Nintendo President Satoru Iwata revealed Super Mario 3DS during his GDC keynote speech earlier today. Judging from the logo it looks like we are finally going to see the return of the tanooki suit, making this the first time this power up has been seen in 3D if true. We don't know much else about the game other than the fact that it is being developed by the Super Mario Galaxy team, which is really all I need to know in order to purchase it. Check out some small screens of the game in action by clicking "Read More". It looks as though when Mario gets hit by an enemy he shrinks, similarly to how he does in the 2D platformers!
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Nintendo is live streaming Satoru Iwata's GDC keynote speech on their website. Could this mean big news? The speech is titled "Video Games Turn 25", which would lead me to believe there will be more than a passing mention of a major franchise that recently turned 25, The Legend of Zelda. There might even be talk of a certain plumber who turned 25 last year, we haven't seen anything about his first 3DS outing yet. Tune in 12p.m EST tomorrow for what are sure to be megaton announcements.
If you happen to lose your 3DS AR cards don't worry, you are able to print out extra copies. As an added bonus the size of the card seems to directly correlate with the size of the 3D model projected upon it, meaning you can put a life sized Mario and Nintendog in your own living room. I will be interested to see how big people will go with this and am also curious about whether or not gamers will be able to make the 3DS project objects of their own design onto the cards.
File this under news that isn't too surprising- Nintendo has sold through their initial shipment of 400,000 3DS units in Japan despite releasing the new handheld just yesterday. You have to wonder why Nintendo didn't allocate more units for launch, but I clearly no expert at the logistics of launching a product worldwide within the span of a month. Not even a couple million would have sufficed so Nintendo does have eventually have to draw the line somewhere- but 400,000 does seem a bit low. In the meantime they can reap the benefits of having a product that is in high demand and the talk of the town. Artificial shortages worked wonders for the DS and Wii, why not try it again? I expect a similar consumer reaction when Nintendo's newest handheld is released in the United States on March 27th.
Nintendo has been keeping the list of games that will launch with the 3DS on March 27th a complete secret, instead referring to a nebulous launch window for their releases. All of that has changed today- here are the 18 games that will be in stores on day one for an MSRP of $40:
• Pilotwings Resort (Nintendo) • Steel Diver (Nintendo) • Nintendogs + Cats (Nintendo) • Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition (Capcom) • The Sims 3 (EA) • Madden NFL Football (EA Sports) • Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D (Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.) • LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars (LucasArts) • RIDGE RACER 3D (Namco Bandai) • Super Monkey Ball™ 3D (Sega) • BUST-A-MOVE UNIVERSE (Square-Enix, Inc.) • SAMURAI WARRIORS: Chronicles (Tecmo Koei) • Asphalt 3D (Ubisoft) • Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D (Ubisoft) • Rayman 3D (Ubisoft) • Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Shadow Wars (Ubisoft) Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, Star Fox 64 3D, Kid Icarus: Uprising and Mario Kart 3DS are slated for release later in the year. While that may be disappointing to fans that are looking forward to Nintendo's big franchises, understand that Nintendo is trying to space software releases out so that there is never a drought of quality content available for the system. It will also give third parties a better chance to succeed at launch if they don't have to directly compete with any of Nintendo's largest properties. Although I'm sure Nintendog's + Cats will be a huge success, Pilotwings Resort and Steel Diver will probably be more modest successes. All in all I think this is a decent lineup that will surely please early adopters. It is certainly one of the strongest Nintendo launch lineups I have seen. There is also plenty to keep you interested in the hardware itself, mini games like Face Raiders are pre-installed on the 3DS alongside Mii creation apps and a 3D camera. It was 25 years ago today that the original Legend of Zelda launched on the NES. I should really turn in my gamer card, I regret to inform you that I still haven't beaten the first two Zelda games. I did get within 1 or 2 dungeons of beating the first one, but eventually got lost and forgot where I was. Even though the game originally came with a map I refuse to use guides to help me beat games. I oftentimes struggle with choosing which Zelda game is my true favorite, as all of them are pretty great. Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, Ocarina of Time and Link to The Past are among my favorites, each one of them could be my all time favorite depending on what kind of mood I am in.
Zelda games offer a unique blend of adventuring, puzzle solving and combat with unique weapons that scratches a gaming itch that no other series can. I get thrilled every time a new one is announced, even if the series has become a bit stale as of late. I am hoping that when Skyward Sword comes out later this year it wows us with its originality and fresh take on the beloved franchise. Is Nintendo going to put out a special collection for Zelda like they did with Mario for his 25th birthday? We already have two Zelda games coming out this year, the Ocarina of Time remake for the 3DS and Skyward Sword for Wii, will gamers actually be able to handle more Zelda than that? I know I will. I have been wanting to get this off of my chest for awhile- achievements and trophies are completely worthless. They oftentimes reward gamers for completing entirely mundane things like finishing tutorials or simply beating a game. Instead of buying or playing games based on what you like, we now have people trying to measure themselves online with achievement points earned by playing games that no one in their right mind would play.
I write this now, years after the implementation of achievements and trophies because some people are acting like it's a problem that the 3DS doesn't have a standardized achievement system in place. Read More EA holds the dubious honor of having the first cancelled 3DS game- that has been publicly announced anyway. Their fanciful 3D gardening simulator was intended to be a launch title for the 3DS but several negative previews probably changed their minds. EA should really support this innovative hardware with quality games- but they probably won't bother since western developers still don't find handhelds all that important. A game like My Garden is really not the way to build credibility with gamers at the launch of a new system. I understand that there is an audience for this sort of thing but they should really start building their presence on the 3DS by putting their best foot forward- and this clearly was not.
I happened to think Metroid: Other M was pretty awesome, but not every critic would agree. The game did less than stellar at retail, leading many gamers to speculate that Nintendo would put the franchise on the shelf for a while. I don't think that's necessary, instead I thought of a few ideas Nintendo should utilize to help make Metroid relevant again.
Click here to read my thoughts on where the Metroid franchise should go in the future Remember that picture of Prinny dressed in Cave Story garb from the other day? That would be because NIS America is publishing a remake of Cave Story for the 3DS! The game is being developed by Nicalis, the same developer behind the excellent WiiWare and DSiWare ports. It will feature 2D gameplay with 3D visuals and depth of field effects. The visuals aren't all that's changing, Nicalis has said that they have included plenty of easter eggs and new areas to make even the most seasoned fans happy. To find out why this is such great news read my review of the WiiWare version of Cave Story.
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