NINTENDO 3DS

according to GAF nintendo have announced a new 3D handheld to be revealed at E3 and will be out by March 2011

3D without using the glasses sounds interesting
http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2010/100323.pdf&sl=ja&tl=en

sic transit gloria DS

itprintsmoney(in3D).gif

virtual boy DS

so how will it differ from this then?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5QSclrIdlE&feature=player_embedded

can't believe kevin butler didn't give us the drop on this last week

praying for 3D DOT HEROES port

Weird. I wonder how this 3D would work gamewise on a handheld. It's one thing when you're sitting still in a theater looking at a screen, but on a small mobile device - I'm just having a hard time picturing what kind of experiences it would offer and how good it could possibly work. Will be interesting to see (supposedly I'll be spending a day at E3 this year, so hopefully they'll be demoing something). Even though the PR comes from the main Nintendo site, a part of me wonders if it's just bullshit to make Sony shit all over themselves and freak out over their psp2 plans.

Seems like Nintendo of America wouldn't be pleased that the same week they're finally launching the XL in NA, Nintendo of Japan announces they are going to announce the DS successor.

if it's all backward compatible, I can't bitch.

http://img.files-ds-scene.net/news3/n3ds_famicom_flyer_parody_by_triforce.jpg

one eye on the left screen, on eye on the right screen

http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/23/nintendo-3ds-to-come-with-3d-control-stick-vibration-and-sha/

yeh its backwards compatible. glad i never got round to buying a DSi now.

http://i41.tinypic.com/2im5kjn.jpg

I'm still very doubtful of 3D gaming (especially on a handheld) being anything other than a useless gimmick. I'm definitely interested to see what they're doing and how it's going to work, but I'm feeling really skeptical. I guess my main worry is that whatever they do will end up being especially hard on the eyes. I already find it hard to look at a small DS or PSP screen for extended amounts of time and adding in effects that are tricking your eyes seems like it might make headaches come even faster...

according to unconfirmed reports the 3D in the screen can be turned off, so not every game will have to incorporate it. the same reports seem to suggest that the two screens will pretty much join up and the graphics will be bumped up to gamecube levels, both of which will be much more useful in the long run. its all guesswork at this point though - nintendo have said its going to be playable at E3 so we only have to wait 3 months to find out.

PortaWii

I have an eye condition and can't do 3D. (tho maybe this DS will work since I don't need the glasses?)

but yeah, hate this weird 3D resurgence so much.

Me too, Alan. 3D makes me physically ill.

http://www.toastyfrog.com/verbalspew/archives/entry_1608.php

that is a pretty nice color tho

so is this 3DS thing just layers of screens?

2 layers at that... jesus depth in 2 layers

I like everything about it except that you can only look at it from one angle. Wld much rather have a DSi XL than this for that very reason.

you can turn off the 3D easily, though, so no probs

Yep, little worried about this:

The screen has a terrible, terrible angle of viewing

The elephant in the room, and the reason Nintendo was adamant that no one film 3DS games directly off the screen. This is going to be the system's make-or-break issue. The trick to the 3DS's visualization technology is that it (apparently) layers two screens one on top of the other. When you look at it straight-on, it looks like 3D! But tilt the machine even just a couple of degrees from dead-on and suddenly the illusion shatters and what you see is two ghost images rather than a single unified "solid." Look at it from a side-on, over-the-shoulder perspective and it's even worse. In a sense, the 3DS is the conceptual opposite of the DSi XL; the latter was purportedly designed to be a system that encourages people to gather round a single system and watch, but try doing that with the former and everyone's going to see something very ugly unless the depth slider is set to "off." More crucially, though, the 3DS's visual effect can break even for the person using the system if they don't hold it very, very carefully. I found that the natural movement of my hands and head during a fast-paced action game like Starfox 64 caused the system to move out of alignment for me. I wonder what impact this will have for long-term play; if you have to hold the system very carefully at a precise angle, it's going to become very tiring very quickly... to say nothing of the fact that the games which stand to benefit most from 3D visualization are the ones most likely to cause you to get you into the action and let your angle of viewing drift.

Still, I'm pretty pumped about the 3DS

It occurred to me that this reaction (while very sober and reasonable) is probably the most negative hands-on I've read about the 3DS. I have this suspicion that due to the press' tepid reaction to the original DS and opposite predictions for the PSP (as Parish mentions), perhaps the journalists would rather praise it now rather than looking foolish later (as it'll be easy enough to trash if it releases badly which is pretty unlikely) - but for now they're hesistant to point out shortcomings. Though of course, there's also the reason that Nintendo is strictly claiming that the system's far from finalized, in both hardware and software.

Also it's possible that there'll be a lot of launch titles that overuse or badly use the 3D (like the touch screen in the first gen DS games) and that'll change over time as developers get more used to it.

don't think i've ever thrown my head about when playing a handheld game, so i can't imagine that being a problem. more worried about me being lefthanded & there being games that use a analog nub + stylus in right hand control system (although if you can use a finger maybe it would be like dual analog?).

So it's like a holographic baseball card?

I am gleefully rubbing my hands together about how "The World Ends With You!" could run with an extra level of 3D! I am now hardwired into the two screens at a time battling system and could do with an extra challenge. Come on Squenix!! I dare you!

(Sadly this is speculation, I don't think they'll do a sequel, never mind a megabastard 3d sequel - oh but they *should*!)

3DS Dated for February 26, priced 25,000 yen

25,000.00 JPY = 298.703 USD !!!!

more details here, if you can get it to load...
http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/09/29/nintendo_conf_live_blog/

300 would make this a not-day-one purchase for me.
basically anything above 200 for any handheld is outta my range.

yeah, that's quite a lot! I mean, more than a 360 or a ps3 - kind of mind boggling (even if they get it down to $250 in NA). Depends on the games for me, but I'm not really interested in 3D effects or a gameboy virtual console, they're going to have to be something really special & special isn't more Mario Kart and Zelda remakes and Animal Crossing again.

also with new iPad refresh (and price drop?) coming out around then - that's where I'm looking to spend some money, I think

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/n10/conference2010/3ds/lineupMovHigh.html

also with the psp2 being announced soon

yikes, well that price has killed my launch day boner. will wait for inevitable hardware revision & price cut instead.

isnt everything way more expensive in japan?

shocked at the price but still do want

i think it sounds terrible

never mind, psp2 incoming

well that price has killed my launch day boner

wow, guess I was mad rong about the price. apparently the DSi XL launched at a way higher price than the US version so all I can do is hold out hope for that to happen again, but even so it'll still probably be priced like the PSP GO.

the software looks sick as hell though. also Virtual Console for GB/GBA games finally confirmed! (even though I only really give a shit about getting Link's Awakening)

yeh but it doesn't look like they've done anything about their online structure ie. purchases tied to the hardware, so if your handheld breaks you lose your digital downloads.

holy shit, LAYTON PHOENIX WRIGHT CROSSOVER!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gufhYicCUs4

ALSO WANT THIS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0ebK-dEt3k

infinite OMG at Phoenix Wright x Layton

level 10

Phoenix Wright + Layton! And they brought Maya back, it looks like...

Chris says: Holy. Fucking. Shit. This is the best day ever. I can’t remember the last time I got excited for a game like this. And for purely stupid fanboy reasons, like OH MY GOD MAYA AND LUKE CAN BE BEST FRIENDS OMG OMG OMG. I need to go take a few deep breaths.

Also I kind of feel like this is the beginning of the end for both series because they are probably jumping the shark big time, but what the hell, if it’s gonna happen anyway let’s get on that shark and ride it.

Whoever Chris is he's OTM, I had a totally geeky dream about Nick/Maya/Luke/Layton game last night.

http://i54.tinypic.com/dh8fi1.png

It wasn't a slash thing, oh man. I feel like saying anything more is just shoveling myself deeper.

subbed version of the trailer (turn annotations on)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6HjKH5YarA

the design (with 3 separate mouldings instead of 2) makes the 3DS /look/ a lot thicker than it actually is
http://i.imgur.com/q4e0A.jpg

if they shaved 1mm off the top casing so it looks like it's equivalent to the bottom and made the bottom section just one moulding then it would look a lot better imo

3-5 hours on one charge, and 3 and a half hours to charge? ugh. very bad if true.

Keep reading thing like "it's amazing how much easier it is to fly through rings when they're in 3D", but is pilotwings a game that needed to be any easier? Is ANY nintendo game?

lol you haven't played that new Donkey Kong game then

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5GdDwripjE

I doubt the 3D will make it easier to get a complete line of furniture in Animal Crossing.

A very hard game, that one.

Har, yeah ok. I guess I'm just still hurting after looking forward to all those Gamecube games like waverace and 1080, then finishing them in 2 nights each and being like "huh?".

i feel ya there (why did I get Luigi's Mansion, anyway), but then again: F-Zero GX. i'm more hopeful about the tag features and augmented reality stuff so far - there hasn't been any cool gameplay concepts as of yet that will really use the 3D. still, kinda psyched about that lineup

And it's region locked.

>:(

officially holding out until it gets haXored to support all regions (or, more likely, until Paper Mario gets released)

Or until the 2nd generation version with the non-lol battery life arrives.

yeah seriously. 3-5 hours is like PSP levels of lolsomeness.

Given how deep the DS catalog is, I can't see any possible reason for wanting the 1st gen version of this, given the $ & battery life.

I can:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PdnkREYvjk

does look excellent, no doubt

just don't get what's the use of a handheld with that kinda battery life; I guess it's mostly for playing at home?

one reason it bugs me is that I get paranoid about how many charges my portable batteries are gonna take before dying.

this is a really strong lineup but I can't help but think about how this is the end of one of the last bastions from 2d gaming. :-/

Last I saw the region-lock wasn't confirmed - has anyone seen a solid confirmation yet? That really sucks. And along with that battery life :( Wah.

I'm afraid they've sucked me into being a first-gen sucker with Nintendogs/cats and a Professor Layton alone :( But oooh, Paper Mario 3D, holey moley.

I don't see my actual DS languishing in the corner though - if the battery life is that crap it still looks as if the DS will be coming out and about with me. I also need a new special library card since my other one broke (my fix isn't it good enough).

I've never early adopted any system and the only way I'd start with the 3ds would be if it comes in under 200. Otherwise, I'll wait for the price drop in a year.

250 is awful close to getting me to preorder, especially as these are gonna be impossible to find.

YEAR SYSTEM NAME PRICE *ADJ. PRICE
(1989) Game Boy (Nintendo) $90 $153
(1989) Atari Lynx $190 $324
(1990) TurboExpress (NEC) $250 $405
(1991) Game Gear (Sega) $150 $233
(1995) Virtual Boy (Nintendo) $180 $250
(1998) Game Boy Color $80 $105
(2001) Game Boy Advance $100 $121
(2003) N-Gage (Nokia) $300 $350
(2004) Nintendo DS $130 $146
(2005) PSP (Sony) $250 $272
(2009) Nintendo DSi $170 N/A
(2009) PSP Go $250 N/A
(2011) Nintendo 3DS $250 N/A

fuck it, preordered. YES COBO (also I get to write it off).

I plan on haXor1ng it as soon as I possibly can and in those cases it's always best to have first-revision hardware. more importantly, PAPER MARIO 3DS.

― FART MAGNET STUDIOS IS SCREWING US AGAIN!!!1!1!!!1!! (jamescobo), Wednesday, January 19, 2011 6:09 PM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

you mean to be on the 3ds thread i think

― thank you based jättegod (forksclovetofu), Wednesday, January 19, 2011 6:11 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark

I have a sneaking suspicion that Nintendo saw my pre-order and immediately decided to delay Paper Mario 3DS for like five years tho :(

you know what, i just realized i've never preordered a system before and that this thing is gonna sell for twice what i bought it for on ebay if i wanna ditch it so fuckit i'm treating myself.

i do feel like the proper response to "$250" is "fuckit" though

so tempted. on one hand, i finally got a job. on the other hand, i finally got a job.

maybe i'll just buy them for scalping

too many problems with this to buy any time soon. gonna be interesting to see what sony announce about the psp2 next week though.

NA launch titles according to Defucktoid:

http://www.destructoid.com/3ds-north-american-launch-titles-192044.phtml

* Pilotwings Resort
* Nintendogs + Cats
* Steeldiver
* Dead or Alive
* Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D
* Madden NFL
* Super Street Fighter IV 3D
* Asphalt 3D
* Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D
* Ridge Racer 3D
* Resident Evil: The Mercenaries
* LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars

Pilotwings and Steeldiver it is then.

Awful launch line-up.

yeah, surprisingly so given the initial announce.

c'mon, lego star wars in 3d will be pretty cool.

Traveller's Tales? It will be awful.

I wish I was 13 again*, and knew the rich kid in school who would buy this so I could play the shit out of it but not drop the ££s on it.

*I dont wish I was 13 again....but you get my point.

really? i'm pretty psyched for SFIV, Mercenaries (the bonus mode in RE4 was great!) and that Ghost Recon game being done by the XCom dude

does seem like it would be more prudent to see if they are good bundles during the holiday season, or just wait for the inevitable first revision

oh WOW did not know Ghost Recon was Nu-X-Com, guess that's happening day-one too.

yep, it's turn-based ^_^ probably won't have any overhead strategy though - none of Gallop's post-X-Com games have had base building, just the tactical portions. still very intriguing.

Confirmed day 1 list from gamasutra
Asphalt 3D (Ubisoft)
Bust-a-Move Universe (Square Enix)
Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D (Ubisoft)
Crush 3D (Sega)
Dead or Alive Dimensions (Tecmo Koei)
Dual Pen Sport (Namco Bandai)
Lego Star Wars 3: The Clone Wars (LucasArts)
Madden NFL Football (EA Sports)
Nintendogs & Cats (Nintendo)
Pilotwings Resort (Nintendo)
Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D (Konami)
Rabbids Travel in Time (Ubisoft)
Rayman 3D (Ubisoft)
Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D (Capcom)
Ridge Racer 3D (Namco Bandai)
Samurai Warriors Chronicles (Tecmo Koei)
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked (Atlus)
Steel Diver (Nintendo)
Super Street Fighter IV 3D (Capcom)
The Sims 3 (Electronic Arts)
Super Monkey Ball 3D (Sega)
Super Street Fighter IV 3D (Capcom)
Thor: God of Thunder (Sega)
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Shadow Wars (Ubisoft)
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell 3D (Ubisoft)

let me point out:
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked (Atlus)
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked (Atlus)
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked (Atlus)
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked (Atlus)
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked (Atlus)
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked (Atlus)
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked (Atlus)
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked (Atlus)

Pilotwings Resort (Nintendo)
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked (Atlus)
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Shadow Wars (Ubisoft)

Hell Fuckin Yeah to these 3

Crush 3D (Sega)
Steel Diver (Nintendo)

tentative Hell Yeah about these 2

Anyone else get the feeling that they are rush releasing this to get it out before the end of the financial year?
most the games that are ready at launch are cheap ports, features like the VC shop and video playback aren't gong to be ready for launch & will come with a firmware upgrade at an unspecified date - in fact if you want to transfer the DSiware games you bought to the 3DS so you can sell your DSi the promised software solution to that is not going to make launch either.

http://www.myconfinedspace.com/wp-content/uploads/tdomf/135820/poster_harshing_buzz-475x700.jpg

again, the bottom line for me is that I can almost certainly resell it for what I paid for it within the first three months if i don't like it.
if you don't think these things are gonna be sold out for six months you gotta be crazy.

Cave Story 3DS
- actually 2.5d like NSMB
- more content developed w/ Pixel
- retail version, not downloadable

Lots of UK places are doing sub-£200 preorders now.

At sub-£200 I am actually getting pretty tempted. Still probably wont actually pre-order one, and therefore miss out.

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked (Atlus)

As much as I love that game and think it is maybe the best DS game, I just can't imagine how 3DS will contribute to it

Ok, just ordered from tesco for a NUTS price of £157.60.

http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.210-8270.aspx

no way they are going to honour that. but worth a try!

Well yeah, that's what I figured.

Why did they ruin Kid Icarus, argh.

how can one ruin Kid Icarus

I loved that game as a kid.

No one agrees with me, I know.

C/D: Kid Icarus

holy shit, the music from this post is still live somehow!
http://tofuhut.blogspot.com/2006/07/respect-due-glisten-hirokazu-hip.html

So good

I wanted the new game to be more like Mario Galaxy, I guess. A 3D game world that still evokes the old game. But instead they made it in an anime style that feels weird to me with that property.

Of course I'd also like an updated sidescroller but I know those don't tend to sell well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7detDcmMKY

i'm still not entirely sure just WHY i've preordered this as I hate 3D in general and none of the immediate launch titles screams MUST HAVE but i suppose reselling the thing for face value after a month or three of testdriving is reason enough to have a go at it.

I had a couple of chances to buy one with a free game for $300 but couldn't be bothered. Maybe I dunno another £160 deal will emerge and I'll just import it.

Because, you know, your pound is so pissweak that we can't ever go wrong atm.

why in the FUCK is this not launching with Layton in the US

cos they still want to sell you Layton 4 before you get this one

(tho wouldn't be surprised if Layton 4 never makes it abroad - its got a bonus RPG thats probably not worth their time localising)

DO you know why I am stoked for the 3DS: every screen shot from a 3DS game in the new Nintendo Power has a red bar at the bottom w/all caps warning "2D IMAGE OF A 3DS GAME." Until they get the ability to publish 3D images, this hilarity will ensue!

btw HOLY FUCK LAYTON RPG!

big-ass article about Julian Gollop's Ghost Recon. sounds awesome! bonus points for the subtle Sid Meier quote (the whole "interesting choices" thing).

Iwata: Well, I feel that I've started to understand, little by little, what makes Ocarina of Time special. Of course, the Nintendo 3DS version of Ocarina of Time is crammed with interesting things that weren't in the Nintendo 64 version, but we'll wait to talk about those the release.
http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/3ds/how-nintendo-3ds-made/4/9

IWATA YOU FUCKIN TEASE!

I have pre-ordered (Cosmos Black).

I have not pre-ordered any games?

Perhaps I should do this!!

i think a gamefly subscription is a better idea than buying a bunch of games as the first run of stuff will likely include three good games and a slew of shitty half hour playtime gimmick runs

one of which is Pilotwings, apparently very low in content - have it preordered though cos Tesco had it for £10, couldn't say no at that price

Oh, we are selling these already btw.

Are you also selling any promotional items, like e.g an actual toy poodle puppy that never grows up or dies? I would pay a premium for one of those along with my Nintendogs. (Do you mean you physically have the games and can sell them to ppl or just that ppl can pre-order them btw?)

Nah, all our stuff is second hand, the couple of units we've got in stock so far are presumably review consoles that people have ditched early. No games yet! But the consoles we have are properly on sale, yeah. At admittedly ridiculous prices.

Well yes, I was a bit confused! Oh well, I'd best go and pre-order Nintendogs then :) Oh but I can't decide which one! Possibly Toy Poodle for the pomeranian. Argh! I'm going to have to decide what to name my pups too!

So much pressure!

i think a gamefly subscription is a better idea than buying a bunch of games as the first run of stuff will likely include three good games and a slew of shitty half hour playtime gimmick runs

OTM; this is what I'm doing (except for Ghost Recon, which I will be buying even though it's basically just a DS game). Devil Survivor and OoT 3DS are supposedly aiming for June release dates, though, so it shouldn't be TOO long before there's a bunch of stuff I covet. plus it's not like I don't have 43843546843413547311327 DS games to work through in the meantime.

Ok, spent about an hour with one of these this morning. The 3d sweet spot is a lot less restrictive than I'd feared it'd be, you can actually move left to right a good couple of inches before it blurs. The 3D effect seems to work best with the slider at 30-40%, beyond that it gets hard to focus (for me). The analogue slider control is fantastic. 3D camera is a bit wow too. Pilotwings is really lovely, but that island feels pretty small, not sure how long it'll keep being fun to fly round. AR and Face Raiders are fun for about 3 minutes each, but pretty pointless really (the face recognition in face raiders decided I was a baby boy, despite the beard).

my big question: it's a ds with a bunch of new gimmicks? or it feels like the hardware/graphix/sound/console feel is much improved?

Hard to say, but it feels like the former so far. If it is more powerful than a DSi, pilotwings definitely doesn't seem to be take advantage of it. Maybe other launch games will.

definitely a big step up from DS graphically, whether 3D is your thing or not is another matter

http://i51.tinypic.com/fz9b7q.gif

is that a bullshot

charging up!

It's definitely a big step up, also disregarding the 3DS. You're going from Playstation 1 graphics to Wii graphics (the Conduit guys ported their engine w/all assets directly to the 3DS to test). Some things even look better than on the Wii, like the lighting (see Resident Evil gif above).

And that's much more important to me than the 3D, to have a Nintendo handheld capable of delivering beautiful 3D games, something the DS never could do.

disregarding the 3D effect*

and the analogue stick

You're going from Playstation 1 graphics to Wii graphics

It doesn't look like that though, because the increase in screen resolution really isn't that noticeable.

PS1 was 320 x 240 (76.8k pixels)
Wii is 853 x 480 (409.4k pixels, so about a 5x improvement)

DS was 256 x 192 (49.1k pixels)
3DS is 400 x 240 (96.0k pixels, so less than a 2x improvemet)

I mean sure, it can throw round more polygons and better textures...but I expect the majority of games on here are going to be flat-textured primary colour nintendo titles, and I think getting those to look better really just comes down to rendering them in higher resolutions.

yeh it can push a lot more polys & has modern shaders etc. whether developers take advantage of this or not well who knows? Capcom seem to be making some effort though.
3DS is 800 x 240 on the top screen btw

xp That's not true at all. The horrible texture capabilities, lighting and blocky polygons of the original DS ruined every 3D game's aesthetic appeal. Not sure you remember how DS games look, but Pilotwings (which, despite your remarks that it doesn't take advantage of the hardware, looks exactly like Wii Sports Resort and uses its assets) and especially Street Fighter 4 definitely look generations removed, not to mention the upcoming high-polish games like Resident Evil.

http://www.aussie-nintendo.com/up/news/kingkongspewfactoryds.jpg

You never wanted to see a 3D game on DS. They were all butt-ugly.

Compare Resident Evil gif above to the DS equivalent

http://irishgothichorrorjournal.homestead.com/Composicion_Resident_Evil_DS01.jpg

3DS is 800 x 240 on the top screen btw

Yeah, but you only see 400x240 with each eye, so that doesn't really count for anything.

You never wanted to see a 3D game on DS. They were all butt-ugly.

Oh I dunno, not all of them. Just the ones that overstretched. There were plenty that looked fine.

The point though is that 3D games were very much in the minority, maybe because the machine was underpowered, but more (I think) because nintendo core audience doesn't care about fancy graphical abilities anyway. I mean, what proportion of wii games really take advantage of its increased power over, say, an N64? So I'm not saying the 3DS isn't capable of more powerful stuff than older machines, I'm saying that it having those capabilities doesn't mean people will bother to make use of them.

(c/w iphone gaming at the moment - it's capable of infinity blade, but 99% of the titles on there look like angry birds, cos that's what portable and/or casual gamers seem to want more of, plus they're a shitload cheaper to develop).

... are you saying most Wii games look like N64 games????
have you played either recently, or are you just going by memory? cos N64 is not how you remember.

No no, I'm saying these aren't platforms where people give a shit about the abilities of the hardware.

Hey, maybe I'll be wrong and in a year's time we'll see hundreds of beautiful polygonal 3DS games. I won't complain if it happens! Just not holding my breath.

probably a mix of both. anyway my 3DS has finished charging. here we go!

I mean, what proportion of wii games really take advantage of its increased power over, say, an N64?

All the 3D games I'd say. Mario Galaxy is a graphically fancy game that's pushing the hardware, and that's a big part of the reason it's good and popular. If anything, a game like Metroid Prime 3 demands a more powerful hardware.

Also, while the 3DS launch software selection is so-so like launches often are, none of the games are Angry Birds-like and Nintendo made a whole speech at GDC rejecting the micro-priced model. The iphone example won't fit, that's why they put visuals to the forefront with this system. That's why they're putting out a 3D epic as the first Mario game, and not another 2D throwback.

And 3D games are in the vast majority for this launch (14 out of 15), and will remain so through the system's lifetime, so already we're seeing why the new hardware makes a difference.

Nintendo made a whole speech at GDC rejecting the micro-priced model

Micro price isn't actually their problem though, it's the £15-£20 price point that their huge mainstream audience expect to pay for wii or DS games. I don't think devs can afford to make complex fancy-looking games unless they're going to be able to pump them out at £40 each. And I'm sure they'll try doing that with 3DS to begin with, but I don't know whether nintendo handheld owners are going to accept those prices, at least in big enough numbers for that model to stay viable. It just feels more likely to me that, as happened with DS, the vast majority of 3rd party releases will end up aiming at mid-price while ignoring most of the hardware's potential. Just seems naive to me to believe that developers are going to go into development thinking "what's the prettiest game we can make?" rather than "what's the most profitable?" (First party stuff is different obviously, because then it's in their interests to sell the hardware too).

I'm fighting a corner I don't actually want to be in, here. I'd much rather see 3DS succeed as a proper current-gen console with proper current-gen games. It's just a while now since Nintendo have managed that, and meanwhile they're making a LOT of money out of not even trying to. So why change?

first impressions - i like it, but i have my doubts that its the world beater that Nintendo hopes it is.
hardware is a little bit ugly, what were they thinking with that top lid? - AR games are charming but a little janky - 3D takes a little bit to get used to but works great, the 'sweet spot' has a lot of latitude moving back & forward, not much left to right - 3D slider is more of a focusing thing than a strength thing - battery takes far too long to charge - analog stick is awesome there should be two #lefthanded - Pilotwings looks like Wii Sports Resort, including the jaggies - upscaled DS games look kinda blurry, you can force 1 to 1 mode but that looks kinda small.

xp I'm not sure I follow your DS analogy. The DS is generally praised for its amount of 'traditional'/meaty hardcore games in genres like RPG and strategy, even getting main series exclusive releases like Dragon Quest IX.

There's a lot of cheap shit on Wii and maybe we'll see the same on the 3DS. I wasn't really speaking of how well 3rd party developers will do. All I can speak of so far is what we've seen, and what we've seen makes me really happy the 3DS is a much more capable piece of hardware. That was the outset of this discussion, our own impression of the graphics. Imagining a SSFIV port on the DS makes me ill. Actually, outside of Ubisoft, the 3rd party developers seem to embrace the meatier hardware nicely so far. It's the games themselves that haven't been particularly exciting and mostly ports.

My kids are getting one on Saturday, against my advice tbh but hell they were too excited to wait and have saved up by themselves so. Will be interested to check this out but I can't see any release games that make me wanna drop cash for them.

Ha, just played a bit of Pro Evo and now I'm ready to take back everything, cos it looks amazing. Definitely feels closer to PSP than DS.

ok Streetpass Quest is genius, and will guarantee i carry the thing around for the next few weeks

Got my unit. Man I love the Pilotwings series.

amazong offering a 25 buck discount on one game when you order a ds; do i get sf4, pilotwings or... um... i don't think there are any other launch games?

Pilotwings is wonderful, IF you like that sort of thing. Chill-out music in game form, with added high score-honing gameplay.

SF4 is by all acounts the best portable fighter so far, but I'm not into the genre and can't vouch for that.

Aaaah! It's here! It's here! I wasn't expecting it until Monday and as such I have no games!

Er, to Game, or CEX, or Game Focus, or...!

if it makes you feel any better my copy of Ghost Recon shows up today but Amazon says I won't get my 3DS until like Tuesday

btw this year I finally get to go to E3 where I will be Streetpassing like a boss

kids have got theirs but no game yet, seem happy with whatever little gizmos are pre-installed on it, wandering round the house playing the augmented reality thing

soooo sooo undecided on this

waiting for the 2nd iteration: nicer design, better battery, refined firmware

Refined firmware? It's already updated the firmware once, you don't need a new unit for that.

parts costs estimated at $100
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-03-24-why-the-nintendo-3ds-costs-GBP230-article

company in huge markup shocker! unlocked iphone 4 £505, parts cost £125 btw.

Yeah coz nobody does the research or prototyping ot design or development or testing or etc etc.

those are sunk costs. (but the price is based on maximizing profits so i know the manufacturing costs aren't very important either.)

to me it just means the price will go down once they get some competition (oh hai psp2)

i'm skeptical about that - especially comparing the last several DS hardware releases vs. the last several PSP releases. the DS prices keep going up, sadly

i'm PSP2 will be a nice system, but I'm not sure what Sony can do differently in terms of marketing strategy to fight Nintendo, they don't seem to be able to fight Nintendo on one side nor Apple on the other

of course, there's always the possibility that 3DS will underperform due to the price, but maybe that's why they released it in march instead of november...

refined firmware as in gba virtual console and w/e else updates

i honestly will be shocked if you can walk in to any store anywhere and buy these for the next two months; "underperforming" is going to be on an interesting sliding scale

one thing that i've noticed is that films & photos have a preset level of 3D, you can't use the slider to alter them - games manage this cos the game engine is being processed in realtime. but one persons comfort level of 3D effect is different from the next eg. i have it at a very low level with the games so far - the nature film that comes with the first firmware upgrade in the EU has some scenes that look great to me but others that just do not work for my eyes, double images and eyestrain agogo, so there's no way i'm going to be able to watch a whole film on this thing.

based on my own anecdotal experiences today, i don't predict a rousing success for this system, at least immediately. i was able to walk into two stores that had plenty of stock of the system. Best Buy didn't even bother putting up a section with the games - they just threw them onto a wheeled cart with no signs or anything

i dunno, could very well be my own stinginess but i think Nintendo kinda shot themselves in the foot with the $250 pricing

My Nintendogs and Cats have arrived! Hooray, I can play a game! So far I have taken a 3d photo of my Pikachu slippers! Amazing. I can wait for some games I actually want to play to be released...

... for a while!

xpost

I agree; there was only one GameStop in LA which had enough preorders to do a midnight launch, and when I walked by around 7 PM there were only 2 or 3 people in line. I was there when the Wii launched and let me tell you, this was no Wii launch.

personally I think the launch software (both in terms of game availability and system functionality) did more to cripple interest than the price. rabid diehard fans will pay $250, but it's a much harder sell when you're asking that much for something you're pushing out early to make your quarterly earnings statement look robust. plus a lot of people pay for things like these by trading in their old systems, but anyone with any DSiWare basically has to hold on until May if they want to keep all the stuff they've bought.

the DS had a similar launch line up iirc. can't remember how well it sold initially but I don't think it printed money from launch. they need to get demo units in stores, the concept is neat but it's not till you see it in action do you appreciate actually how nifty it is

p.sure my launch game on DS was the yoshi balloon rubbish :/

i read somewhere that launch stock was 3 or 4 times that of DS or Wii. demand is not going to ramp up until they release some must-have software though - guess we'll have till xmas for that.
scanning QR codes is pretty neat!

scan my 68 Beatles, yo

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v509/jobhosle/HNI_0028.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v509/jobhosle/HNI_0029.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v509/jobhosle/HNI_0030.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v509/jobhosle/HNI_0031.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v509/jobhosle/HNI_0018.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v509/jobhosle/HNI_0019.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v509/jobhosle/HNI_0020.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v509/jobhosle/HNI_0021.jpg

mine just showed up at the office! I just spent the last hour showing it off to some work folks, one of whom is going to Gamestop straight after work to get one, so I guess that's going to be this thing's viral trajectory rather than everyone going I WANT IT all at once.

fuccin AR shit is OUT OF THIS WORLD though. I was seriously not expecting it to be so impressive but the moment I realized you could walk around the target I damn near filled the cup. Face Raiders owns too; it is a monstrous amount of fun to run around shooting Jibjab-style floating versions of your own fat head. and they REALLY need to be working on an AR Pokemans Snap RIGHT NOW.

also the build is way more solid than the blue outer casing would have led me to believe; the analog pad in particular feels REALLY solid, like what I wish the PSP's felt like. loving the dashboard update too where you can actually go back to software (at least 3DS software, haven't tried a DS game yet) instead of hard-dropping out of whatever you're playing.

tl;dr: I was fully prepared to be a skeptic but as it turns out this thing owns immensely.

no Club Nintendo points for Ghost Recon tho :( I thought Nintendo was supposed to be going balls-out for third party publishers now?

Ridge Racer is butt ugly. Stay clear, Namco didn't get the memo that this can push more than PS1 polys. Disappointing because the 3D works well enough and it could've been a pretty and mindless arcade racer, perfect for launch. Gonna trade it back and wait for another racer to come along.

amazon just shipped mine!
they're doing $25 off one game and $35 off for two, which is basically buy one get one or get one for ten bucks.
Do i get pilotwings and sf4 for $40 or just sf4 for $10?

also, why did i buy the black?

Pilotwings and SF4. PW perfect between fighting sessions.

A walled garden only works when there is an actual garden within the walls.

The tv ads in the UK are soooo rubbish. "Numpty from Penge" sez "omg! it's like... 3d... and stuff..." and then gurns a bit? I know I know you can't really show the actual 3D really well, but unconvincing numpties in a white room looking a bit simple? I R not advert guru but...?!

I have taken about 100 pics of my Nintendog (Mrs Gale, she responds to Cathy!) and next is a fun game called 'figure out how to move them from 3ds to real world'.

The AR stuff is absolutely sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeet, face raiders is terrifyingly good and will work even better in the pub. A personal highlight was putting a Zelda hat on Mrs Gale but then again give me that option and it's not like I'm NOT going to fall over howling in glee, is it...

I got Ridge Racer and PES2010 with mine. I'm really enjoying PES2010 now I've started a Champions League campaign.
The augmented reality stuff is so good. The potential seems vast.

Yesterday I walked around town for a couple of hours and managed to streetpass ONE person! Hurrah! StreetQuest is pretty brill as well - must go hang out with more nerds. Hmm is that London DS group still meeting up I wonder...

(I er, diverted by Forbidden Planet and walked around JUST IN CASE, presuming, you know - geeks?be shopping? 3ds?)

I have no idea WHERE I might have passed the streetpass person though. He is called Jacky and his favourite game is Ridge Racer...

I've met 10 people on Streetpass, I think almost all were at Victoria/Waterloo/King's Cross stations going by the times. My mii is well on the way to having more of a social life than me.

should be getting mine today! excited!

a social life or a 3ds?

The latter. Social life due to begin in June.

sez you, that's when Devil Survivor Overclocked and OoT are supposed to come out! if Paper Mario 3DS comes out in June too I may have to get a feeding tube installed.

Ghost Recon is REALLY good.

damn this thing is messing up my eyes
i have opinions and wanna share but need time to process

just ordered Pilotwangs for $5, thanx Amazon

so if you play 3DS for like 2 hours and then stare at a plant or your hand will it look 3D?

it looks fucking blurry is what it looks like.

the wow factor here is, for the moment, what you're paying for but WHAT a wow factor.

yeh i still need to go easy on the 3D, max 30 mins. definitely getting easier though.

I'm hoping that the March release is for fanboys and there will be a $50 price drop for November.

I haven't played the 3DS yet but I'm not too impressed with the launch games. The highest scores on metacritic are 85 and 77 (Street Fighter and Ghost Recon). Also, I don't care at all about a remake of Ocarina - been there, done that. And what's up with some of the launch games being dumbed down? I thought 3DS was the capable of pushing dynamic street fighter backgrounds. I've read that Lego Star Wars 3 was completely dumbed down for the 3DS. I was hoping that 3DS would be a good system for me to finally play a Lego game after enjoying the same game at a PS3 kiosk in GameStop. And they cut out multiplayer for the Lego game. Pshaw!

rating be damned, if you like turn-based strategy games Ghost Recon is a winner winner chicken dinner. it's pretty obviously an DS game fancied up with some subtle-but-cool 3D effects but the gameplay is tremendous; it reminds me of epic GI Joe battles back from when I was but a wee bairn.

w/r/t the launch lineup I'm good w/ just Ghost Recon & Pilotwings and then just gameflying the rest (besides, I have Radiant Historia and Monster Tale to play through anyway). if the release calendar for June is accurate then we're supposed to be getting OoT 3DS, Devil Survivor Overclocked, and Cave Story 3DS then so I should at least be good until then (not that I expect the latter two to come through on that schedule).

and the AR stuff really is a winner. not a killer app on the level of Wii Sports or anything but it's definitely software which makes you run around loudly demanding that other people play with it.

otm there; everyone in my office has tried this thing now

playd one at bestbuyand gave me a headache /:

so apparently the 3D Galaga/tilt-controlled Pac-Man (BLORF) is going to include Pac-Man CE (not DX, sadly) and Galaga Dimensions on the cart too! someone please force them to include a wireless (or even netplayable!) Pac-Man Vs so I can buy this goddamn game for the last time ever.

Geez, Steel Diver isn't going to be out here until May - *snoozes*.

Is this what it's like being an early adopter? What a fule I am! Oh well - I still love my Nintendogs, and have now streetpassed TWO people (must have got one at Euston station yesterday).

London ILx0rs! I want to meet YOU! Tell me of your commuting habits and I will stalk you :)

STILL haven't gotten one kerfungled streetpass hit yet ;_;

ditto

http://killscreendaily.com/articles/how-play-3ds-home-screen
^kinda right on. i haven't even PLAYED all the AR games yet but it's still a wonderful toy to carry around. i just haven't built a relationship with it yet

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh. Passed NINE people this evening, but as I checked them, showed my friend, then carried on my way, turns out I have lost ALL those Miis as heroes for streetpass. You need to use them as heroes IMMEDIATELY apparently.
(http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/997614-3ds/58735134).

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH THIS SUX. I didn't know this and now they're all gooooooone, ARGH.

*wailing*

" if you like turn-based strategy games Ghost Recon is a winner winner chicken dinner"

i don't like turn-based strategy games, but "winner winner chicken dinner" sounds fantastic.

what I now think of when I read Ghost Recon + 3D:

http://canvaspaint.org/dc06.png

Cave Story 3DS video footage released and in sharp contrast to the screenshots it doesn't look like a bag of smashed assholes (although of course the 2D pixel art will forever be the king)

Shop channel coming on 6/6/11 pretty much right in the middle of Sony's E3 keynote

also lol at this thread going dead for over a month like three weeks after the system launched

there's no fucking games!
i bought it, fucked around with it for a few days, got a lot of wow that's neat comments and it's been in the charger for maybe three weeks.
compared with my ipad which might as well be handcuffed to me; i woke up at four this morning with a jolt and realized i fell asleep with it next to me and had just knocked it off the bed

forks if you have ipad game recs, post em! I've been using mine like nuts for work stuff but haven't really gamed with it yet. (I know there's another thread for that, but here's the Batman rfi.)

an overgenerous grandmother got one of these for my son for his birthday, it's been a couple weeks and he plays his gameboy advance as much as this

it's fun but feels like you're staring at a magic eye after a while, doesn't lend itself to long sessions

my fave ipad game is stupid zombies

i have a weird eye thing and i can't totally do the 3d all the time, but the visual/sound/size upgrade over the 1st-gen ds i bought myself for CHRISTMAS 2004 is still worth it - i'm actually getting way more mileage out of the AR shit than i ever thought i would (viz. showing it to non-gamer coworkers, friends etc)

and friend codes? i'm 3179-6089-6783

free ipad game recs just now: dungeon raid, zarik, cut the rope lite (buy it if you enjoy it), 100 rogues, natlcapitls, stupid zombies, falling fred (good for a giggle), auditorium, mahjong free, hot springs story lite, spirits, paper train hd, frisbee

other suggestions?

tho tbf i'm not really gaming seriously with the pad yet; every game is a fun gimmick or a brief infatuation
i need to try infinity blade or one of the final fantasy games or starfront

and curious about this... only five bucks!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRULsh4ZfOQ

- Puzzle Quest (at least the first one, haven't played 2) owns so hard on the iPad, it's actually my preferred version
- Carcassonne has a universal version and owns. there are a bunch of good board games for the iPad (although bizarrely Catan is not one of them); check out anything Reiner Knizia did for a good starting point
- I like the iPad versions of SimCity and Civ Rev a whole bunch; the extra real estate is totally worth it

Carcassonne has a universal version and owns

yeah ive played around w/ this & really like it. also the monopoly is p good #_#

ffIII is p tite if ur into rpgs id recommend it over the other two ios remakes

moar

- if you jailbreak you can get snes4iphone and use your Wiimote to play
- WESNOTH HD OWNS if you like srpgs
- Chinatown Wars is way better on the iPad than on the phone although not as good as on DS
- Dominion HD is a really good Risk clone w/ online multiplayer and everything

the update's here!

- free Excitebike 3D
- free Pokemansdex in 3D
- free system transfer thing
- no Link's Awakening GFY NINTENDO
- three bucks for the inferior Mario Land
- also some DSiWare game called PicDun which is apparently a RPG/Picross hybrid? intersting

how do i activate this update?

never mind, figured it out

the DSi/3DS transfer system is being a hater :(

browser terrible as expected, though you can view 3D images & save them to SD card
uk shop prices can gtfo

is 3DS good

good hardware, probably should wait a year for the good games to come out
only got one cos my phat was fucked
shadow wars is excellent if you like fire emblem type games!

there's pretty much one good game a month coming out for the next while, though

- OoT 3DS this month
- Pac-Man/Galaga Dimensions next month
- Devil Survivor 3DS the month after that
- Shinobi 3DS the month after that
- Mario 3DS & the infuriatingly-not-demoed-at-E3 Paper Mario 3DS later this year

Is Devil Survivor 3DS is just a 3D version of DS Devil Survivor?

there's an extra day of content

Ha, it was too hard for me to get very far along in it anyway.

Maybe it also comes with a dumb people setting like Trauma Center 2 courteously did.

pokewotsit
http://i.imgur.com/VVLMh.jpg

folks really aren't playing with this thing, eh? Still haven't gotten a street pass hit.

yeh sales are terrible in UK
took me 200,000 steps before i got a streetpass hit

sales are terrible everywhere, it's getting beat by the PSP ffs

Nintendo won't allow any retailers to put units on demo display here. I've still not even seen one in action ffs.

I got a streetpass hit the first time I had it out and about. Battery life collapsed leaving it in sleep mode with wifi on so I've always left it switched off when not using it since.

oh and I can't believe I haven't brought this up yet, but FOUR SWORDS ADVENTURE COMING FREE TO THE ESHOP IN SEPTEMBER. if it has netplay then it's the best Zelda game being released this year.

kids have had a few streetpass hits but i'm not surprised it's not selling, where the fuck are the must-have games?

if it has netplay

lol

It's hard to appreciate how amazing it feels to play Ocarina of Time with modern graphics and controls (gear interface) until you're rolling around those fields on your own. All cynicism about remakes and lack of original content was just totally depleted within ten minutes. And it really looks really good. So good I'm giddy about sightseeing every regular Hyrule hang-out.

re: OoT, I had always regarded it as the first shot across the bow of Actual Gaming - e.g. the trailblazer for never-ending side-quests padding the length of the game/infuriating "helpers" bothering you every four seconds with instructions/items you use once and then never again - but playing it again now I have to say it's refreshing how little it holds your hand. I mean, Navi gonna Navi but it's not nearly as irritating as it used to be now that other games have pushed that paradigm to the nth degree.

the 3D really is amazing too. MEGADITTOES for the gyroscopic aiming - from now on, whenever I want to show people why they want a 3DS that's what I'm using.

also Donkey Kong 94 is GREAT

nearing the end of my first ever playthrough of OoT
was a bit sceptical of its rep to begin with, but am fully won over now
the 3D & gyro aiming really work as well!

The 3d threw me when I had a go earlier - seeing Link as a little claymation type guy was weird!

finished OoT, was awesome.
don't buy RE Mercenaries, it has one save slot which cannot be reset. smh.

wow that is some bullshit. wasn't going to buy the game anyway but that's fucking ridiculous.

That is incredible. I hope this isn't going to be a trend in the industry. I guess they are trying to combat the used games market, but if I'm paying £40 for a game (or whatever the price is on 3DS), I would expect to be able to replay it as many times as I like.

that is flatly ridiculous and will simply not work.

eh, people said that about on-disc DLC and look where we are now. White Knight Chronicles II has a system where if you want to re-customise your character's appearance, you have to buy an "Avatar Makeover Ticket" from the PlayStation Store! this fuckin generation.

tried a 3ds w/ madden for like 5 minutes, got a headache and had trouble adjusting my eyes to the room later. what gives?

there's an adjustable slider at the side, start low & build up. takes some time to get used to.

You know this resident evil thing isn't as bad as it sounds, it's not like you can finish then game then that's it, it's never playable again. The impression I get is that it's more like the whole structure is a set of timed missions which are designed to be played over and over, and it's just your cumulative stats that aren't deletable. Which sure, is still a pain in the arse, but it's not an entirely new thing - I remember not being able to wipe the high score table on tetris DX for the gameboy colour, for example. It's just that kind of level, really.

finish THE game then that's it

I just bought a 3DS completely on impulse. Fuck. Better be worth it.

I'm sure it'll be worth it eventually... like say, by the holiday season when some more games are out. It just doesn't seem worth it at the moment?

Holiday season is December?

I got Rayman 3D and OOT. The new 3D Mario is what convinced me to jump.

Yeah. Mario Kart should be dope as always, too

Toys R Us is apparently having a sale on launch titles; definitely seek out Ghost Recon Shadow Wars from that bunch if you like strategy games at all - it's my favorite game on the platform so far. get Cave Story off the eshop if you haven't played it before (or just want a portable version of it); also the 3D Excitebike while it's free.

Cheers for the tips. I've not turned the thing on yet so

get Cave Story off the eshop if you haven't played it before (or just want a portable version of it)

Can't find this.

I'm not impressed with the screen. I'd heard there's a sweet spot but in practice it's sort of ridiculous. OOT is orrite.

it's totally not worth it at the moment btw

http://techcrunch.com/2011/07/28/nintendo-cuts-price-of-3ds-in-japan-by-40-to-190-other-markets-to-follow/

FORTY PERCENT

Those of us who already own one will get a load of free VC games.

10 NES games and 10 GBA games, confirming both of those systems are coming to the shop.

ha yes

Sweeet. Might be nice and cheap soon. In other news, apparently the new Pac Man game also has that bullshit single save game that can't be reset or deleted...

woof... 40%

don't know if I can hold out for 3DSi now

really annoyed about early adopting now

Anyone who owns a 3DS system and connects to the Nintendo eShop at least once before 11:59 p.m. EST on Aug. 11 is eligible for the following:

1. Starting Sept. 1, Nintendo 3DS Ambassadors will be able to download 10 NES™ Virtual Console™ games at no charge and before they are available in the Nintendo eShop to the general public. These games, including Super Mario Bros.™, Donkey Kong Jr.™, Balloon Fight™, Ice Climber™ and The Legend of Zelda™, are slated to become paid downloadable games, but Ambassadors get them early for free. Once the paid versions of the games are posted to the Nintendo eShop later in the year, the updated versions will be available to Ambassadors for download at no cost.

2. By the end of 2011, Nintendo will provide Ambassadors with 10 Game Boy Advance Virtual Console games. These include games like Yoshi’s Island™: Super Mario™ Advance 3, Mario Kart™: Super Circuit, Metroid™ Fusion, WarioWare™, Inc.: Mega Microgame$ and Mario vs. Donkey Kong™. These games will be available exclusively to Ambassadors, and Nintendo currently has no plans to make these 10 games available to the general public on the Nintendo 3DS in the future.

this sucks donkey balls. "sorry you wasted seventy bucks - here, have some ROMs!"

it would have been much smarter on their part to give early adopters like fifty bucks in credit on the eshop - admittedly they would have still had to pay the publishers for downloaded games rather than giving out first-party shit exclusively, but unlike with the PSN the install base is super-low so it might be worth it just for the brand equity and to get users involved in the eShop economy. instead they're going with "exclusivity!!!!!" when nobody with a brain could possibly think that they're going to keep stuff like Mario Kart or WarioWare just for folks who bought in early.

in other news, I started a new job which necessitates a long-ass bus ride, so I picked up one of these and urge anyone with a 3DS (or really even just a long commute and a bunch of battery-powered devices - this thing's been a lifesaver for both my Kindle and my iPhone too) to do the same.

it does suck donkey kong balls, but tbh, a price drop from an initial launch price is inevitable, and how often is that early adopters get any sort of reward/payback?

well they get the x amount of time they had to use the device before everyone else

it did kind of own to have one at E3 and get a fuckton of street passes every second; I filled out all the puzzles and got all the way through the Find Mii game once. probably not $70 worth of ownage though.

the really weird thing here is that historically Nintendo's always been the most resistant to price drops - back during 2009 and early 2010 when everyone was calling for them to cut the price of the Wii they held steady and talked about how a price drop would just devalue their unique entertainment opportunity; IIRC they even outright rejected the idea that it would help them get new fans and would only actually attract bargain-hunters. for them to slash so much off the price this early in the 3DS' lifecycle is pretty striking.

you are probably better positioned to know this but i thought there was a ~lot~ of consternation amongst snr execs @ nintendo about the success of the iphone/ipad/other devices & what it meant for the continued profitability of the handheld division? im not surprised theyre being v aggressive w/ the 3DS a large user base seems p vital to them

the success of the handheld division has to be of p strategic importance to the company overall as well, theyre not sony, & getting the 3DS into consumers hands is the first step so

I dunno, seems like a dying platform. I was at toys r us over the weekend and they were selling 3ds games buy 1 get 1 free, meanwhile the equivalent DS games were still selling fullprice.

interestingly enough, there have been a couple of tech sites reporting today that Apple's going to be making both the iPad & iPhone a lot cheaper starting later this year, so it's certainly possible Nintendo might cutting prices to cut those moves off at the knees rather than to go hard against the Vita. I do know that every time Nintendo's talked about iOS & Android games in the past they've always talked about them as completely different sectors of the market that they don't see as releasing a competing product (e.g. "They're making games you can buy for a dollar, we're making ~Entertainment Classics~ like Mario and Zelda games which people don't dispose of so easily"), so if this move is going after those games then it's a pretty striking about-face for them. of course, their revenue's down by more than half from last year - maybe they've just been dickslapped out of complacency w/r/t the gaming market. I personally still think it's a move against the Vita since everyone walked out of E3 talking about how great a value it is at $250 especially in comparision to what you get at that same price point with the 3DS, though.

I really can't wait to read what Malstrom has to say about this; he's been shitting all over the 3DS as something the market's going to reject since forever ago.

this sucks donkey balls. "sorry you wasted seventy bucks - here, have some ROMs!"

^

this is really long, but Malstrom OTM: http://seanmalstrom.wordpress.com/2011/07/29/nintendo-cuts-profit-forecast-by-82/

ennh hes packaging a bunch of received wisdom around a basic 'games were better back then' message all delivered w/ tenuous grasp of grammar/basic writing

we should invite him to ILG, he'd fit right in

i kid.

xxpost +1 for his writing being the opposite of great but I dunno, I don't mind repackaged theory if it makes sense. I also don't really think he's saying that games were better back in the day so much as that Nintendo's biggest success stories all involve them making ballsy moves to differentiate themselves from their competition; whenever Nintendo's M.O. is to follow industry trends but (a) make them technologically superior in some way and (b) give them that ~~~~NINTENDO TOUCH~~~~, they invariably shit their pants in front of the entire market.

Virtual Boy was a ballsy move and a disaster.
SNES followed market trends & was a success.

both 3DS & Vita are going to struggle long term as they fight over a niche audience. gonna get ugly.

yeah fair enough his explicit argument is not that the games themselves were better but that console retail packages were better...

but i think its stupid to compare retail strategies btw a time when the industry was in its infancy and when theres a mature market for the product, also i think consumers perception of value is different now than it was in 85 but im sure any co. could move more units w/ a more attractive out-of-the-box package, but theres a trade-off there too. youd also have to convince retailers, who make most of their money on peripherals (partic. 3rd party peripherals), that they should still essentially take a loss on console sales by packaging fifty controllers and a power pad in box.

id also like to know what finance textbooks specifically cite 2012 as difficult economic year (intro to mayan finance?) & i think his grasp of recession-spending patterns is... uneducated? if anything i think the real problem (as above) w/ the 3DS isnt the handheld price but the software price which he spends v. little time on, or on the underlying factors that drive development costs (and hence retail price for games) upwards.

his argument dismissing the influence of inflation is also p lol

but i think its stupid to compare retail strategies btw a time when the industry was in its infancy and when theres a mature market for the product, also i think consumers perception of value is different now than it was in 85 but im sure any co. could move more units w/ a more attractive out-of-the-box package, but theres a trade-off there too.

I see what you're getting at but the counter-argument is Wii Sports. Wii + Wii Sports may not have been as generous an offering as NES + SMB/Duck Hunt/Track & Field + 2 controllers + light gun + power pad, but it's still a clear concession to out-of-the-box playability and it's safe to say it was pretty instrumental to helping the Wii catch on. Malstrom's point is that these days console manufacturers don't even try to hook you up - their entire sales pitch is CHECK OUT THIS THING - BETCHA CAN'T WAIT TO BUY IT AND THEN SPEND SOME MORE MONEY IN ORDER TO HAVE ANY FUN WITH IT, and exigencies of the industry or not I agree with him that that kinda sucks.

it's also worth noting that at launch the 3DS actually bent over backwards trying to provide entertainment options which don't require a cart (Face Raiders, Find Mii, the puzzle-piece swapping, the music player) but none of them took off because the games were all shallow & lazy as shit and only ever succeeded in spite of themselves (and I like all those games! just couldn't in good conscience ever endorse anyone buying the system just to play them). kinda striking to see the company which recognized SMB and Wii Sports as killer apps throw out the equivalent of Carl Lewis' first pitch.

youd also have to convince retailers, who make most of their money on peripherals (partic. 3rd party peripherals), that they should still essentially take a loss on console sales by packaging fifty controllers and a power pad in box.

(a) retailers make their money on used games, which is why you can even get them at Best Buy now
(b) retailers made money hand over fist off those big ass Guitar Hero games back in the day

I'd bet most prospective 3DS shoppers don't even know about Face Raiders etc. (it's certainly not being demoed at Best Buy/Gamestop). I can't help but agree that the "out of the box" playability did help the Wii a lot, people were able to play it and try it much more easily than say, this Xbox 360 I just got which came with one controller and a 15 minute demo of Modern Warfare 2.

The original DS had a pretty boring line-up too, but it had no competition for those 6 months or so it took to get some decent games out.

The retail strategy thing seems loaded with assumptions. It was the system price that stopped me from buying one at launch (the game prices didn't help). If they had launched at $180, they'd already have my money. Now that Vita is on the way and I need a new iPod Touch, I don't even know if I'll bother at this price.

Does make me wonder though - did Carnival Games sell better than Super Mario Galaxy?

did Carnival Games sell better than Super Mario Galaxy?

in other news, Wal-Mart is apparently going to start selling the 3DS at the new price starting on the 9th, which gives you a few days to snag one for cheap AND register so's you can get 20 ROMs. Devil Survivor Overclocked is supposed to be out later this month too, although its release date has been bumped like three times already so who knows.

oh and Paper Mario 3D still doesn't have a release date :( :( :( if this game doesn't come out I am going to stab EVERYONE.

there's been some talk that the NES games aren't going to be straight ROM dumps, as Nintendo have indicated that multiplayer & other features will be added at some future point. who knows, doubt they know what they are doing at this point.

if they're still going to give away DLs of Four Swords Adventure like they said at E3, I sure hope that mindset carries over and they add internet multiplayer.

also my favorite sub-topic to emerge from this whole 20-free-games thing is all the vidya game dorks on SA & GAF going GUYS WHAT IF MOTHER 3 WAS ONE OF THE GAMES THEY GAVE AWAY

hahaha no

Would be good though...

all would be forgiven

With all these nice price drops, etc, I picked one up from Morrison's yesterday for £120, which seems good (though I think Amazon were doing them for £115 yesterday). Got Ghost Recon, which is cool and was pretty blown away by the AR mini games. Haven't turned 3D down from Full so far.

http://h5.abload.de/img/untitledv84d.png

it is:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/12082922/games/69799455.jpg

Have been playing Ocarina of Time 3D and have to say that the UI rewrite is outstanding. I remember being annoyed by the menu system in OoT last time I went back to it (playing it on the gamecube), but this is great. It's also now been sufficiently long since I played it last, let alone completed it last, that I'm really enjoying it.

Got SFIV on the way, then I think it's really only Steel Diver (kinda) and Pilotwings that I'm interested in until some more stuff drops, Cave Story 3D in particular, as long as they don't charge silly money.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_ecesGCI3U

ok this looks pretty rad

xpost despite the license, Ghost Recon Shadow Wars is easily the best non-OoT 3DS game; it's like having a portable X-Com. I think it's cheap now that everyone's frantically trying to get rid of all their 3DS stock.

can't stop playing Aura Aura Climber. has that 'just one more go' thing, especially the endless mode.

holy fuck, my copy of Devil Survivor Overclocked just showed up! guess that means there are THREE 3DS games worth owning now.

Apparently no plans to release Devil Survivor over here in Europe :(

boy they really fucked this up six ways to sunday didn't they

First batch of free games just went up. This is what happens:

- you read the notification that tells you how to download the games
- you have to write down or memorise the instructions which are (I might have the names wrong but I don't care):

1. open the eshop
2. tap "settings / other" in the menu thing
3. open "titles you've downloaded"
4. keep tapping down until you get to the first free game
5. tap "re-download"
6. download the game
7. the system takes you back to step 2 and you have to do THE WHOLE THING 10 MORE TIMES

Right at the very bottom of the free games there's a thing called "Nintendo 3DS Ambassador Certificate". It's five times bigger than any of the games because it's a video. This is what's in the video: four minutes of SIDE-SCROLLING TEXT, with REALLY BAD CHEAP MUZAK, that tells you HOW TO DOWNLOAD ALL THE GAMES YOU HAVE JUST DOWNLOADED. It's four minutes because after 30 seconds IT DOES IT ALL AGAIN IN LIKE FIFTY DIFFERENT LANGUAGES.

I hope a hoos reads and enjoys this because it is seriously THE STUPIDEST THING I HAVE EVER SEEN, EVER, including PT Cruisers and wars.

Thanks for posting that - had no message or anything to tell me that the games have arrived but went through that method and they're all there!

On a non-Ambassador tip, anyone know/able to find anything more exact than "September" for when Four Swords will be available for free? I can only find the vague month-long timeline.

took me longer to rearrange my home page icons than downloading the games themselves
folders plz

Right at the very bottom of the free games there's a thing called "Nintendo 3DS Ambassador Certificate". It's five times bigger than any of the games because it's a video. This is what's in the video: four minutes of SIDE-SCROLLING TEXT, with REALLY BAD CHEAP MUZAK, that tells you HOW TO DOWNLOAD ALL THE GAMES YOU HAVE JUST DOWNLOADED. It's four minutes because after 30 seconds IT DOES IT ALL AGAIN IN LIKE FIFTY DIFFERENT LANGUAGES.

wow.

yeah, wow.

it's SIDE-SCROLLING?

is it in 3d

it doesn't tell you how to to download all the games you downloaded
it tells you to touch the button in the bottom screen if you want to receive push notifications of future ambassador updates

for 4 minutes with bad muzak

extraordinary

I ran all the way back to this thread (ilx in general!) in flapping excitement as I see there is a 999: 9 hours, 9 persons 9 doors sequel coming to the 3DS!

trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAqGs441qzU

gubbins: http://www.forums.court-records.net/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=20675&sid=a5f2303d642903c9509ec1965ded92ab

I knooooow that 999 was a game where you essentially made four choices and played some slightly rub puzzles (and saved the world with a sudoku hurrah!), but I flipping loved the story with all its ridiculous twists, and it was full of excellent jokes so A+ on the old localisation thing. I hope it will be the same with the localisation for the sequel! Which will happen! And I will look forward to playing! Heck yes! (etc etc will that do, please localise it o decision makers).

No idea where the Phoenix Wright/Layton game is (my 3ds is sitting at home whilst I am playing pokemon emerald on a DS phat - games?! please?!). Oh, I lie, I play Mario Picross on it...

Robot rabbit and more gratuitously dressed laaaydeez doesn't look massively great but hey anime tropes/schanime tropes, I'll still play it...

"yellow globules of fat dripping down the walls" etc etb blergh. Hurrah!

yeah 999 was... not well executed, to say the least

http://news.punchjump.com/2011/09/08/nintendo-3ds-right-analog-stick-expansion-device-detailed/

SIGH

seriously, fuck this device. What a disaster for nintendo

I take it you're not going to buy the revision with the second nub built in?

waiting till the 13th before i throw my toys out of the pram

as long as Paper Mario 3D still exists as a possibility, my 3DS isn't going anywhere

aesthetically, what a giant piece of shit!

http://timenerdworld.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/famitsu-3ds-analog-joystick.jpg

Still just a rumour, yeah? Could be a Monster Hunter peripheral.

I like how against all odds they keep finding ways to make the ergonomics of this system even worse. also it's kinda weird how the right-side nub is so much smaller than the main one.

Apparently the expansion cradle thing also has an R1 trigger, and an R2 trigger, and an L2 trigger...but no L1! At least until they release an expansion for the expansion.

'Bravely Default: Flying Fairy' is Squares greatest game title yet. How do they come up with them??

"I like how against all odds they keep finding ways to make the ergonomics of this system even worse"

Dunno about that - think this added width and grip would improve prolonged stick gameplay.

Excited about Monster Hunters - both Tri G and the new 4, which seems to take new directions with more open geography. Finally some great mario land footage as well.

That analogue bolt-on was confirmed. By Nintendo. As a first-party peripheral. I don't even.

Thankfully. Launching it with a single stick was laughable. Now any genre can conceivably be played with optimal controls.

I like the idea of a 2nd stick - still slightly baffled how they could miss the last ~7 years of people saying how shit it was that the PSP had only one analog stick yet think that was OK, but it'll be a welcome addition I'm sure, giving better flexibility as to what games could be put on the system. Can't say I care for the aesthetic, but I also don't care about the aesthetic that much either, especially if it makes the DS more comfortable. Can't believe how much the swap from DS Phat to 3DS is crippling my mitts.

In other news, "Four Swords coming in September" apparently means 28th of September. Jerks.

lots of good games next year. in Japan :/

apparently Devil Survivor 3DS is pretty hard to find (according to GAF Atlus printed even fewer copies than usual since the 3DS' install base is, well, yeah), so buy the fuq out of it if you see it in the wild

http://www.engadget.com/photos/nintendo-3ds-extended-slide-pad-add-on-first-hands-on/#4450936

in other news, the 3DS Fire Emblem game looks sick and I really hope the Final Fantasy EBA ripoff makes it stateside.

really intrigued by this game, some sort of 1st person Ico/RPG/dungeon crawler apparently? no gameplay footage yet though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XShi9CxSfc

Aliens: Infestation looks like a must-get:

http://www.gamesradar.com/aliens-infestation-hands-preview/

between this, Kirby Mass Effect, and Solatorobo (this will either be a bunch of fun or a bunch of disquieting furry nonsense) there's a whole bunch of DS stuff coming out I need to play

the new Kirby game is awfully fun

free Zelda 4 Swords in the EU store now!

like it a bunch so far! kinda sucks that you can only save at the end of a dungeon/level/whatever but it's still good. need to find other folks to play this with though.

also Ghost Trick is $15 on Amazon right now; I figure that's as cheap as a real new copy's ever going to get so I took the plunge.

Solatorobo is pretty great so far! the furry factor is kind of offputting but not enough to warrant not playing a very well-crafted little action-RPG.

Four Swords with 3-4 players is one of the funnest multiplayer gaming experiences I've ever had. Kind of wish I had a DS that could download things just for that game.

Ghost Trick is easily worth $15!

speaking as a guy who has only enjoyed, like, three or four point-and-click adventure games (aside from the godlike stuff LucasArts used to crank out during the early-mid 90s of course) I have to say that I agree with you so far. it's like Rube Goldberg meets Indiana Jones & The Fate of Atlantis. also the art style is intensely gorgeous.

Have you all seen the Animal Crossing 3DS trailer yet?

It is amazing. I've watched it over and over. The swimming is even more glorious a rapture than I thought it would be. Gimme gimme.

Paper Mario 3D looks brain scramblingly good too!

This just looks perfect http://www.gametrailers.com/video/review-super-mario/723912

Update on that: It absolutely is, and my favorite 3D Mario at this point.

Got one of these for Christmas, loving it a huge amount more than I expected to. The new Mario is definitely my favourite since 64, which is saying a lot really.

And you know way up thread where I ordered a mis-priced one from Tesco, pre-release, and then they cancelled the order on me? Thought I'd try sneaking onto the ambassador programme by using that original e-receipt...and it worked!

Anyone doing friend codes or anything? Not sure it's actually worth it, but anyway I'm 3480-3015-9228.

um, I mean 9338.

just got the free Kid Icarus download code
on the plus side the 3D backgrounds aren't awful like they are in screenshots, the control layout can be customised and, well it was "free".
on the negative side ... its Kid Icarus which is not a good game.

that's the 23rd free game they've sent out btw!

0430-8257-7773 btw, send me pictures on Swapnote!

I'll send you my offensive 9/11 swapnote

Spent my lunch break playing through the first world on Mario 3D Land - did some levels a couple of times when I missed a star coin - can see myself getting a little obsessive over the star coins like I did with NSMB DS/Wii. It's definitely fun so far.

Got Mario Kart 7 at the same time - not put much into it yet, but, eh, it's another Mario Kart?

I got my Kid Icarus code from Nintendo, but when I tried to use it it said it had already been used! :(

It's another Mario Kart, but it has some nice additions that make it good fun. The difficulty is staying interested in it when it's difficult to play it on multiplayer with people you know.

I only wish they'd get rid of the spiky blue shells.

difficult difficult

Resident Evil demo up in UK eshop woot woot

xpost: yeah, spiky blue shells have always been the worst. If all power-ups were distributed equally, it would be fine, but as front runner you can't cripple someone's race with a blue shell - in fact, 90% of the time all you get are banana skins.

Ooh. Does Resident Evil demo need the 2nd thumb stick thing?

nah, no game requires the 2nd thumbstick to be played
demo is quite short but fun, like RE4 in an RE1/RE2 environment
(there's also a Cooking Mama demo lol)

i'm playing mario land 3d and realizing i can't really enjoy the 3D
i'm ready to finally call it and say that I got fleeced
this system is never gonna not suck. I miss my ds.

u funny bitter dork :p
Cooking Mama is atrocious, who buys this shit?

wtf, 3D Land is fucking awesome! second-best game I played all year behind Ghost Trick.

i can't play it with the 3d on because my eyes cross!

I just played Mario Kart 7 online for the first time. Unfortunately you can't just race against people on your friends list + bots, you and friends have to race against other randoms from around the world. In a way it's more interesting cos other players are more brutal than bots (they'll bash you out of the way without hesitation) but not the greatest if you just want to have a private game with someone. Booo.

you can set up a community for yr friends, no?

Really? I'll have to look into it more. I'd love to be able to arrange games with friend list only people.

oh ps my code is 1805 2767 3403 if anyone wants to be 3DS internet bffs

i can't play it with the 3d on because my eyes cross!

You can switch between innie and outtie 3D on Mario 3D Land - maybe try switching? I have the 3d effect fairly low - maybe about 1/3 of the way, as I find that's the best look. Love being able to judge whether a long jump will actually take me far enough to stomp a goomba, with the extra perspective it gives.

Nintendo sent me a new Kid Icarus code. Yay!

resident evil (the demo) is great from a technical standpoint and seems to find a nice balance between new and old RE but I might still be done with the series

lots of announcements today
particularly pleased that EU is getting Picross-e, Layton 5, new Fire Emblem this year

man Paper Mario isn't ever going to come out is it :(

so fuckin hyped for this!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3mAnZ40dgI

has anyone gotten a 3ds xl yet?
thinking about getting one soon.

yeah, don't

if they included that second analog, i might've bitten this time, but eh

i should mention that i don't have a 3DS or DS at the moment.

xp ^^^

As it stands, the XL is just a larger 3DS, nothing more. And it is a lot larger - try and see one IRL, it's huge, and pushes the boundaries of acceptable size for a portable system IMO. Unless you have really bad eyesight, save £40-50 and get the regular 3DS.

i got one, like it much better than the regular 3DS
much more comfortable to hold, better build quality, better buttons

im thinking of grabbing one.. what are some of the best games for the system? i'm looking at super mario 3d land, pushmo, ocarina of time, and maybe theatrhythm

I definitely want to upgrade to a 3DSXL. For me, the regular 3DS is way too small. After picking up a DSiXL a few years back, I can't play on those tiny screens anymore - it feels like shit. Admittedly, I only play my portable consoles at home or in a hotel room when on the road, so portability isn't really a consideration. I'm trying to hold out until we get a better color here in the US as I don't really want a blue or red one.

But one of the problems with the 3DS remains that the games library is still really lacking after a year and a half. I mean, I sort of love the Mario stuff (kart, land), but it's not exciting the way it once might have been - not innovative enough - too many formulaic releases in too few years. I still buy and play regular DS games (such an amazing library) a lot more than any game that has been released for the 3DS. And the cross platform stuff, like FIFA, is always going to be better on VITA with the higher resolution screen, multi-touch and the second stick. The other main problem is that 3D pretty much sucks (I almost always have just switched that off).

xp
yeh those are solid choices, Kart 7 is prob the best in the series due to the online & lack of snaking
one big plus of the XL i forgot to mention is it makes the 1-to-1 pixel versions of DS/GBA/GB games playable, as the reg 3DS versions feel like the screen sizes are as big as postage stamps

The main reason I want to upgrade to the XL is to play the ambassador games on a decent sized screen.

Essential 3DS games list...

Mario Kart 7
Super Mario 3D Land
VVVVVV

the game library has been lacking in the west though, localizations are taking a long time to trickle through - so many games out in Japan that i want to play that have no western release yet. region locking was such a poor decision ugh.

re: VVVVVV, i've played the PC version already.. is it a pretty straight port?

VVVVVV is a straight port (minus the level editor, but does come with a bunch of bonus levels). I also have it on PC, but for me it was easier on 3DS (I disliked using the arrow keys and spacebar controls, which always felt a little laggy on my PC for some reason). A normal person doesn't need both versions though.

super mario 3d land is excellent. new super mario brothers 2 is way better than internet people would have you believe.

kid icarus would be flat out astonishing except for the cruelly twisted control system.

Yeah I got the XL. If you're thinking of getting a 3DS, XL is the only way - seriously. System size really isn't an issue since we're not dorks who put these things in our actual pockets, but the size of the screen is. The original screen was just too small too appreciate the vast 3D games ala Ocarina, and 3DLand looks AMAZING on the screen. Seriously such a visually pleasing game and maybe the best Mario ever made..? NSMB2 is lacking in challenge and challenging creativity, though. Hoping for another 'Land'.

Also if Monster Hunter ever gets localized a smaller screen would be blasphemous.

ooooooh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ynm0dZ5mcTY

tried for first time both 3DS and 3DSxl. For me XL seems miles better, in fact the normal 3DS seemed almost too tiny.

Very impressed with the 3D effect, although I was trying this in store and so the thing was nailed down which meant a very steady view. I don't know how well it would look if it was mobile and moving around a lot.

Do all normal 3DS titles work for the XL then?

XL has exactly the same guts, its just a hardware revision.
Playing Picross e at the moment, ah how i love picross.

Monster Hunter 3G fiiiiiiiiiinally confirmed for western release for March next year! (Also WiiU version with online that can be played together, saves shared etc)

Better than my dreams. Sync saves is amazing because I mostly want to play this series portable but now I can pop in the HD version from time to time for big screen & online. Honestly don't think I've ever been this happy for a game announcement but then Monster Hunter basically rejuvinated my gaming life.

fuck yes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGKq4uK7N90

Fuck yes indeed. No confirmation of release outside of Japan yet though right?

not yet, probably not going to be announced until after Layton 5 is released next month
there are also trailers for Ace Attorney 5 & Layton 6 out there

So anyone playing Fire Emblem? I'm on a European 3DS so not yet.

yup, dig it. fire emblem is second only to disgaea in delivering that "i love it when a plan comes together" feeling. the localization (american version at least) seems really good too, i actually kinda chuckled at a few of the joeks.

yeah i'm really digging this too. love the cutscene animation style

I think I'm going to pick it up at some point - too much of a backlog right now to buy new games (currently finally playing Dragon Quest IV!).

nice

Playing the Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate demo on my 3DS XL this weekend. Get it there or on the Wii U.

Controls really well with the new "monster targeting" camera (not a lock on). 2nd joystick add-on which I bought is not supported by demo and an unfriendly "the circle pad pro is not supported by this software" message greets you without letting customers know the final game does. That's typical - the weapons aren't explained unless you go into the digital menu, you're given a shorter time limit than in the real game and one of the two missions is the notorious asshole Plesioth, dubbed the most annoying monster in the series for his 'hip checks'. No noob will have a good time with him for a while.

http://www.extagia.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Monster-Hunter-3-Ultimate-Plesioth.jpg

Anyway it looks gorgeous on the handheld. A good step up from the Wii version.

I'm curious how well this new release does here. I think some markets in Europe are prepped for it like the particular German market. I hope the localization of MH4 is already decided on regardless of sales because it looks crazy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv3U2p-hxL0

tried the demo last night, considering getting a frankenstick for it. Castlevania demo is not v good
really happy Etrian Odyssey 4 is coming to EU though, hopefully other Atlus games will follow
being a Euro Atlus fan is a tough gig :(

Quite a few people seem head over heels about the EO series. What's its big draw?

its just a really really hard old school dungeon crawler, you draw the layout of each floor of the dungeon on the lower screen as you progress. super niche but if you are a fan of the genre its one of the best. EO2 & EO3 never made it to EU so expectations were low - there is the possibility that it will be digital only, but i can live with that.

Shin Megami Tensei 4 announced for US release in summer 2013
seriously thinking about buying a US 3DS at the moment, being an EU Atlus fan is torture, the EU Devil Survivor Overclocked fiasco this weekend acting as a tipping point (game takes 2 years to get localized, is released with gamebreaking bugs that should have been caught in the first 30 minutes of QA)
ugh FU Nintendo & yr region locking

really excited for this! also fingers crossed for a localization of monster hunter 4

i love my 3ds

XL or og?

XL

MH remains a portable series for me, love sleep-moding my way through long MH3U sessions.

Need to pick up Luigi's Mansion.

yeh i bought MH3U digitally, the ridiculous high price being offset by the fact that i'll be playing it off & on for years to come (well, until MH4 gets localized)
strong rumours from Siliconera that Bravely Default is coming West finally
also NIS America are oddly handling the Etrian Odyssey 4 release in EU & Aus, hopefully they will take over publishing Atlus games from Ghostlight

I tried the MH3 demo and either I totally didn't get it, or the gameplay in that series can't have changed since, like, PS1 days. It felt massively simplistic and clunky and I had HUGE 3D CAMERA ISSUES for the first time in years etc.

ah yeh, the demo doesn't really give the best impression. The controls are little clunky and take a little getting used to, but once you get the hang of them it becomes second nature. i get round the 3D camera issues by the power of Frankenstick.

i know MH3U on 3ds was massively popular in japan, were they all using circle pad pros or just making due with the bottom screen camera controls?

they're used to obtuse MH camera controls, hence the infamous PSP "claw" - i'm too much of a western wimp for that

http://n00bshow.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/PSP_Claw.jpg

wow lmao

analog nub is a legendary design failure

just saw this posted on r*ddit: http://i.imgur.com/bkYAxT2.jpg

christ

haha! the 3DS version has a button for centering on the monster you are fighting which is an improvement over PSP, but yeh Frankenstick is the (ugly) answer

whaaaaaaat?

wait the 3ds is region locked?

<i>i know MH3U on 3ds was massively popular in japan, were they all using circle pad pros or just making due with the bottom screen camera controls?

― diamonddave85</i>

I bought a cpp for this game and I've only used it once and discarded it so far, 30 hours in. The new target camera makes it almost obsolete for land battle. Underwater there are still times where you'd like a second stick. So no, you don't really use the touch camera except when navigating the map, where it works pretty decently.

Monster Hunter is definitely a portable series for me. The series is 80% of my game life but I'v been so busy i haven't really gotten deep into Ultimate yet. Enjoy most of the changes, though.

Need to get that Luigi, previews made it look like a thoroughly well-crafted world.

Yeah, it's region locked.

I've really been enjoying Luigi's Mansion so far. I wasn't sure about buying it but this review convinced me: http://www.1up.com/features/review-bending-genres-luigi-mansion ("Dark Moon could easily have been the latest Telltale or Double Fine project" YES PLEASE). It's good.

seems weird after they left x generations of handhelds okay to region lock one! seems a shame that you can't just buy a game wherever

It is a shame, as I really want to play the new Umihara Kawase game...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mqqi4l2cPM

Some DSi games were region locked too, so it was pretty obvious they'd be moving in that direction :(

Nintendo you used to be cool, what happened man

prettiest boxart i've seen in quite a while - game is Etrian Odyssey: Millennium Maiden, a remake/reimagining of EO1
http://i.imgur.com/AkgfgCA.jpg

Umihara Kawase is getting a western release?!? probably digital only but i'll take it
http://www.siliconera.com/2013/04/08/farewell-umihara-kawase-is-planned-for-overseas-release/

EO with a "new, story-focused direction"? err

EO:MM looks interesting, but i'll see how the reviews end up (if it gets a localization)

also, new MH4 gameplay video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTqAZO5vitU

pretty crazy that umihara kawase is getting localized! is that actually a new game or yet another remake?

supposedly a new game although some parts of levels in the trailer looked familiar
would not be surprised if the original games levels were included as a bonus

yeah, I watched the trailer as well but it's hard to tell. pretty rad either way.

only a couple of hours in but Fire Emblem as good as expected, really nice production values - but wtf with everyone's feet?!?
lots of game announcements yesterday, Bravely Default finally getting a western localization etc etc. really intrigued however by two of the newer games in the downloadable Guild series from Level 5
The Starship Damrey is an adventure game where "your character wakes up in total darkness and must figure out where, and who, they are." - apparently there is no tutorial, no manual, no instructions etc. http://youtu.be/Yo8eo9rDtIc?t=4s
Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale "stars a 10-year-old boy who lives in a town where monsters from Japanese TV shows appear every Friday" - http://youtu.be/Yo8eo9rDtIc?t=1m5s

Donkey Kong Country Returns is a masterpiece. Truly exceptional level design both from a gameplay perspective and a visual one. Puts the NSMB series to such shame I'm not sure I can even hold on to the positive things I've said about certain entries. Ironically, as a 2D platformer it captures many of the strenghts of the Galaxy-games that NSMB never were close to: Mainly making each level a world of its own, with new mechanics, skills to master, visual treats and delicious details.

I will say this is (was, 3 years ago) a return to Retro making GOAT contenders. Don't know why I didn't buy it back on the Wii but sure makes playing the 3DS version now even sweeter.

For sure one of the best 2d platformers of all time.

that good huh? was never a big fan of the original Rare games so haven't been paying it that much attention.
Starship Damrey was a big letdown, v barebones & linear, so much wasted potential :(
Fire Emblem Awakening on the other hand is the best in the series & an amazing piece of work, fully deserves all the plaudits its been getting

Not a big fan of the SNES Donkey Kong eithers apart from the music.

i have a free MH3U download code for 3DS if anyone wants it.
you have to be in EU and registered your 3DS between 3rd June and 31st July 2013 on the Club Nintendo site.
so either just bought/about to buy or never bothered registering but still have the code.
details here http://www.nintendo.co.uk/Misc-/Campaigns/Monster-Hunter-Gift-Hunt-Together-Promotion/Monster-Hunter-Gift-Hunt-Together-Promotion-760515.html
interestingly it will also count towards this promo http://www.nintendo.co.uk/Misc-/Nintendo-3DS-So-Many-Games-Promotion/Overview/Overview-750393.html

I'd be interested if you still have it, I'll be buying one in a couple of days (for Animal Crossing).

sent you a message via webmail, let me know if you got it!

Got it, thanks!

Didn't know so many designs had come out. The system's only two years old!
http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/44317/3ds-colours-and-special-editions/

Tempted to get an XL for $150 this weekend.. or the new Zelda and M&L editions at regular price. Is it still a bad idea?

Personally 3DS has been killing it software-wise this year, bought a lot of games and almost all have been brilliant (fuck NSMB2 though). Most of the special editions come with a download code or the game preloaded rather than a physical game, which is a bit of a problem as Nintendo refuse to set up an account system. I'd wait for Black Friday deals on an XL and buy the physical games that you want rather than deal with their crazy digital strategy.

i made the mistake of early adopting and buying a fresh off the line 1st edition and that fucking thing has never felt right in my hands. Way too sharp edges and bad ergonomics; can't hold it for more than twenty minutes. Will getting an xl or 2ds solve this problem?

or maybe i should get a new hobby

XL feels much much better ergonomically, ymmv so try one out in a shop I guess? Haven't tried a 2DS yet.

yeah the display unit in every Target/Best Buy is an XL now so just stand there cuppin' it for a few hours. seriously though I vastly prefer the size and shape of the XL and I'm significantly more comfortable with it and I've heard people mostly say the same; the demo unit should give you a decent idea of where you stand

k thx

Zelda is so snappy.

abcfsk you were right about DKCR, that was some damn fine platforming

want an xl

gimmie one sale pls

thinking of getting a 2nd hand 3DS off amazon, is this a wise purchase right now? mostly into games like prof layton, mario and that henry hatsworth one on the orig DS, does the 3DS have much good new stuff like this? hard to get an unbiased opinion on this, and can't even go to gamespot to check out the best 3ds games because they ruined it :(

3DS has much less software than DS, but the quality is just as good if not better. Most of the shovelware manufacturers have moved over to iOS, but big Japanese publishers (Square, Capcom) are beginning to invest heavily in mobile as well. Well-known brands (Mario, Zelda etc) get physical & digital releases, whereas more niche games (e.g. Phoenix Wright) are starting to get a digital only release in the West. Newer IPs and indie games also get a cheaper digital only release, even Nintendo have wised up to this (e.g. Pushmo/Pullblox, Harmoknight, Dillon). Virtual Console has been pretty lackluster so far, although Sega have been putting out a lot of arcade/genesis ports in the past few weeks including the amazing Galaxy Force II.
lots of deals on 3DS hardware around atm, don't know how much cheaper 2nd hand would be tbh. if you can, try a 3DS and an XL out for ergonomics first, some people like one and hate the other (for me XL is a vast improvement).

i like the sound of 3d, just for the weirdness (imagine it being like those 90s magic eye posters?). had a quick go on my 6 yr old nephews today but only on this crappy teenage mutant ninja turtles game - for some reason he thought i'd rather play that than mario or anything actually good. also didn't get to see 3d capabilities because it needs a pin number to access and he doesn't know it, just "press all the buttons til it works."

what are the standout games for it? paper mario sounds decent. are there any new laytons/hatworthses?

tbh i hardly use the 3D
2 new Laytons out already & the Layton/Phoenix Wright crossover sometime in 2014
Mario 3Dland v good, i thought NSMB2 was boring tho.
new Zelda best one since Wind Waker imo, no tutorials or annoying helper, can explore & tackle dungeons in pretty much any order.
i mainly play RPGs, Atlus games have been excellent & Squares Bravely Default is basically a modern FFV/FFVI so far (about 5 hours in)
Fire Emblem probably my GOTY, great strategy RPG with v funny dialog
Pushmo/Pullblox a really interesting puzzle game by Nintendo
oh and Streetpass games are secret best feature!

ah, so the 3d thing is mostly just a gimmick? sounds so ace though, damnit. will read up on those games you mentioned, thanks man

eh ymmv, i think the 3D is kinda pointless and no game really needs it as such
for me 3DS is an upgraded DS with less overall software, like Vita is a fancy PSP with (a lot) less software

Personally I love the 3d but I know I'm very much in the minority. And I've been a sucker for any artificial 3d ever since my first viewmaster.

ooh jimd saying what i want to hear, what do you reckon are the killer 3d games?

Mario 3D Land, Zelda OoT, Pilotwings, Luigi's mansion. And the built in video player which auto-downloads a new 3d video clip every few days is often great too, though the fact you can't choose to permanently keep any of them is frustrating sometimes.

Oh and Mariokart.

Bravely Default is sooooo good, every part of it is so well thought out e.g. tapping on the right of dpad during a battle speeds it up, tap again it goes even faster with a >> sign like you are fastforwarding through a video. tap left to slow down or pause ||. little conveniences like this really add to the experience.
one of those Directs in 30 mins btw, hoping for an EU SMT4 date to be finally announced :/

I caved. I return to the DS fold.

Question: so should I go out and get a 32GB SDHC card right now? I think my system comes with M&L pre-installed, but I don't know if it's on the system memory or the included card yet. Am I going to have to go through any weird transfer hassles?

if you intend to buy full games digitally then yes buy a 32GB card. transferring from one SD card to the other on the same machine is just copy & paste via yr PC. make sure you create a NNID & link to Club Nintendo before buying any games though.

thanks, will do. i was afraid that would be some kind of DRM-restriction in transferring stuff to a new card, assuming I pick one up in a few weeks. I'll definitely be picking up some of the DSiWare and download-exclusive stuff like Phoenix Wright

the only restriction is the NNID being tied to the hardware, so you can't sign in on someone else's 3DS. you can transfer the lot between machines, but if your 3DS gets lost/stolen you have to call them up to unbind your NNID so you can bind it to a new machine & get your digital games back - at least that's the theory, hope i never have to find out :/

so i can't transfer the games between 3DS systems, but I can backup my card and just recopy the files over as long as I dont lose my original system?

you can transfer everything in one lot to another system, which wipes the original system.
but yes keep a backup of your cards contents on your PC, also best to take a note of the 3DS serial number!

ohhhhh weird. thanks dude!

dammit face hunters thing, i am not an infant!

Know it's mostly me, but Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate in the west early 2015 - seems to only be on 3DS and not WiiU this time. Full online of course.

yeh its a long wait but i'm just glad they announced it, put 150+ hours into MH3U so will be looking forward to MH4U immensely
just finished Bravely Default, much better than any recent Final Fantasy but without going into spoilers i have some serious reservations how they handled the second half of the game. still, a lot of positives (battle & job systems, all the customization while still keeping a sense of balance, a real sense of challenge!), hopefully they structure the next game a bit better.

very tempted. really should play that demo before it comes out here in a week.

all the Level 5 Guild games are currently on sale for $2.99/£2.69/€2.99
would recommend Attack Of The Friday Monsters, its a short (2-3 hrs) game set in a small 70s Japanese town where you run around talking to people and occasionally playing a card game, sort of like a visual novel but with more agency. its super charming and atmospheric, makes you nostalgic for a childhood you never even had (unless you are Japanese and grew up in the 70s i guess!)

gonna grab that + Liberation Maiden, maybe some more

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Wm8-DsVqHE

Steamworld Dig is 50% off on the eShop - will probably grab it, heard good things

It's ok, didn't really grab me at first but once you start unlocking useful equipment it gets enjoyable.
Reminded me a little bit of obscure UK PC game Repton, which I'm surprised to discover was originally developed by a 15 year old! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repton_(video_game)

obscure?!

never heard of it

The amount of time I spent dicking around with the Repton 3 level editor probably, well it probably doesn't rival the amount of time I've spent dicking around on ILX, but you get the idea. I have a clear memory of 14 year old snoball sitting indoors on a sunny summer's day, making Repton 3 levels with custom sprites etc. instead of going outside and hanging with my friends. Because I had no friends. But that's beside the point.

There's a Repton Road not far from here, was very excited when I found it. There were no big round boulders for me to push along it though, sadly.

Quick yay or nay req:
Animal Crossing: New Leaf
Mario Kart 7
Super Mario 3D Land

Mario Kart 7 is the only one of those I've played but it is a yay.

3D land also a definite yay. AC was my goty last year but it's hard to recommend without qualifications. Have you played and liked an AC before?

got obsessed with the original AC way back on GameCube, haven't played any of them since then.
i will probably get one or more of these in the next week; New Leaf and MK7 are on sale at BB, all three are eligible in for the free Pokemon X/Y promo
thx for your input guys