I've been kind of disappointed with this after several games which used 3D depth in creative manners like SM3DL or Oot, I've been noticing that not only are devs getting lazy and putting out games like X&Y with practically no 3D at all, but putting out alot of 2D/2.5D games that make the gpu collect dust. Theres nothing wrong with 2D games but it doesn't feel next gen to play a game like yumi's odd oddessy on a system built for full 3D visuals, let alone that fact that the 3D effect is not being used at all like the mutants mudds game does. I was hoping that the 3DS would be the ultimate 3D platformer machine with depth perception for jumping but now hardly any games use it and most games are instead now opting for 2.5D graphics. Why?

I'm kinda on the same boat as you. One thing that made me get a 3DS is the glasses-free stereoscopic 3D itself.

I have a few ideas on why such a thing is happening.

First, I think it's because developing in 3D for that thing is harder than we think. This is probably why the 3D is partial and horrible in Pokemon X/Y.

Then, what I'm noticing is that a lot of people seem to barely use the 3D, if at all, and that includes a lot of 3DS Forums members. It's like if I'm from the few people who cares about it, and who has the 3D slider to the max if the game's 3D is well made. I'm sure that's why the 2DS was made. I think some developers are like "If people don't care about the 3D, why bother?" and then give no care about the 3D itself.

However, even if games are in 2D or 2.5D, they still might use the 3D effect in a fun way. Such games are, for example, Mighty Switch Force, Mutant Mudds and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds.

A game without 3D doesn't mean it's no fun at all tho. It's a graphics factor for me.

Well, Pokemon X and Y have no 3D because GameFreak put little to no effort in those games. Everything looks like a DS game, except for the Pokemon models when they are in battle.

Nintendo allowed developers the choice to use 3D if they wanted to, so they wouldn't feel forced to use it. Some other games don't have it because they are ports from a different console, like One Piece: Romance Dawn (ported from the PSP)

I personally don't mind if some games don't use the 3D at all, since some games don't even need it, like New Super Mario Bros. 2. I do prefer to have the 3D effect on 3D games though.

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I think it also depends on the artstyle. I find games that have a lot of depth (such as OoT) give me a bit of a headache when 3D is on, but others with little difference in depth (such as ALBW) look very very awesome with 3D and don't give me headaches at all.

I'd say it's a huge overstatement.

They might have dropped the ball on the graphics. However, the world, the gameplay, the new Pokemons and the rest are still well-crafted.

Also, it's the first time a main Pokemon game is in full 3D everywhere, and they had to recreate every Pokemon ever in 3D, so that counts as effort if you ask me.

Isn't piracy still playing a big part ?

i don't see what piracy has to do with games not using 3d

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having 3d isn't all that great. i remember when ds games was plagued with touch screen controls but for the 3ds, that has been reduced. same goes for download play games.

I think Tycho of Penny Arcade pretty much has the answer, in relation to the new XBox One package sans Kinect:
In some ways making a 3DS without the 3D, a 2DS if you will, has some parallels - especially in the “X Feature Is Definitive Of And Indeed Synonymous With X Platform” department. For my part, I liked the crazy ****. It probably wasn’t good business. In fact, that’s been definitively established. But just because nobody aside from Harmonix or Double Fine seems to know what the Kinect is for, doesn’t mean nobody ever will.

Long story short, 95% of developers are lazy and don't know or care how to take advantage of the gimmick that's supposed to be inherent to the system, and eventually the console maker notices that nobody is actually using the gimmick, says "screw it", and releases a version of the console without the gimmick, thus further reinforcing the idea that the gimmick was stupid and useless to begin with.

The horror D: . I actually think they did a pretty good job of not using 3D too much. Too much 3D can be irritating sometimes and drains the battery faster.

So far the only game that I have played with Full 3D on the WHOLE gameplay are Kid Icarus Uprising , and Liberation Maiden

The world and the gameplay felt the same exact way as the rest of the games to me, so that's didn't get enough effort in my opinion (save for a few areas). When the only thing that looks like an actual 3DS game are the battles, you know something went horribly wrong with the development.

Since the day they announced the game I've been saying this, the game looks like a freaking DS game, and not even a good one. Mario 64 DS has better textures.

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I like the 3D as well when it is well optimised and utilised. Games like Professor Layton: Miracle Mask and SM3DL are great examples of both.

It is nice to see Nintendo and some of the major 3rd party developers make an effort, but I guess we can only expect so much from lower budget titles.

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Probably because 90% of 3DS owners never use the 3D in the first place, and developers also probably knew of the 2DS before we did so with that being out theres less of a point of spending extra money and time on the 3D also...very few people are complaining about it.

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I have a somewhat mixed feeling about the 3D effect.
On the one hand it doen't really add to the game. Like the 2D and 2.5D platformers mentioned earlier. Here the effect is purely cosmetic and I end up turning it off. Take Harvest Moon for example, here the 3D doesn't add anything to the game (and is poorly executed) so hou turn it off.
It's 'real' 3D games, on the other hand, where it shines.
Pilotwings for example, makes excellent use of the 3D effect. Same for RE:Revelations.

As mentioned before it's a bit like the forced use of the touch screen on the original 3DS. It was a new feature on the system it HAD to be used. It killed games.
However, with 2 out of 3 3DS systems supporting 3D developers feel the HAVE to use the 3D feature. GameFreaks walked the middle way here, and bravely at that. X and Y might as well be released without the 3D, but they used it sparingly.
Another, Sengan Kagura Burst, turned off 3D during the game all together and only uses it in cut scenes. A wise decision. And a last, Cubic Ninja (I don't own that game) turns down off the 3D when the motion sensor is used, again very clever becuase if they didn't they would destroy the gameplay.

I whish there were more developers like the last three. Making the choice to leave it out will upset less players than forcing it up on them. In then end the gamers will make the decision and flip the 3D switch.

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Agreed. Forcing people to use it would piss a lot of people off. Although they would never do that due to people with eye problems or who are unable to use the 3D.

The 3D usually doesn't add a TON to gameplay where that's the reason I got the game. Also if the 3D was the only addition on the 3DS vs the DS then that'd be one thing since we basically paid just for 3D. But with all the other 3DS features, and the fact that if you move it a bit it screws up the 3D, i dont really miss it.

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It's impossible to force the 3D effect on people because of something we call the "3D effect slider".

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I think he (or at least I) was talking about if they didn't have that, and just automatically made everything in 3D all the time.

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Yes, this is the other thing I was trying to adress in the Op. It actually seems as though there are fewer and fewer 3DS games that are actually 'real' 3D, most are using 2D sprites and 2.5D graphics and as DarkK said, pokemon look like a DS game. I would go as far to say most 3DS games lately have been looking worse than DS games, like less effort is being put into production.

Added after 3 minutes:

I think as long as it's implemented properly, then it greatly improves gameplay and innovates, like SM3DL. But most devs don't seem to have the vision for that.

Many players receive headaches when playing it, some can't even see the 3D at all so I guessing game developers don't see the effort in developing sophisticated 3D for an already limited console, especially now that the 2DS is out. It gives dev's more reason to not put 3D in, which is a shame.

I think the biggest reason is developers being lazy and/or not wanting to spend the money to include the feature. Especially considering it impacts the framerate while some games have a tough time reaching 30 FPS while in 2D, although other games (Mostly first party by Nintendo) are able to play at a full 60 FPS while in 3D. And now with the 2DS it's even more of a deterrent for devs considering that some percentage of possible customers cannot even use the feature to begin with.

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Personally, I believe developers are realizing that it is not a necessary feature. Plus, you now have the 2DS which doesn't even allow games to be played in 3D. I feel this is a sign that the next Nintendo handheld will go away from this feature. I don't feel that any 3DS game really needs the 3D effect. If it didn't personally hurt my head and it worked a little better then maybe, but that isn't the case and from what I have read many others have the same issue with the 3D. I would rather developers focus on gameplay and the likes.

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Maybe to you. But At launch, when all games atleast tried to utilise the 3D. Games seemed to have more quality and effort put into them and they felt more next gen. Plus many used the 3D in innovative ways. Now that Nintendo moved away from that, games are taking on a DS/cellphone quality feel to them, and most don't even feature 3D environments anymore let alone next-gen creativity. You would think the 3D effect would have created an incentive for higher quality games aswell as more creativity.

Few 3DS games look like this nowadays:

Nintendo did a great job with the 3D but i still think its such a new technology for handhelds in general that people just aren't used to viewing things that way yet. Unlike peaple who game for hours and hours and know things about the industry the average consumer who may only use handhelds for road trips or to baby sit there noisy 4 year old in the car, they might just not be used to it yet and maybe Nintendo is just ahead of its time for the average Joe.

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Look at it this way: The release of the 2DS is the closest you'll get from an admission from Nintendo that their 3D bet didn't pull through.

I honestly believe that the reason why some if not most people don't care much for the 3D feature of the 3DS, is due to how limited it really is. The 3DS's 3D screen utilizes a parallax barrier in order to produce an autosterescopic, 3D effect; however, due to the parallax barrier's limitations, it easily loses its illusive, autostereoscopic (meaning glasses aren't required for the illusion of 3D depth) effect if you move more than ten degrees horizontally from the center of the screen; and if you're too close or too far away from the screen, or too high or too low vertically from the center of the screen, the 3D is also greatly diminished--that's one of the major reasons why people consider it a gimmick, and understandably so.

If the 3DS utilized an autostereoscopic display that utilized lenticular lenses, however, the vertical and horizontal, 3D viewing angles could be significantly improved, which would make it more comfortable to use; such as allowing for people viewing it from extreme angles horizontally from the screen center, with little to no loss in 3D; heck, you could probably even use the 3DS's gyroscopic motion controls, without losing much of the 3D effect, either.

Here's the simple answer: most users don't use 3D and it's not an important or relevant feature.

I would've rather had OLED screens with high resolutions than 3D, and they called it 2DS or DS2 or something.

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Really, I didn't find much of an issue with it, probably because I'm used to the DS which had a low viewing angle.

That didn't seem to be case on the other thread that asked people if they used it or not, maybe it's an isolated case.
OLED would've been cool but not as innovative as 3D, I feel as though the 3ds would've been boring without it. I really think they should've had the screen switch between 400x240 and 800x240 resolution with the 3D switch.

Im a big fan of the 3d, and while the viewing angles aren't perfect it is a really amazing experience when it's working. I hope we see a lot more titles really utilize the 3d, and I will be sad if the next gen does not feature it.

Second that. Just bought an XL and Kirby's 3D / depth is pretty much superb. When it done right, the 3D is stand out. Smartphones and my Vita might have higher rez, but nothing beats the emersion of my 3DS.

Stereoscopic 3D is good and can be played between 10-15 mins for health & safety with 2D can be play for few hours, so there are problems having 3D, which literally is bad, only played for short time and this can one of the reasons that developers have stop making 3D games, there are lot of games making use for it, just pick up a game, which has this option.

I play with the 3D on for hours at a time and have no problems. Most of the Nintendo games have fine 3D. Luigi's Mansion was great. When I'm watching Smash Bros. previews online I keep reminding myself how much better it will look in 3D.

And now with the new 3ds's increased viewing angle, it will rule!

Simple, nobody really wanted 3D in the first place all gamer's wanted was a handheld that out did the last one plus the 3D is useless, its like motion control's, i don't care about how fancy the technology is or how i move this or that i just want to play the damn game

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How do you even play Mario 3D land without it? Seems tricky since it was designed for it.

Try it out for yourself lol

It's actually not that bad, and I'd say maybe 95% of the game can be played with 3D off.

I did, I always die, lol.

It has multiple reasons.

1) 3D on the 3DS is flawed, and probably gets turned of by most of it's users because of it.
2) Developers moved on from the 3D hype, that bubble has bursted a while ago )
3) Nintendo investments are lower then before in 3rd party's and in games in general because competition basically died off entirely
4) Developers having more interest in developing games with higher budgets for multiple platforms to be safe rather then focus on one platform "3DS is the only 3D machine in the market probably" ( unless nintendo write checks, with they are clearly not doing anymore at this day of age, people won't even bother with it anymore ). The extra performance they get for not using 3D also probably makes optimizing lesser necessary = saving money.

Conclusion:

3D on the 3DS is a waste of time.

They handicapped the game by locking down the camera to make use of the 3D function. If they wouldn't have done that, these issue's would have never existed as you would have seen a object from multiple sides in a space.

It's like watching those mind trick moronic tv shows, that show you one side of a object.

They actually had to put effort into it, in order to make 3D useful. That's the wrong way of doing things.

3D is worth it, much like a higher resolution screen like 4k. But the moment it handicaps you with limitations that you don't want, it gets dropped fast. It also shows in games like mario 3D land "camera angle" on how 3D suddently took a negative turn on this aspect. instead of enhancing the experience the games now get even more limited around it.

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The new 3DS fixes that. So there is little excuse at this point.

Not entirely, Nintendo obviously hasn't.

A good reason why the 3DS is low on games nowadays, but not very related to the issue.

Practically every recent 3DS game except Pokemon has 3D, it just not built around it for any use aside from just throwing it in for the hell of it.

Again, not anymore.


Thats the point. SM3DL is a 3D platformer, people complained about lack of depth perception in 3D platfomers and this game remedied that. I agree, it could've been done without the fixed camera but that was what made the game unique.


True. And The New 3DS fixes that so that now, there is little excuse not to skip over it as a feature because more people are now intending to use it. They aren't going to pay attention to the older models because those are paper weights now. Its all about the New 3DS which does 3D like a treat.