Well, first of all, Shulk’s confirmed for Smash Bros. And I’m REALLY, REALLY happy
about that. They even included Dunban and Riki as part of his Final Smash!
There’s also a Xenoblade stage as well, and I hope this all helps to raise
awareness for Xenoblade Chronicles and Xenoblade Chronicles X.
Now…
time for the part that gave me mixed feelings. Nintendo has just announced a
new model of the 3DS and XL with more buttons, better screens and 3D, improved battery
life and storage capacity, and a stronger CPU. As a result of this stronger
CPU, there will be some games that can only run on this newer model of the 3DS.
Can you guess what one of them is? Yep. That’s right. They’re releasing a port
of Xenoblade Chronicles EXLUSIVELY for this new 3DS model, meaning people who
don’t plan on buying the new model are stuck with the Wii version or just
outright screwed out of playing the game. What ticks me off is that they might
add additional content to this version. However, we don’t know much beyond the
fact that it’s a port of the Wii version. Whether this is a cash-grab port or
an updated re-release remains to be seen.
The
worst part of this all, however, is that they mentioned that there will be more
exclusive titles for the new 3DS model. While this isn’t new (they’ve done this
with the DSi before), they’re releasing the new model of the 3DS just a few
years after the original console launched. Hell, I haven’t even had my XL for a
full year! I wouldn’t have been so concerned if not for the fact that this move
is going to effectively alienate the entire 3DS userbase due to major games
being exclusive to the new model. Again, I’m running on speculation here; while
we only know one game is exclusive to this new model, said game was critically
acclaimed upon release, and spawned a HUGE movement to get it localized. With
Shulk’s inclusion in Smash Bros, interest in Xenoblade is going to spike even
more. So what are those people going to do when they want to buy Xenoblade?
They’re going to have to shell out at least 50 bucks for a GameStop copy or pay
even more at online retailers. If they don’t have a Wii and were hoping for a
3DS port, well, they got one. But they still have to shell out a good amount of
money just to play a game. Personally, I believe Nintendo should have done what
they’re doing with Bayonetta 2. Instead of releasing a port for a new 3DS
model, they should just package the original game with Xenoblade Chronicles X.
Hell, because of the Wii U’s backwards compatibility, they could just even
include the original Wii disc instead of an HD remaster.
Now,
remember why the Wii U started off so badly? A lot of consumers initially didn’t
know that the Wii U was a brand new console due to Nintendo’s poor marketing.
The same thing is going to happen over again if Nintendo does not make it CLEAR
that the new 3DS model is going to have games that can only run with its
stronger CPU. I already know right off the bat that there will be at least a
few people who will buy Xenoblade Chronicles 3DS and find that their system can’t
run it. This particular case could potentially cause even more consumer
backlash, especially if big name titles like Mario and Pokemon are released
exclusively on this new model.
Anyways,
that’s enough of my rant. In short, I’m glad Xenoblade is getting
representation in Smash Bros, and I’m glad Nintendo’s trying to raise more
awareness in the series by re-releasing the game, but they’re going the wrong
way about this. Unless they add a SIGNIFICANT amount of new content to the 3DS
port of Xenoblade or release an exclusive Pokemon game or some other huge
franchise, I’m not getting this new model.
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