Smash Bros. Is Awesome, But Reveals All That Ails Nintendo

New 3DS and Super Smash Bros. will be a big boost for Nintendo. But they'll also exacerbate the company's most infuriating policy.
Still from a promotional video for New Nintendo 3DS.
Still from a promotional video for New Nintendo 3DS.Nintendo

The new 3DS handheld system and Super Smash Bros. look like killer products that will be a big boost for Nintendo. But they'll also exacerbate the company's most infuriating policy: its ass-backward eShop accounts.

Super Smash Bros., a fighting game series that brings together many of Nintendo's popular characters, always has been a big success on its home consoles. The recent 3DS release proves it can thrive on handheld systems as well---a huge help for a company still reeling from the mobile attack on its portable business. So far, Nintendo's sold nearly 3 million copies worldwide. More than that, it seems the hardcore Smash community doesn't hate it. That's a big deal, because they didn't much like the last version, for the Wii console.

But the 3DS edition getting a lot of play time is a double-edged sword. When the demo was released in Japan, some players reported the analog slide pads on their 3DS units were breaking right off because of the game's fast-paced action. Few games are as rough-and-tumble as Smash, and its online competitive nature encourages lengthy playing sessions. Last week, Kotaku writer Patricia Hernandez said that, despite using great care and being aware of others' misfortune, she too is finding that Smash is smashing her 3DS to bits.

Nintendo is reputed to have what is arguably the best repair service in the business. But let's be honest with ourselves: When our portable devices start breaking down, it's as good an excuse as any to shop for a new model. And what luck: Nintendo is introducing a new Nintendo 3DS, called the New Nintendo 3DS, that boasts a better 3-D screen effect, more processing power and---importantly to Smash players---a second analog stick a bit like the pointer nub on a laptop computer. It should allow you to execute your most powerful attack without stressing your slide pad.

Like the iPhone 6, Nintendo is releasing New 3DS in two sizes. The smaller version has a 3.88-inch screen and a swappable, customizable faceplate. The larger version has a 4.88-inch screen, but no customization. I nearly bought both, but quickly stopped myself when I remembered that because of Nintendo's policies, one of them would be almost completely useless to me.

No Accounting for Taste

With the vast majority of Nintendo 3DS games appearing on cartridges and in the digital eShop, many players are going download-only. They're surrendering the ability to resell their physical games in exchange for the convenience of not schlepping a bag of cartridges everywhere they go. In this, Nintendo's userbase is hardly at odds with the rest of the world, which is rapidly ditching physical media libraries for digital ones.

But only on Nintendo platforms does this carry a particularly onerous burden.

When Wii U launched at the end of 2012, Nintendo introduced the Nintendo Network ID user account system. Before this, all of your digital purchases on Nintendo platforms were tied to a specific piece of hardware, not an account. This turned out to be a distinction without a difference, because now it's your account that's tied to a single piece of hardware.

Smash on 3DS, but don't smash your 3DS.


This means you can't just log in to your account and access your content on any Wii U or 3DS, as you can with practically any other device. Transferring your account and data between two pieces of Nintendo hardware is a lengthy, permanent and sometimes irreversible process that wipes data from the old system. And if your hardware is broken beyond repair, lost or stolen, you must call Nintendo customer service and ask it to transfer the account.

In most cases I've read about, Nintendo does, in the end, transfer the account. But the issue in dispute is not the quality of Nintendo's customer service call centers, but the fact this should not be a matter for Nintendo to resolve at its own discretion. Rather, it should rightly be in the hands of the consumer.

You can activate and deactivate your own PlayStation hardware, or Apple devices. Yes, there's a limit to how many devices can be activated at once, but that limit is not "one," and you can switch them in and out at your leisure.

So a scenario in which I might decide to buy both New Nintendo 3DS models, taking the small one traveling and leaving the big one at home, makes no sense because my purchases can be played on only one machine. Even buying both of them, giving each a whirl and gravitating toward the one I like better is effectively impossible when most of the content I might want to play is digital. I can't install Ninja Gaiden II on both devices and pick the one I like better. I have to choose first and live with it. Even for Nintendo whales who buy every piece of hardware just because, it's almost impossible to justify.

When Nintendo launched 3DS, it was a decidedly last-generation product. The download store wasn't ready to launch, the big games appeared only as cartridges with no digital option, and there was not even the rudimentary account system we see today. Nintendo has spent the last few years playing catch-up.

Do I think it will solve this problem, too? I don't think so---not on the 3DS and Wii U, anyway.

As more and more of Nintendo's business shifts to digital game sales, I believe Nintendo will find its position (as it has found so many previous ones) untenable, and will have to implement an account system that provides customers control over purchases while setting reasonable limits on how many devices they can activate.

But if I had to place a bet, I'd say this is more likely to happen with Nintendo's next gaming platforms, which the company has said will likely be more closely integrated between portable and home, featuring similar architectures that allow games to be more easily ported between the two machines.

If Nintendo wants to have a family of products that's more like Apple's, it also needs a content management system more like Apple's. In the meantime, watch as the lucrative launches of Super Smash Bros. and the New 3DS create more dissatisfied customers.