Zelda, Mario, Kid Icarus to Miss 3ds Launch Window

I have found memories of playing the classic Super Nintendo game Mario is Missing back in the 90′s. But it appears that in 2011 Nintendo finds themselves having a blast with Zelda, Kid Icarus, and Mario are missing. Why? Because Nintendo’s North American president better known as “The Regginator” announced today that none of these three franchises will be making an appearance in the 3ds launch window. Now before y’all say a collective “WTF?” I think we should take a hard look at why Nintendo might be making such a “stupid” move.

First of all, Nintendo isn’t stupid. Stubborn YES stupid NO. They have their reasons and I bet it has a lot to do with dealing with one of the major complaints people have pretty much always thrown at them. And that’s the lack of 3rd party support. The reason 3rd party games often skip Nintendo’s consoles is that the games flat out don’t sell as well on Nintendo consoles as they do on their competitors’ machines. One of the biggest reasons for this conundrum is that Nintendo has historically lead with their own products. Who in their right mind would make a quality launch title for a Nintendo system if they had to compete against Zelda and Mario for sales? That would be like launching an FPS on the same day as the new Call of Duty game. Nintendo for the first time in a long long time has a boat load of quality 3rd party support on the 3ds and doesn’t want to miss this opportunity by blanketing the market with their own games. No, it appears that Nintendo will be content to sit back and use their own products to fill the gaps between quality third party releases. And in the long run this strategy could be huge for Nintendo. They could actually start winning back the hardcore gamers that they’ve lost over the years and if they can do that then you can expect that they’ll be able to release more hardcore Nintendo games in the future.

So if you’re one of those Nintendo fans who is reconsidering your 3ds pre-order. Just do what I’m going to do. Get the system on launch day and pick one or two of the great 3rd party titles which will be available. Street Fighter IV 3d is a lock for me right now but after that I’m having a hard time deciding which game to get next. I really love RTS games so Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars is high up there but so it Resident Evil: Mercenaries, DOA, Dynasty Warriors 3d, and Madden 3d. So I’m going to have trouble choosing as is. I’m giving Nintendo a pass on this one and I hope you guys will do the same.