Nintendo World Unveils 3DS Launch Lineup, Battery Life

[D Moness]

Just so we are clear, I am from Europe as well and I am very much aware of the horrendous prices we have. Trust me, the 1:1 conversion rate that publishers tend to use has been a constant frustration of mine. -_-

If it felt like an attack towards you it wasn't meant like that. Just got a bit annoyed at the complaining about the 300 dollar pricetag while europe will probably pay 20 to 30 procent more then in america. Although the gaming prices in japan is less terrible as their dvd's but that is a whole other point.

Honestly i am prepared for a 300 euro pricetag and i will be still buying it the first day it will be available.

 

[antipunt]

It's technically 'understandable', but at the same time, it won't even last a roadtrip.

 

[neoontime]

Hmm, I still WANT WANT WANT, but it's so much. Oh well, better start saving now.

 

[Tom Phoenix]

Just so we are clear, I am from Europe as well and I am very much aware of the horrendous prices we have. Trust me, the 1:1 conversion rate that publishers tend to use has been a constant frustration of mine. -_-

If it felt like an attack towards you it wasn't meant like that. Just got a bit annoyed at the complaining about the 300 dollar pricetag while europe will probably pay 20 to 30 procent more then in america. Although the gaming prices in japan is less terrible as their dvd's but that is a whole other point.

Honestly i am prepared for a 300 euro pricetag and i will be still buying it the first day it will be available.

Don't worry, I didn't take it as an attack. I don't think that it will be 300 Euros, beacuse that would be way too horrendous even by Nintendo standards. But I do think a 250 Euro price point is quite realistic.

Personally, there are two things that could turn out to be a deal breaker for me. One is that it has a poor battery life (I am still waiting to see if the 3-5 hour estimate is supposed to be for the highest or lowest brightness setting). The other is if it has region locking, since I like to play games from various regions.

 

[GeorgW]

Wow, the launch titles suck and the battery life is just a little too low. I thought this would be a pre-order for me, now I think I'll wait for a while.

 

[D Moness]

The other is if it has region locking, since I like to play games from various regions.

That is kind of what i am scared of as well(got me off ordering the japanese 3DS(that and the fact the european release wasn't that far of either)). I hope it is more like the DSi route the games are region free but the shop is region locked. At least that is what i am hoping.

 

[Zero_ctrl]

Sixty fucking dollars?! For a hand-held game?! And that's the low estimate! No way in hell.

I think I'll just wait until the inevitable upgraded version that's 200 dollars cheaper and just get the games off of Ebay. Right now the cost/value ratio is too batshit insane to bother with.

I read somewhere that the cartridges can hold about as much data as a DVD.
That could probably help offset that price so long as developers take advantage of the space.


E: I'm probably going to wait on getting this.
I still have an Original from '05 that works just fine.

 

[Callate]

I'm still waiting for word on things like whether it will finally support MP3 format and if the once-mentioned 3D movies are forthcoming.

 

[Escapefromwhatever]

Terrible bettery life and launch lineup. Games are too expensive if the conversion is how much they will cost in the US. And how long before someone decides to put a SIM card in one of these things and make it Android capable? Because that would be super.

I think I'll stick to emulators on my Droid for now, thanks.

 

[starwarsgeek]

Battery life is a bit disappointing. Maybe later models will improve it...

 

[CrystalShadow]

I'm not sure 3-5 hours is going to cut it for me...and that's their estimated time based on very controlled test so battery life is probably closer to 3-4 hours.

I hope this isn't the case.

Given the history of battery life for the DS series, it seems more likely that these are the low end figures when you have the screen brightness at maximum.

However, if that's not the case, then it is really quite bad.

 

[Rad Party God]

Bah, battery life isn't a big deal for me, I regularly play with my DS like 1 hour or 2 and I almost don't have time to play it anywhere else than my home.

I had a Sega GameGear, that thing swallowed up 6 AA batteries in an hour or two.

On to price: ouch... $60 for handheld games?... hmm... I just hope those prices are fairer when they make the continental leap. I just hope the 3DS is as cool as I want to think it is.

 

[SilverUchiha]

I'm a tad disappointed. None of the release titles sound good or interesting. I was hoping that at least StarFox64 3D would be on the list, but not even that! It's a remake! How hard can it be to bring that up in time? (or is this just the Japanese line-up). If it's just the J-Line-up then hopefully we can expect better on the world-wide release.

As for battery power. I'm not overly upset... but still a bit disappointed they didn't come up with a way around that problem. I'm sure they tried and I'll commend them for that at least. Maybe they should include the option of extra sets of batteries so that we can switch off once one set of batteries runs dry and we can charge that while we play with the new set. But I'm sure no one will listen to that.

 

[Shadowninja100]

Don't worry about the prices of the games, Japanese products are always more expensive than their overseas counterpart. Iwata stated that the price for games would remain the same and he was right, Japanese consumers pay 4,800 yen ($58) for regular DS games while US consumers pay $35. I expect the prices for 3DS games to stay the same as DS games in the US like they have in Japan.

Also I don't think 2 or 3 of those japanese launch games will even come over to the US. Those 3 being Winning Eleven Soccer, Combat of Giant Dinosaurs, and maybe Puzzle Bobble. Instead I think that they will be filled in by OoT, Steel Diver, and Pilotwings.

And on the topic of the battery we really don't have enough information to make a judgement on it. We don't know if the 3DS had all of it's features turned on (Max Brightness, 3D, and Wifi) and if it's anything like the DSi simply turning down the brightness a bit will give you a lot more time.

 

[Jatyu]

Oh man $60 for a handheld game, how terrible... /Sarcasm
We aussies are already expected to pay nearly $70 for a new DS game, and the 3DS is already avaliable for pre-order at $350 - $400. Thats the same launch price as the wii... Seriously, suck it up.

On topic:
The launch lineup doesn't look too good. Professor Layton and Street Fighter seem like the only good ones.

Thing is, it comes out in Febuary in Japan so there might be some more launch titles for the west. 3 hr battery life isn't great... but if your on a long trip you can always turn sound and 3d off, usually saves a bit of power.

 

[JediMB]

I wonder why the article specifies how long the older DS versions can last with their brightness settings turned down, yet doesn't even mention or speculate on the option for the 3DS.

Worth noting is also that these numbers are for playing with the WiFi features activated. Those can be turned off to extend battery life further.

Lastly, the games aren't going to be $60 in the US. The dollar's value is pretty low right now, but that doesn't usually affect video game pricing. I'm gonna guestimate that the games will be in the range of $40-45.

 

[Rigs83]

I haven't bought any of the other consoles and some one stole my ds so i' ll bite and get this. What I want to know if anyone will realize this is the perfect platform to watch the new 3d movies and release a 3ds cart version of some movies that take advantage of the screen. Tron Legacy on the Go!

 

[GoldenShadow]

I think Nintendo over estimates why their system sells so well. Its because it is good quality and affordable. Some people will buy this, but it won't be nearly as hot as the previous offering at this price. Especially for the high priced software, and the lack of any core franchices.

 

[Xanthious]

I'm really surprised that more people aren't turned off by the piss poor launch line up. I mean 75% of the launch titles are just remakes they slapped a bad gimmick onto and of those six there isn't a single one with the exception of Puzzle Bobble I can imagine will be worth a damn. I guess it could be argued Street Fighter MIGHT be but fighting games and handheld gaming simply don't mix and I can't imagine a slapping a shitty gimmick on top of it will do much to change it.

Furthermore, when you factor in the price point being MORE expensive than 2/3 (360/Wii) of the current consoles available and the exact same price as the third (PS3) it's an absolute joke that anyone can find anything positive to say about this abortion besides "AMG 3D w/o Glasses !!!". However, 3-D w/o glasses does nothing to change the fact that as of right now this console looks to be nothing more than a platform to release overpriced remakes repackaged with some shitty gimmick and a bigger price tag.

 

[Tom Phoenix]

The other is if it has region locking, since I like to play games from various regions.

That is kind of what i am scared of as well(got me off ordering the japanese 3DS(that and the fact the european release wasn't that far of either)). I hope it is more like the DSi route the games are region free but the shop is region locked. At least that is what i am hoping.

Likewise. Since I don't buy games digitally, it would suit me fine if the cartridge-based games were region free and 3DSWare/Virtual Console was region locked.