Wednesday, September 29, 2010

ok, deep breathes....

3DS is set to launch in February in Japan and March in NA/EU.

Also, there will be a handheld virtual console! That's right! Download Gameboy and GBA games to your 3DS!

plus... *breathes into paper bag* ...screw it... MEGA MAN LEGENDS 3!!!!!!!!!!





3DS info

MML3

7 comments:

Maxi said...

Well I hope to hear a NA price point soon. I think a March release is good. I think Pokemon Black and White will be out before then in the states.

As for Megaman Legends 3 I haven't really played any in the series so I'm willing to try it out.

Greg Meyer said...

I was very pleased with all the announcements today. While I wish the price was more around $200, it's looking like it won't be. At least we still have some time to save up for it. I'm also excited about the new Megaman Legends game! I didn't play the first two, but they looked fun.

Maxi said...

Well the DSi was cheaper in the states then in Japan when it came out so I would hazard a guess that it will be in the 230 to 250 price range.

Benjamin Fennell said...

I was disappointed to see them consciously skipping the holiday season, but then, a spring release really isn't a big deal. Still working my way through my DS and Wii backlogs, and there's more than enough hitting both those platforms over the remainder of this year and into '11 and still so much that I need to catch up on that I can't really be upset. I've got no shortage of things to do while I wait for the 3DS.

As for Mega Man Legends, I remember renting the original on the PSX and the audio cutting out a lot due to how worn out the CD was. I liked the gameplay for what it was, and I'd love to see a Virtual Console release of Mega Man 64 to experience it more fully - and of course, I'd always take a Legends 1-2/Adventures of Tron Bonne collection on the 3DS. I'm definitely looking forward to Legends 3, even if I'm not fully up on the plot.

I'm not extremely pleased with the price point, but I doubt it'll be the $300 most are expecting at this point, considering that conversation rates have never determined our exact prices here. I was hoping for something closer to $180-200, but I can live with $200-250, especially considering the augmented reality gaming and SD card pack-ins and all the confirmed features.

Now I'm looking forward to seeing just what kinds of new online features we get, since they haven't revealed their new online network and system yet - possibly the previously trademarked "Crosspass," seeing as that term wasn't used for tag mode as one might have expected when they demonstrated that. There's still plenty of questions about things like an achievement system - which could fit well in the Memory Notebook channel/menu, which seems to follow some kind of daily stats and this apparent pedometer feature the 3DS has built in, seemingly bringing Personal Trainer: Walking into the 3DS as something of a standard built-in feature with the motion detection in the system.

Benjamin Fennell said...

There's a lot of details we're still lacking, and given how long we've got until launch now, it wouldn't surprise me if the 3DS's online features still weren't completely set in stone yet. But considering all the amazing functions revealed for tag mode, further use for Miis at long last (I'm curious to see just how much more interesting the Mii Plaza gets and how much new customization we'll get for Miis), and all these sort of local social networking elements work, I can't help but imagine that we're going to be seeing something very impressive online. Pokemon Black and White already has a sort of Live/PSN-ish network, we're seeing some similar dashboard-style multitasking functionality on the 3DS's Home menu that we can drop to while suspending gameplay, and Resident Evil: The Mercenaries is apparently going to have full online co-op - we're seeing a huge leap forward in online gameplay now, and we've seen plenty of hints for a bigger leap forward in terms of overall features and functionality. Tag mode, brilliant as it is, is hard for most westerners - especially in America - to make good use of without attending specially organized events, given how spread out we are. (Presence of such a big tag mode feature does make me glad I'm planning on moving to a major city within the next year or so, though.) Tag mode itself has largely been a huge phenomenon because of how big the likes of Dragon Quest IX and Nintendogs and such have been in Japan - particularly in the insanely densely packed Tokyo, with its nerd mecca, Akihabara. We've compensated for distance here in the west by bringing in as many online features as we've seen in recent years, and I'd imagine Nintendo's working hard to make sure that those who've been displeased with the Wii and DS's online will be happy this time around. I could see some of the tag mode features seeing some kind of online equivalent, perhaps a Live or PSN style website to link our systems up with - perhaps a new extension of Club Nintendo with more social elements, building our own personal networks with friends - using Miis (Considering that we'll be able to use codes to display our Miis online and such now.) and sharing stats, etc. while also collecting them in something like the Memory Notebook channel, considering how much emphasis has already been placed on online rankings and such and sharing them, along with the occasional hinting at achievements. It looks like we've got messaging systems coming that could make it possible to socialize over WiFi while gaming, too, and to more easily make plans with friends. I could see Nintendo perhaps trying to create their own answer to Home or some kind of virtual world setting to build and share with friends, too - something that makes use of that idea much better for online gaming social networking than Home does, considering that Home largely just ended up being a weak Second Life knockoff geared more toward trying to get users to spend real money on things than anything else.

We're seeing more and more of a focus on players being able to affect and expand each others' games and gaming experiences in recent Nintendo games and seemingly as a backbone of the 3DS's design focus, and Reggie himself has said their goal is to give players every reason they can to use their 3DS at least once an hour every day, so I could see all kinds of online social expansion and depth coming to their new online system's focus as well. Something with their own personal brand of gaming magic, geared toward letting each player and 3DS owner really own their own unique gaming experiences together with friends. Even since the Wii, they've been talking about having this goal of giving you something new to look forward to every time you load up your system - and the arrival of new content is even pretty celebrated, with our little glowing lights now on the 3DS in addition to the Wii anytime new content has arrived.

Benjamin Fennell said...

Suffice to say, there's still a lot of mystique - an incredible amount we don't know, and may not know for a while yet, but the 3DS just gets more incredible with every new announcement. Hopefully we'll be seeing industry NDAs expiring now so we can look forward to a torrential flood of new 3DS game announcements, unveilings, screenshots, and footage leading up to an incredible spring launch, and somewhere along the way, the answers to the questions we still have about Nintendo's new online system. :D

NinSage said...

First of all, Ben, we gotta get you on the payroll here somehow (a payroll of $0 btw). Or maybe you should just be the designated commenter. =P

Forums aren't your thing, eh? Seems you have a lot to say, you'd be welcome to join.

As for the price, yea, if it's $300 that would be a little painful. It's a deserving system but that's a lot of money. =\
Might put a damper on my "day one" purchase plan. Hopefully it comes in closer to $250.

As for MML3, I played the first and second game and loved 'em. I never played the Misadventures of Tron Bonne because my local Blockbuster at the time never had it in stock for rent!

But yea, I freakin' LOVED those games. To me, it gave MegaMan that sense of character and depth that I always crave from my games.

I'm so glad that the franchise is not only alive, but coming to a platform I plan to buy!