Do not fear. Have faith. Nintendo know what they’re doing. Nintendo are cash rich. They are experienced, skilled, and able to get the world excited about the 3DS when the time is right. I believe the 2011 launch of the Nintendo 3DS is a soft launch. There are probably many reasons for opting to go with a soft launch in lieu of an all-out, guns-blazing, saturate-the-airwaves launch, which I won’t go into today. Let’s assume 2011 is for the early-adopting hardcore players, while 2012 is for the casual players to join in the fun.
Fast forward to Christmas 2012; the 3DS is the mega hit of the season. What? Not Christmas 2011? That’s right. Christmas 2011 will treat the 3DS very well too, but 2012 will be the real success story in comparison. It is when the casual gamer market finally sees the potential of the 3DS, much like they did with the DS. The reasons for this include a lower purchase price ($199 or less), and a sleek “Lite” version with a selection of fun colors. The library of games sitting on the store shelves will include such must-have titles as Mario, Mario Kart, Zelda, Castlevania, Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil, Kirby, Pokemon, and much more. The eShop will be pre-installed and ready to go with ease, making it hassle-free for casual players. Services such as Netflix will also be available. And, by that point Nintendo will have opened the marketing floodgates and saturated every media outlet imaginable to ensure every potential customer is aware of its beautiful baby.
Am I bias? Absolutely! But, that doesn’t mean I’m wrong. ;)
