Happy Trails,
Sam.

yeahh... he looks pretty lame here on the N64.

He’s a rather obscure character even in the Zelda universe. After you travel to the Ganon-controlled future you can find this weird character in the ruins of Hyrule Market in the building by the entrance. He’s (it’s?) the one you can capture and sell peoples’ souls to. I was playing through Ocarina of Time 3D and just happened to think he was a creepy character, but that was really it. It wasn’t until I came across this picture that I decided he (it?) was one of the coolest, creepiest Zelda characters. In fact, go check out the artist’s (Lawlzy is his name) deviantART page. He’s got some really impressive stuff there. I mean, who doesn’t enjoy seeing a butt-faced cat?? (also his blog is pretty cool) Sooo… anyways I decided on the Poe Collector over Linebeck or Luigi with his vacuum thingy.

The inspiration.

After much arduous waiting… actually not much at all, Ben finished very timely and it shipped even timelier!… I finally got my sculpture last Friday. Sadly, I left immediately after opening and admiring it, so I didn’t have a chance to post about it until now. So here it is! Dun DAHH! My Poe Collector sculpture thingy nicely complimenting my Captain Jean-Luc Picard dude and tiny 5-Below Tetra/Goron thingies!

It looks awesome and I’m really happy with it! The pictures don’t do it justice. Ben posted about it over on his site (Fizz Man Industries, whatever that means ) and even put up a full gallery of images if you want to take a look. Seeing the art and sculpture side-by-side really shows off what a great piece it is. Even the toe is outstretched like in the pic. Not that Ben didn’t take some cool cues of his own, it’s just impressive! I am honored to adorn my apartment with its creepiness! If there’s anyone reading this who wants a supa’ cool sculpture, this Ben Howard feller has the Official Sam Jack Seal of Approval. *seal given* Go take a look at his work, it’s pretty impressive. The Zelda chess set in particular is what turned me on to his work.

Happy Trails,
Sam.

The Wii is done. Why? Everyone already owns one! Those news organizations who’ve been pumping out stories about how the Wii is “losing ground” to the Xbox and PS3 are just being plain silly. The PS3 won’t outsell the Wii unless Sony sticks to their “10 year life-cycle” claim for the PS3, and it looks like they won’t. The sales are dropping, and even the first-party support for the system has all but disappeared. The only game worth waiting for is The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, and there’s even talk of it being a launch title for Café. Just for the record, I hope it’s not.

So what did the Wii get right? Affordability. Mass-market appeal. Innovative gameplay. It was a surprise! It was radically different from the competition. Nintendo was going to expand the market exponentially with or without the help of Sony and Microsoft’s silly little graphical powerhouses. And it paid off in billions. And they don’t even have a legitimate online portal like Xbox Live or PlayStation Network. That’s crazy! (Btw, I’m not advocating that Nintendo doesn’t need an online solution. In fact, I’ve got a whole post planned for that! It’s just surprising given the fact.)

What did it get wrong? The games. Ahem, let me reiterate: the third-party games. The first-party games were usually incredibly fun and very successful. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption were two of the best core games this generation of consoles had to offer. And Mario Galaxy 2 just so happens to be one of the best gaming experiences I’ve ever had. But the third-party efforts were just. plain. LAME. The only thing I can guess is that third-parties see Nintendo’s games as pretty much impossible to contend with. I mean, who can contend with Mario and the gang? Aside from a few concerted efforts from developers (i.e. Epic Mickey, the Conduit), most publishers quickly realized the Wii wasn’t too third-party friendly. It also cost more to make games for the Wii, which usually required a separate “lower-graphic-quality” version of the game to be produced since PS3/Xbox 360 titles couldn’t just be ported to Wii. Want proof? Sega’s Sonic Team recently announced they’ve cancelled the upcoming Sonic Generations for the Wii because the system’s hardware is incapable of the “vivid, high-definition graphics” they wanted. Those other games that have been “down-ported” to the Wii are always identifiable as… well… crap. Only desparate parents looking for a Christmas gift would pick some of the obvious shovel-ware from the Walmart shelves. I mean, “Shawn Johnson Gymnastics“?? Seriously!? I saw two copies of that game at my local GameStop just yesterday. That would never be allowed on the Xbox or PS3. That’s just sad. And probably not even the worst example! The “Nintendo Seal of Quality” on the back of those game cases used to really mean something! But things have changed. In general the Wii’s become a dumpster for “lower quality” games. And what consumer wants to buy “lower-quality”? Most cross-platform games tended thus to be sports games. And those tended (usually) to suck on the Wii, as well. The Wii-wheel is a great idea and I loved it for Mario Kart. But even that wonderfully innovative idea was driven into the ground (something I will discuss in detail in a later post in this series). It seems like Nintendo’s the only company trying to innovate on their consoles.

Let’s take the example of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Of course games like Call of Duty were available on the system. But even in the case of blockbuster games like Modern Warfare, the process of a separate developer “dumbing” down the game to work on the Wii just doesn’t sound as appealing to most people. And for obvious reasons! Now Modern Warfare for Wii did actually sell very well… for a third-party Wii game. Compared to the sales on Xbox 360 and PS3 it likely didn’t make a big difference. Even for me as a fanboy, I was not about to buy Modern Warfare for the Wii. I know in the back of my mind the Xbox 360 version will be a much higher-quality experience. It’ll just be a much prettier, bigger, and more-stable experience on the other two systems.

So let’s talk graphics. The Wii proved you don’t need high-end HD graphics to make obnoxiously fun games and dominate in sales. “Gameplay before graphics.” Nintendo took that mantra and fleshed it out to an entire gaming philosophy. I personally think the philosophy is true. Wii Sports proved that. The Miis proved that. The huge resurgence of arcade-style 2D games recently speaks to that. You don’t need to see a character’s armpit hair or their dripping mucus, you just need a perfected gameplay element. But that doesn’t mean graphics don’t matter. Nintendo has defended this by saying the graphic style should be a compliment to the gameplay. That’s fine for Mario games. But apparently Nintendo hasn’t ever heard of a “realistic” gameplay style, which would by their very statement be impossible on their system due to its limitations. Of course, I’m hoping this is a major reason for Project Café’s existence. To bridge this gap.

It’s really a pretty gutsy move by Nintendo. In their own way they’re kind-of saying “this console generation is over, we won, and it’s time to start looking towards the future”. It’s a bit of a genious move in terms of software release and availability for Nintendo. Project Café will have significantly more horsepower than the PS3 (and thus, Xbox 360 as well), so it will be able to play any and all new multi-platform releases. In addition, they have the full past catalog of PS3 and Xbox 360 games publishers can port to the system. That sounds really great to a lot of people. And it is, but only to an extent. Knowing how publishers can be, we can only pray that Project Café doesn’t quickly get flooded with an endless stream of direct ports labeled as “new” games. It’s gonna happen, but how much we can’t say yet. My guess is Project Café’s first year will include a large number of direct ports mingled with one or two first-party releases, the latest sports offerings, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Modern Warfare 3 isn’t yet announced for Project Café, but if they can’t get MW3 on it there is going to be some serious eyebrow-raising.

The rumors of a $400 price tag? Probably true. I hope they can pull it to $350. If it’s any lower, there’s no way Project Café will have the hardware that’s needed to make it worthy of “next generation”. In fact, it would simply mean they’ve finally caught up to “this generation” five years late. But with a higher price-tag and many ports expected, how can the average gamer justify the purchase. Why would [even] I, as a Nintendo fanboy, pay significantly more just to play the same games I already can on my PS3 for far cheaper. I believe ultimately the justification is going to lie with the hardware and its innovation.

I don’t want to speculate too much on the actual hardware or controllers/peripherals of Project Café. There’s plenty of rumors out there for you to much on Google. There’s really no point in speculating when the announced reveal date is only five days away. Let’s just wait. However, one of the most prolific rumors is that the Project Café controller will include a touch screen and camera. My friend/cohort Will McCarry mentioned he thinks this is just a ripoff of the Sega Dreamcast design, which featured a controller you could view things of. I, however, don’t think the thinking behind it is very related to the Dreamcast at all. Nintendo has been fooling around with multiple-screen gameplay since The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures came out with its GBA-link feature on the Gamecube. Nintendo often experiments with innovative design ideas they may not actually be able to implement for years to come (Read as: Virtual Boy –> Nintendo 3DS). Therefor, I don’t want to give too much credence to this particular rumor, but it does seem rather likely.

Nintendo systems have never been very “connected”. The Nintendo eStore is annoying to work with, Nintendo Wifi Connection is nothing so-far except an individual games’ ability to connect to the internet, and the music and video capabilities are very low. The later is likely due to Nintendo’s insistence on using small on-board HDD’s. There’s just no space to store music and movies and DLC. That’s all gotta change with Project Café. It’s gotta have considerable memory capabilities for next-generation games. And if Nintendo doesn’t offer a legitimate online-experience, as well as useful DLC capabilities, it’s going to be a near-impossible sell for hardcore gamers.

There’s also the issue of media playback. Currently Nintendo systems can only play MP3 and AAC music, for example. That’s understandable since those are open formats, but the Xbox and PS3 can do far more. I want to be able to plug my iPod into Project Café, for example. And media on discs? So far it looks like there’ll still be no DVD or CD playback, and certainly no BluRay playback. That’s a shame since part of the main reason so many people got a PS3 was simply because it could play BluRay movies. I want Project Café to be an all-in-one home media solution. That’s really where gaming systems are headed, and Nintendo needs to jump in soon.

Nintendo has made a name for themselves by being the “master” innovators of the video game industry. There’s no way they’re going to be able to follow up the innovative magic of the Wii with a plain system. There’s gonna be some big change-up. Obviously it will include motion. Obviously it will be backward compatible with Wii and work with Wii controllers. I will most definitely have a great deal of 3DS linkage and support. But it’s gotta have it’s hook to set it apart, and not simply be what many gamers may view it as: a late-comer to the hardcore games scene that just wants to get a few chumps to cough up more cash to play the same games they already can on a cheaper system. My guess is augmented-reality. They’ve implemented it amazingly on the 3DS, and a powerful game console with a controller which includes a screen and camera could be pure magic!

I don’t mean to sound too critical of Nintendo in this post. I’m sure I’ll love Project Café. In fact what I’ve heard about it so far makes me very excited! Nintendo has tons of money, and I think they’ll use it to acquire exclusive games rights from third-parties. That’s what they should do, anyways. Even a few major exclusives could change the tide in the console race. Portal 3 or the next Mass Effect or the next big Rockstar release as a Project Café exclusive? You Sony/Microsoft fanboys might be scared to death at the prospect! But it would be fantastic for Nintendo and their marketing. It would look like they’ve gained the third-party support at last. It would also be good marketing for Project Café being “next gen”. The public might think “this is an exclusive because the Xbox and PS3 just can’t handle this game”. But how do you meet that hardcore crowd while still catering to the casual audience? Nintendo has a lot to live up to here. That’s why it makes me excited when I hear third-parties like Ubisoft say they’re “more than confident that Wii 2 will live up to this” and that Project Café will be a huge success.

The future is a big giant question mark. The scene is changing. The curtains are closed and we’re all sitting in a big intermission. We’re moving on to a new Act in the video game marketplace. Nintendo’s said they’re trying to shed their conservative, “classical” approach to gaming and reach out to the core market. And in what I believe to be a market-changing move, Sony’s backing down. Ken Kutaragi’s great vision for PlayStation always having the best possible hardware available is being left behind. They just can’t afford another PS3. Sony spent billions marketing the PS3 only to have very low sales when it released. Let’s be honest, no one was going to buy the PS3 at $599! So Sony had to cut prices and sell it significantly below cost in order to make a real consumer base. Sony gave millions to R&D then lost millions on the units themselves. All the spoils went to us! While that’s very nice of them, it’s a terrible business plan for Sony. Thus Sony announced they won’t invest as heavily in the PS4. As Sony CFO Masaru Kato said, “It is no longer thinkable to have a huge initial financial investment like that of the PS3.” Sony’s even cutting the NGP specs due to the Nintendo’s 3DS specs (but let’s discuss that later!). Basically it looks like the next “console war” is going to be between Project Café and the next Xbox. Microsoft’s more than likely going to make the next Xbox with the same mindset in which Sony made the PS3 (AKA tons o’ power). Nintendo’s going to have to deal with that, as well as the massive appeal of Xbox Live. Not to say Sony won’t put up a fight. My guess is Sony will ride on with the PS3 until both Project Café and the next Xbox are on store shelves. At that point they will be able to make a system with competitive power at competitive prices with newer technology without losing billions. Until then, it’s up to Nintendo and Microsoft to duke it out. Maybe Sony will still have a chance getting out the gate in far last.

Nintendo’s coming out of the gate super early for this console cycle. Microsoft has stated the Kinect will extend the Xbox 360 lifetime well into 2015. Sony’s always said the PS3 would have a 10-year lifecycle. As early as February this year Sony reaffirmed the PS3 will have a 10-year life cycle. They only recently announced the PS4 is now in development because Nintendo and Microsoft have both said they’re developing the next system. Nintendo’s head start gives them the reins to control where this next console cycle goes and how it is viewed. They can set the standard. Nintendo has an amazing change here. But in order to make the best of it, Project Café has to be able to distance itself from the PS3 and Xbox 360 and prove itself worthy of the title “next generation console”. Otherwise it will look like another pointless (and expensive!) investment for gamers.

In the next post, we’re going to deal with the Nintendo 3DS. Keep checking back! All this is leading up to the Nintendo’s E3 conference on June 7 where they’ll unveil their future plans. I’m excited!

Happy Trails,
Sam.

• • • Nintendo 3DS has a ways to go...

• • • Nintendo's 'Project Café' has a ways to go...

• • • Nintendo's online strategy has a ways to go...

• • • Nintendo's innovation has a ways to go...

Please remember, the notes and requests will all be coming from the deepest recesses of this poor fanboy’s heart. I hope to be neither for or against Nintendo with this series. So please give heed to your fans, Nintendo! These posts will be leading up to Nintendo’s huge E3 Media Presentation on June 7 at 9 a.m. PDT, at which time we can see and discuss their newly presented plan together! So let’s start with some general ideas…

What’s done is done. Say what you will about the Nintendo Wii, it’s graphical prowess, family-oriented approach, and it’s junkyard of third-party shovelware. The Wii was a smash success. Really, it’s incredible how well the Wii did. The Wii sold more units in the United States than the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 combined in the first half of 2007. The Japanese market lead was even bigger, with the Wii outselling the PS3 6:1. When it really hit some of us fans was when it was announced that the Wii had outsold both the Gamecube and N64′s total sales combined! That’s really an incredible testament to how well Nintendo’s motion-controlled gamble paid off!

Of course a similar statement could (and should) be said for the Nintendo DS. Nintendo moved away from the GameBoy formula with the DS, which was an incredibly risky move on their part. They realized this too, of course, and originally marketed the DS as a “third pillar” of Nintendo’s temple of gaming systems. Hence the release of the GBA Micro before the DS took over. Of course, the rest is history! As we learned last May, the Nintendo DS has outsold the Game Boy’s total 118 million units sold, making the DS the best selling handheld gaming device in history.

I mean really, guys, these are incredible figures. Nintendo earned $3.5 billion in 2009 alone!! So what has Nintendo done with this vast wealth? Well they’ve released a new handheld, the Nintendo 3DS. And since the Wii’s sales have started slumping recently they’ve announced their new home console system (codename: Project Café).

Of course there were problems along the way. Third-parties basically left the Wii in the dust after the first two years due to poor software sales and limited graphics capabilities. What I like to call “video game jocks” laughed at the system’s “inferior” graphics. Core-gamers choked at the sight of the family-and-fitness directed gaming. Families didn’t know the Wii did anything beyond Wii Sports. People jammed their toes on the Wii Fit Balance Board. And countless TV’s and windows were forever lost in the gruesome wave of Wii-mote spearings. Meanwhile, it sold like hotcakes, so nobody much (other than the jealous Sony/Microsoft fanboys) cared. In fact, Nintendo’s motion-control gambit was so successful that Microsoft and Sony both came out with their own versions (with notably limited success by reviewers). But what’s going on now? The game has changed. Now people are talking about “Nintendo’s domination being over“. Well, I certainly don’t think there’s call for that! The only reason the Wii isn’t boasting such astronomical figures lately is because everyone on planet Earth already owns one. 84 million sales and people are surprised there’s suddenly a slump? Blame the global population for this one, not Nintendo. And there’s only been one Wii model released. The DS, PS3, and Xbox 360 all get the major bonus sales for offering multiple upgraded models for users to buy again.

Nintendo gained a world of “casual” gamers with the Wii, but distanced generations of existing players by offering nothing worth playing but first-party games. Of course there were a few third-party efforts at first, but most all of them didn’t receive the love they deserved (Zack & Wiki, here’s lookin’ at you, kid!). Don’t get me wrong, those first party games were usually amazing, but the third-party support needs to be upped beyond anything Nintendo has currently received if they hope to stay on top for a second go-round. The corporate heads over at Nintendo realized this, and thus announced that the Nintendo 3DS launch would focus almost entirely on third-party.

Sadly, third-parties did not take the lead whatsoever and the 3DS has had an extremely lackluster arrival. In fact worthwhile software has been virtually absent on the system thus-far. Street Fighter IV got great reviews, but it’s not enough to hold up a system past launch day all by it’s lonesome. Sure, other people have tried to point out that “the DS had a similar start” but I, for one, have never seen my new Nintendo system so lonely. Article after article on major gaming sites have pointed to the lack of “things to do” on the system. This is pretty amazing, saying just how much content the 3DS has built in right out of the box. Face Raiders, the multiple AR Games, the Mii Plaza and puzzle challenge, Find Mii, the 3D camera and editing software, the fun 3D music tool, the list goes on! Maybe Nintendo packed all this in because they realized the launch might seem a little barren. It’s notable, though, that people have openly called the AR Games the most fun you can have on the system, including the software titles. So you have to give Nintendo a lot of credit here: they really tried, and did a great job giving third-parties the best chance in the world to flourish from the start without stepping on their toes or sales! Sadly, they completely dropped the ball. Maybe they purposefully avoided the system. Maybe they just weren’t used to Nintendo giving them so much room.

Everywhere you look, Nintendo has quite a ways to go before they can say they’ve won a second round in a row, especially with the established gaming crowd. They’re going to need the full support of third-parties this go, and that’s something they haven’t had for generations. But now Nintendo’s rich. They hit the jackpot with the Wii/DS and certainly have the money now to purchase the rights to some exclusive first-rate third-party content. Let’s hope they take that change while they still have it. They’ve got a ways to go, but there’s plenty of hope. Let’s continue this talk with the next article in this series, Nintendo 3DS has a ways to go…

Happy Trails,
Sam.

“There were 300 prisoners forced to play games. We worked 12-hour shifts in the camp. I heard them say they could earn 5,000-6,000rmb [£470-570] a day. We didn’t see any of the money. The computers were never turned off.”

Not Liu Dali

Of course, while sounding hilarious at first glance, the real story isn’t all that funny. The practice of “gold mining” (as it’s been termed) is a real problem around the world. At this particular prison they were forced to stare at the screen and play until they could barely see anymore. And if they didn’t get their work quota they were beaten. This may sound stupid (and it is!) but it’s also pretty serious stuff. To quote The Guardian:

According to figures from the China Internet Centre, nearly £1.2bn of make- believe currencies were traded in China in 2008

Fake gold

There are currently 11.5 million WoW players around the globe, and these players pay real money for the fictional money in order to progress in the game. Blizzard has attempted to stop this practice, but there’s really not much they can do. China has even had to issue laws recently about how online currency can be traded. This hasn’t seemed to stop the practice any. Virtual sweat shops in an alternate universe inhabited by real slaves… legitimately scary.



[Relatively] Happy Trails,
Sam.

Source: [The Guardian and The Motley Moose]

Happy Trails,
Sam.

In terms of the Nintendo 3DS I’m of course super stoked, 3D games and movies without glasses, actual online support, it looks great! There are three problems I see right now with it. One big problem: (ookay, not that important at all, just annoying) I read in an interview Satoru Iwata stated the 3DS would not include an “achievements” or “trophy” system like the PS3, Xbox, and upcoming Sony NGP do, because he thinks trophies are arbitrary and pointless. I say “SO WHAT?” Getting trophies is fun, and it’s a great way to show off whatever it is you’ve done. From a developer standpoint, it also adds a lot of replay value. I, of course, tweeted Nintendo of America about this but have received no reply (nor am I expecting to).

that guy who said that thing about the trophies, then refused to answer me on Twitter

The second problem is a completely crappy launch lineup. There’s no killer app on opening day, and so far none of the games shown truly take advantage of the 3D as an important gameplay element. Maybe that’s because the 3DS has a dial to turn the 3D up or down, and developers can’t control if the player has the 3D on or not. No matter what it is, the only really good game coming out at launch is Street Fighter IV. I’m not even sure the two Resident Evil games will be coming out at launch. Zelda OoT isn’t coming out for a few weeks, and I probably won’t be getting Nintendogs this time around, even though they did add in cats… This is disappointing, and has caused some people to compare the 3DS launch to the Gamecube’s. However the comparison is pointless. The Nintendo DS, PS2, and PS3 all had pretty lackluster starts themselves, and look what happened with them.

the romantic tension is building, no?

The last and final potential problem is this: 3D Images Make Millions Sick, Yet Tech Companies Push On. That’s an article from Fox News but I’m sure you’ve all heard someone who claims “3D movies make me nauseous” or the sort. I’ve heard some people around the web claiming this “could kill the 3DS, because it will make everyone sick.” Now… that’s just dumb. The 3DS has a slider on it you can turn down (or off) the 3D effect anytime you want. So the 3DS could survive even if not a single 3D mode was used.

there. you believe me now?

Now MSNBC feels in their vast intelligence there are actually “5 Reasons Why Nintendo Is Doomed“. To be honest I didn’t feel the article made any good points, and certainly didn’t make me think Nintendo has anything to be afraid of. However, the cool Nintendo fan-blog Infendo posted a rebuttal entitled “5 reasons Nintendo is not doomed” if you want to look into that stuff. It made me chuckle at MSNBC, at least.

Nintendo’s made a pretty huge gamble here, but I think it’ll all pay off.

Happy Trails,
Sam.

PS — IGN also posted an article about what they love and hate about the 3DS, go check it out!

This morning at 9 AM Nintendo held a press conference about their upcoming handheld system, the Nintendo 3DS. For those who don’t know, the 3DS does something amazing: 3D without glasses. And from most media reactions it appears to work incredibly well. So obviously I was stoked and woke up at 8:30 in preparation to watch the live blogging, tweeting, and general conference-ing begin! I wrote down my thoughts on what I heard live as I heard it, and my notes are below. For a more complete listing of what was talking about, you can check out the official Nintendo Press Conference video they recently posted on their Twitter, or else read IGN and Gamespot’s coverage. (PS — I’m stoked to replay Ocarina of Time in 3D)

———————–
9:00 – HEERREEE WEE GOOOOOO!

9:10 – No new information we haven’t already heard yet. Apparently they may only show “launch window” games. I wanna know what’ll be out that day!

Aqua Blue and Cosmo Black are the colors. Cosmo Black? Really? haha

9:19 – Ahahah talking about the new Nintendogs + Cats for 3DS IGN says “Jack-IGN:
Puppies and kittens can recognize your face and “find you.” Presumably not like in a Cujo stalking way.”

9:20 – Aardman Animations (of Wallace and Gromit fame) will be making 3D shorts for the system about “Shaun the Sheep”

Shaun the Sheep is a sheep in disguise as a sheep on the screen here for you to view now on the computer screen as a sheep

9:24 – gotta get breakfast… brb

9:25 – Friend codes? They’re “back, but there’s just one code per system — not separate codes for each individual game.” UGHH NOOOO! Well, I mean I guess that’s better than it used to be… In fact just one code would be fine with me!

9:26 – Talking about some “battle mode”? Figurines fighting each other… very confused right now.

9:28 – JK, they were talking about Street Fighter IV 3DS Edition. Oh, here’s the trailer for it, too!

9:28 – 30 titles will be out between launch and E3 this year. So pumped!!

9:32 – ARGames, Alternate Reality games. You’ll look through your 3DS camera and levels and racing games will be made for you!! So awesome!

9:32 – According to IGN “Internet browser. 3D video player. Audio software of DSi will be pre-installed too.” Not that the audio software of DSi was very useful in any normal circumstance… but still cool! I wonder if you can view webpages in 3D…? Not necessarily useful, unless they made viewing them more layered. Maybe pages could be specially designed to work with it? Though idk how well any sort of internet scripting could work with such a graphics intensive page… Just thinking here…

9:33 – Sounds more and more like Nintendo is FINALLY embracing online connectivity, and with a handheld, no less! Sounds like a portable version of XBL or PSN what they’re describing now, especially these “Street Pass” and “Spot Pass” shenanigans

9:38 – Nintendo 3DS will be released in the US March 27, 2011 for $249.99

9:40 – Ubisoft’s CEO is on the Europe stage announcing a bunch of games. I can’t wait for Splinter Cell 3D

Rayman 3D, Splinter Cell, Dinosaurs 3D, Asphalt, Rabbids, Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars, and more coming from Ubisoft

Oh, hey there, Yves Guillemot

9:45 – Well the press conference is over here in the US, though I think it’s still going over in Europe. However, I got a class to get to, so I won’t update about Europe till later.

David Sproxton on the stage in the UK

———————–

Well that’s about it, I’m super excited for this thing to finally come out! Now I am not one to like the Dead or Alive series (in fact I’ve never even played any of them), but after watching the trailer below I’m pretty intrigued to the point I just might get it, despite the squeely Japanese girl noises in the trailer. Especially since there is a Metroid: Other M level and a video that rumors Samus as a playable character!

Now I’m honestly a little confused as to what Sony’s strategy is here. So far they’re not being very smart about this whole situation. Literally the 3DS is the only even revealed “next gen” portable system right now. That’s all the press is talking about. There are rumors of a PlayStation Phone, though in all honesty even the rumored images are of a Sony Ericsson Z1, not a “PlayStation” official device. Even more confusing (maybe just to me, though?) is that it runs Android’s Gingerbread operating system (and not well from the videos, I might add), which coincides with Sony’s recent announcement they are wholeheartedly supporting the Android OS for the time being. And that’s fine for Sony Ericsson. But it just doesn’t seem like Sony Computer Entertainment would take up a 3rd-party’s OS for one of their core gaming experiences. These all cast some serious doubts in my eyes about Sony going “all phone” with their next portable device.

Though who knows? Maybe they are! The iPhone has certainly proved a game environment can truly exist on a mobile phone platform, it just needs a strong service/download component behind it. That’s something Sony’s already “testing out” right now with it’s PSP Go system. On a side point I’m a little worried about the 3DS continuing to use cartidges. I get that the UMD idea Sony had was a failure, but there’s gotta be a better way. Heck, I already mentioned Sony’s gone completely downloadable, which I think is great!

Back to Sony. Since they haven’t officially even hinted at anything yet, I assume Sony is waiting till E3 to reveal their next big portable device. I think that’s a pretty bad move, though. The Nintendo 3DS will be out and running strong BEFORE E3 2011 comes around, putting Sony in a terrible position. In fact it’ll be a lot like the situation Sony found itself in with the PS3. The 360 had already come out a year earlier, and Sony had to hit the floor running to catch up. Though they’ve since made up for most of the lost ground, this situation could be even worse. I mean, at least the PlayStation 3 had been announced by the time the XBox 360 came around… Maybe Sony was surprised by the 3DS? Were they expecting a different strategy by Nintendo? Just trying to piece this weirdness all together…

But enough about Sony. Nintendo took the day today, and I am super excited! In fact, the Nintendo 3DS is already available for pre-order on Amazon. I suggest you all pre-order it soon, according to the conference there’s not going to be a huge stock available first day in the US. Hm. How to get $250. Oh, maybe a job! Eh. But that’d involve… what’s it called? Oh, work. Bleh…

Happy Trails,
Sam.

PS — Forgot to mention before posting: another cool aspect of the 3DS is what’s called the “Mii Maker”. Here’s the official Nintendo Tweet during the show about it:

Well anyways I spent my extra time last week playing video games and editing the newest McGrimmy’s episode, the opening graphics scene of which is almost done!! Woohooo!! But yeah last week I beat Bioshock for the first time, which I thought was amazing. It was SO good. Wow. Then I started Assassin’s Creed II, but got bored. Thus I started Red Dead Redemption, and so far my roommate and I are hooked (though watching him play is funny, he somehow finds a way to die so quickly and randomly ). After those games I’ll go back and finally beat Fallout 3. Hmm… we’ll see.

I must be back to McGrimmy’s and then my clothes then off to bed! Will’s sending me the McGrimmy’s theme song he’s finishing up to include in the credits of episode 2 so… WATCH OUT!

Happy Trails,
Sam.

As Android Central asks, “Let’s see how long this one stays in the Market”

Happy Trails,
Sam.

[via Android Central]