This is kind of ridiculous. $249 was a great price a month and a half ago for the Vita and it still is a great price. The fact that the 3DS was a ripoff at that price has nothing to do with a completely different system that offers exponentially more capable hardware, both in terms of graphical power and input options, and which looks to offer a thoroughly modern experience complete with capacitive touch based apps, streaming media, web browsing, etc, in addition to hardcore gaming. Everything about the 3DS felt dated. Graphics barely better than the PSP, all the best games are remakes, old school stylus touch interface, major games can't be bought as downloads, only as carts, busted single analog control scheme that was the bane of the PSP, even the 3D gimmick feels very "two years ago". Even before the Vita price announcement the $249 3DS price point felt greedy. After Sony matched it at E3 it only served to embarrass Nintendo further. Hitting $249 was never about a need for price parity with the 3DS. It was about hitting a value sweet-spot. That the 3DS was being sold at the same price was mostly coincidental, and to Nintendo's shame.
It may be true that iOS and Android are simply eating Nintendo's lunch at this point. But Nintendo has been far more dependent on casuals, women, young children and the elderly than the PSP. Nintendo built an entire DS sku just to cater to the elderly. There was never a PSP XL to help people with deteriorating vision... I've always expected this generation of handheld gaming devices will essentially be fighting over hardcore gamers who want buttons, who want longer, deeper, and yes, more expensive experiences. Without the deep bench of price conscious, casual owners to rely on, those long since having migrated to smartphones and Facebook, the 3DS is starting to look ill equipped to compete for the self-styled "gamers" (of which there are still tens of millions) who want Call of Duty, GTA, God of War, Geometry Wars, JRPGs, etc.
Sure, they'll always have the Nintendo faithful, and they'll still sell millions of copies of Mario, but that alone didn't rescue the N64 or the Gamecube.
It may be true that iOS and Android are simply eating Nintendo's lunch at this point. But Nintendo has been far more dependent on casuals, women, young children and the elderly than the PSP. Nintendo built an entire DS sku just to cater to the elderly. There was never a PSP XL to help people with deteriorating vision... I've always expected this generation of handheld gaming devices will essentially be fighting over hardcore gamers who want buttons, who want longer, deeper, and yes, more expensive experiences. Without the deep bench of price conscious, casual owners to rely on, those long since having migrated to smartphones and Facebook, the 3DS is starting to look ill equipped to compete for the self-styled "gamers" (of which there are still tens of millions) who want Call of Duty, GTA, God of War, Geometry Wars, JRPGs, etc.
Sure, they'll always have the Nintendo faithful, and they'll still sell millions of copies of Mario, but that alone didn't rescue the N64 or the Gamecube.
