Bold statement about Nintendo's handheld designs...

[xdaniel]

Here's a probably controversial statement from me:

 

Every Nintendo handheld design after the original DS "Phat" is boring as hell.

 

There, I said it, but bear with me as I explain why I think so. Also, remember, this only concerns their looks, not the hardware or the games.

 

I personally think every Nintendo handheld after the original DS back in 2004/2005 has been looking awfully boring and flat, plus the DS Lite felt uncomfortable to hold and play, and was very flimsy. Not sure about the DSi and XL, but from the looks of it they don't seem much better. The 3DS feels much better than the aforementioned DS'es from the Lite onwards, but it still looks much the same. They all, including the Wii, kinda seem like wannabe Apple products - "sleek" and "stylish" and all those buzzwords.

 

Neither the Wii, nor the DS Lite, nor DSi, nor DSi XL nor 3DS looks... unique, I guess? Quite the contrast to the idea of "dokusou", the uniqueness and originality Iwata mentioned during the pre-E3 Nintendo Direct that's supposedly been guiding Nintendo. Each significant upgrade (thus not GB to Pocket to GBC) or successor to a Nintendo console or handheld prior to Wii and DS Lite recieved a design that was more or less unique among Nintendo's hardware, surely being inspired by previous designs - GBA SP to DS, for instance, or maybe GBA to Micro -, but bringing enough to the table itself to become something of its own.

 

The GBA doesn't look like the GBC, the DS doesn't look like the GBA, the N64 not like the SNES, the GCN not like the N64. However, the Wii U does look very similar to the Wii and the 3DS rather similar to the DSi.

 

Maybe I'm too critical of the "modern Nintendo" here, with all the attention directed at having a broad appeal and all that, plus, again, the hardware itself as well as the games are still overall good stuff, but it just feels like there's something missing from them. That spark of individuality that Nintendo and other companies had back in the day, that wish to not look like everyone else, as opposed to blending in with the competition as much as possible.

 

(And for the record, the bulky old original DS is among my favorites, if not the favorite, of Nintendo's handheld designs. Screw those who think it's ugly )

[Boland]

Here's a probably controversial statement from me:

 

Every Nintendo handheld design after the original DS "Phat" is boring as hell.

 

There, I said it, but bear with me as I explain why I think so. Also, remember, this only concerns their looks, not the hardware or the games.

 

I personally think every Nintendo handheld after the original DS back in 2004/2005 has been looking awfully boring and flat, plus the DS Lite felt uncomfortable to hold and play, and was very flimsy. Not sure about the DSi and XL, but from the looks of it they don't seem much better. The 3DS feels much better than the aforementioned DS'es from the Lite onwards, but it still looks much the same. They all, including the Wii, kinda seem like wannabe Apple products - "sleek" and "stylish" and all those buzzwords.

 

Neither the Wii, nor the DS Lite, nor DSi, nor DSi XL nor 3DS looks... unique, I guess? Quite the contrast to the idea of "dokusou", the uniqueness and originality Iwata mentioned during the pre-E3 Nintendo Direct that's supposedly been guiding Nintendo. Each significant upgrade (thus not GB to Pocket to GBC) or successor to a Nintendo console or handheld prior to Wii and DS Lite recieved a design that was more or less unique among Nintendo's hardware, surely being inspired by previous designs - GBA SP to DS, for instance, or maybe GBA to Micro -, but bringing enough to the table itself to become something of its own.

 

The GBA doesn't look like the GBC, the DS doesn't look like the GBA, the N64 not like the SNES, the GCN not like the N64. However, the Wii U does look very similar to the Wii and the 3DS rather similar to the DSi.

 

Maybe I'm too critical of the "modern Nintendo" here, with all the attention directed at having a broad appeal and all that, plus, again, the hardware itself as well as the games are still overall good stuff, but it just feels like there's something missing from them. That spark of individuality that Nintendo and other companies had back in the day, that wish to not look like everyone else, as opposed to blending in with the competition as much as possible.

 

(And for the record, the bulky old original DS is among my favorites, if not the favorite, of Nintendo's handheld designs. Screw those who think it's ugly )

 

I'll agree.

Originatly, not exactally our strong point at this point in time. Everything is either smaller, bigger, or a different color. Not going to lie i personally love the new Wii u controler. But i mean, it's because you can take the games on the fly, and play them almost anywhere in the house as long as you're within rage of the system. That kind of technology is fantastic, however much it looks like a single screen DS lol

[Arcaith]

I think the move to standardization is probably more rooted in both the 'multiplatform' glut, and the fact that emergent technology is often scorned unless it's presented within the context of something familiar and comfortable. If you look at it, the design of the DS is basically a GBA and GBA SP smooshed together with an extra screen. I also think that the design of the DS is simply very functional, and there's not really much that can be done to change it.

[Armos]

XDan, I hate to say this but your right on most parts. When the original Nintendo DS came out in 2004/2005. I've enjoyed playing it as much as I have did until it was broken at least. Then I've worked my way up to the DS Lite which felt comfteriable. But some times it kind of got annoying. I was searching videos on youtube where I came to a guy showing which is better, the original DS or the DSi. This video was made a couple years ago I think. Well what I thought of the guy, He just tossed his original DS aside from the tabel and made it land on the floor. I was thinking to my self, why would he waste a perfectly good console? With out the original DS, We wouldn't have the DS Lite, DSi, DSi XL, or the Nintendo 3DS. Please let me know if I am missing any of those consoles. Honestly, I hate assholes who break their old consoles like that, they dispise me. If they really enjoyed Nintendo hand heled consoles, then they wouldn't of broke it and say its a peice of shit. My self, I mostly like old school games. Call me weird but I do enjoy them. And some old games probably wouldn't work on the newer ones like the DSi, etc. Also I am looking forward into getting my self a 3DS. I heard pretty good reviews about it and I have tested it my self at a local Best Buy and I can tell you, I enjoyed playing it. It feels comfy and it has a pretty good feel to it.

[Non-epic]

I really agree with most of this. how things used to be a cut above the rest, they no longer are. Maybe they still think that they can get ahead in some way. Look 'sleek' and 'stylish' is how they can try to keep up, trying to stay above the others, and they think it might work out. Trying this really hasn't been working, and they should just go back to doing their own, smart thing.