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    Nintendo 3DS

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    The Nintendo 3DS is a portable game console produced by Nintendo. The handheld features stereoscopic 3D technology that doesn't require glasses. It was released in Japan on February 26, 2011 and in North America on March 27, 2011.

    Nintendo Slashes 3DS Price to $169.99, Early Adopters Get Free Games

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    patrickklepek

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    Edited By patrickklepek
    No Caption Provided

    3DS has not lit the world on fire in the same way DS did. You can blame your smartphone for that. When DS launched, devices like the iPhone did not exist. Decent video games were not available for your mobile phone!

    That's all changed, and Nintendo's glasses-free 3D gimmick hasn't been enough to sway customers to drop $249.99 for its new handheld.

    Maybe they'll pay $169.99, though, which is the new retail price of 3DS, effective August 12.

    Nintendo also confirmed release months for Super Mario 3D Land (November) and Mario Kart 7 (December). Wait, Mario Kart...7? Really? I wouldn't be surprised if that one changed before release.

    If you (like me) already bought a 3DS and are cringing, Nintendo's hoping to appease early adopters with the "3DS Ambassador" program, which roughly translated into English means "free stuff."

    First, you'll gain access to 10 free Virtual Console games from the NES era, including Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong Jr., Balloon Fight, Ice Climber and The Legend of Zelda. The others five aren't known, and all ten will become publicly available for purchase at a later date.

    Additionally, Nintendo's offering up another 10 free Game Boy Advance titles. The games include Yoshi’s Island: Super Mario Advance 3, Mario Kart: Super Circuit,Metroid Fusion, WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$ and Mario vs. Donkey Kong. The other five weren't listed, but that's a hell of a list already.

    Strangely, Nintendo claims these free GBA titles won't be made available to everyone else.

    "Nintendo currently has no plans to make these 10 games available to the general public on the Nintendo 3DS in the future," reads the press release.

    More details about the program are to be announced, but Nintendo's only requirement is that players connect to the eShop before 11:59 p.m. EST on August 11. Before the price drop, basically.

    Sony can't be very happy about this aggressive move. Many did not expect the company to hit a $249.99 price point for Vita.

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    patrickklepek

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    #1  Edited By patrickklepek
    No Caption Provided

    3DS has not lit the world on fire in the same way DS did. You can blame your smartphone for that. When DS launched, devices like the iPhone did not exist. Decent video games were not available for your mobile phone!

    That's all changed, and Nintendo's glasses-free 3D gimmick hasn't been enough to sway customers to drop $249.99 for its new handheld.

    Maybe they'll pay $169.99, though, which is the new retail price of 3DS, effective August 12.

    Nintendo also confirmed release months for Super Mario 3D Land (November) and Mario Kart 7 (December). Wait, Mario Kart...7? Really? I wouldn't be surprised if that one changed before release.

    If you (like me) already bought a 3DS and are cringing, Nintendo's hoping to appease early adopters with the "3DS Ambassador" program, which roughly translated into English means "free stuff."

    First, you'll gain access to 10 free Virtual Console games from the NES era, including Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong Jr., Balloon Fight, Ice Climber and The Legend of Zelda. The others five aren't known, and all ten will become publicly available for purchase at a later date.

    Additionally, Nintendo's offering up another 10 free Game Boy Advance titles. The games include Yoshi’s Island: Super Mario Advance 3, Mario Kart: Super Circuit,Metroid Fusion, WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$ and Mario vs. Donkey Kong. The other five weren't listed, but that's a hell of a list already.

    Strangely, Nintendo claims these free GBA titles won't be made available to everyone else.

    "Nintendo currently has no plans to make these 10 games available to the general public on the Nintendo 3DS in the future," reads the press release.

    More details about the program are to be announced, but Nintendo's only requirement is that players connect to the eShop before 11:59 p.m. EST on August 11. Before the price drop, basically.

    Sony can't be very happy about this aggressive move. Many did not expect the company to hit a $249.99 price point for Vita.

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    Sanity

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    #2  Edited By Sanity

    Gonna get one this year then, thats cheap!

    Edit: Also yay for me getting that stupid quest people kill themselves over without trying or without being a moron!

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    Jonathan

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    #3  Edited By Jonathan

    Awesome! Really glad they aren't simply ignoring us early adopters.

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    s-a-n-JR

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    #4  Edited By s-a-n-JR

    $149? I've been hearing $169 from other sites.

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    Armor42

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    #5  Edited By Armor42

    Don't you mean $169?

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    Sooperspy

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    #6  Edited By Sooperspy
    @Sanj said:

    $149? I've been hearing $169 from other sites.

    Same.
    Patrick, you wrong.
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    patrickklepek

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    #7  Edited By patrickklepek

    Yeah, my bad. What I get for writing this at 2AM after playing Catherine for an hour.

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    mrzeal

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    #8  Edited By mrzeal

    It seems it didn't work quite well for them... well, I'll check the 3DS August 12 then... xD

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    CoinMatze

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    #9  Edited By CoinMatze

    Ack! I actually read that instead of just posting something stupid fast. What is wrong with me. :( Yeah, yeah, that's a tempting price. I still need Layton vs. Phoenix Wright before I buy one.

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    scarace360

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    #10  Edited By scarace360

    ok im gonna buy one when they drop the price.

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    skinnyluigi

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    #11  Edited By skinnyluigi

    late night post by patrick klepeck. does he have his brain hooked up to game news or what

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    Shaanyboi

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    #12  Edited By Shaanyboi

    NOT BAD. 20 free VC games seems like compensation enough for being an early adopter, sure!

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    patrickklepek

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    #13  Edited By patrickklepek

    @skinnyluigi said:

    late night post by patrick klepeck. does he have his brain hooked up to game news or what

    What do you think the curls are for?

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    Sanity

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    #14  Edited By Sanity

    Hmm... well 170 still isn't bad, think i will get one this winter.

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    piropeople13

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    #15  Edited By piropeople13

    Now little kids can afford it with a few months of allowance and it falls into the range of christmas/birthday gift prices.  And little kids don't have their own smartphones because of data plans.

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    Sooperspy

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    #16  Edited By Sooperspy
    @patrickklepek said:

    Yeah, my bad. What I get for writing this at 2AM after playing Catherine for an hour.

    Catherine (Or Katherine) has got your mind all jumbled up.
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    lclay

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    #17  Edited By lclay

    Hurray free stuff!

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    asurastrike

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    #18  Edited By asurastrike

    @scarace360 said:

    FUCK YA IM GOING OUT TOMORROW TO BUY ONE!

    lol, did you read the article? Or am I being trolled?

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    Sooperspy

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    #19  Edited By Sooperspy
    @Asurastrike said:

    @scarace360 said:

    FUCK YA IM GOING OUT TOMORROW TO BUY ONE!

    lol, did you read the article? Or am I being trolled?

    Maybe he wants the free games?
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    scarace360

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    #20  Edited By scarace360
    @Asurastrike said:

    @scarace360 said:

    FUCK YA IM GOING OUT TOMORROW TO BUY ONE!

    lol, did you read the article? Or am I being trolled?

    never read always post!
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    Otrebor

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    #21  Edited By Otrebor

    @scarace360: The price drop occurs on August 12

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    notorietyh

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    #22  Edited By notorietyh

    This might tempt me to pick one up. Pretty big price drop, pretty fast too. Sony won't be too impressed. Just when they thought they'd got their pricing right.

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    dbz1995

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    #23  Edited By dbz1995
    @patrickklepek said:

    Yeah, my bad. What I get for writing this at 2AM after playing Catherine for an hour.

    How is Catherine?
     
    Also, great! Now I might actually buy one after my birthday
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    matoya

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    #24  Edited By matoya

    Any drop for Europe, or are we just expected to take another shot in the ass?

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    MordeaniisChaos

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    #25  Edited By MordeaniisChaos

    @NotorietyH said:

    This might tempt me to pick one up. Pretty big price drop, pretty fast too. Sony won't be too impressed. Just when they thought they'd got their pricing right.

    Are you kidding? Nintendo was just forced by terrible reception, and probably to an extent the competitive Vita pricing, to drop their price by nearly $100 (with tax here in the states) for the 3DS. I'd say Sony sees that as a damned good thing, especially considering how Nintendo tends to make money. If they dropped the price that much, they won't be making much from hardware. Less then half the margin per unit, if I remember the production prices correctly.

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    ptys

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    #26  Edited By ptys

    I'm interested in how many held off due to the hardware design, which is the case with me. I plan to buy one as I think it's a really good platform to play retro, indie and past gen. games which seem a bit thinly spread on HD real estate, but I want a slicker design.

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    OsvaldoMoreno

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    #27  Edited By OsvaldoMoreno

    At this price, I'm getting one of those at my next pay. Or even now, considering that 20 games are coming free before august 12... Unless it's one game per NES/GBA era.

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    EgoCheck616

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    #28  Edited By EgoCheck616

    I can't feel bad about this as an early adopter. I've managed to get a ton of mileage from my 3DS and do not regret the purchase one bit. And free games? Bring 'em on!

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    Lunar_Aura

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    #29  Edited By Lunar_Aura

    Still not biting. Sorry, Ninty.

    It's not the price of the system or your games, it's how much I care to carry in my pocket and if I'm gonna be playing this at home I'm not going to confine myself to a tiny screen, 3D or not.

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    MordeaniisChaos

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    #30  Edited By MordeaniisChaos

    @NotorietyH said:

    This might tempt me to pick one up. Pretty big price drop, pretty fast too. Sony won't be too impressed. Just when they thought they'd got their pricing right.

    Are you kidding? Nintendo was just forced by terrible reception, and probably to an extent the competitive Vita pricing, to drop their price by nearly $100 (with tax here in the states) for the 3DS. I'd say Sony sees that as a damned good thing, especially considering how Nintendo tends to make money. If they dropped the price that much, they won't be making much from hardware. Less then half the margin per unit, if I remember the production prices correctly.

    Also, on behalf of those who DID buy the system early, I would like to issue a statement of Fuck You Nintendo.

    Really, 20 old ass games is what you give for an AWFUL launch and rather rapidly dropping the price by that much? How are people raging that you get to pick from full, contemporary ass video games for the PS3 stuff but Nintendo gives stuff you can download and emulate in a heart beat just as free as you can get em through the 3DS if you don't count the cost of the 3DS and so far all I've seen is @Jonathan said:

    Awesome! Really glad they aren't simply ignoring us early adopters.
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    Silver-Streak

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    #31  Edited By Silver-Streak

    I'm starting to wonder if someone at Whiskey Media has Patrick literally chained to the office. Someone let that man get some sleep!

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    xeroxkitty

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    #32  Edited By xeroxkitty

    I hope they'll drop the price in Britain too :)
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    Xeiphyer

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    #33  Edited By Xeiphyer

    Some actually fun games in there, so I guess that's an alright way to appease early adopters. Good thing too, thats a serious price cut.

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    notorietyh

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    #34  Edited By notorietyh

    @MordeaniisChaos: No i'm not kidding. Sony find themselves with another piece of hardware that's nearly $100 more expensive than it's competitor, rather than releasing the competitively priced product they intended. I think they'll be nervous that the handheld market doesn't seem to be as strong as it once was either. It could also affect initial sales too, some people might hold off buying one at launch because "the 3DS dropped in price so fast," So I think Sony, while pleased that the 3DS isn't selling gangbusters in a competitive sense, will be worried what it means for Vita sales.

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    Legend

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    #35  Edited By Legend

    Wow, I should've waited..

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    claudius

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    #36  Edited By claudius

    Oh wow. I thought something like this might happen due to the poor sales and launch of the Vita but I thought it wasn't going to happen until closer to the holidays. Unfortunately I am still not interested in buying one until there are more good games for it, but nice try Nintendo.

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    Dallas_Raines

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    #37  Edited By Dallas_Raines

    Ooh, that's a hot price.

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    Bollard

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    #38  Edited By Bollard
    @Shaanyboi said:

    NOT BAD. 20 free VC games seems like compensation enough for being an early adopter, sure!

    I hope so! This better be a worldwide thing too, or Europeans are getting screwed. As usual. The eShop has already outpriced itself with a near 1-1 exchange rate to the dollar. These freebies might be the only thing I get from the store. 
     
    Also, pretty meh about this, the games I want (Mario Kart, 3D Land, Animal Crossing, Paper Mario) are all coming out later this year, so I could have held off and not got it yet >.> ffs Nintendo. They should actually just give us Mario Kart and 3D Land free, that'd be a better deal of comparable value. 
     
    Ah well, I think Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 has Super Mario World on it, so that'll keep me happy for weeks.
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    #39  Edited By Shaanyboi

    @OsvaldoMoreno said:

    At this price, I'm getting one of those at my next pay. Or even now, considering that 20 games are coming free before august 12... Unless it's one game per NES/GBA era.

    They're not coming BEFORE August 12th. You need to access the eShop before that date to be counted. When they start releasing them as of September 1st, THEN they'll be free.

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    LiquidPenguins

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    #40  Edited By LiquidPenguins

    Are you fucking kidding me?

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    Dreamfall31

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    #41  Edited By Dreamfall31

    wow...if it gets some more stellar games I may get it. I was 100% Vita during E3 week, but thinking about it more I don't need it at all. I barely touch my PSP and it had some games I really wanted to play. So 3DS is a maybe, if there are more great games!

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    Eribuster

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    #42  Edited By Eribuster

    The 20 free download games probably amounts to the US$80 price drop. Good that they are doing something rather than entirely screwing over early adopters. 
     
    @MordeaniisChaos said: 

    Really, 20 old ass games is what you give for an AWFUL launch and rather rapidly dropping the price by that much? How are people raging that you get to pick from full, contemporary ass video games for the PS3 stuff but Nintendo gives stuff you can download and emulate in a heart beat just as free as you can get em through the 3DS if you don't count the cost of the 3DS and so far all I've seen is @Jonathan said:

    Awesome! Really glad they aren't simply ignoring us early adopters.
    Well, Nintendo didn't let your personal information get hacked and prevent you from playing online multiplayer. And while emulating those games doesn't cost much, I don't think it's legal.
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    EpicReflex

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    #43  Edited By EpicReflex

    Seems like a last ditch effort.

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    gunharp

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    #44  Edited By gunharp

    I don't understand. Where's the conductor?!

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    imsh_pl

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    #45  Edited By imsh_pl

    PEOPLE 

    WE HAVE TO DO THE SAME WITH PS VITA

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    byterunner

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    #46  Edited By byterunner

    common guys, Nintendo doesn't do things at money lost for anything. Of course the compensation is less then eventful (really, it depends on the last 10 games they announce) though, those GBA games look pretty good IMO.

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    zakkro

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    #47  Edited By zakkro

    I was mildly interested in the 3DS, but got over it real quick. I really want the Vita because I like shiny things with big screens... but honestly, I'm starting to become disinterested in game-oriented handhelds. Kinda bums me out.

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    jiggolojoe

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    #48  Edited By jiggolojoe
    @xeroxkitty: On Amazon it's already been reduced to £169 from £229.99, could they go lower?
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    MEATBALL

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    #49  Edited By MEATBALL

    I was relatively happy with my purchase anyway, so the 10 NES & 10 GBA games sweeten the deal for me. This really does seem like the price point they should have launched at, though, particularly considering the weak lineup. Metroid Fusion is one of my favourite handheld games ever, and I haven't been able to find my copy for some years, so I'm really pleased on that front. I hope the price drop gives the 3DS a shot in the arm, I really do like the system.

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    Hector

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    #50  Edited By Hector

    Wow...now thats news. Might get one later on this year then! :)

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