I never used to be an early adopter of stuff. I would wait until prices had come down low enough to justify a purchase, plus I really wanted to have whatever I was after. It’s only recently then, that I have been buying things on launch days, well maybe not that recently! I was lucky enough to get an Xbox 360 on launch day all those years ago and of course many games since then. Since then, though, there have been bigger fish to fry, better things that I had to have as soon as I could. Luckily I have a hoard of stuff that I can trade in towards these glorious things; just as well since the last two things would have come to around £400 in total. Am I glad I got these things on launch day? No! Could I have waited to get them? Yes! Was it worth the money to get these things? Um, no! I’m quite sure I don’t need to go into great depth about what these things are, but if you haven’t guessed I shall tell… Kinect and 3DS.
I don’t even need to separate the two items and describe each one, because they have both befallen exactly the same fate: I don’t play them! Yes, they were both released to much acclaim and praise, they both offered a new take on playing games, sadly, neither has the games available to back them up or make them an essential purchase. From what I’ve read, Kinect is the largest selling electrical good, ever, which is very impressive, but, what are the people who have it playing? After the minimalist launch line up there have been a few games trickling through, mostly of the fitness type and that’s been it. No shooters, no fighting and no driving, this technology which I’ve been told can do marvellous things is turning into a one trick pony and as such has sat unplayed on my custom, erected shelf for a few months now.
Moving on to the 3DS and we see a bit of hardware that should be something rather special beyond the initial launch festivities, but has once again, stuttered to a halt. My daughter recently got a DSi and it is far better featured than the current 3DS on sale just now. The DSi has access to online features, the Nintendo store, an online browser, better picture taking options and pictochat, right now the 3DS offers none of this. Yet the 3DS is retailing for almost double the price, well it was until the shops started slashing its price. Now, just over a month after release, 3DSs are being returned to shops to trade in for better things, the cost is now almost £180 across the board, this indicates to me that sales haven’t been that strong. I have to admit that I had one game for my 3DS that I liked, but I traded in because I wasn’t playing it. There are some great games promised for the future but the future can be a far away place and I’m not sure I’ll be able to hold on to my 3DS until then.
So, here I am with a few hundred pounds worth of non-played stuff lying about, I could of course, trade it all in and maybe have about £300 to play about with, but I have a fear! I’m scared that if I was to trade them in the AAA titles would come along and re-define games and I wouldn’t be able to play them. So I’d need to go out and buy them all back again at a greater cost; it’s a rock and a hard place situation. Kinect needs some non-fitness related game, more like Halo or Gears of War to appease the masses. The 3DS also needs some top notch games but it also needs to be fully functioning and not a poor, but dearer cousin to the DSi. Looks like the lack of games may be the death knell for both these companies and their overpriced products. Do you think Kinect and the 3DS have been worth it? I’m finding it harder to say yes.
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