The 3DS catch all thread.

[dyne]

Not many people care about the system any longer so I'm going to just start posting the news in one main thread. Starting with the Luigi's Mansion release date.

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...a-release-date

A handheld version of the GameCube classic, Luigi's Mansion for 3DS now has a release date: 19th October. Just in time for Halloween!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fzr...ature=youtu.be

[Petey Parker]

I still care

I've actually been playing Pokemon Ultra Moon a lot lately

[navydavey]

Ive actually just started considering buying a 3DS so any new games/support is good for me

[SixSpeedSamurai]

Outside of a couple first party titles, is there anything come out for this? I have hardly touched mine since I was done with Metroid.

[dyne]

Off the top of my head these are the titles I’ve purchased the last year or so.

Dragon Quest 7 and 8, Captain Toad Treasure Tracker, Radiant Historia Perfect Chronology, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions, Metroid: Samus Returns, Hey! Pikmin, Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, Sega 3D Classics Collection and Bravely Default Second Layer.


For me it's the best RPG machine around since the PSOne. PS4 has had some great ones as well as the PS2 but not at the same volume.

[SixSpeedSamurai]

Originally Posted by dyne

Off the top of my head these are the titles I’ve purchased the last year or so.

Dragon Quest 7 and 8, Captain Toad Treasure Tracker, Radiant Historia Perfect Chronology, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions, Metroid: Samus Returns, Hey! Pikmin, Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, Sega 3D Classics Collection and Bravely Default Second Layer.


For me it's the best RPG machine around since the PSOne. PS4 has had some great ones as well as the PS2 but not at the same volume.

I don't do RPG's, so it's been few and far for me. My kids play New Leaf and Style Savvy quite often on it still.

[dyne]

Purple and Silver N2DSXL coming bundled with a digital Mario Kart 7. The two current colors of turquoise and orange will be repackaged to include the game as well.

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/201..._north_america

Yes, on 28th September, this shiny new 2DS model will become available with the mighty evergreen seller Mario Kart 7 pre-installed. It will be available at a suggested retail price of $149.99, and both of the already available New Nintendo 2DS XL colour schemes (black/turquoise and white/orange) will also be changed to feature Mario's racing endeavours as an included title.

[Petey Parker]

Awww nertz. I just bought my wife the white/orange 2DS XL a few weeks back because she wanted to play Pokemon and Wario Ware.

[dyne]

Should have Luigi's Mansion at the house by the time I get home. I'd love to see a story some day about the conversion to 3DS and how simple or hard it was considering there was a 3-d version originally planned for Gamecube at one point. I wonder how close the final game was to the 3-d version.

Goddammit, motion controls are required for aiming the Poltergust according to reviews even if you have a New system with the nub.

*edit* Nevermind, apparently several reviewers just can't do their jobs. There's a sensitivity setting for the motion controls that can be set to 0 to disable them.

[Batman90]

Stopped by Target at 8am on my way to work and grabbed Luigi’s Mansion they only had 2 copy’s. Then after seeing a movie earlier tonight stopped by Walmart and grabbed some movies and check if they had any copy’s they didn’t even get any copy’s.

[dyne]

Digital Foundry actually did a video on Luigi's Mansion. I would be interested somewhere down the line to see whatever happened to the version on the Gamecube that never came out that was running in stereoscopic 3-d. I wonder if any of that was used as a base for this port.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFk7...ature=youtu.be

Grezzo handled the port. They also did Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask.

Character models are smoothly rendered, texture work is all-new and beautiful and there are a lot of great touches strewn about the environment. The way coins and money jump about the screen, the cloth physics that appear when using your vacuum, not to mention the reflections in mirrors, they all look superb. The flashlight beam is also a juxtaposition of what seems to be a per-pixel light drawn across the environment combined with a transparent cone and lens flare effect. It's all very cohesive and at first glance, you might not even realise that the game's visuals have been completely revamped.

For starters, the new 3DS version has a noticeable change in mood, presenting as a darker, more sinister game, while our first look at the mansion itself at the beginning of the game reveals improved lightning effects and higher resolution textures. Moving on, I feel there's just more nuance in the shading and lighting displayed by the 3DS game, even though it plays out on a much smaller screen at a lower resolution.

What I did notice though was that GameCube transitions immediately to the indoors with no loading, while the 3DS features loading between areas like this - possibly due to additional compression required to fit the game onto a cartridge.

The texture work on 3DS appears more refined, while lighting and shadows are handled differently - on GameCube, Luigi's flashlight casts shadows, while this doesn't happen on the 3DS.

There are other changes - notably to geometry and even to the way door knobs are rendered in transitions - but also some interesting parallels, such as object pop-in presenting on 3DS in exactly the same way as GameCube. Other updates are more overt - such as the more modern taller, leaner iteration of the Luigi model.

Then there are the ghosts - On 3DS, this is clearly handled in a different fashion and so ghosts appears slightly more opaque and less ethereal.

Performance-wise, Luigi's Mansion targets 30 frames per second across both GameCube and 3DS but the results aren't always perfect on the handheld. Using a New 3DS console, certain cutscenes drop all the way down to 20fps and stay there. However, normal gameplay seems to play just fine at a solid 30 frames per second at least on the New 3DS. I also tested Luigi's Mansion on a 2DS which shares the same performance profile as the original 3DS and here performance is slightly less stable - I noticed additional drops during normal play that weren't present on the New 3DS. Curiously, the GameCube original itself also exhibits some issues with a slight jerkiness popping up during certain scenarios. It's not quite as polished as other Nintendo games which would follow.

[dyne]

Sure to rile some up around here.

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018/...going-for-3ds/

In a recent financial briefing, Nintendo recommitted to keep selling and supporting the 3DS, and the company explained why the eight-year-old system continues to have a place next to the Switch.

Nintendo 3DS is set apart from Nintendo Switch by its characteristics as a handheld game system that is lightweight, price-friendly, and highly portable. Affordability is the strong point that positions Nintendo 3DS in a niche clearly separate from Nintendo Switch. In the grand scheme of things, Nintendo 3DS has a prominent position as the product that can be served as the first contact between Nintendo and many of its consumers, and for this reason we will keep the business going.

Keeping the 3DS around as a form of "entry-level" Nintendo hardware makes a lot of sense. The New 2DS XL now retails for just $150—half the price of a new Switch—and that's with a copy of Mario Kart 7 bundled. And until major Nintendo franchises like Pokemon and Metroid come to the Switch, the 3DS represents the best way to enjoy them in relatively modern forms.

While 3DS family hardware sales for the last six months are down 65.1 percent year over year, those reduced sales still represent one million new units shipped in a six-month period. The Switch itself only shipped 5.07 million units during the same period, suggesting that a good chunk of Nintendo's consumers still look for an older, lower-cost option.

[dyne]

Luigi's Mansion takes top spot in Japan.

https://mynintendonews.com/2018/11/1...mber-one-spot/

Reggie "certainly hopes" the 3DS will still be sold in 4 years.

https://mynintendonews.com/2018/11/1...ds-in-4-years/

According to Kotaku, “sales data shows that software sales for 3DS were down all around the world this year, but that hardware sales were up in America, down in Europe and in Japan, where the system first got hot”.

At one point, Kotaku asks Reggie if Nintendo “will still be selling them in 4 years”. Although Reggie pauses mid-sentence, which Kotaku speculates as him “perhaps catching himself from sliding from personal appeal to accidentally promising several more years of support”, Reggie says that “yes, we…certainly hope so”.

I would be fine with 3-4 first party games a year for the forseeable future. My 3DS has become quite a collection system for me.

[peep6543]

I have been without a handheld console for several years. I just put the Galaxy new 3DSXL at the top of my Xmas list so I anticipate playing a few games by the end of the month.

I'm actually pretty excited!

[dyne]

Nice. Maybe I'll have somebody else to discuss things with in here. I play mine pretty regularly.

[DJR662]

I still love my 3DS!

Those Sega arcade games never get tired (still waiting on downloads for Turbo Outrun and Powerdrift...). I also have a couple of indy games that need to be completed. Also Castlevania, Luigi's Mansion (1 and 2) and Metroid. So all in all, still lots to do.

[peep6543]

I got the Galaxy edition along with Zelda OoT and Luigi's Mansion. Ocarina came out when I was 12 so I was consumed by it. It is easily one of my all time favorite games. After a couple days I'm up to Zora's River.

A few things I've noticed so far about the 3DS.
- I don't love the ergonomics. Seems a little difficult to have control of the pad, A and B, plus L and R without a small hand slide.
- The battery life is very impressive. I was responsible and charged it full before playing and after several hours I think I dropped one battery bar
- The 3D screen was wigging out on me. Not flickering, but becoming blurry and then back to focus. After different playing positions I'm pretty sure its the machine detecting my face and when I move. If I stay pretty still that issue goes away.
- I find myself sliding between 3D and 2D quite often. Some for the reason above, other times depending on the level I'm playing.
- The speakers are pretty impressive for their size. They will never blast but they are clear and crisp.

Wanting to play Mario Golf, Mario 3D, Metroid, Sonic next.

[Joeker]

Target had a few Nintendo Select titles on sale for $4.99 each. I dont have a 3DS or 2DS but still picked up:

Mario 3D Land
Zelda Ocarina of Time
Zelda Link Between Worlds
Luigi’s Mansion (the 1st one)
Donkey Kong Country Returns

They also had what looked to be good deals on other titles. Some $40 ones were now priced $25 for example.

Now I’ll have to be on the lookout for a 2DS XL at a good price. I saw they have one bundle with Mario Kart for $150 which isnt too bad since it has a game.

Do the XLs usually see a price drop?

[peep6543]

All those titles were just 4.99 each?

[Joeker]

Yes sir. They were also available online but not sure if they sold out by now. When I checked the website in the morning while I was at the store, I think Mario or one of the Zeldas said out of stock.