Damn you region locking!

At least we get a sweet themed 3DS XL rather than a regular one out of it.

I kept telling myself I wouldn't buy a 3DS for one game, but this has pushed me into BUY IT NOW territory. Has this convinced anyone else to pick one up finally?

And are people who recently picked one up still enjoying it?

The 3DS has been pretty lacking so far, but this seems to be the year to turn things around. I'm pretty happy with what we've got to look forward to and I doubt I'll buy much beyond Animal Crossing, Fire Emblem and Pokemon X/Y. This new XL doesn't exactly make up for the huge delay though, especially now that certain story points have already been completely ruined for me thanks to certain people posting very inconsiderate spoilers.

Nintendo desperately need to sort out their localisation efforts.

Pretty jealous!

April 19th, eh? If we're lucky, maybe it'll also be out in North America by that date?

Seriously, Nintendo fucked the NA launch so bad. It feels like they've only shipped like 100k units across NA. Which would be fine if this were some obscure XSEED release or something, but c'mon. Fire Emblem is the 3DS game with the most buzz since Super Mario 3D Land, yet it's retail presence has been a complete joke for almost 2 weeks now.

@wintersnowblind: I totally agree that it doesn't make up for the wait, but at least it's something. Sorry to hear the story has been spoiled for you, I've managed to stay largely ignorant of it thus far, so I'll continue to avert my eyes from the internet for a few more, umm, months...

@bisonhero: The NA supply shortfall does seem odd, suppose not being able to buy the game leaves you in a similar situation to the game not even being out yet. Not stooping to downloading it from the eshop?

I don't play strategy RPG's at all but downloaded the demo due to the hype and enjoyed what I played. Should I pick this game up on launch ?

@rampageassassin said:

Is there a particular reason you don't play strategy RPGs? If not, you should totally buy it if you enjoyed the demo.

@mwng: I don't like moving people around a board.

@rampageassassin: I uhh... the game is 80-90% doing just that. So...

But still, if you enjoyed the demo, I say go for it!

So this is out today...

I'd not really seen any proper pictures of the Fire Emblem 3DS XL until I got mine, so if you want a reference before you drop cash.

Seems a little lazy, unsure if it's the same hue of blue as the regular one, as I've not seen one in the wild (but it probably is). The logo is just a print (it's not flush with the surface of the XL) so it'll probably rub off eventually. Still, it's an XL and it plays Fire Emblem, so it's a win in my book!

This game is incredible.

The stock in Australia (Sydney at least) seems pretty slim too. Some stores only ordered enough to fill their pre-order. They said more stock is expected in acouple of weeks. Same thing happened to Monster Hunter: Ultimate too. Anyone else get a feeling that Nintendo doesn't really mind this because you can just buy the game directly from them through eshop?

This plus the new games coming out this year and Monster Hunter are really getting me interested in one. Might have to invest, also that Fire Emblem special edition 3DS XL looks awesome.

To those in EU who have the game, is the free DLC available? If yes, for how long?

@pikawai: The first pack of DLC is up at a discounted price of £2.99 (as the first part is free), and the first part of that pack is free for about a month I think (mid Mayish).

@mwng: Gotta say I'm in the same boat where I don't have any need for a handheld but for some reason I really want to play this game. Very tempting..

My Fire Emblem 3DS should be arriving tomorrow, can't wait! I just had some questions I was hoping someone could answer: Is the game saved on the SD card? I'd like to buy a bigger card so I'm wondering if I'll have to try and transfer the game or download it from the store. Also, does anyone know if this offer applies to the UK? If so I'll buy Luigi's Mansion tomorrow, if not I'll buy 3D Land. Thanks duders!

@humanity: Do it! I must've lost 10 or so hours this weekend trying to pull together a good army...

@nomoremutants: The game is tied to the 3DS, so if you whack in a new SD card, you can just go to the eshop and re-download it. At least that's what I did. Also, I think the offer you're talking about is only for the US.

@mwng: Thank you! I was afraid to buy it too late and miss the free dlc.