Two fighting games, some sports, a little Bub, a little Bob, and hey, how about some dogs and cats, while we're at it?
Nintendo is currently allowing the Japanese public to get its hands on the Nintendo 3DS at an event called Nintendo World. In addition to the stage presentations and demo stations, the company has also posted a release list for Spring and Summer, including eight games that are scheduled to be available alongside the 3DS when it launches in Japan on February 26.
Some stats about the 3DS hardware and what you'll get in the box have also been posted and translated by andriasang.com. The bit that stuck out at me is that the system will take three-and-a-half hours to charge, and battery life when playing 3DS games is rated at three to five hours. That's... not a very long time. The number goes up a bit when playing DS games, allowing five to eight hours of play.
A 2GB SD card will be packed in with the system, and two games appear to be on the list of pre-installed software: AR Games and Face Shooting, which sounds like it's at least superficially similar to the Face Ace tech demo that was being shown back at E3.
Well, I'm not going to play Layton until it's in English, and I can only really get excited about Super Street Fighter IV in a tech demo sort of way... is it weird that the only game on that list that jumps out at me as something I actually want to play is Ridge Racer 3D? Even that comes with some caveats, though, as Namco's already stated that it'll contain some old tracks and cars. At this point, does anyone consider anything affiliated with Ridge Racer--with the possible exception of the track from the very first game--to be "classic" enough to warrant revisiting? Oh well, you have to admire the way Namco at least sticks to its whole "every meaningful platform gets a Ridge Racer at launch" plan.
Nintendo is currently allowing the Japanese public to get its hands on the Nintendo 3DS at an event called Nintendo World. In addition to the stage presentations and demo stations, the company has also posted a release list for Spring and Summer, including eight games that are scheduled to be available alongside the 3DS when it launches in Japan on February 26.
Some stats about the 3DS hardware and what you'll get in the box have also been posted and translated by andriasang.com. The bit that stuck out at me is that the system will take three-and-a-half hours to charge, and battery life when playing 3DS games is rated at three to five hours. That's... not a very long time. The number goes up a bit when playing DS games, allowing five to eight hours of play.
A 2GB SD card will be packed in with the system, and two games appear to be on the list of pre-installed software: AR Games and Face Shooting, which sounds like it's at least superficially similar to the Face Ace tech demo that was being shown back at E3.
Well, I'm not going to play Layton until it's in English, and I can only really get excited about Super Street Fighter IV in a tech demo sort of way... is it weird that the only game on that list that jumps out at me as something I actually want to play is Ridge Racer 3D? Even that comes with some caveats, though, as Namco's already stated that it'll contain some old tracks and cars. At this point, does anyone consider anything affiliated with Ridge Racer--with the possible exception of the track from the very first game--to be "classic" enough to warrant revisiting? Oh well, you have to admire the way Namco at least sticks to its whole "every meaningful platform gets a Ridge Racer at launch" plan.
Form what I've heard, the low battery life is when you're playing on a high backlight setting with the 3D on; if you lower it and turn the 3D off, it goes up to something like 9-12 hours or so.
But I don't have an actual source for that, and I may be mis-remembering the numbers. Still though, PES, SSFIV and Layton is a good enough launch for me honestly, and we don't know the launch for US or EU yet, so I'm still having to wait for more news. Even a definite price would be nice.
Damn... none of those seem like a system seller. Never played a Layton game though. I guess that would probably be if anything.
Surely there will be some N64 classics in 3D at launch, right?
Last time I played Ridge Racer was the PSP one at launch. Not interested in going back... unless it supports single cart multiplayer. The 3DS can do that still, right?
The battery life is just killing it for me. I'm almost tempted to just stick with my DSi for a while until they come out with the 3DS Lite (which would be smaller and have a better battery life)
Then again... glasses-free 3D sounds pretty awesome.
The battery life is a huge bummer and is a real sticking point for me. I planned on waiting a year or two for when they eventually iterate on the device and that bullet point sort of cemented my decision.
" The battery life is just killing it for me. I'm almost tempted to just stick with my DSi for a while until they come out with the 3DS Lite (which would be smaller and have a better battery life) Then again... glasses-free 3D sounds pretty awesome. "
Smaller sizer doesn't necessarily lead to a longer battery life.
It's disappointing that the battery life isn't longer, but I kind of expected this to be the case. Regardless, I've already preordered a 3DS and the battery life isn't much of a concern for me since I do most of my portable gaming at home anyway.
" I'm entirely surprised people are taking this as more than just the huge gimmick it seems to be. "
The 3DS has more to offer over the DS and DSi than just 3D graphics. The hardware in general is more powerful, which in general is already leading to games with far better graphics than the DS was capable of producing even when a developer was firing on all cylinders.
" The battery life is just killing it for me. I'm almost tempted to just stick with my DSi for a while until they come out with the 3DS Lite (which would be smaller and have a better battery life) Then again... glasses-free 3D sounds pretty awesome. "
Smaller sizer doesn't necessarily lead to a longer battery life. It's disappointing that the battery life isn't longer, but I kind of expected this to be the case. Regardless, I've already preordered a 3DS and the battery life isn't much of a concern for me since I do most of my portable gaming at home anyway. "
well, I was just saying both, not that they were necessarily related. I just think that's probably what Nintendo will do, just like transition from DS to DS Lite.
" I'm entirely surprised people are taking this as more than just the huge gimmick it seems to be. "
The 3DS has more to offer over the DS and DSi than just 3D graphics. The hardware in general is more powerful, which in general is already leading to games with far better graphics than the DS was capable of producing even when a developer was firing on all cylinders. "
Hmm I suppose so. And I guess my dislike of anything 3D kinda makes me biased. Just as long as they focus on cracking games as opposed to cracking 3D effects and stuff. The fact that all these new 3D films just concentrated on the 3D effects (AVATAR!) as opposed to actually making a good film, makes me think that is the route destined for everything, for now anyway.
It should be mentioned that the 3DS battery life of 3-5 hours is when you have the back light on full, the sound up full and the wireless mode switched on. If you take the back light down a bit and turn the sound down a little and turn off wireless it is supposed to go anywhere between 6 and 8 hours. A couple of sites have reported on this including N Europe and Kotaku.
Why is everyone so down on ridge racer? Namco released two PSP games made up of nothing but old tracks and you know what? They where pretty good! The 3DS game gets old and new tracks, something familiar to start on and something new to play on once youve found your feet.
There's usually at least one game that usually jumps out as the "This is the game we are obviously using to try to sell this product," but there's nothing.
I mean, some good games certainly, but nothing spectacular. I dunno, I guess Layton, SSFIV, and Nintendogs might be super big in Japan.
" That's a pretty piss poor list for a launch. There's usually at least one game that usually jumps out as the "This is the game we are obviously using to try to sell this product," but there's nothing. I mean, some good games certainly, but nothing spectacular. I dunno, I guess Layton, SSFIV, and Nintendogs might be super big in Japan. "
Don't forget that Nintendogs was a huge seller in the west, as well. It's the single reason why Ubisoft is attempting to flood the planet with pet care-themed games with titles that end in "z."
" That's a pretty piss poor list for a launch. There's usually at least one game that usually jumps out as the "This is the game we are obviously using to try to sell this product," but there's nothing. I mean, some good games certainly, but nothing spectacular. I dunno, I guess Layton, SSFIV, and Nintendogs might be super big in Japan. "
Don't forget that Nintendogs was a huge seller in the west, as well. It's the single reason why Ubisoft is attempting to flood the planet with pet care-themed games with titles that end in "z." "
That's true, but I don't think Nintendogs is going to draw in those early adopters. Most of the people who are willing to pick the 3DS up at the maximum asking price are probably not the people who are going to buy it for games like Nintendogs, at least in the US.
Folks.. I think some people are getting a little too up-in-arms over the battery life. You should not be staring at a 3D game for more than an hour or so straight. People get headaches watching a 3D movie for an hour and a half, and that's non-interactive. Your brain and eyes are going to be working double time trying to decode all of the things the system will be throwing at it.
The answer there is to turn the 3D off, which would more than likely jump the battery life up towards the 6-8 hour mark. Take out WiFi, turn the backlight down a little bit, turn off the 3D, and suddenly you've got enough battery life to cover an entire work shift if you do nothing but play the system. But if you're doing that, I don't think you'll have a job long enough to justify the cost of buying one.
If I play my PSP for more than an hour or so, it starts hovering around the 70% mark, so there's no way it has 8 hours of playtime unless I turn off all the extras and keep the light at minimum. I played some UNO on my iPhone today for 20 minutes and my battery dropped to 80%. I don't have a DSi (thanks to the announcement of the 3DS,) but I imagine that constant play with full backlight + WiFi means it's struggling to hit the 8 hour mark itself. I've yet to see a portable device that can play games for 5 or more hours straight and not start suffering, and personally, I've never had the need for one.
Nintendogs was a huge hit, but it's very much a casual game. I played the first for a good week.. then never touched it again, definitely have no interest in another. The choice of breeds for the cover versions also seems somewhat odd, but I guess that could be changed for the US release. (The Shiba was replaced with the Lab in the original).
But it's a pretty "meh" lineup overall. Most systems usually have pretty weak launch titles, but I was expecting Zelda, Starfox, Pilot Wings, Mario Kart.. or at least one of their big core games. This is probably one of the worst launch libraries I've ever seen.
I've been pretty excited about getting one on launch, but unless the US/EU lineup is significantly better (seems unlikely) I'll probably just wait for the inevitable hardware revision and for the library to build up.
" It should be mentioned that the 3DS battery life of 3-5 hours is when you have the back light on full, the sound up full and the wireless mode switched on. If you take the back light down a bit and turn the sound down a little and turn off wireless it is supposed to go anywhere between 6 and 8 hours. A couple of sites have reported on this including N Europe and Kotaku. "
That sounds like a bit of a relief. I usually play my DS lite on 2/4 brightness, 3/4 in brighter environments, so if this has similar settings it will be easy to save a little battery power that way.
" Nintendogs was a huge hit, but it's very much a casual game. I played the first for a good week.. then never touched it again, definitely have no interest in another. The choice of breeds for the cover versions also seems somewhat odd, but I guess that could be changed for the US release. (The Shiba was replaced with the Lab in the original). But it's a pretty "meh" lineup overall. Most systems usually have pretty weak launch titles, but I was expecting Zelda, Starfox, Pilot Wings, Mario Kart.. or at least one of their big core games. This is probably one of the worst launch libraries I've ever seen. I've been pretty excited about getting one on launch, but unless the US/EU lineup is significantly better (seems unlikely) I'll probably just wait for the inevitable hardware revision and for the library to build up. "
This is also the Japanese launch. Things could easily be different for the U.S. launch. We may yet see games like Kid Icarus, Star Fox, or Zelda appear on the U.S. launch list, especially if any of the above were targeted more for a western release first.
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