3DS - Nintendo If you're planning to pick up a Nintendo 3DS when it goes on sale March 27, you'll have a solid 18 games to choose from for your starter
collection -- but they're going to cost a bit more than regular DS titles.
Nintendo has unveiled its launch day line-up for the handheld gaming system as well as a $40 price tag for games -- $5 more than
titles for the existing DS platform.
The 3DS won't launch with the support of a heavyweight
Nintendo icon like Mario or Zelda, but external publishing partners will pick up the
day-one slack with some very familiar names, including Super Street Fighter,
The Sims, Star Wars, Rayman, and Madden. The system will also come with built-in titles Face Raiders, AR Games and a Mii Maker application.
Nintendo itself will contribute nintendogs + cats, a sequel
to its popular pet simulator, along with submarine simulator Steel Diver and
Pilotwings Resort. The company seems to be saving its big guns for a little
later in the year when there are more 3DS systems in people's hands and the
holidays are drawing near. Before the year is out, the company says it plans to
release The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, Star Fox 64 3D, Kid Icarus:
Uprising and a new installment in the Mario Kart series.
Nintendo plans to expand the total number of games available
for the 3DS from 18 to more than 30 by mid-June. To drive demand for the
system, the company is planning an extensive promotional campaign, with over 5,000 units in stores and people demonstrating mobile units on the streets of major cities.
The $5 premium for titles wasn't unexpected, but could still
make things challenging for the company. While Nintendo has pretty much owned
the handheld gaming space for generations, it faces dramatically increased
competition from Apple these days, as players have flocked to the iOS devices,
where game prices almost never top $10.
Granted, no iPhone offers glasses-free stereoscopic 3D, but
analysts question if that effect will, in the long run, be worth an extra
$30-$35 to players for games like Madden and LEGO Star Wars.
To help you assemble your shopping list, here are the titles
that will be available at launch (plus the two built-in games):
Pilotwings Resort (Nintendo)
Steel Diver (Nintendo) nintendogs + cats (Nintendo)
Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition (Capcom)
The Sims 3 (EA)
Madden
NFL Football (EA)
Pro
Evolution Soccer 2011 3D (Konami)
LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars (LucasArts)
Ridge
Racer 3D (Namco Bandai)
Super
Monkey Ball 3D (Sega)
Bust-a-Move
Universe (Square-Enix)
Samurai
Warriors: Chronicles (Tecmo Koei America)
Asphalt 3D (Ubisoft)
Combat
of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D (Ubisoft)
Rayman 3D (Ubisoft)
Tom
Clancy's Ghost Recon Shadow Wars (Ubisoft)
