘small games’ or a 2d Mario or a Mario Kart and all will be well. They believe, incorrrectly, that the Wii Sports audience and 2d Mario audience would buy a 3DS if a sports or 2d Mario game was present. This is wrong on so many levels.

When a consumer buys a game console, they consider it a long term investment. They buy it not just for one game but for all other games down the line that may not have come out. Since Nintendo has made it clear these customers would only get one such game, while every other game would be something else entirely, there is extreme reluctance for these customers to purchase the system. Why buy a game console if you do not like where it is going to go? If Wii Sports suddenly appeared on the Xbox 360 and PS3, would those consoles sell? (Actually, this did occur.) No. Why? It is because consumers do not like the direction those consoles are taking gaming.

I’ll go out on a limb and make a broad prediction. I believe Nintendo’s strength is very hollow. The latter years of the DS and Wii have been disastrous because of Nintendo embracing User Generated Content and trying to recontinue their N64/Gamecube direction. It is because of that very hollow strength that I think the indicators of decline will explode suddenly and without warning.

The Wii and DS prior hits masked the decline and continue to mask the decline today. With the transition to the new console, this mask goes away and the decline can be seen by all. It is not so much that transition periods are the risky times, it is that transition periods remove the mask caused by prior game hits.

The strategy for 3DS is nonsensical. In order to create momentum for the 3DS, Nintendo must transfer over the customers who bought the DS. These would be the Brain Age, Nintendogs, and NSMB customers. These customers are incompatible with the N64/Gamecube direction that Nintendo is obsessed on resuming.