At last, the final key details for the Nintendo 3DS are here. It’s gonna be $250 when it comes out on March 27, with 30 games available right around launch. More »
We’ve known about the 3DS for what seems like ages but now, finally, we have US launch details, courtesy of dueling press events in New York and Amsterdam. The price for Americans is $249.99 and the release date is March 27, while Europeans will get it a few days earlier, on March 25th. European pricing, however, will be decided by retailers, which leaves us feeling a little bit unfulfilled. Courtesy of our chums at Joystiq and various retailers, it looks like £229.99 is the going rate in the UK, while the rest of Europe is looking at €249.99. (Curious how it sizes up with portable’s past? Joystiq’s got you covered.)
Nintendo is promising “30+” games to be available in the US during the launch window, more than 25 in Europe, with that window spanning between the actual launches in March and E3 in June. Sadly we’re still in the dark regarding which games exactly will be available when the system drops in March. Many games were discussed, including Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition, Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D, Dead or Alive Dimensions, Rabbids 3D, Resident Evil: Revelations, a new Paper Mario, and an obligatory Madden game too. There are plenty more mentioned in PR below. This is in addition to titles we already knew about, like Pilotwings Resort and Kid Icarus: Uprising. As for pricing, retailers are showing $40 to $50 per game, so yeah, that’s a We’re also told that remakes of classic GameBoy and GameBoy Color titles will be hitting the Virtual Console.
Meanwhile, European gamers are going to be getting a taste of exclusive 3D video content from a variety of partners, most notable being EuroSport, which will be serve up depth-enabled sports footage to portable consoles. We’re also told episodes of Shaun the Sheep, a new series from Wallace & Gromit creators Aardman, will be available as well. For now these deals look Europe-only, but here’s to hoping American folks will get something similar.
We have European and American press releases embedded below for your reading enjoyment, as well some video we shot from the New York.
Gallery: Nintendo 3DS press images
Nintendo 3DS coming to US March 27th for $249.99, Europe first on March 25th (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 10:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Nintendo 3DS gets new friend code system, finds beauty in unification originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 09:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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We’re here live in NYC at Nintendo’s 3DS press preview event, where Reggie Fils-Aime is scheduled to give a short presentation to kick things off. We’re hoping to learn some pricing and availability details — and possibly hear a word or two about 3D and the eyesight of younger gamers. After that, it’s time to party, right? We’ll find out.
Continue reading Live from Nintendo’s 3DS preview with Reggie Fils-Aime
Live from Nintendo’s 3DS preview with Reggie Fils-Aime originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 08:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Once upon a time, when handheld game systems were thicker and Nintendo was entirely without peer, the company deigned to allow us to import games without fear. On Game Boy of all shapes and sizes, as well as the Nintendo DS, a Japanese cartridge would let you experience portable wonders years before they hit Europe and the US. Starting in 2008, however, Nintendo made DSi-specific titles region-locked — and that’s the same fate that will likely befall games on Nintendo’s new 3D handheld as well. “There is the possibility that Nintendo 3DS software sold in one region will not function properly when running on Nintendo 3DS hardware sold in another,” a company statement reads, though it’s important to note that region locks are typically a two-party affair — if game publishers choose to make their stereoscopic software region-free, it might work on your handheld anyhow. So yes, you might still have a chance to get your date sim on.
Nintendo 3DS may have region-locked software, continue an unfortunate trend originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Jan 2011 20:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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3D gaming is obviously the big story on the Nintendo 3DS, letting you get your depth on without even having to cross your eyes. However, 3D image taking is also a nice thing that the company has provided, adding a second VGA camera to the back so that you can take twice the low-res images at once and layer ’em together. However, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata has recently indicated he wants to do better, not confirming any specific plans, but saying in an interview: “I think it will be fun if we’re able to include video recording capabilities with future updates.” You know what we think would be fun? A battery that lasts more than eight hours.
Nintendo 3DS could get 3D video recording in the future, James Cameron unavailable for comment originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Jan 2011 09:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
You had to expect that as the 3DS got closer to its global release, stray units would manage to break out of Nintendo’s manufacturing fortress and dash out into the wild. We already saw one such escapee earlier this month and, if we’re not terribly mistaken, that very same unit has now gone through the ritual of having its body disassembled for the sake of curious 3D gamers everywhere. There’s little to thrill the superficial viewer — we already knew about the 1300mAh battery, for example — but maybe you’ll care to scrutinize the silicon more closely. If so, the source link is your nearest and dearest friend.
[Thanks, Adam]
Alleged Nintendo 3DS roams the wild, gets thoroughly dismantled originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Jan 2011 01:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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It may seem like 3D sprung from the ashes of discontentment — not to mention red / blue glasses — but Nintendo never stopped believing. It’s been secretly refining stereoscopic tech for years in the likes of the Game Boy Advance and GameCube. And while president Satoru Iwata already mentioned early last year that the GameCube had hidden 3D circuits, he recently revealed that the 3DS’s autostereoscopic panel actually dates back to the clamshell Game Boy Advance SP. Which, as you might recall, also once sported a touchscreen. At the time, his story goes, LCD resolution was too low to generate a sharp image, but the optometrist-friendly glasses-free tech was already in place. Of course, if you truly want to consult the history books, you can consider Nintendo’s entry into the market to be the Famicom 3D System shutter glasses pictured above… which hit stores in Japan way back in 1986. Yeah, we know.
Nintendo’s Game Boy Advance SP once had an autostereoscopic screen originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Jan 2011 18:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Much has been made of Nintendo’s 3DS warning that the six-and-under crowd should probably stick to 2D mode, and while CEO Iwata has consented that “being proactive about informing our customer…. may not necessarily be positive for our sales,” the American Optometric Association has put an interesting spin on all this. The group released a statement last week — yes, during CES madness — asserting that 3D viewing “may actually help uncover subtle disorders that, left uncorrected, often result in learning difficulties.” Not only that, but the 36,000-strong group suggested “children younger than six can use the 3DS in 3D mode if their visual system is developing normally.” So yeah, Little Timmy’s Christmas 2011 isn’t ruined just yet, but that leaves plenty of time for a competing study to come out confusing everyone even further.
3D is dangerous / not dangerous: optometrist group defends Nintendo 3DS edition originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Jan 2011 00:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Remember those all-night Mario Kart DS and Advance Wars marathons? Looking to recreate the magic with the 3DS? Bring a wall charger. Nintendo’s just unveiled its best-case scenario figures for the 3DS’ battery life, and compared with its predecessors, it ain’t pretty. The official numbers are three to five hours playing per game, or five to eight if playing an older DS title (and up to three hours 30 minutes to fully recharge). So… three to eight hours under the most ideal circumstances. Let’s look at the family album: the DS is 10 to 14 hours, DS Lite 15 to 19 hours, DSi 9 to 14 hours, and DSi XL 13 to 17 hours (all figures also from Nintendo). Can’t say we’re entirely surprised; Haus of Mario Chief Satoru Iwata’s own words back in October were “it is inevitable that Nintendo 3DS will be a device which requires more frequent recharging than Nintendo DS.” Think of it as an extension of the warning label. You can never be too careful, you know.
Nintendo 3DS good for only 3 to 8 hours of play time per charge originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 08 Jan 2011 00:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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