Wired Magazine: “Nintendo 3DS is a last-gen game machine”

Wired is pretty upset that 3DS will not launch with the promised eshop for downloadable games. That being the case, they think the 3DS could end up being the PSP of the next round of portables, with Apple’s iOS taking the place of the DS.

What Apple is doing to Nintendo is in great part what Nintendo did to Sony ’ finding some surprise hits with low-budget games on a cheaper platform built around disruptive technology. I don’t expect Nintendo to throw open the doors of its eShop to every weekend tinkerer, but I did expect the 3DS to launch with it.

I wouldn’t go that far. 3DS is at least doing a few things new: camera recognition gameplay; 3D graphics that pop. But I will say the 3DS feels less game-changing than either DS or Wii. If iOS keeps syphoning players, that could be a problem in the long term. It certainly hasn’t stopped pre-order excitement though.

Of course, disregard everything if someone (most likely Nintendo) creates a hit game that can only be played on 3DS.