I was just reading an article on Gamespot about how Nintendo is planning on stepping up marketing for the 3DS due to lower than expected sales of the system. I don't think I have to tell you that I am a huge fan of Nintendo, and I think the 3DS is fantastic. You already know that. But they really don't get it. Marketing is not the problem.
The marketing is great! The system itself is great as well! The problem is that there is a severe lack of good games for the system! That and the fact that they still haven't released the promised update that will allow online capabilities such as the web browser and eShop (which includes the DSi Shop and Virtual Console library). When they decided to release the system, they really should have pushed to release at least one of the big games they announced way back when the system was first revealed. Give us Zelda, or Paper Mario (although I think that one might just be me that's super excited for it), or Kid Icarus. Something!
But no, they chose to release the system with a very limited selection of games and features, and now they are paying the price. Literally. They've got the Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake coming out in a couple of months, but that is about the only big game they've got on the way soon. I love you Nintendo, but you've really gotta figure this stuff out. You can't sell a system without games to play on it! Your die-hard fans (me) will buy your stuff anyway, but then we suffer waiting forever for the games!
I really hope Nintendo learns its lesson by the time the recently hinted at successor to the Wii comes out, otherwise we may see them spending far too much effort and resources on marketing and seeing the games suffer.
