There are a few things announced today to get excited about from the Nintendo Direct conference. Kid Icarus is looking great, and it’s online multiplayer mode seems to be coming along nicely. There seem to be a bunch of weapons to collect and “fuse” together, which looks pretty cool, as well as a Street Pass function where you can trade and collect weapons. Kid Icarus: Uprising is out March 23rd.

“Mario Tennis Open” is the official name of the new Mario tennis game for 3DS. Most exciting news yet: IT HAS ONLINE PLAY! No word if it’s just online versus mode or if there is online co-op. If there is an online co-op mode, then I can’t wait to team up with my friends and take down some random opponents. There is a local multiplayer mode as well… for those of you who like to have real friends. Mario Tennis Open releases May 20th in North America.

Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir has a release Date of Friday the 13th of April. The Japanese feed went into more detail about this game, but it looks to be a fairly creepy experience. If you finished Resident Evil Revelations and want something scary to fill the void, this may be the game for you.

Finally, The Last Story will be coming to America for Wii sometime this year. No date was specified, but I’m guessing it will be sometime after we get Xenoblade in April. Finally!

Nintendo Power’s next issue has confirmed that Game Gear games will soon be available on the 3DS Virtual Console service. The first games will be Sonic the Hedgehog Triple Trouble, Dragon Crystal, and Shinobi. Very exciting news for SEGA handheld fans! Which games would you like to see make it to the VC service?

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Nintendo quietly released updates to the remaining NES ambassador games that were released last year for 3DS owners who purchased the handheld at the $250 price point. Super Mario Bros. was updated last Thursday, the system prompting the user to update upon entering the eShop. That is not the case this time for the remaining NES titles. To update your games, you must access the eShop, navigate over to the Settings/Other tab and scroll down to “Your Downloads” to commence individually downloading your games that have “Update Available” next to it. Mysteriously, however, going to “Updates” will not show that any of your titles have an update. Let’s hope that Nintendo fixes this for the future. These updates will only fix minor bugs, its does not add the “save-state” functionality as previously promised yet. For now the only game with a new icon and save-state is Super Mario Bros. Stay tuned for more updates in the future.

I sure hope this will exist soon.

Since the launch of the Nintendo 3DS in March of 2011, many gamers have wanted a redesign of the handheld system. Nearly twelve months have passed, and I think we may finally get some news on the subject – here are my reasons why:

1. 3DS Hit the Numbers

It took 16 months from the launch of the DS for Nintendo to release the DS Lite. In that amount of time, the “original” DS sold between 14.43 and 16.73 million. The 3DS has sold more than 15.03 million (as of December 31st, 2011) and is well on it’s way to surpass that number in 12 months (if it hasn’t already).

15 million units in 10 months!

2. It’s That Time Again

As I said previously, the DS Lite came out 16 months after the original DS launched. We are now nearing the same time frame with the 3DS. Even if Nintendo announced the 3DS Lite (or whatever it’s called) tomorrow at the Nintendo Direct event, my guess is that it wouldn’t officially be available for purchase for a couple months at least. I’d expect within the next 5 months or so we’ll be playing on a newly redesigned and re-imaged Nintendo 3DS.

3. Demand

Nintendo isn’t one to roll over and do tricks on command, but I think the demand for a redesigned 3DS is high. I’m not sure if there was as much vocal expression back in 2004 when the original DS launched, and people certainly didn’t call that a failure. I don’t think anyone really expected a redesign, though they possibly wanted a brighter screen. All last year, however, I heard nothing but angry rants and nerd raging demands from haters and Nintendo fans alike (although, in my opinion, true Nintendo fans never feel screwed over). “No 2nd analog stick, no purchase” seems to be the most common threat, and I think Nintendo aims to pacify the complainers and give the people what they want.

4. The Circle Pad Pro

The existence of the Circle Pad Pro further proves there is demand for a second analog stick. More games are supporting the dual analog device, from developers like Capcom with Monster Hunter Tri-G and Resident Evil Revelations to Konami’s Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D. What’s even weirder than the existence of the Circle Pad Pro is the fact that it is so hard to find! As a GameStop exclusive, the add on is sold out in stores everywhere. Really, the only place to find one right now is Nintendo’s own website. Why make it so rare? Is it because a redesign is coming soon anyway?

You exist... but why?

5. E3 2012

This year’s E3 is going to be ALL about the Wii U. We’ll find out about the launch date, price, launch games, if it has a new name or not, all of it. Sure there may be some 3DS games announced, but I don’t think Nintendo wants the Wii U to share the spotlight with an announcement of a 3DS redesign. Less attention for the Wii U would not be a good thing, which is why I think the announcement of the 3DS redesign would be sooner than E3.

There are many reasons why Nintendo could announce the 3DS redesign soon. If not tomorrow, then GDC would be the perfect time and place for it. Why else would they have a large booth at GDC? Could it be to accommodate a bunch of NEW 3DS Lite demo units? Adding a second stick and other features would be important news for developers. Hmmmm… soon we will know!

This morning 3DS owners woke up to a pleasant surprise, a Swapnote from Reggie Fils-Aime. The message states that he is “looking forward to revealing some info on Feb 22nd”. What could it be? New 3DS redesign? Wii U info? Or is it something we already know?

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Lucky Kingdom Hearts fans will be able to get their hands on a new special edition 3DS bundle, coming out only in Japan (let’s hope that changes soon) on March 29th 2012. The bundle will include Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days and Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded. The set also includes a protect cover for a 3DS and twelve post cards in which you could mail to your friends in America to show off your Japan-exclusive goodies. The box set will go for ¥15,000 when released.

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Project Cars looks amazing.

Have you heard of PROJECT CARS? Recently, there’s been a bit of buzz surrounding this game, including the fact that it has been announced for the Wii U. But this project seems to be more than just a game. I didn’t realize it at first, but Slightly Mad Studios, the developers of the Need For Speed Shift games, started the WMD, the World of Mass Development. WMD, as their website puts it:

“… is a new platform for games creation from the award-winning developer Slightly Mad Studios that allows:

 

1.  Developers to submit ideas to an active gaming community, raise the funds needed to develop them, get continual feedback from community team members that can play work-in-progress builds, use the WMD Portal to promote their project, get help from other developers, and ultimately launch their game to an eagerly-awaiting audience

 

2.  Players to browse available projects and join any they are interested in, download and play regular builds of the game, participate in discussion & polls, speak directly to the developers, and eventually earn money back for their contribution when the game is released

 

WMD is therefore a unique prospect for both developers looking to raise funds for their projects and gamers that want to get involved in exciting upcoming titles.”

WMD takes a very different approach when developing a game.

“Traditional development puts developers at the mercy of publishers. Although it supplies the necessary funds to develop games with proper QA testing and development cycles, it also makes the development cycle subject to business matters such as financial quarters, company profits and marketing budgets.

 

The process offered by WMD therefore shifts the focus back to creating great games that your audience wants to play, whilst still offering the chance to get proper funding for development and testing.

 

Not only does this offer a unique opportunity for developers, but it shifts power back into the hands of the gamer. No longer will your core audience complain about features that didn’t function quite how they envisaged – now they can feed this information back to you early on so that they can be refined, balanced, and quality tested by the time of release.”

Will you invest in this high quality project?

WMD is a clever way of raising funds, brainstorming ideas, beta testing, and developing a game. Through forums and an online community, your average gamer can get in on the action of developing a game. “Donate money? Man, that’s lame… they just want my cash.” Sure, asking for money is always an iffy affair. “So what would be in it for me?” you might ask. Making a donation to Project Cars allows access to developing “tools,” but donate enough and you can actually sit in on Slightly Mad’s meetings and have your opinion heard. The donations are one time fees that range from “Junior” member for 10€ ($13.15USD) to “Senior Manager” for 25,000€ ($32875.00 USD). Perks range from getting the amount you donated to the project knocked off the game’s price once it releases, to having an opponent named after you and having your face mapped onto the character model. (Man … I wish I had some extra Euros to spend!)

Slightly Mad Studios realized not everyone is a “high roller” and recently added the “Full Member” tier to the project pack.  For 45€ ($59.24USD) you can become a “Full Member” of Project Cars, and as such you can:

Can CREATE NEW project-specific forum threads
Can READ meeting minutes
Can play WEEKLY builds of the game

Receive a free copy of the released game
Get an opponent named after you
Access to exclusive cars

So you mean for the price of a game I’m already thinking about buying, I can help with development, beta test, share my constructive opinions, give feedback about the game, have an opponent named after me AND get a copy of the game once its released? This sounds pretty awesome. If you want to know more about WMD, Project Cars, or the many other perks you can gain from donating, check out their website here.

Back in November 2006 Nintendo launched it’s most successful home console, the Wii. The Wii was revolutionary in how the player interacted with the TV via it’s unique motion-controlled Wii Remote. Along with the Wii Remote, Nintendo released a slew of brand-new peripherals to enhance the player’s gaming experience. Among the line-up of new accessories, Nintendo introduced it’s traditional controller solution dubbed “The Classic Controller”. And I wasn’t too fond of it.

Nintendo's controllers have seen better days.

It’s not that I didn’t like the Classic Controller, it just felt like a step backwards for the Big N. Of all of Nintendo’s crazy controller designs, this one seemed the most bland and boring. Although I give credit to it’s generous D-pad and clicky face buttons, I couldn’t forgive the analogue sticks that were too close to each other, the awkward positioning of the “ZL” and “ZR” shoulder buttons and the overall general feel of a PlayStation 2 controller. As you would  have guessed I was delighted to hear that Nintendo was redesigning the Classic Controller in 2009 to launch alongside the highly anticipated Monster Hunter Tri game. Although it wasn’t until April of 2010 that America would get the new controller, I welcomed the addition of the Classic Controller Pro.

Ah, a little better.

The Classic Controller Pro fixed a few of the qualms that I had with the original: better analogue sticks, ergonomic grips and the option to get black as a color. As welcomed as these changes were its too bad to see this controller look even more like a Playstation 2 controller, they axed the analogue shoulder buttons and there was still no rumble feedback. I also really wanted a wireless option, as being tethered to a “wireless” device just doesn’t sit right with me. But you have to pick your battles, and Nintendo seemed to have  won a small battle with their new controller. Still, the question remains…. why didn’t they do that in the first place?

Fast forward to 2012, and Nintendo has been on a roller coaster during the past year. Huge forecast drops, slow sales of their new handheld, the Nintendo 3DS, a sudden price drop, then finally sales doing pretty dang well. Riding on the waves of it’s success, Nintendo then announced a new peripheral called the Circle Pad Pro. The main idea behind the Circle Pad Pro was to add a second analogue stick to the 3DS and enhance player input for better accuracy in games. It wasn’t a shock to find out the main reason for releasing the peripheral was to sell alongside the new Monster Hunter 3G game, either. Nintendo must think that it’s “Pro” players are Monster Hunter players, which makes sense right? Well “Pros” must like functionality over beauty, because… well, look at the majestic device:

Making the Game Gear look good.

Well, it’s nice that Nintendo cares enough about the players’ safety because why else would such a dedicated, hard-working company add a safety flotation device to a handheld? Or a TV dinner tray? Honestly people, I could keep going, it really never gets old when you take a good look at that ugly tumor. Can you blame me? How else could I cope when I heard that my beloved company released such a hideous device? Is this the price I pay to go Pro by making  me leave my “handheld” at  my house? And why didn’t Nintendo just add the functionality in the first place? So many questions for a company that almost always gets things right the first time. I know, if you don’t like it, don’t buy it. Besides this thing has such a niche market you can probably find TONS of these things laying around in stores right? WRONG.

Just a week after the Circle Pad Pro goes on sale I see this:

Really? And still 5 days of bidding left to go.

$36 dollars with 5 bids on eBay? The crazy thing is there are 5 days left of bidding! Is this also a problem on other sites?

Yep. $50, no joke.

Sure is. Marketplace giant Amazon.com has sellers selling the device for $50. Nintendo mysteriously only sold the Circle Pad Pro through GameStop for a MSRP of $20 and on the store section of Nintendo’s official website. So based on the price hikes from other stores, this must be sold out everywhere, right? Actually, it’s not.

At the time of this writing, Nintendo.com still has these add-ons for the normal price of $20. I do admit that I had to call 5 GameStops the day of release to even track one down, and Matt has written an article about the rarity of the device. But why aren’t people at least  buying these from the Nintendo online store? People aren’t really stupid, especially soon-to-be Nintendo Pros, so why then aren’t they buying it for normal price? I’m really not sure why. Nintendo announced that it would be selling the peripheral alongside GameStop, so people know, right? I want people to enjoy this device, but not at the expense of their bank account or their dignity. Hopefully this article will get the word out and people will see that they can give their wallets a break. A big question I would like to ask Nintendo is why are they making it hard for players to find the Circle Pad Pro? Don’t they want to get advanced functionality into the hands of its players? What does it take to be a Nintendo Pro?

I sure hope this will exist soon.

This conundrum leaves us discussing the inevitable; the revision of the 3DS. Brian made an awesome mock-up of the device that could be called the 3DS Pro. Nintendo is a prideful company, and it’s image is important. They want a device to be sleek and compliment their history of awesome looking handhelds. The real question is, how soon? And will it replace the current line up of 3DS systems or will it sell alongside the first model? My vote goes to the former and I hope they give us a few options when they introduce a revision.

I am really loving my time with the 3DS, and the Circle Pad Pro is a nice addition that addresses one of my biggest complaints about the system. I really wished that Nintendo would make this peripheral more accessible and let players experience dual-analogue on the go. But Nintendo has had their reasons in the past and I am confident that soon we will know why they decided to take this route and only let a select few go Pro.

Metal Gear fans looking to get a sneak peek to see how the best-selling game is shaping up on the 3DS can download the demo courtesy of Nintendo’s eShop February 16th 2012.

Konami states: “The demo showcases the opening segment of the game, with series hero Snake picking a path through the swamps and foliage of a Soviet jungle in search of an imprisoned scientist.”

This is some exciting news to 3DS owners out there looking for something new to download this week. Nintendo has been pretty active in the digital download community lately and let’s hope they keep up this trend for upcoming titles.