Nintendo 3DS: Fulfilling Fans' Wishes (by Carl B.)
January 26, 2011, by Carl B. - At their 3DS Preview Event on January 19, 2011, Nintendo provided a plethora of new information regarding their next generation handheld's launch details in North America and Europe. The 3DS is set to hit North America on March 27, 2011, at a price point of $249.99 (and in Europe on March 25, 2011, for 229.99 Euros). New console or handheld generations never fail to induce a high level of excitement from fans, and due to some of the criticism of the Wii's lack of features, all the news of ideas incorporated in the 3DS has given many gamers hope that Nintendo have learned from their mistakes of the past.
Nintendo has been very guarded with the Wii and DS when it comes to online functionality. Both devices require players to register friend codes - a sequence of digits about as long as a telephone number - in order to play online games with their friends. Naturally, gamers are still able to play online with random players, but every game had its own friend code and players were unable to add random people they encounter as friends. Compared to services offered on the Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and even iOS devices, Nintendo's online-play structure was very primitive. It was so bad that at one point I had my entire friend code list saved onto a notepad document on my phone in case I ever ran into someone in public who played the same online games I did.
With the 3DS, Nintendo has taken away a majority of the online pains that the Wii and DS had. Friend codes are still being used, but instead of each individual game having their own code there will be one universal code for the system itself. Players will be able to register their friends' 3DS friend code and they'll be able to view their profile, what game they're currently playing (if that user is online), and how many times they've used StreetPass. Bill Trinen from Nintendo of America stated that the 3DS' friend list contains slots for "about 100 friends." It's not clear whether players will be able to add random players they meet online as friends, but considering that same type of system was used in Capcom's Monster Hunter Tri and Activision's Call of Duty: Black Ops for Wii we can assume that some third party games will incorporate this.
StreetPass is a genius idea but may only work in Japan or in densely populated areas. With StreetPass a user's 3DS exchanges game data with other 3DS units it passes by, hence the name "StreetPass," and can unlock in-game content and let players view the profile of the person they passed by. Obviously, in less populated areas this may not work, but coupled with the 3DS' pedometer feature (which also rewards players with in-game content for the number of steps they have registered) it's a good way to get users to take their 3DS out and about.
SpotPass is essentially a mobile WiiConnect 24 and will either fail or succeed based upon how Nintendo uses it. SpotPass downloads updates, news, and even free software to a user's 3DS when it's in a Wi-Fi hotspot. If the connection is open to the public the 3DS will automatically connect and download the previously mentioned add-ons.
The Wii Shop Channel had organizational issues and Nintendo never really found a good way to promote games that were released on the various services available. Nintendo has scraped the Wii Shop and even the DSi Shop Channel designs to go with a much more stream-lined approach with the Nintendo eShop. Users will be able to search for downloadable games based on a multitude of categories including iconic in-game characters, price, and genre. The point system has also been done away with; users will now pay with a credit-card or gift-card only, similar to Apple's App Store and the Playstation Store. Judging from the few available screenshots of the eShop in action it looks like users will be able to download demos of full retail games, which is something Nintendo has only done for WiiWare releases.
Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition, The Sims 3, Steel Diver, and Pilotwings Resort, among many other games will make up the launch-day lineup for the Nintendo 3DS. In truth, many more games by both Nintendo and third parties could be released on day one, but to address "game droughts" (periods in which little games are released over a span of time - think Nintendo DS launch) Nintendo has decided to spread releases out over a span of time. With that said, up to 30 titles will be released for 3DS between March and June, 2011. Nintendo still has casual franchises on the platform with Nintendogs+ Cats but it's apparent that the 3DS will be geared toward veteran fans more than anyone else: remakes of classic games such as Ocarina of Time and StarFox are hitting the portable early on, along with a revival of the Kid Icarus franchise and new entries in the Paper Mario and Mario Kart franchises. Not to mention the big-name games from third parties that have already been confirmed, including Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance, Metal Gear Solid 3D, Resident Evil: Revelations, and Saints Row.
