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What Nintendo needs to improve for the next 3DS

7 things that will keep the Japanese giant at the top of the handheld pile

What Nintendo needs to improve for the next 3DS
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3DS

While reports today suggest that Nintendo has already decided to move on from the 3DS and focus on a new handheld altogether, we don’t think the big N should be pushing aside its three-dimensional machine just yet.

After all, remember the original release of the Game Boy Advance with its horrific, non-backlit screen? Or the chunky, clunky Fisher Price-style original DS?

With looks only a mother could love, it wasn't until they were swiftly redesigned that they really took off - so it would be strange for Nintendo to drop the handheld after just the one iteration.

The 3DS is a little chunkier than many of us would like, sure, but the DS-style clamshell origins are nigh on perfect.

This time around the problem is more about functionality, so here are our suggestions for how to improve the system, without having to completely redesign the innards.

Mock up of redesigned 3DS Dual analogue sticks as standard

If ever there was a public admission of failure, the hasty release of the hulking great Circle Pad Pro add-on monstrosity was it.

It was less of an add-on and more of a holiday home in a Slough lay-by, such was its aesthetic and practical 'appeal', but such is the demand for twin-stick shooters and action adventures, it was a necessary stop-gap.

With that in mind, do not be remotely surprised if the next 3DS (or new handheld) sports dual-pads.

Enhance the battery life

If you're like me and completely, inexplicably obsessed with Streetpass Quest and always leave the 3DS sitting around on standby for maximum Spotpass opportunity, you'll ruefully agree that the battery life isn't exactly going to win awards.

Even if you switch off 3D and Wi-fi, it's still a power-hungry beast, and any new revisions have to get back to DS Lite-levels of battery performance to turn our frowns upside down.

Smoother shoulder buttons

In its native form, their harsh, hard inner edges of the 3DS' shoulder buttons make it a troublesome handheld to grasp over the long haul.

Bolt on the Circle Pad Pro, however, and the difference is immediately felt. If we take this as a clear signal that Nintendo already realises its initial mistake, we’d want a redesigned 3DS to adopt the same design.

Whether it will also find room for the additional Z triggers added to the Circle Pad Pro will be interesting.

Improve the eShop

We already know that Nintendo is finally embracing full digital downloads with the release of New Super Mario Bros. 2 this August, but it needs to do a whole lot more.

Right now, the eShop provides all of the intuitive customer service of a reluctant car boot sale. Nothing is where you think it will be, it takes ages to find anything, and the pricing structure seems to have been designed by a complicated system of hats and small pieces of paper.

With any luck, by the time August rolls around, the 3DS would benefit from a digital store that's not only intuitive and integral to the dashboard, but is stocked with a plentiful supply of innovative, and, yes, cheap downloadable titles (both old and new) to compete with the app onslaught elsewhere.

Rework the Friends system

The arcane Friends Code system is more like a secret handshake than a serious attempt to create an online friends system.

It might protect our kiddywinks from the terrible hooded claw that is The Internet, fine, but the net result is that hardly anyone uses it. And if no-one uses it, it hobbles the online gaming and community potential of the system to near irrelevance.

No-one has all the answers, but even something along the lines of Apple's transparent Game Center would be a vast improvement on the current system. Suggestions on a postcard, please.

Something old, something new

Much has been made of Nintendo's decision to target the loyal hardcore for the upcoming Wii U, and it's a strategy that would serve it well on 3DS.

Rebooting ageing brands like Pilotwings and Kid Icarus was a promising start, but it'd be even better if Nintendo deigned to get behind some innovative new brands to freshen things up once again.

And while it's doing that, the Japanese giant is more than welcome to toss in a new Pokemon, F-Zero and Pikmin into the fray to keep the die-hards happy.

We didn't say we didn't want some old classics - just not the usual suspects all the time.

Pricing

The 3DS launch price was a mistake. Nintendo knew this more or less immediately, fell on its sword, sacrificed profit, and slashed the price by around a third.

But there's still a little way to go before it resides at the impulse price point that the DS did for so long, and until it does, a lot of potential owners will think twice about upgrading.

The other issue is game pricing. Vast numbers of gamers have been seduced by the endless ocean of cheap content on smartphones and tablets, and may never come back unless the likes of Nintendo cottons on and fully adapts to the digital model.

Whether Nintendo adopts free-to-play systems, or merely becomes nimbler and more competitive, it must realise that most gamers now consider anything over $7 'expensive' on a handheld - never mind $50.

While it can rely on its peerless selection of brands to tide it over in the short-term, the days of premium-priced boxed handheld games are numbered.

The company has the most enduring back catalogue of titles in the world, and it needs to start maximising that position far more effectively than it has.

Kristan Reed
Kristan Reed
There's no such thing as 'not enough time' in Kristan's world. Despite the former Eurogamer editor claiming the world record for the most number of game reviews written before going insane, he manages to continue to squeeze in parallel obsessions with obscure bands, Norwich City FC, and moody episodic TV shows. He might even read a book if threatened by his girlfriend.