Nintendo is undoubtedly a dominant powerhouse in the video game world, as well as the tech world.
Unfortunately, even powerhouses make mistakes.
Nintendo first ventured into the realm of 3-D with the release of the “Virtual Boy” in 1995.
Fun fact: If you look up the definition of failure in the dictionary, you’d find “Virtual Boy.” Less than a year after its release, the futuristic eye-strainer was discontinued.
Fast forward to last March, when Nintendo released yet another 3-D product. This time they seemed to have something good.
I wrote a column claiming the Nintendo 3DS is the most innovative product of 2011 with much more impressive technology than anything Apple calls “revolutionary” and “magical.”
The device puts portable 3-D gaming in the palm of people’s hands without the use of 3-D glasses.
It seemed great, and it was great — at first.
Shortly after its release, the 3-D gimmick wore off and the lineup of software was severely lacking.
Five months later, Nintendo announced huge news that upset many early adopters — a price drop.
Anyone who is a fan of technology knows that if you want to be first to own something, you’re going to pay for the privilege.
But such a significant price drop usually doesn’t occur five months after a release.
The $80 drop didn’t sit well with many 3DS owners.
As a consolation, Nintendo offered these ambassadors 20 free games spanning from the original Nintendo to the Game Boy Advance.
Many didn’t find this consolation worthwhile, but I had no problem with it. Nintendo screwed customers over, but I knew what I was getting into when I paid $250 for new technology.
Many critics claimed Nintendo was doomed, citing the high price and parents concerned about the health of their young children’s eyes.
But that’s not the reason the 3DS launch was unsuccessful.
The reason the system got off to a weak start was because of the lackluster game library. Even with the most impressive hardware in the world, if there’s no games, there’s no reason to buy.
Hell, the two best games out for the 3DS right now are “The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3-D” and “Starfox 64 3D” — both 13-year-old Nintendo 64 games remade for the 3DS.
Even through all this — the lack of games, the price drop, the 3-D gimmick — I never felt Nintendo was giving me the middle finger.
Until now.
As part of its pre-Tokyo Game Show conference, Nintendo officially unveiled the Expansion Slide Pad, a second analog stick to be used in future 3DS games.
Expansion Slide Pad – it just rolls off the tongue so well.
The hardware redesign will be released in Japan for 1500 yen ($19) in December and run off a AAA battery.
This is the first time Nintendo has overhauled its hardware in such a short amount of time.
While there were four iterations of the original Nintendo DS — DS, DS Lite, DSi and DSi XL — the biggest hardware redesign added was a camera.
A camera doesn’t change the fundamentals or game play like a second analog stick does.
Essentially, ambassadors paid a premium to Nintendo so it could test its unfinished console. That’s not right.
My friends and I joked after the 3DS launch that Nintendo would release a larger XL version of the console next year, but we didn’t expect a full redesign.
The Expansion Slide Pad looks horrible, making the launch of a truly revolutionary gadget an abomination.
I guarantee by this time next year, Nintendo will have announced — if not released — a completely redesigned 3DS with larger screens, longer battery life and the second analog built-in.
And you know what? Nintendo will end up getting my money again — along with everyone else’s.
You won my heart this past summer, Nintendo. But this hurts a lot.
I continue to stand by my assessment of the 3DS as the revolutionary product of 2011, but Nintendo better get it together before the launch of some big competition in Sony’s PlayStation Vita.