Nintendo Announces Raft of New Games, 3DS Details 240
A major theme for Nintendo's presentation was the arrival of classic franchises on new systems. This includes a new Kirby game for the Wii, entitled Kirby's Epic Yarn. It's a sidescrolling platformer with a new art style based on a yarn theme, and it's due out this fall. In sharp contrast to Kirby's cartoony graphics was Nintendo's next presentation on Metroid: Other M, which had visuals in the same vein as other popular shooters, showing Samus fighting her way through intricate 3D stages to fight some nasty-looking alien monsters. Other M was given a release date of August 31. Just in case that wasn't enough nostalgia for you, they next showed a new project from Retro Studios: Donkey Kong Country Returns. It's (another) platformer, but with its own unique style and feel, and it's planned for the holiday season.
From there, Nintendo shifted its focus to the upcoming revision to their portable console, the 3DS. Since it's impossible to show the 3D effect on stage, they contented themselves with showing off software and features, but they also brought a massive amount of test consoles, so you can expect to see hands-on reports coming out in a day or two. The 3DS has a slightly larger screen on top — 3.5" instead of 3" — and the bottom screen is a touchscreen. There's an analog nub, an internal gyro-sensor, and a 3D slider, which will control the level of depth you see on screen. You can turn it to maximum, turn it off, or anywhere moderate level of depth in between. There are two camera lenses on the back, which will allow you to take photos in 3D. In addition to the 3D effect, they've also made more standard improvements to the graphics hardware, which has apparently impressed some of the developers working on games for the 3DS. They also briefly touched on the 3DS's communications capabilities. Apparently it will silently look for updates, new maps, ghost data, rankings, and more regardless of what game you're playing, communicating over Wi-Fi or through connections with other nearby consoles.
Headlining the software side of the 3DS was the announcement of Kid Icarus: Uprising, another return to a very popular franchise of old. Granted, it's tough to judge a game by its trailer, but the graphics looked extremely good for a portable system. Nintendo said that in addition to games, the 3DS would play 3D movies as well, though details are sparse as to what will be available and how. But their real concern was the perception that the system would have too few games to interest customers, so they went out of their way to list a bunch of developers and game projects that are targeting the new system. The list is really, really impressive: Kingdom Hearts, Resident Evil, Assassin's Creed, Metal Gear Solid, DJ Hero, Saint's Row, Madden, FIFA Soccer, Nintendogs + Cats, Ridge Racer, Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon, Mario Kart, Star Fox, and more.
The 3D effect is disappointing. (Score:3, Informative)
According to Kotaku [kotaku.com], the effect completely fails if you move out of its small window of effectiveness. So much for playing the game in a truly portable way :\.He goes on to mention that the 3D camera on the back works excellently and was a joy to use, however, and I can definitely understand that.
I'll give it to Nintendo (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Wait... (Score:3, Informative)
Worldwide sales figures
1. Wii - 70.8 million
2. X360 - 40 million
3. PlayStation 3 - 35.7 million
PS3 has about much chance of beating the Wii, as the Gamecube/N64 beating the PS2/PS1 consoles... it's fallen way behind. It's possible 2nd place will end as a tie, like the previous generation did (Xbox/Gamecube were statistically even), but I don't think either the 360 or PS3 will ever catch up to the Wii. The best they can hope for is a solid 2nd place.
Re:Wow (Score:3, Informative)
I don't think their keynote last year sucked. There they announced New Super Mario Bros Wii, Mario Galaxy 2 and the big surprise, Metroid: the Other M.
You might be thinking of the 2008 keynote which had Wii Music and not much else. That one certainly failed, but I don't think the 2009 one did.
Re:The 3D effect is disappointing. (Score:3, Informative)
Read the whole article. His own words, at the very bottom, sum it up: "It's Astounding".
Keep in mind you are looking at a product that is literally months away from hitting retail, possibly even a year. Same thing with the games. If you expect it to be perfect upon its initial unveiling...
However, if you take the article in context,
The effect is astounding. I took a picture of the woman who had the 3DS padlocked to her waist. She's smiling and has her hands up. The hands feel like they're popping out of the screen, behind the room just goes on and on.
He was talking about the 3D camera, which I mentioned in my original post:
He goes on to mention that the 3D camera on the back works excellently and was a joy to use, however, and I can definitely understand that.
Re:The 3D effect is disappointing. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:I'll give it to Nintendo (Score:3, Informative)
You're deliberately isolating yourself from rewarding experiences out of insecurity.
Re:Franchise? (Score:3, Informative)
Kid Icarus had a sequel on the Game Boy and the Kid Icarus character appeared in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and in the tv show Captain N.
Re:Wait... (Score:3, Informative)
Wireless is probably cheaper than the 4 discrete plugs and 2 discrete flash connectors the Cube had.
The Wii has those connectors, too.
Re:Nintendo Still Rules (Score:4, Informative)
It's actually what a Sony guy said a few days ago when asked about the PSPGo. He said it was an experiment and they learned some lessons from it, like people wanting physical media instead of downloadable only.
Here's the link: http://kotaku.com/5558693/sonys-lessons-learned-from-the-pspgo [kotaku.com]