Yesterday, Nintendo had another one of its great big Nintendo Directs. As with each of them, they reveal a few interesting bits of information about the Nintendo gaming landscape for the next few month. The highlight for me, undoubtedly, is the announcement of a a new Fire Emblem game for the 3DS. If you haven’t played a Fire Emblem game, you really ought to – especially the last one for the 3DS, Awakening, which is still, as far as I’m concerned, one hell of a compelling reason to own a 3DS. That leads on to one of the other big announcements from the show; the western release of the new 3DS, cleverly called the New 3DS because Nintendo just has no idea how to name products.
In case you’ve not heard, it’ll be hitting North American and European shelves on February 13th, which is most certainly in time for my birthday. North Americans are up in arms, because the handheld will be sold without a charger; you’ll need to purchase on separately. Yes, Nintendo’s actually selling something to you, without giving you the ability to actually use the product out of the box, unless you pay a little extra.
This wouldn’t be a surprise for those of us here in SA, or in Europe, because Nintendo’s been doing that to us for ages. The 3DS XL was released without a charger too. Nintendo says it’s because they expect those that purchase the things to be upgrading from previous hardware, making the charger an accessory. I’m sorry Nintendo, but a charger is not an accessory. It’s a strange and silly decision, as far as I’m concerned; Nintendo could easily swallow the cost of the charger – which retails for $10. If you’re not willing to do that, then just embrace micro USB charging standards; would that be so hard?
The other silly decision, for easier stock keeping purposes mayhaps, is that Nintendo won’t be releasing the standard New 3DS in the west for now – and only the XL version. The smaller New 3DS allows for quick and easy face plate customisation, while the larger New 3DS XL does not.
The new 3DS includes the extra buttons found on the circle pad pro, a little nipply nub for better control, face-tracking for better 3D and a faster CPU. It’ll run all 3DS games, have better features in newer 3ds games, and have its own exclusive games in the future – including a port of the Wii’s swansong, Xenoblade.
Nintendo, I love you – but you’re a little backwards.
Last Updated: January 15, 2015
ToshZA
January 15, 2015 at 11:07
Yeah but can it play Crysis?
Mandom (Umar)
January 15, 2015 at 11:07
A charger is NOT Kinect Nintendo . Can’t make a cheaper package by NOT bundling it with a charger….
ToshZA
January 15, 2015 at 11:08
Well they can. And they did. But they really shouldn’t.
Mandom (Umar)
January 15, 2015 at 11:09
Not in the literal sense, a charger is NOT…I repeat…NOT an add-on
ToshZA
January 15, 2015 at 11:09
Oh I agree with your point, just not the way you wrote it.
Also, I’m a perpetual troll, I have to find something to nitpick.
Mandom (Umar)
January 15, 2015 at 11:11
Thanx captain literal!…sheesh, some people *rolls eyes* *flares nostrils*
ToshZA
January 15, 2015 at 11:11
You’re welcome Captain can’t-take-the-heat.
Mandom (Umar)
January 15, 2015 at 11:12
OOOOOOH Wana take this to the kitchen?Feel some REAL heat??
HairyEwok
January 15, 2015 at 11:13
*takes popcorn* FINALLY I CAN FINISH THIS BOWL.
CAE9872
January 15, 2015 at 12:09
LOL
ToshZA
January 15, 2015 at 11:15
OH YEAH?!?!?!
WELL. WELL.
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/d4/83/ed/d483eda5c7539e4f254223be76190a19.jpg
Mandom (Umar)
January 15, 2015 at 11:16
BECAUSE IT TASTES LIKE CHICKEN!!!!!!!
ToshZA
January 15, 2015 at 11:17
*Audible gasp*
YOU SICK MOTHER #&#@ER!
Mandom (Umar)
January 15, 2015 at 11:22
YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW! I’M LOCO
ToshZA
January 15, 2015 at 11:18
On another note:
Why did the chicken cross the road?
BECAUSE YOU DIDN’T $#%@ING COOK IT!
Mandom (Umar)
January 15, 2015 at 11:22
LOL
oVg elfroot slayer
January 15, 2015 at 12:02
tee hee hee RUNS…
Hammersteyn
January 15, 2015 at 11:10
Bad decision this. At least previous chargers still work with the new 3DS. Unlike some phones…
Mandom (Umar)
January 15, 2015 at 11:11
Yet pre-orders are selling out lol
HairyEwok
January 15, 2015 at 11:12
The charger or the handheld?
ToshZA
January 15, 2015 at 11:12
LOL!
Mandom (Umar)
January 15, 2015 at 11:13
LOL! Good one….BOTH 😀
HairyEwok
January 15, 2015 at 11:11
How the hell do you sell something that MUST have a charger. Whats next Cellphone companies sell you the phone but not the charger. They sure know how to make monies.
Anon A Mouse
January 15, 2015 at 11:17
Extra DLC. It works for software companies, why not hardware as well. (Yes I know DLC is download and you can’t download a charger, but you get the point)
Vulcha
January 15, 2015 at 12:40
You can download the 3D printing schematics…
Skyblue
January 15, 2015 at 15:18
Microwave charging?
Mandom (Umar)
January 15, 2015 at 11:11
Also, people are gonna make a killing on eBay for the Majora’s Mask edition
Ryanza
January 15, 2015 at 11:13
Well if you buy the new 3DS in a shop, you can buy a charger at every robot you stop at, on your way home.
HairyEwok
January 15, 2015 at 11:22
Fong Kong chargers sold by the robot hawkers.
Jaded_Reprobate
January 15, 2015 at 11:17
I can actually picture this guy announcing the New NEW 3DS
(refresh)
CypherGate
January 15, 2015 at 11:29
Comes without a charger? WHAT…. THE… FUDGE? This world is seriously going crazy.
HairyEwok
January 15, 2015 at 11:42
More like…..
Raptor Rants A Lot
January 15, 2015 at 11:42
Microtransactions but with physical things. Well done Nintendo
oVg elfroot slayer
January 15, 2015 at 11:44
Reminds me, now that I have a PS4 I forgot just how much money was spent on those 360 controller batteries.
ToshZA
January 15, 2015 at 11:53
I bought rechargeable early on. Probably saved me thousands by now…
RinceThis
January 15, 2015 at 12:12
Me too. @360Mirror:disqus has been eating too much elfroot…
oVg elfroot slayer
January 15, 2015 at 12:28
elfroot is for WINNERS
Skyblue
January 15, 2015 at 15:23
Rechargeable batteries with a full spare set only need to be replaced every 2 years or so. Not too bad. Also like Nintendo say, I adopted an Xbox One and the batteries from the X360 actually work in the new controllers, totally never saw that one coming. Nintendo are visionaries, pity it’s such a douche move by a company I still respected even though they have been clueless forever now.
Raptor Rants A Lot
January 15, 2015 at 11:52
All jokes aside this is the exact reason why Nintendo would fail as a company. I dig Nintendo and their games. They are fun and they remind me why gaming is great.
However, Nintendo clearly have no faith in themselves. They don’t sell it with a charger because they believe people will be upgrading. That’s all fine and well. It’s good to believe your existing customers will take up the new product. But what about new adopters? By saying that you expect people to upgrade you are saying you don’t expect new people to climb on board.
Making your product more unappetizing by excluding critical hardware that is required for use is a sure fire way of NOT getting new people on board. You are almost guaranteeing a slower new user uptake.
I can see the reasoning behind this, but I feel it’s stupid. Secondly, by this point people might want new chargers. Theirs are probably all looking a bit worse for wear after years of use so if they upgrade they’d want new chargers to go with their new product.
Bad idea Nintendo. You are not making a very good looking scene for new adopters of your hardware
CAE9872
January 15, 2015 at 12:10
I was about to write exactly the same – have an upvote.
Admiral Chief
January 15, 2015 at 12:16
Yeah, not all people have like 7 chargers lying around
Raptor Rants A Lot
January 15, 2015 at 12:19
Lol. Thanks. It’s mind boggling though hey? The fact that critical components can now be left out and played out to be ok to be without?
Disgusting. Nintendo was the place I would point at and say “They treat their customers right”
Now I can’t even say that anymore
Admiral Chief
January 15, 2015 at 12:21
You’d better enjoy your game time, since when the battery dies, you don’t have another option!
RinceThis
January 15, 2015 at 12:10
BWAHAHAHAH! Oh Nintendo. Cutting costs to make up for 2014 eh?
Hargrim
January 15, 2015 at 12:15
Ultra troll mode. Buy ALL the chargers
hairyknees
January 15, 2015 at 12:43
*sigh* was gonna save for a PS4 this year. Now I need to save for a PS4 and new 3DS :'( WAAAAAAAAAH!
ToshZA
January 15, 2015 at 13:43
*And a new charger.
Ross Woofels Mason
January 15, 2015 at 14:48
Selling with out a charger is actually really common in Japan but yea not so much outside the rest of the world.
Bit silly, but hardly soul crushing even if you are not upgrading.
Sovereign
January 15, 2015 at 17:35
Not buying it. I won’t buy anything that lacks the means to use it for more than 1 hour out of the box.