Nintendo 3DS

BreakABone · 09-29-2010, 09:33 AM

Nintendo held a conference today to announce some more details regarding their new handheld.

The most important being that it launches in Japan Feb 26th, and in Europe/States in March of 2011. The price has only been set for Japan, but with conversion works out to about 300 bucks.

Demo reel of some of the games

Video Games | Nintendo 3DS | NC 10: Japanese Software Lineup Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Some of the features of the 3DS

Quote:

Mentioned Features:
-Comes with a 2 GB SD card.
-Comes with charging cradle.
-3DS Virtual Console for Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and maybe Game Boy Advance titles.
-3DS online service will sell Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Classic Games in 3D, DSiWare, and 3DS (ware?) titles.
-Always on passive Tag Mode that can do data exchange, even for games not being played.
-Japanese launch colors are Aqua Blue and Cosmos Black.
-Home button brings up an ingame menu enabling users to browse the web, turn Wi-Fi on/off and modify other settings without exiting.
-"Mii Studio" Application: Take a picture of yourself and have it auto converted into a Mii.
- "AR Games" Application: Built in augmented reality games (comes with six paper cards for these).
-"Nintendo 3DS Cameras" Application: The 3DS can automatically merge two photos into a single image. I'm assuming this is also for taking pictures.
-"Nintendo 3DS Sound" Application: Unsure, guessing something like Mario Paint.
-"Chance Encounter Mii Plaza" Application: I'm assuming this is a place for Miis to hang out that you've picked up from tag mode and/or QR codes.
-"Book" Application: Maybe an ebook reader?
-3DSWare games can be moved from one 3DS to another, and some DSiWare games can be moved to the 3DS as well.
-Is compatible with Wifine if you live in Japan.

Two colors launching in

Vampyr · 09-29-2010, 09:50 AM

Looks very neat. Since I just got an XL I think I'm going to wait until next Christmas. There may be a price drop/trade in offer available then.

I just hope a Pokemon game doesn't come out before that...I would be very tempted.

BreakABone · 09-29-2010, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vampyr

Looks very neat. Since I just got an XL I think I'm going to wait until next Christmas. There may be a price drop/trade in offer available then.

I just hope a Pokemon game doesn't come out before that...I would be very tempted.

Well this is one of the reasons always assumed 3DS would come out next year, because we haven't got Pokemon Black/White yet, and I assume PokeMon Gray (or whatever they end up calling it) will be an 3d enhanced version of Black/White the year after

Vampyr · 09-29-2010, 10:16 AM

If it's just the third black/white game, that wouldn't be a killer app for me, could definitely wait to get that...I never bought Platinum either.

I am really surprised by how nice a lot of these 3DS games look though. And a GameBoy virtual console? That's a killer app.

gekko · 09-29-2010, 11:37 AM

I really don't want one of these, but did I see Monkey Ball in that video?

I'm curious if the device can finally render both screens in 3D, since they seemed hesitant to show the second screen, and when they did, it was 2D. Though, as usual, Nintendo really isn't trying to push the hardware boundaries, so hopefully the battery life is good.

BreakABone · 09-29-2010, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gekko

I really don't want one of these, but did I see Monkey Ball in that video?

I'm curious if the device can finally render both screens in 3D, since they seemed hesitant to show the second screen, and when they did, it was 2D. Though, as usual, Nintendo really isn't trying to push the hardware boundaries, so hopefully the battery life is good.

We've known since e3 that the 2nd screen wasn't 3D.

And yeah a lot of support, new and old.

Angrist · 09-30-2010, 02:53 AM

Nice attitude there.

TheSlyMoogle · 09-30-2010, 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Angrist

Nice attitude there.

Whatever half of those games were smaller less graphically intense versions of games you've already played. They're gonna release them at 40 to 50 dollars and be like "here is oot just smaller and mybe with a new quest" sure ill spend my money on a game I've already bought 10 imes now. Or let me spend my hard dearned dough on useless shovelware some more.

BreakABone · 09-30-2010, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheSlyMoogle

Whatever half of those games were smaller less graphically intense versions of games you've already played. They're gonna release them at 40 to 50 dollars and be like "here is oot just smaller and mybe with a new quest" sure ill spend my money on a game I've already bought 10 imes now. Or let me spend my hard dearned dough on useless shovelware some more.

The alternative would be, not to play the games you already bought like 10 times.

And I could be mistaken, but so far the only remakes are StarFox, Zelda, Street Fighter and Snake Eater.

Either way, I agree with Angrist.

Seth · 09-30-2010, 12:01 PM

I understand sly's point. There's a few games that I'd like to test out prior to dishing half a hundred, only to find out that games of 'flagship quality' are supposedly new 6 years after the fact. That goes for 1st and 3rd party offerings. I'm not slighting Nintendo....the game industry is what it is. But!, I don't feel obliged to bottleneck my gaming experience after paying X amount for the hardware+ the fact that ninty is going to release a 3ds with improved battery life/updated internal memory/etc. They always do that, and it's marketing strategy from before the consoles are released.
I don't respect that. Sure, attitude. I believe in supporting creative industries, but I'm also just a student who has been around the gaming industry long enough to recognize shoddy control schemes and dumbed down virtual worlds. There's nothing more self sodomizing than dishing out $ on a game that promises an experience that it can't deliver simply because exec's cap a budget at..."the kids will love it" levels. This isn't much of an issue to me really, because I don't play more than an hour's worth of gaming per week. But when I do game I don't pretend like it's okay to excuse the kind of crappy games that have constructed 90% of the titles for both the wii and ds. I've continually bought Nintendo consoles and I don't pirate their software, so I feel entitled to the opportunity of ensuring I'm not pissing away my money the way game industry bigwigs piss on the consumer by rehashing the past.
Theriously, the internet is different now than when amazon.com came to exist. Same goes for gaming. Industry has to adapt to a changing market(plus a crippled international economy). Want my business, better make your game not only polished from a finished product perspective, but also from the creative groundwork which offers something beyond the 'dynasty warriors' effect.

That said, the sleepmode 24/7 connect features are obviously part of Ninty's strategy of addressing piracy. I'll buy a 3ds, but probably after the first price drop. Or, possibly once the 3ds 2nd edition is released. $300+ for a handheld + game expenses requires that I 'demo' check a title before purchasing. Hopefully nintendo sets up an extensive demo dlc system.

As far as remakes go, I have yet to play MGS, SSFIV, and Starfox. For myself the term 'remake' applies more directly to the multi-faceted aspects of a game, not just the general concept/title. If a game was released 10 years ago and is being ported/remade for a new system...I'll buy it if it's up to my standards...
Piracy IMO hasn't stunted game development as much as the industry has wailed. Capcom and it's press about not releasing SSFIV on the PC due to the rate of piracy. Fuck that. It sold well on the PC. PC release date was July 09. SSFIV was released April 10 I believe. So I'm in the market for a fighting game. I love Street Fighter games. Will I put down 40 bucks cdn for a game copy that doesn't have the roster updates+ just because Capcom knew they could get more money out of a stand alone expansion pack? That noise is the reason why people will pirate a game.
I want to play SSFIV badly. I'll probably get it for the 3ds, but I wanted it for the PC for obvious reasons.

Piracy excuses are, for the most part, a bottom-line pout by the industry because they're pigeoned by bloated executive payrolls.
I love how the technology is now here to create worlds like in Just Cause 2. The potential is there. The development money needs to be rethought. It's like education funding. do you cut education funding or do you exercise 'preventative' measure by acknowledging the importance of education for overall societal functionality. The chicken or the egg, sure Nintendo.

Vampyr · 09-30-2010, 12:15 PM

With the existence of the internet and the availability of resources about a given game - reviews, trailers, gameplay videos (and these are becoming -very- long now days), images, faqs, wikis, demos, etc, saying you bought a game without realizing it was bad is nonsensical.

I personally don't pirate things. I used to a long time ago, but then I realized several things:

1. I never got the same enjoyment out of a pirated item
2. In the case of a lot of software (maybe not so much games), there are free and open source alternatives. Actually there are a lot of free games out there.
3. It really is stealing. Either own up to it and admit your doing something wrong and continue to do it, or just stop. Trying to make it sound like you're a philosophical and moral rogue warrior is just silly.

Seth · 09-30-2010, 12:32 PM

My time is important to me. I don't rely much on reviews for the feedback that I personally need. Of course I check the reviews out, i'm almost ocd when it comes to consumer reviewing. Free games mostly suck, relative to my gaming expectations.

There's a difference between watching/listening to a guy talk about a game experience(reviews, videos, etc) and actually feeling the game's mechanics for oneself. that's why PC games have been relatively good about offering demos of some quality. It doesn't mean I'll sacrifice the overall experience by playing a pirated game through to the end. It means if I'm satisfied with the 'demo-ing' then I will gladly drop the cash for the full deal. Just because console game dev is in its own little world of relying on ignorant parent spending for children doesn't mean squat when it comes to my gaming.
Money incentives for an honesty/dishonesty paradigm isn't something I'll subscribe to. I'll buy into that once the world turns inside out and game development departs from the hollywood B slump that the majority of titles are in.
Philosophical and moral rogue warrior? please

I love the idea of the 3ds being an ebook.

BreakABone · 09-30-2010, 01:43 PM

Well, see this pirating is generalized to the 3DS/DS, but I'm talking about in general.

Aside from the Wii, almost every console/handheld allows you in some fashion to test run games before you buy them. So no you won't be pissing away money if you do your research on it ahead of time.

And if you really want to be safe, there are rental sites like GameFly where you can try before you buy.

TheSlyMoogle · 09-30-2010, 04:20 PM

Meh and I respect the game industry, and all that jazz however, they're still terrible people.

The handheld market is by far the worst.

And yes, I'm pirating a tiny handheld game that could have been digitally distributed and trialed before I spent money on it and the price could have been lower due to direct distribution.

And to be honest if a game was good on the ds I usually bought it.

Both prof layton games, pokemon diamond, magical starsign, and pso portable or whatever were all bought.

Also I've been burned by too many video game reviews. Especially for the ds, as I usually read reviews before I even wasted time downloading the roms.

Yes I pirate (everything except 360 and ps3) and yeah it's pretty wrong to an extent. Just about as wrong as the price you have to pay for video games.

BreakABone · 09-30-2010, 07:07 PM

Here's the disconnect.

Video games are entertainment. They are not needed or necessary. No one is forcing you to play a game so there's no reason to pirate it. No matter what excuses you make.