My Sanctuary

Hi guys. I actually was planning to write a post yesterday, but something came up. Yep, the official launch of the Nintendo 3DS in Australia. As most of you would already know about, Nintendo 3DS is the successor of the highly successful portable gaming console, Nintendo DS (and it’s subsequent rebrand of DS Lite, DSi and DSi XL), which by 2011, has sold more than millions of units, not counting the games. As a true avid gamer, I personally wanted the 3DS, not only because of its features, but also because Nintendo will ultimately move to 3DS anyway.

I got an invitation to the launch party in EB Games Swanston street. The launch party is held from 10PM on 30 March 2011, and by 12.01AM on 31 March 2011, they will roll out the 3DS units. I was actually expecting a massive line-up for the 3DS, but it seems that everyone just get their own number, and join the party. Oh yeah, when I say party, I mean party.

My queue number for picking up the 3DS

The Nintendo Experience booth on 2nd floor was packed

They do cater the people who came for the party. At the Nintendo Experience (2nd floor dedicated to Nintendo), there are lots of people, with balloons, games, and of course, the 3DS, complete with the babes, although the 3DS is not chained to them like they usually do. We also get served by a good catering, providing both savoury and sweet snacks like pies, cupcakes, and even Peking duck (or at least that’s what I heard)! I also met few cosplayers, one as Pikachu (I was VERY tempted to say “Can I peek-at-chyouuu?”), and the other one dressed as Link from the Zelda games!

Cupcakes! Most of the girls in the launch party had at least two of these

Link, complete with his her costume, shield, bow and sword

Ultimately we had to line up to pick up our consoles. And there was a door prize draw for winning a brand new Nintendo 3DS for FREE. I get my hopes up when they say the number, but I missed by 7 entries! Come on! The one who won the 3DS was, well, surprise, surprise, Link!

My Cosmos Black Nintendo 3DS. Yes, I still believe black is the new white.

Anyhow, since it was already past midnight, I had to go back and take some rest, since the next day I have to go to work. I did get a chance to play the 3DS before, though, and I have to tell you that, like what EB Games said, to believe it, you would have to see it. Except maybe, they forgot to put the word yourself. See you next post…!

jovee~

As everyone have guessed, Nintendo unveiled their upcoming handheld console in E3 2010. Yesterday (or rather, this morning), I watched the presentation in live streaming from E3. Nintendo itself brought back many games, some of it are old games, not remakes, but new game in addition to the series. I believe this is a positive and as well a treat for those who’ve been loyal to Nintendo. Games that makes me, a long time Nintendo gamer drools, such as Donkey Kong Country for Wii and Golden Sun for DS.

Apart from that, one thing that has made Nintendo a winner for E3 2010. While Microsoft shows off the new Xbox 360 which actually broke a CD, and Sony with the oh-not-so-great subscription on PlayStation Plus Network, Nintendo had a better idea. Behold, the Nintendo 3DS. For the first time ever, you don’t need 3D glasses to watch 3D.

The Nintendo 3DS

Successor of the Nintendo DS, Nintendo can’t help but to retain the dual-screen-ness of 3DS, along with the touch screen and the wireless connectivity. The main feature of the Nintendo 3DS is none other than the ability to play 3D games, and by 3D games I don’t mean games that are rendered in 3D, but rather, games WITH 3D images, just like when you watch 3D movies.

Nintendo also put gyroscope as the motion sensor in this new 3DS, as well as some form of analog stick, dubbed the Slide Pad. And because every person perceived depth differently, there is also a depth slider that can adjust the depth of the 3D image, as well as turning them off if you want to.

The Dual-Camera for capturing 3D images is shown in the bottom 

It’s completely in my opinion that the touch screen also get revamped in some way. However they did not mention this and I cannot speculate much. Just when you thought Nintendo has done a good job by bringing the 3D into gaming, they did it again. Nintendo 3DS lets you capture 3D images using their camera (and they also have the camera facing the user) and play 3D movies.

It was rumored that 3DS boast the processing power more powerful than that of PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii. I have yet to confirm this, but seeing from a great screenshot by Engadget, this is likely to be true. You can view the almost complete specification on the Nintendo E3 website.

Games that are coming to Nintendo 3DS are, in my opinion, hardcore games. And by hardcore I meant games that are more than good. I bet when they first giving the prototype to developers, they were cynical, but after playing with it, they were astounding. These array of games include the long awaited sequel of Kid Icarus, Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil, Kingdom Hearts, Chocobo Racing, Dead or Alive, DJ Hero, Sims 3, and many other mouth-watering games to be released.

With the console itself will be available in all markets by March 2011, Nintendo has done it again. It revolutionize the handheld gaming industry by having the first dual-screen (and touch screen) handheld console. It did it again with 3D screen now. I must say with all due respect, the PSP is finished.

jovee~