Little Nintendo 3DS Features You Should Know About

By Ishaan . January 19, 2011 . 10:33am

By now, everyone knows that the Nintendo 3DS can display stereoscopic 3D visuals, and that it has the ability to take 3D pictures with its cameras, create Miis, play Nintendo DS games and so on. However, the system also includes other, less-talked-about features that are pretty significant in their own right.

 

First up is MP3 support. The DSi couldn’t play MP3 files, but the 3DS can. It can also play AAC files. Since the 3DS comes with a 2GB SD card (and supports up to a 32GB card), it’s nice to have MP3 support present and accounted for. Like the Nintendo DSi, the 3DS will include a 3DS Sound application, which lets you listen to your music and manipulate sounds.

 

Next up is the online, which is receiving a major overhaul. The Nintendo 3DS will have access to an eShop that will be home to trailers and downloadable game demos. You’ll be able to rate and see how other consumers rated games based on these demos. The eShop will also be where you’ll be able to find Gameboy and Gameboy Color games via the 3DS Virtual Console.

 

The online store will be completely cash-based, not based on any kind of “points” system. You’ll be able to use your credit card to make purchases directly off the eStore, or buy a Nintendo 3DS Prepaid card at retail stores. At some point after launch, you’ll also be able to grab an Internet browser off the eStore.

 

A previously reported parental lock feature will allow you to restrict content on the 3DS via a PIN. You’ll have the ability to restrict access to games based on their age-rating by the appropriate country’s ratings board, as well as disable the system’s stereoscopic 3D output.

 

And finally, Play Coins. The Nintendo 3DS can count the number of steps you take while carrying it around. By walking, you earn Play Coins. These coins can be used to unlock content in compatible 3DS games and applications.

 

Oh, and just in case you missed it, the 3DS also comes with an adjustable stylus:

 

The system will launch in Europe on March 25th. UK retailer Game lists the price of the Nintendo 3DS as £229.99 ($368). Play is a tad less at £219.99 ($352). North America gets the 3DS on March 27th for $249.99. Finally, Japan gets it a whole month earlier on February 26th at 25,000 yen.


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  • shy_mel

    I feel sorry for any Europeans who want a 3DS if either of those prices turn out to be real.

    • There will be no Nintendo mandated retail price in the EU, it’s set by the retailer. The only real question then is what is the wholesale price, and how much profit are retailers taking.

      I’m guessing that means it will be damn expensive early on when retailers can get away with it and still sell all their stock. As the system gets less scarce market competition will drive down the price.

  • malek86

    I wonder if some games could have support for your own music. A number of games on PSP and Wii can do it, so it’s not out of the question.

    • puchinri

      I was wondering the same thing, that was exactly where my mind jumped. I hope that’s the case.

    • Guest

      What PSP and Wii games have custom soundtracks? The only 2 I can think of on Wii are Excitetruck and Endless Ocean 1 which I don’t care about. I know it’s possible on PSP with homebrew but I never knew a title could do it on its own.

      • malek86

        Wipeout Pulse, the two GTA Stories, Gran Turismo and some other sports games (at least one Need for Speed and one MBL) have the option.

        For the Wii, I think only those two you mentioned. Not even Excitebots and EO2. A bit of a wasted opportunity – I can’t think it would be too difficult. Maybe Nintendo was afraid of people finding a way to access the SD cards from the game for hacking purposes, and decided to cut the support.

        • Guest

          Neat. EO2 and Excitebots removed custom soundtracks. Sports and racing games are perfect for custom soundtracks. I think that is the greatest feature the 360 has. Not Live, Im not a big online guy and screw paying but being able to play your music library while playing a game is awesome. I doubt 3DS will support this universally though.

          • Maybe in racing games and sports games but I never understood the thrill of wanting to play ones own music. I always thought that most games were built with good soundtracks as it is and playings ones own soundtrack ruins that. Sonic Unleashed just felt odd playing my own music instead of the amazing soundtrack that the game came with. Even in Gran Turismo 5 I love the huge soundtrack incoporated and in Hot Pursuit I like some of the licensed songs that I thought I wasnt going to be a fan of, though I find myself often shuffling through the listing to get to my favorite songs

          • Guest

            Well I play a lot of sports games, fighters and racers. Hell even mindless button masher like Sengoku Basara, Madworld and No More Heroes could due with some custom soundtracks. I love video game music too but sometimes games soundtracks are horrible. My music taste is very different from the norm so usually all the licensed stuff in racers and sports game I do not like, playing my own music then is would be really appreciated.

            Let me clarify NMH2 OST was great, the originals was meh. I played the game listening to Boom Boom Satellites.

  • kyuketsukimiyu

    Play Coins sounds really really stupid/annoying. It’s like Nintendo constantly enjoys punishing me for wanting to play my handhelds mostly at home.

    I do like where they have gone with online though. These were some needed improvements. I would like them to take it a step further and have profiles, but I am content with this.

    • Croix

      Completely agree with you on the play coins. It’s one thing to take your handheld around with you if you live in Japan, but for those who live in the US (and possibly Europe, can’t say that’s my area of expertise though), features requiring that get annoying and vexing rather quickly. My pokewalker has been sitting in my bookbag since I graduated college, which was right after I bought the game it came with. I didn’t play pokemon because I wanted to jog to unlock things in the game. I bought the game because I wanted to play the game. This bothers me the same way communication gimmicks do. Prime example being Dragon Quest IX, as I know no one who has gotten all the ‘tags’ needed in that game without attending a major event, of which there are none in my area. I know a lot of people who own a DS, but we all have different games.

      I don’t have this problem with my PSP games, which makes it that much more of a sore point for me. If DS games are going to have these gimmicks, I wish they would at least provide an only slightly inferior alternate method for the things you would unlock, like what TWEWY did with the increase in mingle rates and allowing random ‘alien’ encounters.

      • ECM

        I don’t understand this logic: just put the damn thing in your bag/pocket when you leave the house. Wow, that was hard!

        Now, granted, if you’re a complete shut-in (and I tend towards that), you’ll have to get a little more creative about ‘walking’ your 3DS, but if you think about it for, oh, 30 seconds, you’ll probably come up w/ a stack of ideas of how to do it w/o actually putting in much effort. (Hell, there’s an opening right here for someone to come up w/ an accessory that latches the 3DS to your dog’s collar and have him do the work for you or you could just buy one of those cheap-o massagers* and let the 3DS sit on it all day, etc.)

        *No, not one of those, pervs!

        • Croix

          I’m not necessarily a shut-in, but I don’t live in a bustling city either. When I want to go somewhere, walking is out of the question; I have to drive there. To me, this is a pretty basic difference between what is ordinary for a Japanese citizen, where walking to get where you want to go is generally not as big of a deal (though a subway ride may be involved), and what is ordinary for an American citizen, for many of whom ‘going somewhere’ means a lot less walking and more driving. Plus I just generally find it cumbersome to carry around a handheld when you don’t actually have the intent of playing it. When I play handhelds away from home, it’s usually on trips, such as really long car rides or flights. When I was in school it would have been different, but I lived in a city then. (By the way, if the 3DS is crazy advanced enough to actually determined distance traveled without relying on the actual motions/vibrations of a person walking, which means taking it in a car or plane would register, then I totally drop my complaint and applaud Nintendo, but somehow I doubt that this is the case)

          I realize that I don’t speak for everyone, and I also want to say that this isn’t a deal-breaker for me, but it is a very large annoyance.

          • Exkaiser

            How is it an annoyance? The feature is completely optional, much as with the Pokewalker before it.

            You’re acting as if it will be a major part of the system, but the precedent of the Pokewalker is that it won’t. I haven’t been able to find my Pokewalker since I moved a couple months ago and it hasn’t affected me in the least. It’s a gimmick with a few minor rewards.

            I could understand why it would be a “very large annoyance” if it was a major gameplay system; if games were like Boktai, but powered by the pedometer instead of the sun, but it’s not even close to the case. There’s no precedent that it will effect major unlocks in games, and not every game will use it.

            “I didn’t play pokemon because I wanted to jog to unlock things in the game. I bought the game because I wanted to play the game.” Okay, but you don’t ever have to touch the Pokewalker. You don’t even have to take it out of the plastic. You can even buy the game without the Pokewalker, and there’s no real incentive to actively pursue using the device, either. It is only there to encourage kids to go outside. You can just -play the game-. Which is what you bought it for, right?

            “Prime example being Dragon Quest IX, as I know no one who has gotten all the ‘tags’ needed in that game without attending a major event.” You don’t “need” any “tags.” I assure you that you can play the entire game, as well as dozens (Hundreds, if you’re into that kind of thing) of hours of post game content without even leaving your room. I haven’t used tag mode once and I’ve squeezed an exceptional amount of game out of it. I’m sure there’re plenty of other people who flew solo through the game and enjoyed it.

            You are being awfully melodramatic. Gimmicks in video games are really not that big of a deal.

          • Caligula

            As far as the Pokewalker goes, I agree. It’s really only useful if you want to get Pokemon early on that you normally couldn’t obtain until later. You’re not missing anything by not using it. I still play my copy of HG often, and I never use the Pokewalker.

          • Croix

            Like I was saying, it’s not a deal-breaker, it’s just an annoyance to have things hanging over your head that you can never really get.

      • Exkaiser

        But the pokewalker barely “unlocks” anything.

        It’s just a gimmick designed to get kids out of the house more often.

    • Zero_Destiny

      Meh for a cheap little gimmick I don’t think it’s worth complaining about. That’s coming from a guy who usually take his DS where ever he goes but never has it on or in sleep mode. (thus making me think ideas like Tag mode are pointless). So silly yes but I don’t think you’ll miss out on anything because you don’t like to leave your home with a DS in tow.

    • Happy Gamer

      I know this may sound kind of annoying but traveling and playing is quite common in Japan. When I go there to meet my parents, i dunno how many times I have pulled out my cell phone or handheld while waiting for my subway to arrive at the destination etc. It’s def catered to places with lots of public transportation. You see tons of people doing something while waiting. Other than NYC, i dunno many places with massive amount of public transportation usage in US. Should be kindda fun tho like take it to school etc.

      • Exkaiser

        Over here in Philly, regional rail and subway are pretty popular ways to get around. Pretty much any city of reasonable size will have an active subway system at the least.

    • Exkaiser

      Nintendo isn’t “punishing” you at all. Don’t be so melodramatic.

    • Tokyo Guy

      Well considering that Nintendo has long since been interested in this kind of gimmick (Pocket Pikachu for example) I don’t think it’s so bad. And I doubt many games will support it outside of 1st party titles.

      BUT, I will say that with the extremely short battery life on the 3DS, it seems a bit questionable…

    • NeoTechni

      1) Its optional
      2) Bring your 3DS around with you, but dont play it.

  • I hope you can download GBA games.

    • thebanditking

      You hope in vain, Nintendo said its GB/GBC only. For now anyway.

      • Guest

        Its not in vain, VC on Wii continuously added other consoles as it went along. 3DS VC will be no different. I know you added the “for know” at the end but you can’t use that as your little back up, don’t say it’s in vain when it’s not.

    • Croix

      Now that you’ve mentioned it, I’m curious:

      Supposing the 3DS (or a later version of it, a la 3DSlite or something) gets GBA DL support, will it be able to handle games that allow those awkward transfers from GBA to DS (like gen 3 pokemon to gen 4)? I know there’s no way of definitively answering this, but a logical conclusion would probably be that it wouldn’t support that at all, the way the current DS doesn’t allow most types of transfers between two GBA games. Makes me sad that this kind of stuff gets lost with time, so that anybody who tries to go back and play older games misses out.

      • NeoTechni

        Id think if Nintendo were to tweak stuff like that, theyd get DS games working in 3D first, considering how easy it would be

  • Seems like their stealing ideas set forth by Sony and microsoft in there online stores and such. But can the N3DS play mp4 files, and HD video codecs? mkv? oh wait, it cant play video?

    • Because MS and Sony have never stole anything from Nintendo right?

      • Nope, in my memory Sony and M$ pave the way for innovations while Nintendo copies, in this case.

        • Joe

          Oh, really so I guess I just imagined the Wii coming before the playstation move. and the Wiimote coming before whatever there version of a wiimote is

          • Sony was the first console with true 1:1 motion control gaming and the first to offer superior motion controlled gaming as a peripheral, the Wii is required if you dont remember.

          • sfried

            Sorry, but Motion Plus came out before the Move.

          • Sfried, the Motion Plus isnt a peripheral though, as it automatically comes with the Wii with no option to decline it. Further, the Move is more accurate and embraces camera technologies, the motion plus does not.

          • “Sfried, the Motion Plus isnt a peripheral though, as it automatically comes with the Wii with no option to decline it. Further, the Move is more accurate and embraces camera technologies, the motion plus does not. ”

            It IS a peripheral though. MY wii didn’t come with it when I bought it; it was added well into the Wii’s lifespan.

            And if we’re gonna say Sony NEVER stole anything, well, who had a console first: Sony or Nintendo?

          • mirumu

            Actually the Motion Plus was a seperate peripheral. It plugged into the bottom of a Wiimote. It’s only recently they’ve started making Wiimotes that have the motion plus built-in. So today it isn’t an extra peripheral, all new Wiis come with it, but when it origionally came out it was.

            I’ve never bought the extra Motion Plus unit myself because none of the Wii games I’ve wanted to play have supported it.

          • @Mark Shaver Sony had more console firsts than Nintendo…of the three major companies today, who was the first to use cd based media? Who was the first to incorporate a web browser on their console, who was the first to enable playing DVDs on their system, who was the first to have internet connection, who was the first to have built in rumble control, I can go on and on about how Sony innovates more and Nintendo copies.

            @mirumu How can motion plus be considered a separate peripheral when it not only comes bundled with the software but is the only controller version available and in use. One has no choice to use anything other, making it a required controller for the system. And if we cant go there, Sony still innovated more by being the first 1:1 device…as well as one that uses a Camera to immerse the player even more.

          • Exkaiser

            mfw you intentionally leave Sega out of your argument to attribute “innovations” to Sony which originally debuted on Sega consoles.

            Exactly like a troll would.

          • @Exkaiser Well the market environment of today requires that we overlook SEGA’s past in terms of consoles. What matters most is when innovations lead to success.

          • Who had a joystick on the gamepad first? The PSX or the N64? Which controller had rumble first? Which console had wireless controller first? Ever heard of the wavebird? And when the PSP2 comes with a touchscreen we’ll see who copies who. Sony all has ever done is combining their other products into whichever game system they make.

          • @Angel de la Rosa Sony will be the first to have the touch panel on the back of the device, innovative! And it will be the first videogame handheld to be single screened supporting touch features. And which company had the first wireless controller than didnt require an adapter to be placed on the videogame console…Sony.

          • alundra311

            @Tsuna You really need to look up the word innovation, you know. As far as I know, most of sony’s “innovative” technologies have already been done before (I’m not saying that they haven’t innovated anything).

            When people bring up valid arguments, you dismiss them by saying things such as “it doesn’t count because of x reason”. Kinda like trolling.

          • @alundra311 the only thing I said didnt count was defunct console manufactures as that is beyond the discussion of sony out innovating nintendo, you know.

          • alundra311

            @Tsuna Accidentally liked your comment but whatever. You said motion plus isn’t a peripheral when in fact it is. To me that’s the same as saying “it doesn’t count that motion plus came out before move because it’s not a peripheral”. And yes, you may buy a wiimote with built-in motion plus, but when it came out you bought it separately.

          • Aoshi00

            @alundra311

            FYI, you could “unlike” what you accidentally liked by clicking on the like btn again :)

          • NeoTechni

            “Who had a joystick on the gamepad first? The PSX or the N64?”

            Ps1 had an analog joystick before N64 came out. I own it.
            Vectrex had an analog joystick on its controller TEN YEARS before both of them

            ” Which controller had rumble first?”

            Immersion made a PC joystick with rumble before N64 got rumble. And Immersion’s didnt need batteries.

            ” Which console had wireless controller first?”

            PS1 had one before Wavebird. It also had a built in rechargeable battery, a charger, and rumble.

            Nintendo innovated nothing

          • alundra311

            @Aoshi

            Thanks. :D

          • HarryHodd

            Too bad the Wii itself is not a step forward in online, custom soundtracks, voice chat, achievements, 5.1 surround sound, graphics, demos, the list goes on and on.

            Watch Nintendo copy these next gen.

          • How are online, voice chat, surround sound, graphical resolution and demos representative of any innovation? PC games have had those for years.

          • HarryHodd

            Ishaan, as a console gamer, I was talking about consoles.

          • I have to agree with HarryHodd, the Wii didnt take things to the next level in numerous regards for console gaming.

          • “I was talking about consoles.”

            The 360 runs on PC architecture, so that line is already blurry. The Dreamcast had online well before the Xbox even existed. I’ll give you achievements, but that’s about it. Nothing else on your list is remotely “new” or unprecedented. Now, if you want to say putting a hard drive in the Xbox in the first place was innovation, that would make sense.

          • thebanditking

            I would be happy if Nintendo even tries to bring its next console up to todays standards. The lack of HD really kills the Wii for me (480p looks pretty horrible on a 1080p LCD). Nintendo is a really strange company, sometimes completely backward. So long as its not a monopoly board with a microphone attached I think it will show some progress over the Wii.

          • daizyujin

            Actually Ishaan, the 360 really isn’t based on PC architecture at all. It uses a custom PowerPC processor from IBM. None of the current game consoles use PC architecture. It is a pretty far cry from the Intel x86 based processors that PCs use. The original Xbox on the other hand is x86 based however.

          • NeoTechni

            “The Dreamcast had online well before the Xbox even existed”

            They are talking about unified online, which came first with XBOX Live.

          • Don’t feed the trolls! He was probably born in 96. So the only world he knows is Playstation.

          • NeoTechni

            Nintendo has ADMITTED wii was inspired by eyetoy.

        • Code

          rarr, I think you have some reading to do there buddy >w<' But then again you DO have a lot of reading to do if you came into gaming PS2 generation.

      • NeoTechni

    • Who cares? You don’t need it to do all those things. That’s why you have a computer, a smart phone, or an IPOD.

      • Todays fashion trends do not permit one to carry around a Smart Phone and an iPod and a Nintendo 3DS in their pockets, so space is limited.

        • I don’t know what fashion trends you follow, but I have my phone, ipod and I’ll carry around my DS in my backpack since my pockets aren’t huge.

          • Where are you able to carry around a Jansport backpack for fashion? I cant imagine just hanging out and carrying around a Backpack and DS everywhere. Hanging out in a restaurant or something with a DS and a backpack?

          • Joe

            heres a thought, wear a jacket

          • Joe…why would I wear a jacket in the middle of Spring/Summer/and Fall, do you not know how hot it gets here in the mideast CONUS?!

          • I have a Northface backpack. And tons of people where I live walk around with backpacks. It’s not uncommon if you’re going to be out and have lots of things to carry, especially if you’re in college. I didn’t know you weren’t allowed to dress nice and also have a backpack with a DS in it.

          • Maybe you could wear a Northface backpack to class if its college (shouldnt one being paying attention to their class lectures and not whipping out their DS in the middle of lecture) but where else, hanging out in town with a backpack, eating at a restaurant with a backpack, amusements parks, theaters, libraries, pool parties, museums, walking in town parks, waiting in a doctors office etc with a backpack; its just unfashionable to be in these places with a backpack, hence why a device embracing multiple functions to fit in ones pockets would be more ideal, you know?

          • This has gotten a little off topic. I don’t know where you live, but people in the city usually carry some form of bag to carry all the things they need with them for the day, especially if they take the bus or the train and they’re going to be out all day going from place to place. Of course I wouldn’t pull out my DS in lecture, but I might play before class starts. Stop worrying how people view you.

          • Why does Fashion matter? Are your clothes gonna play the games or something?

          • @Mark Shaver Well one of the major selling points of the powerful PSP to me was those advertisments where very fashionable people were whipping out their powerful PSP, and because I want to look fashionable I bought the system and ended up loving the games with it. Technology plays a part in todays fashion, hence why its called “SonyStyle” in the Sony world, you know?

            Why would I need top on more clothing accessories just to play Nintendos system; if I wanted to watch a video, Id have to switch to my psp or ipod touch, or cellular phone to view it since the 3DS cant do it. Thats just a hassle, and since what were they called, cargo shorts, and other clothing pieces with huge pockets are relegated to only an eighth of CONUS, then clothing isnt the solution to being able to handle the numerous devices.

          • @Shane Guidaboni Im not worried about how people view me, rather, Im worried about how bogged down I will be with carrying pieces of technology that are not multifaceted in abilities and to more of extent how stylish I can make my game look. And Ive always been afraid to carry the system in the backpack, what if it gets scratched or the game cartridge flys out, or it gets crushed?

          • Hilarious. Here’s a tip, get a fashionable-looking bag. Still hilarious. Has there never been fashion where people carry bags? You say it like you would rather die than have something hanging on your shoulders. Or the combined weight of an iPod and a 3DS could peel your skin off your bones.

    • Jellybit

      They mentioned it would play movies at the E3 introduction. But yeah, I have a feeling you can’t put your own on there.

    • Code

      I didn’t really read anything that they were doing there I’d specifically associate with being an invention of Sony or Microsoft opo; I don’t recall either Sony or Microsoft inventing demos, trailers, download older games or the ability to spend money online xpx?

    • hitosura22

      um wtf lol XD sony inovates? i never knew that i never seen anything inovative come from them besides the eye toy and that was a total bomb and how is a storage format a inovation XD buy sony made CD so amazing lol u need to stop and move an wii motion plus i realy dont see a diffrence to be honest and the design is pure stolen from nintendo i mean come on and even then with the eye toy the game buy had a camra an a gyro thingy so yeah and ithe eye toy even looks like the game boy camra lol XD which just looks like a web cam if u ask me

      • NeoTechni

        “um wtf lol XD sony inovates? i never knew that i never seen anything inovative come from them besides the eye toy”

        I hope you’re just trying to troll and not honestly that stupid.

        “eye toy even looks like the game boy camra ”

        GBCamera was never used as a controller, nor could it be. Eyetoy was.

    • “oh wait, it cant play video? ”

      Have you read any of the stories about all the studios who have signed on to sell 3D movies for the 3DS? They’re certainly keen on you watching videos on it if they can ensure they have a hand in you buying it.

      It’s yet to be seen how much they’ll support non-DRM video playback. I hope they will officially. But failing that I’m sure some sort of jail-breaking will come along eventually.

      • I think the idea my post was trying to get it was on us being able to put any myriad of video filetypes on the device and playing it. If its as restricted as only allowing, like in the audio, just two types or what are they called? codecs is it, then its an undersupported and cumbersome set of video support. I have all these videos that I would love to play on that fancy top screen.

        But we know of no one bringing video to the unit in the 3DS or what type of store it will have, who signed on to sell, theyre certainly being quiet.

  • Zero_Destiny

    Yay Mp3 files makes listening to music on a DS possible (unlike the stupid files you had to use on DSi converting my music was a pain). Nintendo should update their 3DS store overtime like they did with the Wii i.e. add more systems. It would be great if we could play advance games on it as well, plus NEO-GEO pocket, and maybe even Atari Linux. XD I get goosebumps thinking about it.

  • Cash Based, one friend code, and mp3 support. It’s like Nintendo is actually listening to us or reading our minds! Let me hear Adobe Flash support and I will suddenly know Nintendo hired a psychic for sure.

    • Jellybit

      A psychic? More likely they finally opened a window at the office.

  • thebanditking

    MP3 support is not really a big deal for me as one my PSP already does this and I don’t use it and I doubt the DAC that Nintendo puts into the 3DS is going to be anything worth writing home about. Still for the average user who doesn’t care about audio quality I am sure this will be sufficient.

    • Croix

      I think the main thing keeping the PSP from being a better MP3 player is its size; something like the PSPgo could probably fare better, except the concept of the go itself was problematic and probably shouldn’t be attempted again.

      In spite of this, however, I do use my PSP as an mp3 player in my car about as often as I use it for gaming, so I don’t think such a feature would be completely wasted.

  • I have no problems with the Play Coins thing, i’m strapping the 3DS to my dog.

  • adam483t

    For the SD cards: Will the game memory be stored on them, or will they be stored on the game itself again? Maybe the SD card is just for downloadable games?

    Does anyone know?

    • Zero_Destiny

      I’d think it would work like the DSi with pictures being saved to your SD card and the DS will play the music you transferred to the SD card. I think game memory will still be built into the games themselves. I’d like to think that it’ll work like the Wii and we can transfer the downloadable games to the SD card. But that’s just what I think it’ll be like.

  • But will they force you to input credit card information with every single purchase? I’ll understand if they don’t for security (you might lose it) reasons, but still. I’d rather have a password of my choosing than no storage at all.

  • Caligula

    Adjustable stylus sounds great. I’m female, so my hands aren’t that large, but I still find the DS stylus a little cramped.

    • Exkaiser

      Def. I got one for my original DS and it was a godsend.

  • Yui

    If the adjustable stylus doesn’t lock in position once you’ve found the appropriate length, it’s going to be unimaginably annoying. >_<

  • Play coins…? Sounds like the PokeWalker gone all high-techie. Oh well, guess now I have an excuse to bring my 3DS to gym class!

  • Tokyo Guy

    For anyone interested, today (the 20th) is the day Nintendo has designated for stores here in Japan to begin taking pre-orders for the 3DS.

    Some of the online stores such as Yodobashi Camera began taking pre-orders at 9:30AM. I submitted an online pre-order and despite not even one minute passing between the site allowing the reservation, there had already been close to 100 orders placed.

    When I checked back not even 15 minutes later, Yodobashi had already closed the pre-order pool, and indeed they have updated the site to reflect such:

    http://www.yodobashi.com/ec/news/1000009989/index.html?kind=0001

    Here is the specific product page:
    http://www.yodobashi.com/html/limit/3dsgenteiy/p3ds.html

    It’s worth pointing out that the major competitor, Bic Camera, is not taking online reservations:

    http://www.biccamera.co.jp/shopguide/report/3ds/index.html

    HOWEVER, Sofmap (owned by Bic Camera) is taking online reservations, but they are finished as well:

    http://www.sofmap.com/topics/exec/_/id=4773/-/gid=GF11000000&scmp=top_b1_4773

    Also, Amazon Japan will be taking reservations some time today as well however they will close pre-orders after a few minutes as well if their own reservation history holds true.

    Yodobashi has a rather interesting system in that immediately after submitting the reservation, an e-mail is sent to your designated mail address. This mail contains a link that is used to place the 3DS into your shopping cart and thus you actually pay for it now.

    The entire concept of “main product” pre-order still seems relatively new in Japan, as while I do remember smaller stores taking reservations for games in the past, I can’t seem to recall the major electronic retailers taking console reservations. There was a major difference between the launch of the DS Lite for example, which (IIRC) didn’t allow reservations, and the DSi, which did. I remember making a reservation for the DSi days after they opened and being surprised that the store said I would still get one. And indeed on the launch day there was no huge line or crowd. The DS Lite, on the other hand, had HUGE lines of people, and continued to have huge lines weeks and months later.

    • Aoshi00

      Lucky you… for us not in Jpn, NCSX opened their pre-orders now for $460, don’t think I’m crazy enough to get it at that price.. I guess I would just get the Layton game or something (cover still sucks)..Don’t care about other features perhaps other than AR.. otherwise, just games, 3D, and Love Plus are good enough for me to own this :)So you getting the black one? I don’t like the blue, but at least it’s metallic and better than the DSi blue launched in the US.. that’s a strange color.

      Layton should’ve gone w/ this cover w/ the carnival thing,

      http://www.ncsx.com/2011/011711/ncs0117w.htm

      • Tokyo Guy

        $460? That is just OUTRAGEOUS. If they were to get the 3DS units at around $180 a unit, even if you estimate shipping at $50 per unit (expedited) then you can see how much they are ripping off customers. It’s possible there is no discount on the 3DS at all however, but even so it’s outrageous given that there would still be a mass profit.

        If I were you (and seemingly anyone else for that matter) I most certainly would just wait until the 3DS releases in your own country. By then, even if you want a Japanese unit the prices will have fallen significantly. Heck, I still remember NCS (IIRC) charging something like $750 for the PS2.

        As for me, I got the Blue model. I dislike both color options (as mentioned elsewhere I want the Red/Black variant) however I just couldn’t get myself to buy the black model; it’s just too plain looking. The blue at least has the black screen which makes it look cool (I would have preferred an all black underside however). I’ve gotten somewhat tired of uniform colored electronics recently if only for the fact that now adays very few manufacturers are doing anything to spruce up the black scheme. Black with colored accents is fine, but I don’t really care for solid colors nowadays.

        • Aoshi00

          Well, I really don’t know how much of a deal NCSX or other online sellers are getting when they buy bulk from their Jpn vendors, but I can’t imagine them getting it that cheap right, plus the potential shortage and the dollar is not in their favor (their vendors might charge NCSX a premium and then customers get charged a 2nd premium). Also gouging during a console launch is to be expected for the early adapters (especially for a Jpn system), like how PS3 sold for way more than $600 when it first came out, those people on ebay were even worse..

          Amazon US has the 3DS up for pre-order alrdy for $249.99, free shipping and no tax (for most states), so it’s just $250. But one reason I’m getting a 3DS is I don’t want to miss out on the Jpn games, it would be pointless for me to get a US one for $250 and then later spend more to buy a 2nhd Jpn one.. I dunno, I like new gadgets, I’ll see if I could resist the temptation of getting a US one and wait for the Jpn system’s price to level..

          I agree, usually I don’t mind solid color, but the black is getting quite boring.. problem is I don’t like flashy colors either.. like the 360 slim now, a fine looking machine, but I preferred the older models w/ exchanging faceplates.. I just pre-ordered both colors for now for the heck of it, and see if which color I want to keep, or I might just cancel both.. if there’s no US game that I want to play in a hurry, then I would patiently for the Jpn 360’s price to come down (the gouging premium I mean)..

          I would want a red/black one too. I didn’t like any of the XL colors before and ordered the Bronze originally just days before they announced the Mario one for the US, I was like oh crap.. but luckily the package came and I wasn’t home so it got returned to Amazon and I had a chance to order the Mario red/black one again :)

          One solution to spice up the system’s looks is w/ shells, but w/ the DSi I didn’t really like it because it might mess up the hinges (mine was white but had the blue badger logo on it)..

          • Tokyo Guy

            Well the problem with NCS’ situation is that, when it comes to products that are of mass interest (i.e. the DS Lite, the PSP, etc) they often get the short end of the stick. The distributors, who had previously agreed to sell the products at a set price, suddenly use a bait-and-switch tactic and hike the price up considerably “due to the demand” (but really due to their greed at knowing they can get away with it). So, stores like NCS are thus forced to hike the price as well. They will always admit this and inform customers on their website or by e-mail. To this end I have a strong feeling they have deliberately hiked the price of the 3DS to accommodate for this (they know it will happen) though I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if they price ends up being more like $500-600.

            At the same time however, stores like NCS get software at a significantly reduced rate and thus the reason they can charge the “retail” price is that they have gotten a great deal AND can still make a profit.

            I’m not sure what the problem with the US 3DS is however. If not mistaken, the region protection extends solely to the online element, and thus DLC and whatnot. Has it been reported that the actual games themselves are going to be region protected? That would actually go a long way to stopping the “evils” of importing (by this I mean the corporate viewpoint that importing products that will be released in the target country hurt sales) as people might not be so eager to purchase 2 units, as you mentioned.

            The Dark Brown DSi LL was actually the nicest color IMHO. It looked black at first glance, but it was actually dark brown and thus quite well designed in terms of the color scheme. I’m not sure if that made it overseas or not. As for cases, you can also get (at least here) “skins” for the products which have a large variety of designs on them. That actually is the best way to change the color scheme IMHO.

          • Aoshi00

            Yea, that’s pretty much how NCSX themselves explain it, their vendors jack up the price due to shortage/high demand, they would give you the option of sticking w/ your reservation or cancel it if you think a hike is too much to swallow.. I think those guys are okay, they’ve accommodated me w/ special ordering some items a couple of times when I can’t find on ebay and they’re pretty up front on things. If I buy things thru agents they would charge me extra too. I like Yes-Asia and AmiAmi too, but NCSX I could contact easily.nah, we don’t have brown, just burgundy, bronze (which looks like black a little), and midnight blue which is too flashy for me.. so I went w/ Bronze but it had a grey bottom and I didn’t like it, so good thing I got Mario red/black, love the logos on shiny outer cover. I know there are skins but I never like to stick skins on my systems, so… I got the Love Plus DSi cases (you could put different pictures in them), but I took it off, it made opening and closing the system harder.. I think Nintendo made an official announcment the 3DS is region locked and many sites reported the same, if it’s just online contents like the DSi they probably wouldn’t made such a big deal out of it.. guess they just want people to stick to buying things from the own regions.. which totally sucks because I’m sure there would be games that might not be localized and I want to import (Love Plus for one, it would never be localized).. will see how it pans out, if there are good US games worthy to be played then I guess I would have no choice but the get a US one first and later get a Jpn one if needed.. I’m actually used to consoles being region locked, but this is the first time a handheld is hard region locked.

          • Tokyo Guy

            Ah, it seems that the handheld is indeed region locked. This is indeed a curious move for Nintendo, and will no doubt cut down on importing as I highly doubt as many people will be opting to get a second unit. At the same time, however, I think this might actually increase the presence of piracy, because people will be more likely to pirate as opposed to buying the extra console and using the foreign game.

          • malek86

            I’m not too worried about region lock, really. I’m sure somebody will find a way around it, if you know what I mean.

            When that happens, I want to see if people here can still say homebrew is bad.

    • Thanks for the fantastic update, TG! I guess people at Nintendo World were either very impressed by the device, or there’s a lot of people (like some of us here) buying it simply because it’s the successor to the DS and they have faith in its future.

      • Tokyo Guy

        Well thanks. I actually felt a bit upset given that the post is somewhat lost here and many people would (presumably) be interested to know how the initial reaction was. You are welcome to adapt that post for a full-fledged story if you want.

        Though I would offer a word of caution about gauging online stores: Amazon Japan in particular, doesn’t seem to get a very large allocation of units for anything hardware related. It’s conceivable that Yodobashi Online and Sofmap Online aren’t either, especially as Yodobashi is basically a Kanto-area store and thus people from other parts of the country probably don’t know about it. I believe that-in terms of console releases-the retail stores are the ones that receive the greatest number of units. I will actually go to a physical Yodobashi tonight as I will be nearby, and see if they are still accepting reservations.

        It’s also worth mentioning that the physical stores don’t require any deposit for a reservation. I was actually a bit surprised when I received the mail from Yodobashi indicating my credit card had been approved as I didn’t bother to read their stipulations and thus assumed (as per normal) the card would be charged upon shipment.

        Amazon Japan has long since stopped pre-orders (hours ago at this point) but already 4 private sellers are offering reservations at massively hiked prices:

        http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/offer-listing/B00457VVRU/ref=dp_olp_new_mbc?ie=UTF8&qid=1295502856&sr=8-4&condition=new

        Actually these were listed yesterday, but Amazon apparently removed them and now they have been relisted. They make the NCS price Aoshi mentioned seem “reasonable” given the exchange rate.

        As for Nintendo World, that really seems to be more of a gamer-type thing (though I deliberately avoided it) and thus I wouldn’t be surprised if most, if not all, of the reservations for the 3DS are going to be from gamers. Especially with the online reservations, I couldn’t really see a casual DS user or a housewife, for example, sitting on the PC at 9:28 this morning as I did, waiting for the reservations to begin. For that matter, a friend of mine (who is a gamer but who always claims to be buying the games for his son) wasn’t even aware about the January 20th pre-order start in the first place, even though he had already tried to reserve a 3DS a few weeks back.

        But without question, I have no doubt in my mind the 3DS will sell out on the release date. IIRC Nintendo is only shipping something like 600,000 units for the launch, no? Given that there were some 98 pre orders submitted to Yodobashi in around 46 seconds, I’d say there will be massive shortages akin to the DS Lite. There used to be lines stretching multiple floors of people waiting to get a DS Lite.

        And for a final clarification (to anyone reading this), I never doubted the success of the 3DS. I simply pointed out the 3D element being questionably pointless, and that there will be people who have problems with eye strain. But of course it IS the new portable game system from Nintendo and to that end, there should be no question whatsoever as to it’s near-guaranteed success.

        The better question, perhaps, is how Sony plans to interest consumers in the PSP2 which is apparently going to be unveiled next week. While I think the 3DS still comes across as a “kid’s toy” given its design and the software selection, the PSP2 needs to have major support less all 3rd parties run to Nintendo. Heck, even Capcom has hinted that Monster Hunter Portable 4 might be for the 3DS.

    • Tokyo Guy

      And I can now confirm that Yodobashi (the retail chain) has also stopped taking pre-orders. Thus it seems quite possibly like the 3DS has pre-sold out in Tokyo in less than 24 hours.

      Again however, I would raise the point of how many units Nintendo is shipping (IIRC it is 600,000?) and thus the allocation for each store is probably smaller rather than larger. But this is a marked difference from the DSi and DSi LL releases, which saw pre-orders up to the actual release, and no shortage whatsoever (and any shortage that occurred was resolved in less than a week or so).

      I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised, to be honest, if Nintendo delays the release of the 3DS overseas similar to how it delayed the release of the DS Lite before. (Readers may recall that the DS Lite was SO successful here that Nintendo couldn’t even meet the demand for Japan and thus postponed the launch overseas). Though I can’t seem to remember if the DS Lite had a concrete release date set overseas when it released in April here. But then again Apple delayed the international launch of the iPad. Thus it wouldn’t surprise me really…

  • Belenger

    A shame that regional lock has been confirmed from Nintendo UK bosses, that’s gonna be a step backwards into global gaming again :/, I can already picture G-rev or Cave releasing a super special edition of a brand new shoot’em up only for Japan as always with no chances of ever being localized.. ever…

    Hell i’m still waiting for Senko no Ronde duo, maaaan… guess its time to save money to pay UPS/DHL/Fedex shipping from japan.

    • A step backwards? How, you make it sound as if the DSi XL was a step forward in global gaming, it was region locked too. We should be be showering Nintendo with praise for having a mechanic in place to allow software to be regulated for obeying proper age and content restrictions in each country, protecting the consumer cant be wrong, now can it?

      • Aoshi00

        He means a step backward because Nintendo handhelds have always been region free from Gameboy to Advance to DS/DSi (w/ very few exception), 3DS is the first region locked portable system from Nintendo. Region lock prevents nothing, it just makes it extra hard for people who want to import anyway, those who buy legitimately. Like if this isn’t region locked, $250 I’m all set to play Love Plus 3DS. Now I’m thinking of not getting the US system and wait for the Jpn one’s price to come down a bit.

        PS1 and 2 however have always been region locked, only now w/ PS3 the games are region free, and the blu-ray movies for US and Jpn just happen to share the same region (still 3 different regions). PSP’s game UMDs are region free now (but not movies), so maybe PSP2’s games would be region locked later too, you never know.

        Even the SNES and N64 were region free, the only thing that prevented you from playing the Jpn cartridges were some plastic that got in the way when the games are inserted (could be easily taken care of if one didn’t mind using a pair of pliers and do a little operation), Gamecube however was region locked because it was disc-based. But so far most Nintendo consoles that used cartridges were region free, that’s why this is a big step backward now.

      • malek86

        “We should be be showering Nintendo with praise for having a mechanic in place to allow software to be regulated for obeying proper age and content restrictions in each country, protecting the consumer cant be wrong, now can it?”

        It’s more like they are protecting their profits. With the yen so strong, and the euro still quite stronger than the dollar, imagine if all european and japanese players imported their games from the US.

      • “We should be be showering Nintendo with praise for having a mechanic in place to allow software to be regulated for obeying proper age and content restrictions in each country, protecting the consumer cant be wrong, now can it? ”

        God why can’t I go back to being naive and wide-eyed like :D

        No matter what laws we have, you will always find people who will seek a way to get around those issues. You could point to people who won’t but they wouldn’t do it in the first place if the 3DS was reigion-free anyway.

        I give credit for Ninetndo introducing the mature system of giving mature games black boxes. Not only does it make it cooler and edgy but it is a good way to protect Nintendo’s image while catering to the hardcore and older market. But you will still get adults buying for younger aged people (usually their children) and younger people trying to get away from buying these games in an video game shop.

        I honestly don’t see how region-lock will “allow software to be regulated for obeying proper age and content restrictions in each country, protecting the consumer”. I see it as Nintendo’s way as combating piracy and loss of revenue through imports.

        Usually though, someone like Codejunkies will create software that will enable you to play games from other regions, so it may be a case for those who have importing plans in just waiting for a few months.

  • NeoTechni

    “The online store will be completely cash-based, not based on any kind of “points” system. You’ll be able to use your credit card to make purchases directly off the eStore”

    My wallet is going to hate me…

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