nintendo 3ds – The Gaming News Corner

TLDW: Nintendo Direct 9.13.2017 for Nintendo 3DS

Because this conference is so long, I am splitting this article into two portions. The 3DS and the Switch

Quick Jump:
Pokemon
Mario and Luigi: Super Star+Bowser’s Minion
Kirby: Battle Royale
Yo-Kai Watch 2: Psychic Specters
Layton’s Mysterious Journey: Katrielle and Millionaires’ Conspiracy
Minecraft New Nintendo 3DS Edition
Mario Party The Top 100
Metroid: Samus Returns
Atlus
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney
Fire Emblem Warriors
New Nintendo 2DS

Pokemon:

Pokemon Ultra Sun and Moon:

Release date: November 17th, 2017. Necrozma, the mysterious legendary Pokemon that steals light, absorbs Solgaleo or Lunala to form Dusk Mane Necrozma or Dawn Wings Necrozma. The legendaries still retain their signature move. There will be new areas, a Valley of Pikachu, and a new encounter for your starter Pokemon. If you purchase the game before January 10, you’ll receive a limited edition Rockruff that can evolve into the unique dusk Lyncaroc. There will also be a new Z-move. There will be two new Ultra Beast: UB Burst for Ultra Sun and UB Assembly for Ultra Moon.

Pokemon Gold and Silver:

Release date: September 22nd, 2017. You can download the original Gold and Silver version on the Nintendo 3DS e-shop. If you buy it, you can get a Celebi on your US&UM.

Mario and Luigi: Super Star+Bowser’s Minion:

Release date: October 6th, 2017. A remake of the GBA game but with a new minion mode! It’ll be a new experience where you play as Bowser’s Minions (Goombas, Koopa Troopers, Shy Guys, Etc.) trying to find their master. Amibo will add stamps to give you free items and equipment for the game.

Kirby: Battle Royale:

Release date: January 19, 2018. A Kirby party game. It comes with a variety of different game modes. Kirby Battle Arena: Fight with special powers until you’re the last Kirby left. Horde Chest Mode where you try and grab as much treasure as you can. A team boss battle was shown and more is to be announced. There is a single player story mode and Online and Ranked Matches.

Yo-Kai Watch 2: Psychic Specters:

Release date: September 29th, 2017. One of the biggest games in Japan at the moment, a new improved version of Yokai Watch 2 which comes with new monsters and areas. Think of it like the Yellow Version of Yokai Watch 2.

People who have the original Yo-kai Watch 2, you’ll be able to download a free Oni evolution tomorrow. You’ll also get the opportunity to befriend an S tier Jibanyan. There’s a new buster game mode and you can even transfer your save from Yo-kai Watch 2 and continue the story in Yo-kai Watch 2: Psychic Spectres. They do everything Pokemon games should do when releasing a 3rd “complete” version of their games.

Layton’s Mysterious Journey: Katrielle and Millionaires’ Conspiracy:

Release date: October 6, 2017. Play a new Layton game! But now you play as his daughter in the 7th installment of the Professor Layton series. Plus you have new allies and an adorable dog.

Minecraft New Nintendo 3DS Edition:

Release date: September 13th, 2017 (Today) digitally. The Physical edition will release at a later date. Another way to play Minecraft on the go. It’ll come with texture packs, skins, and survival and creative mode. Their main selling point is that there is a touch screen. If for whatever reason you wanted a portable Minecraft besides the iPhone or PlayStation Vita, here it is.

Mario Party: The Top 100:

Release date: November 10th, 2017. The top 100 Mario Party mini games from all 10 main console games. It comes with download play, so your friends can play with you without even owning the game if they own a Nintendo 3DS. Personally, the fun part was screwing over your friends and taking their stars. While the mini-games were fun for a bit, the real fun of Mario Party was the intense pressure to win the overall board.

Metroid: Samus Returns

Release date: September 15th, 2017. Finally a real Metroid game. It’ll come with new weapons, melee attacks, and even new bosses that aren’t Ridley! But that winged jerk is totally back. The new armors look amazing and more than just a recolor in this game.

Atlus:

The Alliance Alive:

Release date: Early 2018. An old school RPG where you play as 9 different characters. It’ll have a new gameplay style so don’t worry about falling into the tropes of old JRPGs. Each character will have their own story and start at different parts of the story. Eventually, all 9 will meet up to combine the story into 1. It was released early this year in Japan. The reviews were fairly average.

Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux

Release date: Early 2018. An updated, better-looking version of SMT: Strange Journey. If you haven’t played it; it is hard. Just like the classic SMT games. There will be more demons to join your party and a mysterious new ally named Alex. She is involved with the new ending.

Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology:

Release date: Early 2018. A cult classic JRPG that was released late in the DS life cycle. It’s an amazing game that revolves around time travel. The gameplay is really unique and it involves heavy thinking. The beginning is a bit slow but once the story starts rolling, Radiant Historia becomes a blast to play. It will come with a new subplot: Sub-History which revolves around a new character: Nemesia.

Etrian Odyssey V: Beyond the Myth

Release date: October 17th, 2017. You can download the demo today. If you’re a fan of the series, the sequels to continue to receive rave reviews. It is a separate story so for new players, it’ll be a fresh experience and you don’t need to play the older games.

Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney

Release date: November 2017. An update, hi-res version of the original DS game. You can switch between American and Japanese audio dialogue. But how will I know if I’m eating hamburgers or sushi…

Fire Emblem Warriors

Release date: October 20, 2017. The Dynasty Warriors/Musou of Fire Emblem. Fight hordes of enemies to uncover why all these characters from different time period join together to fight evil. It will also release for the Nintendo Switch

New Nintendo 2DS:

Orange and White set for October 6th. Just in time for Halloween.

Sources:

Nintendo

New Pokemon Switch Game Details

Nintendo and Tsunekazu Ishihara, chief executive officer of Tokyo-based Pokémon spoke about the future of their next core Pokemon game on the Nintendo Switch. With the success of Pokemon Go worldwide, it has given inspiration for the next big Pokemon game set to release in 2018. Ishihara stated:

“With the Switch, we see it as a chance to create Pokémon that goes deeper and with a higher level of expression. As a result, that makes it an extremely important platform.”
“Right now we’re using 7 to 8-inch screens, but on a high-definition TV you can express a whole different world with graphics and sound.”
“Until now, games were made as one for one person, but now you can go home and play with everyone — so how do we tackle these themes, and how do we make sure it’s not complicated?”
“I can’t say that we’ll release accessories, but I’d like to think of that possibility.”
“Unlike smartphones, the Switch is not a game device that assumes that there’s constant network connectivity. So from our perspective, it’s really not that different from DS or 3DS in terms of connectivity.”

Artificial Reality for Pokemon?

In regards to augmented reality features such as Pokemon Go, Ishihara stated it fits with the overall theme of Pokemon and mixing reality and fantasy. He hopes to improve the features to create actual interactions with the AR Pokemon and its environment.

“With current AR, even if you say Pikachu is there, no one really thinks that. But that reality is just one step away. For example, you’ll be able to find Pikachu, and it can sense this table and jump on it, and you can see its shadow on the table, and then it faces you and starts talking to you. We will see the birth of this reality that is another step up from the current Pokémon Go. And I’ve only mentioned the visual aspect, but you can add haptic and rumble technology to that.”
“Voice-activated assistants are increasing. Whether it is Google Home or Amazon or Apple Homepod, there are many of them and we could see these dialogue-based devices give birth of a new form of entertainment.”
“Switch is just one of the possible platforms. I think we will open up more possibilities from all these platforms. Playing in a more realistic way should be possible.”

What do you think about all of these comments from Ishihara? Many fans of Pokemon, including myself, have been waiting for the new console Pokemon experience since Pokemon Colosseum. More details on the game graphics which have always been slowed down by the capabilities of the handhelds won’t be a problem for the Switch. It’ll be easier for them to focus on Pokemon features because the Switch is still a handheld console as well. While AR sounds like an interesting concept, I prefer a more focused game story or more Pokemon to catch over all generations rather than simple interaction gimmicks. While the Pokemon Refresh feature in Sun and Moon were fun, I don’t really need more ways to interact with all of my Pokemon personally.

Question:

What do you think about these potential features on the new Pokemon game for the Switch? Are you still excited to play Pokemon or will this bring you back in? Or is it too late?

Sources:

Bloomberg NeoGaf

Nintendo World Championship coming to you! Super Mario Odyssey and Metroid Demos

Nintendo is hosting a World Tournament this October in an ultimate test of Nintendo Gaming Skill. There will be eight qualifying events across the United States at certain Best Buy Stores. Qualifiers will be from August 19th to September 10th. The game is Mario Kart 7 for the Nintendo 3DS. If you think you’re the best driver in the United States, try and see if you’ll qualify for the Nintendo World Tournament.

Game Mode

For 12 and under, you’ll play DS Luigi Mansion Track with a standard kart, as Mario. 13 and over, you’ll play as Bowser in GBA Bowser’s Castle with a standard kart. Both modes are Time Trial and you’ll have two tries. Those who have the best time will qualify for the final competition in Manhattan.

Locations

Select cities have certain dates so check the link to see if there is a city nearby where you can participate. There are 8 cities in total: San Jose (Bay Area), Bronx (New York), Evanstone (Chicago), Torrance (Los Angeles), Richfield (Minneapolis), Dallas, Tukwila (Seattle), and Hialeah (Miami).

Free Stuff

While you’re there, you can play Mario Odyssey and Metroid: Samus Returns demos and possibly earn a My Nintendo Pin if you’re one of the first 200 people to check in. If you bring your My Nintendo QR code, you’ll also earn 100 Platinum points.

The final competition will be in Manhattan, New York in the Manhattan Center’s Grand Ballroom. I will update later on as more details are released.

Sources: Nintendo

New Nintendo 3DS Ends…in Japan

Recently, Nintendo has announced to halt production of the New Nintendo 3DS in Japan. This is based on a recent post on Nintendo‘s Japan website regarding the New Nintendo 3DS. The recently announced New Nintendo 2DS will be taking over the production line instead. It is a sleeker model and has better firmware. In a comparison of the two systems, the new 2DS will have no gyroscopic features and of course, no 3D.

Reasons, why they are stopping 3DS production, is mostly because the fad is dying. Nobody is interested in playing games in 3D and rarely were games using the gyro feature. In fact, several of Nintendo‘s recent games for the system didn’t even have 3D support including Pokemon Sun and Moon and Super Mario Maker. Not only that, but it’s a more subtle way of saving money since gyroscopic features and 3D projecting screens would save Nintendo more money.

New Nintendo 3DS will still be made worldwide but this may be a sign that Nintendo will be moving away from 3D for their previous handhelds. Sales for the 2DS have been better than the New Nintendo 3DS. The Nintendo 2DS seems more popular as the Nintendo portable sold 490,000 units in Japan and 770,000 units in North America in the last fiscal year. North America shows a little more interest in the New 3DS hardware—400,000 sales in the last fiscal year.

Based on my opinion, I think this is the best move for Nintendo. I’ve rarely used the 3D capabilities because of the strain on my eyes and because it wasn’t very fun. It was a nice gimmick to have but didn’t really appeal to anybody in the long run. All people wanted was a fun hand-held system and the New Nintendo 2DS can still do that.

How do you feel about 3D gaming and if you owned a Nintendo 3DS, did you use the 3D often?

Sources:Artechnica

Nintendo JP

Polygon