3DS Launch Lineup And Details Out

Since the recent Nintendo World event, more 3DS news has been steadily trickling onto the net, with details about hardware, battery life, and price being most talked about.  Immediately grabbing the lion’s share of attention has been the hardware’s longevity: according to Ninty, the battery life comes in at a pretty dismal 3-5 hours if playing a 3DS game and 5-8 hours if playing a standard game, but these averages are seemingly dependant on the screen’s brightness – so in order to get the best out of the unit, you’ll have to crank it down.  Not ideal, but we’ll see how these estimates pan out when the unit hits Western shores.  The release date has yet to be announced for the EU and USA, however, the 3DS gets its Japanese launch on 26th February for those looking to import.

Aside from the battery life, here at GLHQ, we’re more interested in whether the 3DS will be region locked – with several importers figuring among our number.   While fingers are crossed for a ‘no’, the recent region locking of certain DSi games such as Pokemon Black/White doesn’t bode well and many fans are starting to worry.  Nintendo have been remarkably tight lipped on the matter, which hasn’t eased concerns, so we’ll be watching that particular space with trepidation.

If there is one thing almost guaranteed to grab as much attention as as the gorgeous, sleek design of a new piece of glistening kit though, it is the launch lineup which has now been confirmed as follows:

• Nintendogs + Cats
• Winning Eleven Soccer 3D
• Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition
• Samurai Warriors Chronicle
• Puzzle Bobble 3D
• Ridge Racer 3D
• Battle of the Giants: Dinosaurs 3D
• Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracles

So far, so underwhelming, however, the ‘big’ titles which had old skool Nintendo fans dancing on their desks after the pretty impressive Nintendo E3 showing last year – namely Kid Icarus and the Zelda: Ocarina of Time revamp – will be arriving sooner than expected, in Spring.  Other eagerly awaited titles such as Paper Mario 3DS, Mario Kart 3DS, and Animal Crossing have yet to be pinned down, though we can imagine Nintendo spreading their heavy hitters out over the year into the Autumn/Winter lineups.

The 3DS games are reported to be more pricey than their DS kin, though at this time, details are still sketchy. Various sources are guesstimating that the prices will fall more into the PSP price bracket, although it appears that they could sneak as high as the forty quid price range, comparable with a mainstream console release, which starts to become eyebrow raising.  The official release date for the USA and EU is expected to be announced at a preview event on January 19th, so here’s hoping that more details are revealed, including firm info on what colour hardware we can expect in the UK – Japan has a long tradition of snagging the sexier colours and we have our lustful eyes on the beautiful teal blue colour which was shown off at E3.  Dibs.

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