Nintendo 3DS: Seeing is Believing

Think 3D isn't important to gameplay? Think again.

I've been saying this for a while now, but seeing is believing when it comes to the Nintendo 3DS's ability to display games in 3D. I can say it works all I want, but you won't understand how it feels to play a game in 3D without glasses until you try it for yourself. There's just no way around it.

That said, for weeks, even months, I've also been saying that 3D has no discernable effect on gameplay. How could it? It's simply an added effect on the perception of a game. Surely gameplay is only influenced by input, by the controlling device. Since the 3DS uses existing control concepts (like an analog slider, touch pad and buttons), it must work within these same existing frameworks, right?

As it turns out, that's only partially true.

I'm currently working my way through PilotWings Resort. I'm earning points and progressing through Mission Flight Mode's various difficulty levels, all by flying in planes, gliders and rocket belts. The game isn't particularly difficult at this point, but in one mission I found myself taxed slightly more than usual. I was trying to gauge my flight path, lining up a path marker with the next major goal. Hitting both would earn me critical points, so my choice was clear – don't miss either target. My grip on the 3DS tightened, as I was almost certain I was going to miss one or the other. Determining the proper depth was so tricky…

There's a Metroid Crossover in Dead or Alive Dimensions

Nintendo's collaboration with Team Ninja continues.

Though it may not be the kind of Metroid announcement fans were hoping for from today's 3DS Preview Event, it turns out that Nintendo's long-running series starring intergalactic bounty hunter Samus Aran will be making an appearance on the upcoming portable -- inside Tecmo Koei's Dead or Alive Dimensions.

Tecmo Koei's Team Ninja developers just finished collaborating with Nintendo to bring us the Wii-exclusive Metroid: Other M last year, and it appears they've gone back to the assets they crafted for that adventure -- because playable in the new Dead or Alive will be a Metroid-themed stage. It's the circular platform area where Samus faced off against her arch-nemesis Ridley in one of Other M's most memorable boss battles.

Kid Icarus Uprising Is Painfully Good

It hurts to play, but all the funnest things do, right?

While playing through the demo for Kid Icarus Uprising at Nintendo's 3DS event in New York City, I started having flashbacks to another Nintendo DS game: Metroid: Prime Hunters. Remember how much it hurt to play? I nearly gave myself carpal tunnel. My hands protested in much the same way during my short time with Kid Icarus. The only difference was that this time I was enjoying myself too much to care.

It's hard to explain to younger gamers why they should be excited for a new Kid Icarus game. So I'm going to skip all the rhetoric about the glory days of 8-bits and eggplant wizards. Besides, this isn't the same kind of game at all, so the comparison is invalid.

Simply put, Kid Icarus is a shooter. Sometimes it pretends to be a close combat action game, but it is always a shooter. You control Pit – an angel with a big sword – with the analog stick, you control where he aims with the stylus, and you shoot with the L button.

Ross Debunks Metroid Chat

Presenter clarifies comments on Twitter.

UK TV presenter Jonathan Ross has clarified comments he made on Twitter pertaining to the 3DS and its launch event in Amsterdam tomorrow.

Ross – who will be presenting Nintendo's event tomorrow where it's expected the precise details of the 3DS's North American and European launch will be revealed – had told a Twitter follower who alluded to a new Metroid game "I think you're going to be pleased...".

His comments unsurprisingly created a buzz, but he's since doused hopes of those expecting an appearance from Samus Aran at the event. "You started a lot of 3DS rumours!" wrote 3DSBuzz, "You meant darrenkerwin will be pleased about general surprises not about a Metroid 3DS didn't you?"

Presenter Hints at 3DS Metroid Reveal

Could Samus be making an appearance this Wednesday?

Nintendo's to announce its plans for the 3DS launch across Europe and North America this Wednesday – and the host of the European event has hinted that there could be a few surprises in store too.

UK TV presenter Jonathan Ross confirmed through his Twitter account that he'll be fronting the European event at Amsterdam this Wednesday, where it's expected that Nintendo will nail down pricing and date details for the release of the 3DS, prompting a flurry of queries from his followers.

Dead or Alive Dimensions Shakes Up Nintendo World

We try out the new take on the busty fighter and come back impressed... in 2D.

We played two fighting games at the Nintendo World 2011 3DS demo event in Tokyo over the weekend. We already shared how impressed we were with one of them, Super Street Fighter IV. The other one, Dead or Alive Dimensions, didn't have as much polish, but does have potential.

The Nintendo World demo was set up with arcade and chronicle modes. The latter is an all new addition to Dimensions. It takes you through a single story that spans the entire Dead or Alive storyline. You end up using a number of different characters.

We were able to try out an early chronicle mode sequence featuring Ayane and Kasumi. This kicked off with a fully voiced cut-scene featuring the type of hilarity we've come to expect from Dead or Alive cinematics. Sandwiched in between two such scenes was a brief fight between the two characters.

Kid Icarus Soars on the 3DS

Franchise revival is a showpiece title, but controls may get in the way.

We played Kid Icarus Uprising at the weekend's Nintendo World demo event in Japan and discovered a good side and a bad side to the game. The bad side is something that has been hinted at in impressions from past events: the controls. The good side is... well, pretty much everything else.

Kid Icarus Uprising is a rethinking of the Kid Icarus franchise as a shooter. It doesn't have much to do with the classic Famicom title, a platformer, except for the character and world elements.

The game's stages are split into two parts. You first control Pit in the air in what's best described as a 3D rails shooter. You have no control over direction here, so all you have to worry about is taking out enemies and avoiding bullet fire. In terms of story, it's said that the goddess Palutena is controlling the action here, having given Pit the gift of flight which lasts just five minutes (Pit normally can't fly).

New Dragon Ball For DS

In Japan today, Namco Bandai took the veil off the DS's latest Dragon Ball game, and we've got first screens and some preliminary details.

Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans is getting a followup. In Japan today, Namco Bandai took the veil off the DS's latest Dragon Ball game.

The new game is known in Japanese as "Dragon Ball Kai: Ultimate Butouden." Preliminary details promise a simple control scheme, super attacks performed by shouting into the DS, and what appears to be some sort of auto evasion system (Shounen Jump, which debuted the game, said that even if you don't press any buttons you'll evade weak attacks).

Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-land Mayhem Review

You can't have too much of a good thing.

Mario and Donkey Kong have been having it out for almost 30 years now and, thankfully, the two don't appear to be anywhere close to settling their differences. The rivalry has made for some of the most delightful handheld puzzle games over the years, a tradition that continues with Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-land Mayhem. This is one of the best DS games of the year. It's not at all a departure from previous entries in the series and essentially provides more of the same, but I'm not going to complain about more of a good thing.

Donkey Kong has made off with Mario's girlfriend, Pauline, again. Remember, Donkey Kong Mario dates Pauline, while Super Mario Bros. Mario dates Princess Peach. Think of it like those pilots that have different wives in different cities. Anyway, Mario is out to get his girl back and he'll need the help of the Mini Mario toys to do it.

Rock Band 3 DS Review

The world tour starts in your hands.

Once in a while, I'll get asked if there's a review score I wish I could change. While I back everything I write, there is one rating that I wish I could go back and change -- Rock Band Unplugged. A PSP game released in 2009, Rock Band Unplugged boiled down the four-instrument formula to the PSP's face buttons. It rocked, but I got hung up on a few minor issues and gave the game an 8.2. For the next six months, I played Rock Band Unplugged on the way to work each day and marveled at how much fun it was. Since then, I've been kicking myself that I didn't give the game an 8.5 and an Editor's Choice Award. It's haunted me.

Well, while I cried over three-tenths of a point, Backbone took its formula to the DS for LEGO Rock Band and now Rock Band 3. If you're familiar with either of the previous handheld music games, the gameplay formula here isn't breaking the mold. You have four music highways that represent the four instruments in your band. Notes fall on one of these highways with a "phrase box" around a certain section. As the notes cross an onscreen line, you tap one of four buttons to make the music play. Nail the phrase, and you clear the highway for a bit and get to jump to the next instrument that has notes on its highway. If you flub a note during the phrase, you have to keep trying until you complete a phrase perfectly -- of course, notes begin falling on the other highways while this happens.

More Glory for DSi

Glory Days will spin off as a tower defense game for DSi owners.

It's a game that would easily crack my Top 100 DS Games of All Time, if there were such a list: Glory Days 2, the sequel to the GBA game Super Army Wars, is a hybrid multiplayer title that brings back the fun of Wings of Fury with the tactics of Armor Alley. Two games you probably never heard of, either.

Atari Greatest Hits Volume 1 Review

Great emulation, not so great price.

Anyone who knows me recognizes my love for the old-school. I grew up in the arcades of the 80s, and my first system – played daily – was an Atari 2600. Compilation packs are not only a great way for companies to revisit and celebrate some of their classic properties, it's also a much more convenient way for gamers to enjoy them without the hassle of tracking down and hooking up the original consoles or arcade machines.

Atari Greatest Hits Volume 1 definitely hits a few right notes for a collection of games that, admittedly, don't hold up nearly 30 years after their release. First, it's the apology for the truly embarrassing Retro Atari Classics compilation released on the Nintendo DS – looking back at that disaster of a retro remake I was far kinder than I should have been. Atari Greatest Hits features spot-on emulations of nine arcade games and more than 40 Atari 2600 console games, all of which remain untouched with same sound, control and gameplay that they're known for. Even games that used spinner or trackball control come off well through touch-screen support that's a far better compromise than the way they've been handled on other consoles.

Sonic Colors DS Review

The hedgehog returns to his glory days.

After more than a decade of mediocre or downright bad Sonic games, 2010 is proving to be the turning point for Sega's little blue hedgehog. Sonic 4 started the trend, and Sonic Colors continues it, giving portable players one of Sonic's best adventures yet.

Sonic Colors DS looks and plays a lot like the classic Genesis games. It's a fast, 2D platformer where you blaze through levels collecting rings and other items in a mad dash to reach the end. Sonic Colors follows a formula, but it never feels repetitive thanks to wonderfully inventive level design. You're constantly encountering new, often one-time-only mechanics. One level might have a portion where you're careening down a waterslide; another might pit you against a giant dinosaur's skull that's chasing you, and another still might keep you underwater. Each act combines moments like this with traditional Sonic staples like spikes, loops, and moving platforms, creating frenetic courses that demand your attention.

Nintendo May Localize Unreleased DS Games

Move would be part of an effort to take advantage of large DS install base during transition to 3DS.

As Nintendo prepares to transition to the 3DS, the company is looking for ways to continue serving its large install base on the Nintendo DS. One way may be to localize games that have yet to arrive in other territories (via Siliconera).

Speaking with investors, president Satoru Iwata said that localizing games from the DS's large library may be a way to take advantage of the current DS library. He cited Animal Crossing for the GameCube as an example, which wasn't slated to be localized until Nintendo's localization branch evaluated it and determined it would be viable in the west.

 

Amazon Japan Reveals its Top 10 Games of the Decade

Nintendo, Square Enix occupy all but one position on the chart.

In celebration of ten years of operation, Amazon Japan has posted a list of the ten most popular games it has sold (via Kotaku Japan). The number one title of the past decade was Dragon Quest IX, the mega-hit Nintendo DS RPG released last year.

Nintendo Continues with 2D/3D Mario Mix on 3DS

Miyamoto explains how 3D effects can be used for both types of Mario.

There's the 3D type of Mario, shown in Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Galaxy. There's the 2D type of Mario, shown in New Super Mario Bros. on Wii and DS. You may have your preference. Nintendo's investors may have their preference. But it doesn't matter too much because on the 3DS, we're going to be getting both types.

Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto revealed this during the Q&A session of an investors briefing last week.

In response to a question about Mario sales trends and what they mean for Mario's appearance on 3DS, Miyamoto first reiterated some thoughts on the difference between 2D and 3D Mario games. The 3D games give players more options and freedom, but some view them as too complex, and so they don't sell as well. Mario Galaxy was one attempt at a solution to this -- making a 3D Mario game that anyone can play.

Said Miyamoto, "When asked 'what will we do on 3DS,' the answer is, of course, we'll make both. They both have their own appeal."

Zelda: OoT, Nintendogs Apparently Part of 3DS Launch Line-Up

Steel Diver and PilotWings Resort are also possibly set for the 3DS's launch.

Following Nintendo's financial results meeting with investors yesterday, they also quietly released a launch schedule of internally developed games for the Nintendo 3DS...and it looks like it's given us the first indication of what games will be ready to fill out the 3DS launch line-up.

As the schedule (via GoNintendo) reconfirms, the 3DS is launching in Japan on February 26 and in North America some time in March. But the schedule also has The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, PilotWings Resort, Nintendogs + Cats, and Steel Diver all listed for a "spring 2011" release in Japan, indicating they'll likely be ready for release along with the 3DS -- or at least very soon after. Along with those games, Kid Icarus: Uprising is listed for a vague "2011" release, while StarFox 64, Animal Crossing, Paper Mario, and Mario Kart are all listed as TBA.

Nintendo Shows Improved 3DS Shop Interface

Nintendo Shows Improved 3DS Shop Interface?

The digital shopping experience on the DSi is notoriously slow and clunky, with lengthy waits accompanying most screen transitions. Nintendo is going to be making some fixes for the 3DS version of the shop.

During an investors briefing today, Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata showed a demonstration video for the 3DS shopping channel. You can view the clip for yourself in this video from the event by forwarding to the 40 minute mark.

As explained by Iwata during the demonstration, the shop interface is split into categories, which he referred to as racks. These racks contain software corresponding to a theme -- for example, "Mario Games."

Select a rack, and you're instantly taken into a list of games available on the rack. Iwata noted that the transitions between screens is quick. You can see this for yourself in the video feed.

Ghost Trick spooking DS Jan. 11

Capcom bringing Ace Attorney creator's latest detective-style handheld effort to North America early next year.

It has been more than a year since Ace Attorney creator Shu Takumi first began talking about his latest zetetic handheld effort, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective. And while the game didn't exactly light up the Japanese sales charts upon its release for the DS in June, North American audiences can soon begin peeling back the game's mysteries, as Capcom today announced a January 11, 2011, release for the title.

A blend of the adventure and puzzle genres, Ghost Trick tells the story of an amnesiac ghost who attempts to solve the mystery behind his own death while saving the lives of others. As the deceased Sissel, players can take control of objects in the world to accomplish various challenges, with puzzle examples including making a bike float through the air to scare the living or possessing a light switch to zap an assassin.

The GameCube's Rise from the Grave

How Nintendo's purple lunch box just won't stay dead, and may terrorize the 3DS next. (With Top 10 picks for when it does.)

It's been nearly four years since the GameCube died, and yet it shambles on. Through its hardware, through its software – it's just never really disappeared, even after almost half a decade of the Wii replacing it as Nintendo's flagship console. The system's legacy continues, undeterred, crawling constantly forward with undead resolve.

And the 3DS may be this zombie's next meal.

Now, the GameCube hardware itself has certainly slipped out of sight. Our purple lunch boxes have been packed away, traded in for GameStop credit or hidden in closets to collect dust for eternity. But it's undeniable that, in nearly every other way, Nintendo's GameCube has kept a subtle pulse pumping ever since 2006.

The first piece of life support came through the Wii's backwards compatibility with Cube software – to this day everyone who buys a Wii is also getting a hidden Cube inside, as that disc slot dutifully boots up every miniature optical disc placed within. The second is that the Cube's controller has lived on, still utilized by Nintendo with new Wii releases that require more complicated input that the lone Wii Remote can provide – Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Sin & Punishment: Star Successor, and every single Virtual Console title retain compatibility with the pad.