Nintendo 3DS

[N1njaSquirrel]

Out of interest, does the head-tracking 3D still work in a dark room? 

[tegan]

Out of interest, does the head-tracking 3D still work in a dark room? 

 

If I recall correctly, the little dot next to the inner camera is an infrared light meant for just that.

[JonCole]

For any Sydney folks, I now have a perfectly functional black 3DS XL that I'd rather sell to a human for cheap than to EB so they can immediately mark it up by 200%.

 

No kidding, Gamestop has a trade-in promotion for the New 3DS where I'd get $100 in exchange for a pre-order. Considering the only way to do system transfers is with both consoles in hand, I won't be able to take advantage of that promo. Otherwise I'll get $80, but I'd need to trade it in with the AC adapter and I'd get $80 of credit that I could only use after acquiring the console. So, if anyone in the US wants to buy a blue 3DS XL that's in reasonably good condition for $75ish, let me know. Otherwise I might just cancel my MM LE preorder so I can use the Gamestop credit I get from my XL to buy the regular version. Ugh.

 

I'm only in this conundrum because I got a chance to play MM with the new 3DS at PAX and was totally sold. To me, 3D was almost useless and generally not worth bothering with and the new 3DS actually makes it something I'd want to use all the time. That kind of an upgrade actually seems major to me, not to mention the higher specs that could make MM and the like a lot more stable. Plus, I just think the new version looks and feels better in hand. I kinda thought this might be a DSi situation where I basically felt I didn't get my money's worth at all, but I feel like I'd get value right out of the gate.

[Kolzig]

I wonder how long it will take for Amazon.fr to ship something to Finland?

 

I am already waiting way too much for the N3DS XL to arrive.

[Kolzig]

Nintendo put out a pleasant surprise yesterday when they released Codename S.T.E.A.M. demo to the eShop.

 

Has anyone had time to play it yet? I downloaded it yesterday and tested menus and watched the trailer video that came in the demo. Actual gameplay testing will have to wait now until weekend.

[Laco]

I've played Code Name S.T.E.A.M. a bit, just the first few levels so far.

I'm not really sure about it. The visuals in general are so noisy and jaggy and contrast poorly with the cartoon-outline style of the characters. That works okay for something slick and HD like Borderlands, but less so on a low-res screen like the 3DS'. All the noise makes the 3D effect less consistent than in the games that do it best (SM3DL, ALBW), but without 3D it ends up looking like a mid-90s PC game. It actually strongly reminds me of Incubation, a 1997 squad-based strategy game for PC, though I bet the latter doesn't hold up nearly as well as in my memory.

In terms of tactical depth I haven't come across anything more interesting than basic flanking, but I'll stick with it a bit longer. I just learned that medals and weapons will carry over to the full game, so if you're considering trying the demo that's a nice bonus.

[Sno]

Haven't played it myself yet, but the word i've been getting from friends is that it plays like Valkyria Chronicles with an AP system that more closely resembles the AP systems of early-mid 90's PC tactics games.

The major complaint i've been hearing is that it just plays out so incredibly slow.

[dartmonkey]

STEAM hasn't really piqued my interest. It may fall in the Advance Wars camp, a game I tried to like but it never clicked with me. The visuals I've seen look a bit DSy, which may not reflect much about the game itself but they're not doing anything to draw me in. As I understand it, it's a hybrid shooter-SRPG, right?

Hypothetically speaking, if one were to be in the market for a Pokemon game, one's first since Yellow back in the day, would one be better served by X/Y or Ruby/Sapphire?

[Laco]

I finished the demo, or at least unlocked more characters and was offered the chance to replay the first few levels. Since I'd already 100%'ed them, I declined. Controlling four characters makes things more interesting, but the levels in the demo at least feel too cramped to make use of them effectively.

This is the first time I've had a reason to use the New 3DS nub. It works really well.

Haven't played it myself yet, but the word i've been getting from friends is that it plays like Valkyria Chronicles with an AP system that more closely resembles the AP systems of early-mid 90's PC tactics games.

The major complaint i've been hearing is that it just plays out so incredibly slow.

Both of these are pretty true. Valkyria Chronicles is the closest comparison, with maybe XCOM a distant second.

My complaints:

• Characters generate steam (AP) at different rates, and also have different capacities. It's often a good idea to avoid spending all your steam so you have as much as possible next turn, but there's no visual indicator to help with this.
• Weapon trajectories are apparently physically simulated in real time. This means that if you can only just get your crosshair over an enemy, if you're not careful their idle animation might actually take them out of your sights just as you hit the trigger! With no undo, that just seems like really bad design for a game that otherwise has very few real-time elements.

[Dewar]

Well, I decided to preorder Monster Hunter 4, regardless of not having a circle pad pro or a New 3DS. I made MH3U work well enough, I think I can do it with MH4.

[BusbyBerkeley]

Do we have a general Nintendo thread? They added a bunch of stuff for NA Club Nintendo today. I only have like 200 coins currently, but they are offering full retail downloads for both Wii U and 3DS for around 600 club Nintendo coins and up.

Woof.

Nobody has any unused rewards codes do they... :ohdear:

[SecretAsianMan]

Do we have a general Nintendo thread?

 

This is the general Nintendo thread, at least it was until the title changed.  It probably still is.

[JonCole]

Oh, I thought that was the Wii U thread (the old thread title wasn't very clear). Man, I dunno.

[Sno]

Well, I decided to preorder Monster Hunter 4, regardless of not having a circle pad pro or a New 3DS. I made MH3U work well enough, I think I can do it with MH4.

MH4 apparently also runs at a higher framerate and with higher resolution textures on the N3DS.

[Dewar]

Yeah, but it's not in the cards to buy another system right now. I already don't put time into my recent XB1 purchase or my year-old PS3 purchase.

[Kolzig]

Damn Nicalis, where are Ikachan and 1001 Spikes from Europe eShop?

Also Tyrone Rodriguez was teasing last year about finally releasing the 3D remake of Cave Story in eShop, but nothing has been heard of that for over six months...

The cartridge version of that game was super limited supply. Never even saw it sold anywhere.

[dartmonkey]

You mean the 3D 3D one? I've seen that secondhand in shops, relatively pricey. Hadn't heard anything about a download release. Seems an odd choice but i guess if the rom's just sitting there, why not? It can hardly confuse the version situation any more. I recently played through the 2D 3D one (if that makes sense). Thought it was fine, but there's a glut of quality indie platformers around right now - I think it would have had a greater impact on me 10 years ago.

[Kolzig]

Yes, the remade 3D 3D one. Rodriguez was posting Twitter & Miiverse development stuff about the game sometime last summer or so, but it's all been quiet for a long time now.

I have the game already on Wii and in Steam, but it would be interesting to see the remade version.

[JonCole]

If you want Club Nintendo points, Ubisoft has a pretty decent sale going right now for retail games with high returns on coins. I grabbed Rayman Origins (40 coins) and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Shadow Wars (30 coins) for $7.50 each, and I think Rayman 3D, Rayman Rabbids, Splinter Cell 3D, and some Petz stuff is also on sale though less recommendable.

[BigJKO]

That Wii U thread was definitely always intended as the Wii U thread (the old name of it came before the Wii U itself was announced, hence the multiple bullshit codenames)

 

I should know, I CREATED IT!

[JonCole]

Do we actually need to have dedicated Nintendo console threads instead of just one? I feel like dividing them just makes them both more obscure than they need to be.

Edit: Also, going to quote my previous post since this Meta stuff pushed us to a new page -

 

If you want Club Nintendo points, Ubisoft has a pretty decent sale going right now for retail games with high returns on coins. I grabbed Rayman Origins (40 coins) and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Shadow Wars (30 coins) for $7.50 each, and I think Rayman 3D, Rayman Rabbids, Splinter Cell 3D, and some Petz stuff is also on sale though less recommendable.

[Griddlelol]

Do we actually need to have dedicated Nintendo console threads instead of just one? I feel like dividing them just makes them both more obscure than they need to be.

 

 

I think a Nintendo mega-thread would be better personally. I tend to ignore the 3ds one because I rarely play any 3ds games, but there's also a lot of general discussion in here.

[syntheticgerbil]

I hate all mega threads, they are impossible to ever go back and navigate. I wish people would talk about individual games in a thread for said game.

 

The megathreads in theory should just be about the consoles.

[Twig]

The problem with individual-game threads is that people are weird and afraid to post in a thread that's really old, even though it's perfectly fine.

[RubixsQube]

Question. Let's say that I am a person who likes Zelda, and is picking up a New 3DS next week, an I'm enticed by the reviews for Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, but I'm not a huge classical RPG fan. But MH4U kind of seems like a 3D version of the types of games I do like, the Castlevanias, etc. How RPG-ey is the Monster Hunter series?