Earlier this week Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata finally admitted what we've all known for some time now: that the 3DS launch was handled with all the care and foresight of a drunk nudist man-scaping his nether regions with a Black and Decker hedge-trimmer.
"We also must reflect on the fact that we were not able to launch Nintendo 3DS at a time when a sufficient number of strong software titles were ready," said Iwata, speaking at a shareholder meeting. "In order to avoid the same thing from happening to the Wii U, we are considering details, such as what software is suitable for the launch, more carefully than ever before."
Iwata is right to be concerned. When the 3DS was first revealed at E3 last year the response from the press and public was largely enthusiastic; now, some three and a half months after release, it feels as if that goodwill has largely dissipated. You may be feeling disappointed, justified in your initial scepticism, or even just annoyed at the prevailing negative attitudes to the machine. Whatever your outlook, the chances are you'll agree on one thing: the 3DS could be doing a lot better at this point in its life.
It's not all been doom and gloom over the past quarter-year, and for many gamers the much-anticipated Ocarina of Time remake has been one of the highlights of the year. But after a relatively impressive debut at number 2 in the all-formats chart, even this masterpiece slipped down the table with relative speed. By contrast, Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D limped into the chart at 21 on its opening week, and then plummeted out of the top 40 altogether. And despite this poor showing, Mercenaries was still the second best-selling 3DS game in the week ending July 9.
In the long-distance race of software sales, most 3DS games are struggling to compete. In fact, some of them aren't competing at all; they've locked themselves in the changing room so they can chomp away on a box of KrispyKremes. And while you can partly blame the chart non-appearance of 3DS titles on the comparatively small user base (not a good sign in itself), the truth is inexorably clear: people don't want to play these games.
In most cases, it's not hard to see why, either. The majority of 3DS releases so far have been painfully thin on content, allowing you to blitz through them in the course of an afternoon. PilotWings Resort can be completed, on a basic level at least, in about three hours, while the appallingly thin Steel Diver offers just seven (brief) levels in its main mode. Both titles encourage you to replay them for higher scores and rankings, but so do most iOS games - and they charge you 59p, rather than £40.
