Anyway, I thought I'd do a quick round-up of the major news stories and stuff.
Firstly, expect to pay around £189.99 for the 3DS, going off the Japanese price of 25,000 yen. Yes, one eight nine. It is slightly more than I was expecting, and it certainly isn't cheap. Even I only have the money to get the console itself, never mind the awesome games that will be arriving throughout the year. It's a good point to remember that it could be a different price though, and fate forbid it to be more expensive.
Oh, and to get you even more excited, the handheld Virtual Console is here at last. That's right, and you'll be expecting to play classic GB Series games such as The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening and Super Mario Land, just two confirmed titles for the service that will surely grow and grow like the Wii Virtual Console. I'm hoping that they'll stick the Zelda Oracle of games on there as well as the elusive Metroid 2.
I better touch on the use of Miis, which was first spotted at the initial unveiling before E3. Mii Studio comes as one of the pre-installed pieces of software and lets you create your own Miis, as well as creating them automatically by taking a photo of yourself, family member or friend.
The other pre-installed software is the bog standard stuff similar to the DSi. You've got 3DS versions of the Camera and Sound software to play around with. Remember that the 3DS Camera software allows you to take 3D photos with the two external cameras. The final piece of software that has been announced (although there's still more on its way), uses one of the new features of the 3DS, StreetPass.
StreetPass is a new connectivity feature (well, I say new, it's been around since Nintendogs), where your 3DS connects to other 3DSes via the local wireless and shares data. The pre-installed software that uses it is StreetPass Mii Plaza, which allows you to view the Miis of other 3DSes that you have passed. Other games are set to utilise the StreetPass feature, like Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition and more than likely Nintendogs + Cats.
The second connectivity feature is SpotPass, that uses Nintendo Zone hotspots and Download Stations to download interesting stuff like news and demos while your 3DS is in sleep mode.
We also have Augmented Reality (AR) games that are activated by showing special cards to the 3DS's cameras.
So when you get your shiny new blue or black 3DS, what's in the box? Well, you should expect to find the console (it'd be hard to play it if it wasn't in the box), a new recharging cradle, similar to iPod docks and such, the usual AC adapter, a telescopic stylus (it retracts for storage), and six AR cards. Plus, in the Japanese version at least, you'll get a free SD card. Whether we'll get that here remains to be seen, but I'm doubtful, as SD cards are the type of thing that you expect to pay extra to buy separately.
The 3DS is fully compatible with the DSi, meaning that all your DS games will work, and hopefully we'll have the Wi-Fi settings transfer feature as well so those who don't want their friend codes being replaced can keep them. Also, you have a limited set of DSiWare transfers, the amount of which has yet to be revealed. Some DSiWare may not be transferable, however.
And it's important not to forget the new handheld's main selling point: the games. We don't know the actual launch games yet, but a lot of the games announced at E3 are looking in some stage of readiness. Hopefully we'll get Mario Kart soon after launch, as well as Street Fighter, Nintendogs + Cats for the casual types, and Lylat Wars 3D for the core crowd.
Be sure to check out some of the trailers below.
Source: ONM
Software Line-up Trailer
3DS Features Trailer
Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition Trailer
