Nintendo 3DS eShop Launch Impressions [UPDATE]

The Nintendo 3DS eShop finally launched whilst I was sleeping in anticipation of it’s launch, and my home screen definitely looks a lot more active now that I’ve downloaded four new titles and transferred my DSi Ware titles over as well. This is definitely what the 3DS needed to get it going and will hopefully lead to greater things.
In this article I’ll be talking about the titles I downloaded and share some tips!

Overview
As most of you know, the update finally gave 3DS owners the chance to go shopping for titles on the Nintendo eShop. This offers 3D Classics (Classic Nintendo titles, remastered in 3D), Virtual Console titles (Game Boy & Game Boy Colour games for now), 3DS Ware (Original Titles for the 3DS) and DSi Ware. The eShop launched with one 3D Classic (Excitebike – free until July 7th), three Virtual Console titles (Super Mario Land – £3.60, Alleyway – £2.70, Tennis – £2.70) and one 3DS Ware title (Pokédex 3D – free). The pricing of the titles seems pretty fair as it’d be roughly that much to buy these titles in real life nowadays. Can’t give impression of price of Excitebike as it’s free at the moment.
The eShop also allows users to view trailers & screenshots for new and upcoming games

The New Games
Here is a quick overview of each the new titles and my opinion of them:

3D Classics Excitebike
The 3D effect on this game is absolutely fantastic. When it’s turned off, the game displays just as it did on the NES but when you gradually move the 3D slider up, the screen starts to change, offering a completely new look on the game.

The game is unchanged, offering Game A (Setting your best time by yourself) and Game B (same principal, only with other drivers involved) and Design where you can make your own circuits. The best thing about all this is that your times and circuits get saved to the console so nothing is ever lost!

Pokédex 3D
This new and free offering that was only recently announced is a great addition to the 3DS library, and can prove very helpful for Unova Pokémon trainers as it provides information about each of the new Pokémon. Each player starts with the same sixteen Pokémon (Audino, Axew, Dewott, Emboar, Emolga, Foongus, Hydreigon, Minccino, Oshawott, Pignite, Samurott, Scraggy, Serperior, Servine, Snivy and Tepig) and will be able to download three random ones everyday via SpotPass. Each one has it’s own unique Augmented Reality marker which can be recreated easily on software like Photoshop and be used on phones and other 3DS consoles. The time it takes for it to detect the AR marker and display the Pokémon is next to nothing and is great fun! And you can take pictures of them as well (not in 3D however which is disappointing). Upon using the AR marker and taking a picture of the Pokémon, you will unlock two stickers which allow you to unlock more features but are more as a collecting thing.

Pokédex 3D allows you to filter Pokémon, bookmark them and see them perform an action on the screen (and in AR). As a free download, you really can’t go wrong with this at all and it will be fun collecting all the Pokémon available and taking some great AR photos with them! Check out some of the AR markers in the gallery below!

Game Boy Tricks
When you boot up a Game Boy game normally, it looks like this:

But if you boot it up whilst holding Start or Select, it plays the game at it’s original resolution with a Game Boy console frame around it.

This gives it a really authentic look and I’m starting to prefer playing in the original resolution. Unlike the other view, you can actually add a 3D effect which makes the game look like it’s being played on a Game Boy by pushing the game screen backwards. This was a neat trick which I think makes it look better.

Also, whilst playing Game Boy games, you can switch between the normal Black & White (pictured above) or use the classic green screen!

Another fantastic thing that they have added to the Virtual Console titles is if you’ve gotten stuck but don’t want to lose your progress if you Game Over or a friend wants to start a new game, you can make a Restore Point! This will stay for as long as you want and be used over and over. And once you’ve gotten past the point, you can save over it for good measure!

DSi Ware
Being able to play DSi Ware titles on the 3DS is great for those who still love to play them and want to upgrade to a 3DS and later trade in their DSi. As Nintendo said though, once you transfer the title over, it’s wiped from the DSi and can’t be redownloaded for free. Annoying, yes but, that’s the way they roll sadly.
DSi Ware titles are scaled to fit the wider top screen of the 3DS perfectly and looks just fine.

Conclusion
In Conclusion, it’s not a bad launch line-up. It has a classic NES game remastered in fantastic 3D, a classic Mario game and a free 3D Pokédex which is absolutely brilliant. Alleyway is a fun breakout style game and Tennis is, well, Tennis but, in the end, not a bad line up at all!
The Game Boy games all run smoothly and have their distinct bleeps and bloops coming out smoothly which will no doubt send retro shivers down many peoples backs!

[UPDATE]
As I’m typing this report up, Nintendo announced that The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX would be released as the first Game Boy Colour title for the 3DS and would be released tonight (in America). Expect more on that tomorrow!

[UPDATE 2]
I made a mistake in the article regarding how many Pokémon you get daily via SpotPass. I said it was four but it’s actually three! (Fixed now)
I also discovered this morning that someone has managed to obtain the AR marker of each Pokémon for Pokédex 3D and has turned it into a huge grid. Here is said grid:

Whilst this won’t unlock ALL of the Pokémon you don’t have, it will unlock some.

Link’s Awakening was released this morning and has instantly become a hit with me. Can’t, stop, playing! Game Boy Color Virtual Console titles also do the console frame trick where you hold down Start or Select as you’re launching the game to get the frame of a Game Boy Color console. So here’s without the frame:

And here’s with:

I also found out that when the 3DS battery is running low, the battery light on the console frame starts to dimmer itself which is a really neat trick!

Pokédex Grid Source: GBATemp Forum