Mere months before The Famicast was created, an unsuspecting Danny Bivens and James Charlton made their way to Nintendo World Japan - a special preview event showcasing the Nintendo 3DS for the first time to the Japanese public. The event ran during a a three day weekend in Japan from January 8 to 10, 2011. Here the guys got to get their hands on the Nintendo handheld for the first time ever. At the time, JC put together numerous videos and articles over on Nintendo World Report. However, Danny was flying solo and put up some thoughts in his personal gaming focused blog. Here is the first article that he wrote highlighting the event overall. Enjoy this blast from the past and take in part of what would eventually become The Famicast.
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Like many Nintendo fans, when I first heard the news that Nintendo was making a 3D Nintendo DS, I just absolutely had to see it with my own eyes. Lucky for me, Nintendo put together Nintendo World 2011 as a free public event here in Japan showcasing the upcoming glasses free 3D handheld. You can read about the 3DS all you want, but truth be told, you have to play it to see what all the fuss is about.
Having bought nearly every Nintendo console/handheld at launch for the past decade, I was just waiting to have Nintendo floor me with their next attempt to change the gaming world. Why should the world be excited about the Nintendo 3DS? Does this thing work? Not only that, but does it work well? In short, yes to all.
At the show, there were around 16 exhibits and I had a chance to get my hands on an overwhelming majority of them. Here is a list of what I got to try out:
- 3D Camera
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D
- Nintendogs + cats
- Winning Eleven 3D Soccer
- Biohazard (Resident Evil) Revelations
- Kid Icarus: Uprising
- Super Street Fighter IV 3D
- Pilotwings Resort
- Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
- Ridge Racer 3D
- Dead or Alive: Dimensions
Between the stage events, waiting time to play Ocarina of Time 3D and playing the crap out of all of the demos that I could, the 3DS did leave me pretty impressed. There are, however, a few aspects of the system and some features that I am a bit disappointed with which I will go in to in a later post. First, here is what the launch line up looks like in Japan on February 26, 2011:
- Nintendogs + cats (Nintendo)
- Ridge Racer 3D (Namco Bandai)
- Winning Eleven 3D Soccer (Konami)
- Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition (Capcom)
- Samurai Warriors Chronicles (Tecmo Koei)
- Puzzle Bobble 3D (Square Enix)
- Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D (Ubisoft)
- Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracle (Level-5)
It's really nice to see the third party love, but as you have probably noticed, some of the big name titles from Nintendo are missing. Apparently, we will have to wait until later on in the spring to pick up the likes of Ocarina of Time, Pilotwings Resort, and Kid Icarus some time later this year. Also, it looks like Capcom will not have Resident Evil Mercenaries ready for launch, and also has no approximate release date for Resident Evil Revelations either. I am a bit disappointed.
According to rumors, the pricing of the Nintendo 3DS software in Japan is going to be a bit on the steep side. Games are going to range from 5,800 to 7,800 yen (which at this very moment is roughly $70 to $94). While I don't think that the prices in North America will be nearly as high, I would be willing to bet that they'll be more than the $30-$35 that most DS games go for now. Still, nothing is confirmed as of right now, though, just speculation.
Over the next couple of days, I'm going to be putting up some impressions of the demos that I had a chance to play. Overall, I can say that the 3DS is a pretty solid system and the 3D effects are amazing in most of the games. It's only a few months away, folks.
- Danny Bivens
January 9, 2011
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