Tarted up Starfox 64? Sold. Do want.

Definately tempted for the first time to upgrade my 1st Gen Japanese DS

Same here, it looks like something out of an 80s movie about teh futu0rz now compared to this 3D version. I only ever play Advanced Wars on it though, are they doing that in 3D, anyone know?

I don't think anything has been announced, but... it is pretty much guaranteed at some point, right?

What I want to know, is can you do anything interesting with 3D?

I mean, if anything it limits your options, since, I guess you can't look anywhere you want, if its anything like 3D cinema... it feels more restrictive.

That's friggin Wind waker right?

http://kotaku.com/5674250/lots-of-footage-of-people-playing-real-3ds-games/gallery/

Anyone mentioned that yet?

My bad. Not windwaker.

Got over excited.

Back to the hole for me.

Zelda no Densetsu: Toki no Ocarina 3D -

Slacking with your Japanese again Jibber?

May the HYPE BEGIN:

http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interview.html#/how-nintendo-3ds-made/0/0

So the Japanese launch list is looking a bit dry, but these look portathonic but, hey, Star Fox.

Whenever I feel down over the proposed battery life and lack of good stuff on launch I watch some Starfox vids and then I feel better again.

I keep having dreams where I finally have one of these bad boys... I switch it on and then feel myself waking up, que me scrambling my mind to try and hold on to the dream as much as possible, just for a couple more seconds, but then as the game fully boots up the images in my head have transformed into the usual bullshit I can knock up any time I close my eyes and imagine stuff. It's getting annoying now.

I think Paper Mario is the best 2D video example of what to expect from the 3D, I can actually feel those parachuting bob-ombs making me feel the need to blink and re-focus.

...Not long now.

Man Starfox is looking good.... I think I'll be waiting until June to get mine (Birthday)...

I am ALL OVER Starfox! It's shocking that we've never had anything even remotely like it since. It's such a brilliant game, I love the way the Arwing handles and each and every stage is an absolute joy to play. I'm going to get hold of the Japanese version, I've played it so much I could probably recite the script! XD

Is there any word at all on region locking yet?

Nothing at all yet. Hopefully it won't be an issue, I proper feeling Phoenix Wright and Layton and would want to be able to play the English versions if they ever appear.

Gundam The 3D Battle

Looks like the Gundam Battle games on the PSP, most of which are damn good too.

3 hours battery life with 3D on. Is that going to be enough? Probably. Expect some proper nasty looking mods with enormous and ugly replacement cases to match.

I didn't get the battery life thing... is that bad? I don't think I've ever played a DS or Gameboy, 3 hours continuously? The only advantage is not having to plug it in for charge, you just don't think about it hey. At least the Nintendo power tech doesn't seem to drain battery when its off (cough Sony, same with the PSP and the freaking eReader!).

Effectively its running 3 screens, madness!

Really curious as to how crappy the "Circle Pad" is. The PSP equivalent has always a bit strange, at least when you have a "traditional" analogue stick the tilt tells you the level of analogueness you would expect, the resistive tactile feedback of the nub is a little mysterious and it didn't have the greatest consistency. Just a tiny level of tilt, or something would help... I've not read up on it, interesting they are calling it the "Circle Pad" at all.

PSP nub is woefully bad. Hopefully the circle pad is at least comfortable.

You're right other than on a flight you're unlikely to want to use a DS for 3+ hours, but it's the on-off-on use that lets you go for several days without a recharge that makes the DS rock in the battery life department. I certainly get double digit battery life out of mine. In that context 3 hours is a little dissapointing. A price worth paying for the 3D experience and you can always drop to 2D to save juice.

So yeah, the 3d aspect. The current version of 3d cinema feels like my right eye is being ripped from its socket... hopefully this prism tech doesn't have the same sensation, otherwise I will be having the greater battery life!

I doubt 3D depth will have any impact on battery life, the machine is still having to do the same amount of work.

The Nintendo 3DS Eyepatch is low on power consumption.

Forgot to give moderate props on the AR (Augmented Reality) stuff. That's come from the card company part of Nintendo's brain... nothing new, but totally fascinating.

You can teleport your Nintendog into reality peeps... word.

This seems to indicate the 3DS will be region locked:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=25352365

Well, hell. I swapped my UK DSi for a US DSi XL, who knows which is the best region to go for here. Given crappy exchange rates, probably JPN + Eur.

I may as well get that play-asia order in then...

I bet jpn will get the most eye bleedingly good 3d conceptual games on DSiWare... its a dangerously viable option dammit.

I can't see Nintendo going back on their DSi region model, its not like they knock these ideas up on the back of a fag packet... although some Iwata Asks suggest that if it was, it was the fag packet would be atleast 10 years old.

"Oh yeah, we invented the Internet, but didn't see where the fun was, so didn't bother"

Hmm, yeah, a jpn 3DS is tempting. Need to see that EU launch line up really... Nintendo are treating EU nicely this week / recently.

LOL! I was thinking the exact same thing when reading that! It's like;

"Oh yeah, BTW back in the 80s Miyamoto-san discovered the cure for cancer, but we just couldn't make it fun or find any way of fitting Mario and Bowser into it so we didn't bother with a release".

I have the same issue with the 3D stuff you describe too. I have opposite prescriptions in each eye so when watching films it's either a case of not being able to see the 3D effect, or being blown away by it (distance makes a difference) but with nasty eye strain to take home with me. ¬_¬

Sorry difference in life is between 3D and 2D software, see here

http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=ja&tl=en&u=http://www.nintendo.co.jp/3ds/hardware/spec/index.html

Ah righty - more running DS code vs 3DS code, which makes sense.

They'd previously said it would be similar to the DSi. The really odd bit is they've said it was take 3 hours plus to charge, if that is right.

Some excellent observations and enthusiasm here:

http://www.destructoid.com/nintendo-world-2011-impressions-191359.phtml

Including an hilarious Shiggy photo!

Today is when we get to find out what kinda deal us westerners are gonna get.

$249, March 27th US - not bad at all.

Still no EU price, £219 March 25th has been the most believable rumour so far.

Supposedly a press release has March 25th as the EU date.

Yep, turns out the press release announced it just prior to the conference - and no announced RRP??

wtf.

They are morons if they go above £200.

http://www.amazon.fr/Nintendo-Console-3DS-Bleue/dp/B003SE6TPA/

249 Euros, which is ~ £210.

I'm sticking to my £219 prediction, it will probably be £249 with a game here.

Price has literally just appeared on game.co.uk:

http://www.game.co.uk/Nintendo-3DS-Console-Aqua-Blue-/~r353541/?s=3ds

£229

HMV jumped first at £229, 10 mins before that.

Play is £219, so I guess Amazon/Tesco etc. will be similar to that.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/42619/3DS-LAUNCH-UK-Price-219-to-229

Launch 'window' titles?:

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/42618/UK-3DS-launch-line-up-revealed

yeah yeah yeah I wouldn't pay £189 for it.

un dunk slam for me.

YES!!!!

So thankful it's not just me who's sick of this. I HATE achievements with an absolute vengeance and feel it represents everything that's wrong with games now. Nothing insults me more than being treated like an idiot, being awarded a useless prize for each and every mundane little task in games is just ridiculous.

Yeah it's good news. I'm less vitriolic about achievements though. I NEVER EVER look at the achievement list before playing a game and it is quite annoying when they pop-up and you think wtf did I get that for?

I think in the vast majority of cases they're nonsense, but there are a few devs who know how to leverage the system as a way of nudging players to experiment with different styles of play or offer up a challenge that is different to the main thrust of the game. Mostly they're an afterthought though and most of the good uses of achievements could have been built into the core gameplay with some in-game reward as opposed to a stupid icon and 10G.

E.g. take the classic geometry wars pacifist achievement (or whatever it's called - the one where you have to survive for 1 minute without killing anything). It would have been better if that had been coded in as a secret in the game that yields a bonus or a powerup for example.

The more I think about these now the more I'm hating achievements.

Aye, achievements would be ok if they were all the '???' kind, although nothing stays '???' for long thesedays with the internet around so it'd be pointless.

The only nice thing about Achievements is being able to see how friends were doing with a game. A clever text summary system would be better.

- Papercut is rinsing Stage 1-1, and has clocked arcade mode 5 times.
- Papercut's Ryu is getting pwn'd online, as usual.

etc.

I cannot stand how patronising and lowest-common-denominator it is.

I'm all for a greater level of tutoring in games, so often people blunder through a game without appreciating it's finer points. If I had anything to do with a game's design this point would be obsessive.

But the ridiculous things like "Do something utterly basic 10 times" is pointless and annoying. * See Afterburner Climax (press the Climax button!) FFS...*
Vanquish was awful for this, most of the achievements you earn have nothing to do with tempting the player to improve or learning completely new skills - it was just a collection of random tasks tacked on at the last minute. Same with Bayonetta - the entire game and it's unlockables is built around the grading system and secret items you find by exploring the stages, then the Achievements are just a bunch of random things tacked on TOP of this already complete system.

I feel there is no need whatsoever for this system. I was recently playing a game where everything I supposedly "achieved" were things I would absolutely, unavoidably have to do in order to progress through the game. I didn't "achieve" a thing - I was just playing the game.

I love the way the bonus system in Sin & Punishment is implemented. It's not in-your-face, it doesn't nag at you, it's just there. It's intriguing that there are things you could be doing within a stage to earn bonus points, you explore the stages deeper as a result. Finally when you do earn a medal, you feel a sense of accomplishment - because YOU worked it out.

Some games do it right some do it wrong. I think the globalisation of it is an interesting idea but a dead end. And the lack of editorial control on it murders it... one of the logical conclusions is the PlayStation trophies which is so wrong its utterly pointless.

If anything achievemnts have hampered my game experience, a game I really like, Sega Rally, I've only ever got half of them... and its not like I am bad at the game. Opting out would be nice, is that possible? And it does wreck the atmos of a game when you eviscerate your 30th zombie and an out of context notification appears... at least the Sony one is less intrusive.

Nintendo tried some pretty crap implementations of it, including Wii Sports Resort which is just confusing... and who knows whats happening in Prime 3!

You can't switch them off, this is why I hate them so much.

If you could simply select an option to ignore this "feature" then fine, I'll switch them off and never give it another thought. But it's forced on you. On the 360 you can at least switch off the annoying message but on the PS3 (and now even PC games T_T) you're stuck with it. The way it takes ages to sync the trophies when you load a PS3 game drives me up the wall.

Amazone are rocking a £202 price tag atm. And somewhere else sub £200... I hope market forces get this nearer the £189 point. But if the games are going down the premium route the whole enterprise is slightly offensive at the moment.

nerdalert nerdalert http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interview.html#/how-nintendo-3ds-made/1/0

busy day...

gonna be going along to this in London

http://www.nintendo.co.uk/NOE/en_GB/events_31044.html

Going to the 10am slot hopefully. Got a busy weekend lined up.

Whereabouts is that man? I can't find the details on the site.

If it's cold I'm not leaving my house though.

Yeah sorry, just realised I got an email as part of my Club Nintendo thing... just having a login I guess. Had a pretty freaky URL in the email to link across to there. N00bed it sorry.

You ever sign up to Nintendo UK? Might be in an email account somewhere.