Topic: Nintendo 3DS Discussion

[BlackNMild2k1]

We have a US/EUR Launch date for 3DS people. so mark your calendars...

3DS to launch on March 11, 2011
http://www.siliconera.com/2010/11/01/nintendo-confirms-north-american-and-european-3ds-launch-for-march-2011/

Nintendo of America has not announced a timeline for the 3DS, but the latest financial supplement page pegs the Nintendo 3DS for a March launch in North America and Europe. Currently, no titles have a targeted release date

...and start saving your change.

edit:
Official Nintendo Magazine list the date as the 11th of March BTW
http://vgtribune.com/3ds-for-march-11th-uk-release/
^pic at the link

Today I got the newest Official Nintendo Magazine from a  local establishment here in the UK and I have noticed something inside which caught my eye. In the details of the Nintendo 3DS section the magazine has a date of March 11th 2011. As I’m sure you are all aware the 3DS does not currently have a date announced for release outside of Japan.

[Caterkiller]

Thats not far at all, yippi! Going to only buy one, then wait for the second revision to come around for presents and such.

[Peachylala]

If anything, I might just stick with one version of the 3DS... but that's just me.

Yeah.

[Shaymin]

March 11/11 is a Friday, so would that translate to March 6 or 13 for North America?

Either way, my wallet am cry.

[MaryJane]

IGN has an interesting article up about the Gamecube seeing another resurrection on the 3DS. They mention ports of games like Luigi's Mansion, Odama, Wind Waker, Super Mario Sunshine, Star Wars: Rogue Leader, and I'm sure anyone who's ever played a GC can add many other worthwhile titles to be ported to the 3DS.


But my thing is, why didn't Nintendo think of this? Why give us Ocarina of Time in 3D when they could give us Wind Waker, or even Twilight Princess? Why Star Fox instead of Rogue Leader? Is it nostalgia? Surety of sales? Laziness? Or worst case scenario, marketing?


The glasses-less 3D effect is such a 'wow' factor, that Nintendo could actually afford to give us lower graphic-quality ports, then once the that effect has worn off, (in a little more than a year) they could then hit us with GC ports that resemble Wii games in their graphics.


Early software on a console is usually the worst graphically while developers are still getting used to the system, and RE 3DS looks amazing, so this could be a good strategy, but I think it would have been a bigger statement if they launched with GC ports (although they are less popular) then brought the classic games later. As mentioned in the article the original DS launched with 64 ports(I'm still waiting for them to port Jet Force Gemini), now the 3DS is going to launch with 64 ports as well?


I understand the nostalgia/surety of sales/popularity thing, but with people discussing whether the 3DS is more powerful than the Wii, and if it can run the freaking Crysis Engine, Nintendo releasing first party GC games in 3D would have been signaling their own commitment to graphics. I do think Konami bringing a PS2 port (MGS3) to the 3DS is significant, but the GC was more powerful than the PS2, and that's a third party, Nintendo should be leading.


Anyway, they're almost certain to bring GC ports to the 3DS, but I wish they were launching with a few.


Edit: http://ds.ign.com/articles/113/1130839p1.html

[Adrock]

But my thing is, why didn't Nintendo think of this? Why give us Ocarina of Time in 3D when they could give us Wind Waker, or even Twilight Princess? Why Star Fox instead of Rogue Leader? Is it nostalgia? Surety of sales? Laziness? Or worst case scenario, marketing?

1. Ocarina of Time > Wind Waker/Twilight Princess

2. Who said Wind Waker and Twilight Princess aren't coming? Nintendo re-releases everything. I'd personally buy Wind Waker again just to see Ganondorf fly towards the screen and backhand Zelda in 3D.

3. A Rogue Leader re-release is up to Lucasarts.

[MaryJane]

But my thing is, why didn't Nintendo think of this? Why give us Ocarina of Time in 3D when they could give us Wind Waker, or even Twilight Princess? Why Star Fox instead of Rogue Leader? Is it nostalgia? Surety of sales? Laziness? Or worst case scenario, marketing?

1. Ocarina of Time > Wind Waker/Twilight Princess

I agree, and I'll be picking up Ocarina of Time 3D, but my point is launching 64 ports vs. launching GC ports. Also, it's been mentioned numerous times how many different times OoT has been rereleased. It's not like Wind Waker and Twilight Princess were bad games, as you sort of alluded to.

2. Who said Wind Waker and Twilight Princess aren't coming? Nintendo re-releases everything. I'd personally buy Wind Waker again just to see Ganondorf fly towards the screen and backhand Zelda in 3D.

Anyway, they're almost certain to bring GC ports to the 3DS, but I wish they were launching with a few.

I don't know who said they aren't coming, but it wasn't me . Perhaps I should have said those GC ports to be clearer though...

3. A Rogue Leader re-release is up to Lucasarts.

Oh yeah... forgot about that lol. And IGN says that since Faction 5 is no longer around, a true port couldn't be done, but they make the excellent point that an 'epic space battle' type of Star Wars game has not been done for awhile, which could be pretty great in 3D.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I was gonna suggest that we let Kytim tell you why Jet Force Gemini wouldn't see a port to the 3DS since he is so in love with mentioning the R word, but that should be enough of a hint for you.

[Kytim89]

I was gonna suggest that we let Kytim tell you why Jet Force Gemini wouldn't see a port to the 3DS since he is so in love with mentioning the R word, but that should be enough of a hint for you.

A port of Conker and Perfect Dark would be much appreciated.  :

[Stratos]

3. A Rogue Leader re-release is up to Lucasarts.

Oh yeah... forgot about that lol. And IGN says that since Faction 5 is no longer around, a true port couldn't be done, but they make the excellent point that an 'epic space battle' type of Star Wars game has not been done for awhile, which could be pretty great in 3D.

But Factor-5 does still exist. All rights and licenses got passed to their German parent company. White Harvest is the current form of Factor-5 and they have mentioned before a Wii RS game being in the works.

[Spak-Spang]

Well, I would say the fact that OoT is listed as one of the greatest games of all time, probably has something to do with the port...and is the game that could be touched up with better graphics and quickly be dropped on a portable easily.  It is also a more complete game than Wind Waker, which was a controversial Zelda game stirring up a lot of fans.  A Wind Waker 3DS with 2 or 3 more levels would be fantastic...but I dunno.

Also, the Nintendo 64 is fairly old now, and there are gamers that haven't played the games available for the system on it. 

I think the same could be said of almost all the games being ported.  They are the BEST games in the series.  Star Fox 64 is amazing, and I would prefer that game to Rogue Squadron any day of the week. 

[alegoicoe]

Well, I would say the fact that OoT is listed as one of the greatest games of all time, probably has something to do with the port...and is the game that could be touched up with better graphics and quickly be dropped on a portable easily.  It is also a more complete game than Wind Waker, which was a controversial Zelda game stirring up a lot of fans.  A Wind Waker 3DS with 2 or 3 more levels would be fantastic...but I dunno.

Also, the Nintendo 64 is fairly old now, and there are gamers that haven't played the games available for the system on it. 

I think the same could be said of almost all the games being ported.  They are the BEST games in the series.  Star Fox 64 is amazing, and I would prefer that game to Rogue Squadron any day of the week.

Yes indeed, a remake of Windwaker would be fantastic for the 3ds, specially with the art style and color of WW, it would look amazing in 3d. Plus wind waker is a great portable option since the game is not too hard or too long.

[TJ Spyke]

1. Ocarina of Time > Wind Waker/Twilight Princess

In Bizarro World, yes. In our world, hell freaking no.

[MaryJane]

Yeah, I know that Rare ports are as unlikely as the U.S winning the World Cup, but a man can dream...

And yes, Wind Waker did divide 'hardcore' fans, but it's a good game that could be reintroduced to new generation. It's prettry unique (especially in the Zelda universe) in terms of style and gameplay, and there was a lot of fun to be had. Also, the only true problem with WW's graphics was the distance draw (things far away were blurry) which they could likely fix for the 3DS. And, there's also Twilight Princess, which had traditional graphics and great gameplay, though I personally felt it lacked story, which WW and OoT had plenty of.

I just hope we see GC ports on the 3DS sooner than later, and I hope Kid Icarus 3D will be have the strongest graphical presentation. As apparently happened with the Crysis engine guy, Nintendo needs to show developers what they can do graphically with the system to entice them to make high quality games for the 3DS.

Despite lackluster sales, the PSP still saw many AAA titles, and the DS could use more of those from 3rd parties, although it has plenty already.

[Adrock]

In Bizarro World, yes. In our world, hell freaking no.

That's your opinion.

Ocarina of Time is the highest selling game in the series and thus a good place to start if they're trying to launch a system and not willing to pull out all the stops for a brand new game. 3DS looks more than capable of handling Gamecube level graphics so porting Wind Waker probably would have been easier than rebuilding Ocarina of Time. Clearly, Nintendo is pulling on the heartstrings of Ocarina of Time fans.

[Kytim89]

Unless Microsoft is willing to enter the handheld market, they should create a third party 3DS developer and make handheld iterations of their franchises. If the 3DS is a ground breaking success, and it most likely will be, then all companies would be foolish to not either develop for or port games to the 3DS. Of course Microsoft is a competitor to Nintendo, but it could be a good way to fight a proxy war with Sony's PSP 2 without having to put large amounts of resources into developing a new console.
 
I would love to have some kind of spotpass enabled Halo or Fable on the go. Perhaps the profits could be split fifty-fifty between Nintendo and Microsoft. Then again, what am I smoking to think this would ever happen?

[MaryJane]

Microsoft is probably going to use their mobile OS (Windows Phone 7)  to make their games mobile. With the popularity of iPhone 4 games, and the forthcoming Playstation Phone, it makes sense, more so than partnering with a competitor at least.

With so many X360 games ported to the PC it stands to reason that in a day and age where mobile PC's are more popular than desktops and even the X360 itself, that Microsoft brings their games to that market in a more accessible way than super powerful laptops, and they don't even have to create the hardware themselves.

Although,  I do wonder if HTC, Samsung or any other phone makers would be willing to take the risk that SonyEricsson is taking with the PSPhone, but if it's succesful, they might.

[Peachylala]

In Bizarro World, yes. In our world, hell freaking no.

That's your opinion.

Ocarina of Time is the highest selling game in the series and thus a good place to start if they're trying to launch a system and not willing to pull out all the stops for a brand new game. 3DS looks more than capable of handling Gamecube level graphics so porting Wind Waker probably would have been easier than rebuilding Ocarina of Time. Clearly, Nintendo is pulling on the heartstrings of Ocarina of Time fans.

Well great, handheld Zeldas thus far didn't have to live up to Ocarina of Time in the Zeltards eyes. Now that we're getting an OoT rehash for the 3DS, now handheld Zeldas have to be just as good as Ocarina of Time in their eyes.

I'll wait for impressions on Skyward Sword, but honestly, I think Anomura(sp?) is best suited with being a director instead of a producer. His dungeon designs were excellent in OoT and Majora's Mask. No Koizumi makes me cry though

[Caliban]

I think Anomura(sp?)

Aonuma.

[Peachylala]

I curse my ability in forgetting the last names of game creators I don't care for that much.

Aonuma is best suited as a director of dungeon design, AND NOTHING ELSE.

Microsoft is probably going to use their mobile OS (Windows Phone 7)  to make their games mobile. With the popularity of iPhone 4 games, and the forthcoming Playstation Phone, it makes sense, more so than partnering with a competitor at least.

It might be just me, but I find those phone game demos I try at the stores very uncomfortable to control.

[MaryJane]

Was over a friend's house to watch the Giants vs Eagles game last night and when we 'sat in a circle' ('70s show reference, we always watched episode where Eric's parents eat the special brownies) a couple of DSi commercials played back to back, and I mentioned the 3DS. I had mentioned it to two of the people already (who for some reason forgot...)but everybody loved the idea, and hated the price.

The general consensus was; 'if I'm going to pay over $200 for a console(not the word they used), I want to play it on my T.V. The people were made up of one PS2, two 360, one PS3 owners, and two of their girlfriends, none of whom own a DS and only one 360 owner who has a Wii and still plays it.

That got me wondering about the price. With such high technology (or at least percieved, since we don't know about RAM, or CPU and GPU clock speeds and autostereoscopic screens are coming to a number of US smartphones next year) is Nintendo going for an early adopter price, then quick price cuts later like Sony was forced to do with the PS3? Is that the lesson they learned from the Wii, which has yet to see a price cut?

If they had sold the Wii for more at launch, they would have had to cut the price by now, especially with the launches of the competitors motion peripherals, and Iwata(?) said they should have sold the Wii for more. What if they cut the 3DS to $199.99 for the 2011 holidays after launching at $250 or more? That would be a good strategy for Nintendo, but for those of us frothing at the mouth to get this thing, we may end up spending an extra $50 or more on it just for the privelege of having it 6-9 months before everyone else, who may by then be looking at an iPhone 3D.

This may be the first Nintendo system I do a wait and see for, since I've been paying for them with my own money, which was the N64 and I couldn't afford it at launch, otherwise I would have had it at launch like every other Nintendo system since then. (I'm only like 85% sure on that last point, the handhelds are tripping me up)

[BlackNMild2k1]

Launching the Wii at any higher of a price may have made the Wii not the hit that was. It launched at the perfect price at the perfect time for what it was and for Nintendo to wish they had charged more in retrospect is not only greedy but possibly stupid.

One thing Nintendo knows about pricing is that you want to price it right from the beginning because once you lower the price, you can't just raise it again later. So if they price it a little too high @ launch and it sells a little better than good, then they lower the price 6 months later and it starts selling a little better, would that have been better than if they had priced is good to begin with and it was flying off shelves and then not have to lower the price for 3 or more years because they released it at the perfect price(like they did with the Wii)?


Would they rather the 3DS sell like the Wii or sell like the PS3?
Because pricing it out of the HYPEd impulse buy zone will kill the hype and leave plenty of room for a maybe similarly priced PSP2 to come in and achieve more market share than it should have.

but anyway, that's not why I came in here.


3DS to Triple DS Development Costs

Development costs for Nintendo's 3DS could well be three times the size of those for Nintendo's existing DS handheld according to reports emerging from Japan.

Marvelous Entertainment, the company most famed for its involvement in the Harvest Moon series, revealed during a recent Q&A session (reported on by 1up) that development costs for the 3DS will come in between ¥50-150 million (between $599,000 to $1.8 million or £375,000 to £1.12 million), compared to a reported development cost for the Nintendo DS of between ¥ 4.4 and ¥43.9 million (between $53,000 to $527,000 or £33,000 to £329,000).

not unexpected, but still news.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Nintendo returns as an exhibitor to CES for the first time in 16 years.

The International CES will return to Las Vegas from January 6-9, 2011.

Exhibitors will present their products across 9,800 square feet within the Gaming Showcase. Located in the North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, the Gaming Showcase will feature advancements in online gaming and gaming-related product debuts in both hardware and software -- from online PC and HD gaming, plasma HDTV to surround sound and power conditioning hardware. Nintendo returns as an exhibitor to CES for the first time in 16 years.

"With the gaming market expected to generate $20.3 million[my note: I think he meant billion] in 2010, the International CES is the must-stop hub for innovative gaming products, and will allow CES attendees to experience the future of gaming from an amazing range of innovative companies," said Karen Chupka, senior vice president, events and conferences, CEA. "The Gaming Showcase at CES will feature the hottest gaming trends for the coming year.

Major gaming exhibitors include: AMD, HP, Intel, Lenovo, LevelUp, Logitech, Microsoft, Nintendo, Nokia, Sony and more. Publishers and developers will also be in attendance, including: Alcazar Entertainment, Cosmi, DC Comics/Warner and DreamWorks Animation. Furthermore, key retailers like Amazon.com, Best Buy and GameStop will also attend the 2011 CES.

I think we all know this will be the 3DS blowout, but could there be a tease for a Wii2 in there somewhere? maybe if Xmas doesn't pan out like Nintendo hopes... (record breaking Nov + Dec is needed, but is not very likely)

[Caterkiller]

I suppose the great thing about handhelds is that games can look like pokemon black and white and they could still be mega hits despite there being obvious room for a higher performance.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Looks like 3DS is in trouble as Sharp & Capcom muddy the waters before CES even begins...

Sharp's 3-D Galapagos Phone To Challenge Nintendo's 3DS
http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2010/11/04/sharp-3d-phone-galapagos/

Hey, do you remember those portable 3-D screens Sharp paraded around earlier this year? Well, it looks like the company's technology has been coming together to build phone that will compete with the Nintendo 3DS. Why do we think it's going to be gunning for Nintendo? The Sharp Galapagos has already got a list of games that includes the names Resident Evil and Mega Man.

"Resident Evil: Degeneration," a Mega Man title, "Mobile Powerful Pro Baseball 3D," "Ghost 'n Goblins: Gold Knights" and a few other titles are currently in line to appear on the phone's 3.8" 3-D screen, which requires no glasses, according to a report on Kotaku. 3-D movies will also be made available, and "Shrek Forever After" and "Battle Royale 3D" have been named for that list.

Just how serious the threat the Galapagos poses to the 3DS is questionable. It sounds like a phone that will eat up battery power fast and run hot with both a games library and graphics performance that rank beneath Nintendo's new device.

It's game over 3DS and we never even got a chance to know you







Oh my mistake.... FALSE ALARM. Go ahead and un-cancel those pre-orders.
http://www.siliconera.com/2010/11/04/mega-man-resident-evil-and-silpheed-go-glasses-free-3d-on-android-phone/


3DS is many leagues above that visually and probably in battery life too.