3DS’s Rather lacklustre launch line-up
Well it’s nearly upon us, the next chapter in Nintendo’s dominance of the handheld gaming scene shall soon be unleashed onto the (mostly) adoring masses starting with Japan on February 26th and with the English territories following some time in March. New gaming hardware is always a big deal, but this time it’s not just the usual next generation hype machine that’s got people exited; 3D Remakes of past Nintendo classics on top of some heavy duty third party franchises has a fair number of people already heralding the end of Nintendo’s love affair with the casual market and a return to the good old days of a more “core audience” focused platform.
But of course, as with any new format release, there will be those outside of Japan who just simply can’t wait for a local release, instead opting to import the device with a few Japanese launch titles to tide themselves over. So the big question is, how many of those kick ass 3DS games that Nintendo have been hyping up will the intrepid importer actually be able to play at launch? Eh…… yeah…….. about that.
3DS launch titles (Japan):
Tobidasu! Puzzle Bobble 3D
Nintendogs/Nintencats
Winning Eleven 3D Soccer
Battle of Giants: Dinosaur Strike
Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask
Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition
Samurai Warriors Chronicle
Ridge Racer 3D
Ok so, sure it’s got some big names there, but with the exception of Street Fighter 4 it’s (arguably) just minor rehashes of stuff already available on the DS and PSP, most of which fits very squarely into the “casual gaming” category. Not exactly the stellar hardcore line up I think a lot of us had in mind, especially considering only one of those titles is actually made by Nintendo. That’s right fanboys, no Kid Icaurs: Uprising, but what’s another few months after 19 years of waiting?
It’s actually quite perplexing why the 3DS would launch with such a thin line up when so many high profile titles were supposedly on the horizon. I refuse to believe Nintendo launched early because they were in any way intimidated by the still far off PSP2, and there’s no urgency for a successor to the still money printing DS. Perhaps Nintendo are just interested in recouping on last years financial trouble ASAP? Not that it matters much; lets be honest here, a lot of us are probably going to buy this thing anyway in anticipation for the titles we DO want. But you never know, the English release might be a bit more exiting! (pro-tip: don’t get your hopes up)