People need to stop thinking that the 3DS is underpowered

[Artwark]

Seriously, almost everywhere I look at, people claim that the 3DS isn't powerful enough to do so and that its not capable of running games smoothly and I very much disagree on that.

Sure, its 3D feature is pointless and I don't use it and yes compared to the Vita, its not that great, but comparing the graphical power to that of the DS, its obviously powerful and its capable of running certain games such as Uprising, Dark Moon etc.

I don't get why people complain that the 3DS isn't powerful. I get that power means better but honestly, I think this is as powerful of a handheld that Nintendo will develop......

 

[grahamf]

Mostly because it isn't very powerful compared to the PS Vita or smartphones, but it doesn't matter because it has lower resolution screens and a dedicated core to handle the os and interrupts.

 

[pwarbi]

I think that @grahamf as hit the nail on the head, and they are only saying it's underpowered due to whats available on the market now. Compared to most other devices around at the moment then it is underpowered, but that doesn't stop it from doing the job it's intended for and not only that, but doing it well.

You can say that the NES is underpowered compared to an Xbox ONE but that doesn't mean to say that people didn't enjoy playing it, so while power is an issue, it's not the be all and end all that a lot of people think it is.

 

[grahamf]

It's not the graphics, but the game experience and accessibility. People can tout the smartphone's capabilities and market penetration until the cows come home, but the 3DS is simply a better gaming device.

It's cheap at $220 compared to a smartphone's $400, and even the $120 2DS provides a great gaming experience at the price. Try playing anything on a $120 smartphone. Parents have no problem buying their kids one, and adults are happy paying for a second device.

The controls are consistent and useful. Touchscreens are shitty, plain and simple. And sort of inconsistent - I can't steer while accelerating in Carmageddon on my X Play. Yes you can buy Bluetooth controller, but who does that? That's still another device to carry around, and not all game support it.

The games are fully featured. Yes, smartphones have cheaper games. But they are much smaller and simpler games while a 3DS game can provide maybe 40 hours of entertainment for $40. And those "free-to-play" games end up constantly demanding you pay money for content you have already used.

 

[rz3300]

I think that @grahamf really makes a good point, and that when you compare it to some other devices it does seem a bit underpowered. That said, though, it is not claiming to be anything more than a gaming device like some of these other things are, and so naturally that would take more power to do, so it might not be a fair comparison. I have never thought it was anything but just fine, but I guess people can find something to complain about if they really want to.

 

[Segata]

Every single Nintendo handheld has been less powerful than it's competition. Atari Lynx had a color screen and more powerful plus it came out before Game Boy. Atari was a big name still. Game Boy steamrolled it. Sega Game Gear/Nomad and Neo Geo Pocket/Color and Wonderswan/Color all great systems more powerful than Game Boy. They stood no chance and Wonderswan was by the Game Boy creator himself plus it had something Game Boy did not have. Actual Final Fantasy.

Sony at their peak with PS2 took on Nintendo with PSP and while it did well at 80 million sold,still got steamrolled. Nintendo owned that market for a good reason. The more power never works and they release affordable experiences anyone can play. Hell the original Game Boy included Tetris and had it's commercials aimed at American Businessmen.

 

[Jack Lovejoy]

Becuase Nentindo haters gotta hate

 

[pwarbi]

The brand Nintendo itself though I think is responsible for a lot of the sales as well, and that's something that none of the other brands in the market can match. Sony and Microsoft might very well make the most powerful consoles and handhelds, but the Nintendo devices still continue to sell (even though in the past how good they have actually been is debatable even to the Nintendo fan)

Thinking about it, how much must that annoy the CEO's of both Sony and Microsoft? The fact that they are making the best devices (on paper) but yet still losing out on sales to Nintendo!

 

[Artwark]

Every single Nintendo handheld has been less powerful than it's competition. Atari Lynx had a color screen and more powerful plus it came out before Game Boy. Atari was a big name still. Game Boy steamrolled it. Sega Game Gear/Nomad and Neo Geo Pocket/Color and Wonderswan/Color all great systems more powerful than Game Boy. They stood no chance and Wonderswan was by the Game Boy creator himself plus it had something Game Boy did not have. Actual Final Fantasy.

Sony at their peak with PS2 took on Nintendo with PSP and while it did well at 80 million sold,still got steamrolled. Nintendo owned that market for a good reason. The more power never works and they release affordable experiences anyone can play. Hell the original Game Boy included Tetris and had it's commercials aimed at American Businessmen.

I get that the 3DS could use some polish and I understand that. But I feel that people are underestimating the 3DS a tad too much here. While it may not be powerful enough to support Gamecube games, its certainly powerful enough to port something like Sonic Mania, or even N64 games for that matter (Because obviously Majora's Mask and Ocarina of Time worked).

 

[YoshiBoy]

I'm sure the people who stick to that statement of it not being powerful enough don't even know anything about the system specs. They just go along with what someone else says, but if you tell them to break down the technical knowledge behind their theories, they won't be able to speak.

So what it isn't as powerful as the PS Vita, that's like me saying the a pistol is worthless because it doesn't have the same power as an AK-47.

That doesn't matter, it does what it needs to do for the games that play on it. It does it's job, and Nintendo doesn't care what anyone thinks about how they develop their systems. They're still going to get their money.