Nintendo 3DS
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Prometheus
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Mine just shipped! It should be here earlier than December 2nd (the UK release date). 
It's already out in France - I spotted that while I was on vacation, and the video that's floating around that shows the online mode is from that release.
It's already out in France - I spotted that while I was on vacation, and the video that's floating around that shows the online mode is from that release.
looks like i'll be around a week late to the party :{ because of a gamestop fiasco with some ps3 stuff, they gave me a $10 off coupon, which i used on mario kart just now because i didn't want to preorder before, hoping somebody would be giving out extras. well, it appears that the coupon is only available to use at their website, and not for in store pickup, and since i opted for the free shipping, that will take between 5 and 10 days.
so to be fair, i will let you guys and gals get a head start in getting to know the mechanics of the game so the playing field is even when Wario comes to play :}
so to be fair, i will let you guys and gals get a head start in getting to know the mechanics of the game so the playing field is even when Wario comes to play :}
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I'm also missing some more good games (mostly playing RPGs ), but I enjoyed Ocarina of Time BECAUSE of the 3D
), but I enjoyed Ocarina of Time BECAUSE of the 3D
Prometheus
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Are you picking up Tales of the Abyss, ED, or do you already have the older PS2 release?
It's not my sort of game, but I know that it's one of the currently-available RPGs.
It's not my sort of game, but I know that it's one of the currently-available RPGs.
I already have the PS2 release. Really great game, but it's the exact same game on the 3DS (except for 3D).
3D looks nice but doesn't add to the playability like it does with Zelda.
Prometheus
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Well, at least there's upcoming stuff like Bravely Default: Flying Fairy, and, if it's of interest, Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance (which has the most hilariously terrible way of putting three "D"s in the subtitle without directly writing "3D").
Beyond the Labyrinth is looking great, too (though, it's not my sort of thing), and even I'm looking forward to Kaio: King of Pirates (Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune's first new series in his post-Capcom career, to my knowledge), which is an action RPG which I would guess is likely to be somewhere near to MegaMan Legends in style, going on who's making it. I was really happy when they confirmed that that one's getting released in Europe and North America.
As a platformer nut, myself, there's so much good stuff available both at retail and on the eShop (with tons more on the way for both), that I haven't had such a crammed schedule for new games in years! Times are good. I just need a proper Mega Man title, now...
Beyond the Labyrinth is looking great, too (though, it's not my sort of thing), and even I'm looking forward to Kaio: King of Pirates (Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune's first new series in his post-Capcom career, to my knowledge), which is an action RPG which I would guess is likely to be somewhere near to MegaMan Legends in style, going on who's making it.
I was really happy when they confirmed that that one's getting released in Europe and North America.As a platformer nut, myself, there's so much good stuff available both at retail and on the eShop (with tons more on the way for both), that I haven't had such a crammed schedule for new games in years! Times are good.
I just need a proper Mega Man title, now...
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Miner49er
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Thanks Prometheus and WizardStand for putting my mind at rest! I was getting a bit worried I bought my son a rubbish device (I don't know anybody who owns one and haven't even read any reviews - I guess I'm a bit of a Nintendo 'fanboi' huh Milkshake?)
Now, how do I go about purchasing MarioKart without appearing to 'spoil' my son?
Now, how do I go about purchasing MarioKart without appearing to 'spoil' my son?
Prometheus
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Glad to be of assistance.
As for Mario Kart 7... Game for all the family, right?
Also, unrelatedly, I just wanted to post up some thoughts on Zen Pinball 3D, which was released on the eShop today.
If you like pinball, you are now obliged to get this game, as it is brilliant.
Four tables, online and local high score tables, and very, very realistic physics. Also, whilst I'm not one to be impressed by graphics much, they are beautiful - and it's anti-aliased, too, just for those silly people who for some reason think that the 3DS can't do anti-aliasing, even though its predecessor, the DS, could. It's almost like looking in at a real table.
I do have a couple of minor gripes, though. The first is that there's no option to change the controls. They're not bad, by any means, but I would have preferred to be able to swap the functions of the d-pad, on which all directions move the left flipper(s), with the Circle Pad, which lets you tilt the table. The other gripe is that the game doesn't seem to remember your camera settings if you change tables. That said, I'm not sure if it saves them per-table, as all I did for my first play of the game was to try each of the tables in turn - the camera settings for each table might well be retained the next time I play. (For the record, I recommend "View 8", myself. It doesn't shift the camera around to zoom in on special features when the ball activates them, and it has good visibility of the entire table.)
That said, even these niggles don't bring the game down. It really is like carrying four real pinball tables in your pocket.
As for Mario Kart 7... Game for all the family, right?
Also, unrelatedly, I just wanted to post up some thoughts on Zen Pinball 3D, which was released on the eShop today.
If you like pinball, you are now obliged to get this game, as it is brilliant.
Four tables, online and local high score tables, and very, very realistic physics. Also, whilst I'm not one to be impressed by graphics much, they are beautiful - and it's anti-aliased, too, just for those silly people who for some reason think that the 3DS can't do anti-aliasing, even though its predecessor, the DS, could.
It's almost like looking in at a real table.I do have a couple of minor gripes, though. The first is that there's no option to change the controls. They're not bad, by any means, but I would have preferred to be able to swap the functions of the d-pad, on which all directions move the left flipper(s), with the Circle Pad, which lets you tilt the table. The other gripe is that the game doesn't seem to remember your camera settings if you change tables. That said, I'm not sure if it saves them per-table, as all I did for my first play of the game was to try each of the tables in turn - the camera settings for each table might well be retained the next time I play. (For the record, I recommend "View 8", myself. It doesn't shift the camera around to zoom in on special features when the ball activates them, and it has good visibility of the entire table.)
That said, even these niggles don't bring the game down. It really is like carrying four real pinball tables in your pocket.
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Have any of you UK guys/gals gotten Mario Kart 7 yet? I saw several people on gamefaqs who got it early(in differant UK regions), and where giving opinions.
Based on the reviews I have seen, I'm sure to like it, as it is just more Mario Kart, but it's always good to hear from other community members when I can.
Chris
Based on the reviews I have seen, I'm sure to like it, as it is just more Mario Kart, but it's always good to hear from other community members when I can.
Chris
Prometheus
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Mine didn't arrive early, so it'll probably show up later, right on release-day. I'll give my views as soon as I have any to give!
I'm hearing good things from others who've already gotten it, though. I'm just as eager to hear stuff as you are.
I'm hearing good things from others who've already gotten it, though. I'm just as eager to hear stuff as you are.
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Miner49er
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As for Mario Kart 7... Game for all the family, right?
You've convinced me! I'll put it in my stocking and say "Wow, look what Santa left me! We can share it!"
Prometheus
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Glad to be of assistance, again. :lol:
My copy of Mario Kart 7 is finally here, by the by, but I can't play it until later, because I've put a Sugru extension on the rubber feet on my 3DS' lid (the early ones have feet that are too short, which allows the lower screen to leave marks on the top one), and it won't finish curing until around 10:30pm.
My copy of Mario Kart 7 is finally here, by the by, but I can't play it until later, because I've put a Sugru extension on the rubber feet on my 3DS' lid (the early ones have feet that are too short, which allows the lower screen to leave marks on the top one), and it won't finish curing until around 10:30pm.
Prometheus
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Ok, the Sugru has cured, and I've just spent a while playing Mario Kart 7 - to the point that I completely lost track of time!
This is very, very rare for me with most modern-day games, so you can already guess from that how absorbing it is.
Anyhow, I don't want to spoilerise any tracks, because they've all got tons of stuff that'll make you go "Wow!" or "That's neat!", and it's no fun if you've already heard about it from someone else. So, I'll just summarise some points of note...
1: The controls are great. I had feared that the horrific layout from Mario Kart DS would be back, but it seems that someone this time around noticed that they shouldn't have employed a crustacean to design the control layout, and thus an extra accelerator button has been added in a more comfortable spot (this means that both Y and A act as the accelerator - I use Y, as I find that using A for it is quite painful). I must give kudos for this, because this issue made Mario Kart DS nearly unplayable for me back in the day. The only thing missing here is a menu with which to fully customise the layout to your liking, but for me, the extra accelerator button is good enough - maybe next time?
2: As with Star Fox 64 3D, the 3D effect actually does make a difference to the gameplay, in that it once again allows your natural instincts to work as they're supposed to. This makes driving, dodging, aiming, and just about anything else you do in a Mario Kart game, much more intuitive.
3: Graphically, it's lovely. As I said a few posts back, I'm not generally one to be impressed by this sort of thing, but Mario Kart 7 looks nice, has anti-aliasing (which some silly people thought that the 3DS couldn't do, even though the DS could), and has a frame-rate of a constant 60fps whether you're in 3D mode or 2D mode (some folks believed that 3D mode only allowed for 30fps, and whilst this is true of earlier 3DS releases, it's clearly not the case here or with other recent games).
4: I haven't seen any reviews mentioning this, so I'll make a note of it here: You CAN use the first-person mode without the gyro controls. Hit up on the d-pad to switch to this mode, and hit down on the d-pad to leave it.
The handling is good, and the tricks (retained from Mario Kart Wii) are now activated by hitting the hop/drift button when in the right places.
Also, the kart customisation is great, though it's not as in-depth as the car-customising in Mega Man Battle & Chase. That said, I already have a kart that handles a lot like my beloved Treble Darkstar from Battle & Chase, so that's a win for me!
My only real gripe with Mario Kart 7 at this point is that Miis aren't available right off the bat - after all, I have some Mega Man ones that I want to play as, since I strongly doubt that Capcom's ever going to make a follow-up to Mega Man Battle & Chase. (Alas. )
One thing about the courses that I will mention is this: The Wuhu Island ones are great. If you're not familiar with Wuhu Island, it's a location from Wii Sports Resort, Wii Fit Plus, and Pilotwings Resort, which has some points discoverable in Wii Sports Resort and Pilotwings Resort which confirm its connection to the Mario universe. It's great to finally drive around it - they've been hinting at it in other games (specifically, Wii Sports Resort and Pilotwings Resort) for years!
All in all, everything is well-presented, everything is fun, and I haven't come across anything irritating. I have to contrast this with Mario Kart DS, with which I noticed the annoying niggles with the controls and over-reliance on drifting and "snaking" right away, and never enjoyed it as much as, say, Mario Kart Wii. It's the best handheld Mario Kart so far, without a shadow of a doubt.
If you like Mario Kart, or just like good, old-fashioned arcade-style design and fun, you will want this. There is nothing else I can say that would do it justice. Get it now. Off with you. Go.
EDIT: Also, there is one unusual thing that most people probably aren't going to notice: The game, at least in Europe, is not supplied with a full manual - only a quick-start guide (the game itself has a full manual on-board, which you can access from the 3DS' menu). There's some silly line printed on said guide that it's to cut down on the amount of paper used in the packaging, but I would imagine that whilst this is a side-effect, it's probably more likely to be due to the fact that almost nobody reads the manuals for the Mario Kart games anyway, as they're so easy to pick up. Why waste the paper and the money, given that?
EDIT 2: Oh, and the Blooper (ink) weapon is genuinely dangerous, now! (Unlike in Mario Kart DS, where there was a particular spot that you could see through, which gave you a good view of what was coming up.)
This is very, very rare for me with most modern-day games, so you can already guess from that how absorbing it is.
Anyhow, I don't want to spoilerise any tracks, because they've all got tons of stuff that'll make you go "Wow!" or "That's neat!", and it's no fun if you've already heard about it from someone else.
So, I'll just summarise some points of note...1: The controls are great. I had feared that the horrific layout from Mario Kart DS would be back, but it seems that someone this time around noticed that they shouldn't have employed a crustacean to design the control layout, and thus an extra accelerator button has been added in a more comfortable spot (this means that both Y and A act as the accelerator - I use Y, as I find that using A for it is quite painful). I must give kudos for this, because this issue made Mario Kart DS nearly unplayable for me back in the day. The only thing missing here is a menu with which to fully customise the layout to your liking, but for me, the extra accelerator button is good enough - maybe next time?
2: As with Star Fox 64 3D, the 3D effect actually does make a difference to the gameplay, in that it once again allows your natural instincts to work as they're supposed to. This makes driving, dodging, aiming, and just about anything else you do in a Mario Kart game, much more intuitive.
3: Graphically, it's lovely.
As I said a few posts back, I'm not generally one to be impressed by this sort of thing, but Mario Kart 7 looks nice, has anti-aliasing (which some silly people thought that the 3DS couldn't do, even though the DS could), and has a frame-rate of a constant 60fps whether you're in 3D mode or 2D mode (some folks believed that 3D mode only allowed for 30fps, and whilst this is true of earlier 3DS releases, it's clearly not the case here or with other recent games).4: I haven't seen any reviews mentioning this, so I'll make a note of it here: You CAN use the first-person mode without the gyro controls. Hit up on the d-pad to switch to this mode, and hit down on the d-pad to leave it.
The handling is good, and the tricks (retained from Mario Kart Wii) are now activated by hitting the hop/drift button when in the right places.
Also, the kart customisation is great, though it's not as in-depth as the car-customising in Mega Man Battle & Chase. That said, I already have a kart that handles a lot like my beloved Treble Darkstar from Battle & Chase, so that's a win for me!
My only real gripe with Mario Kart 7 at this point is that Miis aren't available right off the bat - after all, I have some Mega Man ones that I want to play as, since I strongly doubt that Capcom's ever going to make a follow-up to Mega Man Battle & Chase. (Alas.
)One thing about the courses that I will mention is this: The Wuhu Island ones are great. If you're not familiar with Wuhu Island, it's a location from Wii Sports Resort, Wii Fit Plus, and Pilotwings Resort, which has some points discoverable in Wii Sports Resort and Pilotwings Resort which confirm its connection to the Mario universe. It's great to finally drive around it - they've been hinting at it in other games (specifically, Wii Sports Resort and Pilotwings Resort) for years!
All in all, everything is well-presented, everything is fun, and I haven't come across anything irritating. I have to contrast this with Mario Kart DS, with which I noticed the annoying niggles with the controls and over-reliance on drifting and "snaking" right away, and never enjoyed it as much as, say, Mario Kart Wii. It's the best handheld Mario Kart so far, without a shadow of a doubt.
If you like Mario Kart, or just like good, old-fashioned arcade-style design and fun, you will want this. There is nothing else I can say that would do it justice.
Get it now. Off with you. Go.EDIT: Also, there is one unusual thing that most people probably aren't going to notice: The game, at least in Europe, is not supplied with a full manual - only a quick-start guide (the game itself has a full manual on-board, which you can access from the 3DS' menu). There's some silly line printed on said guide that it's to cut down on the amount of paper used in the packaging, but I would imagine that whilst this is a side-effect, it's probably more likely to be due to the fact that almost nobody reads the manuals for the Mario Kart games anyway, as they're so easy to pick up. Why waste the paper and the money, given that?
EDIT 2: Oh, and the Blooper (ink) weapon is genuinely dangerous, now! (Unlike in Mario Kart DS, where there was a particular spot that you could see through, which gave you a good view of what was coming up.)
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Good review P.
I believe the new no manual policy is the norm now from Nintendo. At least for basic games. Mario Land 3D does the same here in the US. I never read the manulas, but I always loved Nintendo's, as they put time and care into the overall quality. I guess this is a part of the digital age, and will only grow over time.
Soon physical games and manuals will be a thing of the past. Enjoy them while we can.
How is online play? Are the races complete chaos, or can a little skill go a long way?
Chris
I believe the new no manual policy is the norm now from Nintendo. At least for basic games. Mario Land 3D does the same here in the US. I never read the manulas, but I always loved Nintendo's, as they put time and care into the overall quality. I guess this is a part of the digital age, and will only grow over time.
Soon physical games and manuals will be a thing of the past. Enjoy them while we can.
How is online play? Are the races complete chaos, or can a little skill go a long way?
Chris
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Prometheus
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Thanks.
I didn't know that there were other games being sold without manuals now! This is the first time I've encountered it with a 3DS game, first or third party. Blimey. :blink: Agreed about Nintendo's manuals being awesome, by the way - I mean, entire universes were founded on the stories written in them, after all...
As for online play, I haven't tried that yet. I'll give some views on it once I get the chance to, though. (I haven't tried it already, as I'm not really big on playing online with folks I don't know.)
EDIT: Also, the included Club Nintendo Stars points got me enough to get an awesome bag from Nintendo Europe's catalogue. Always nice to get goodies.
I didn't know that there were other games being sold without manuals now! This is the first time I've encountered it with a 3DS game, first or third party. Blimey. :blink: Agreed about Nintendo's manuals being awesome, by the way - I mean, entire universes were founded on the stories written in them, after all...
As for online play, I haven't tried that yet. I'll give some views on it once I get the chance to, though.
(I haven't tried it already, as I'm not really big on playing online with folks I don't know.)EDIT: Also, the included Club Nintendo Stars points got me enough to get an awesome bag from Nintendo Europe's catalogue. Always nice to get goodies.
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As far as I know, Mario Land 3D here in the states was the first Nintendo release to downsize the manual. I also read that Gears of War 3 had a very bare bones manual compared to parts 1 & 2. I'm sure part 3 will be the best seller of the series, so it should have had the best manual of the series, but sadly it appears that full color manuals are going the way of the dinosaur. LOL
I have always liked having the manual, but honestly, I can't remember the last time I took one out, and flipped thru it. Normally, if I have a problem in game, I just go online and check Gamefaqs. Most manuals suck anyways, so I guess this was a natural progression(especially with all the ios and android phone games), but it still sucks to see them go.
Chris
I have always liked having the manual, but honestly, I can't remember the last time I took one out, and flipped thru it. Normally, if I have a problem in game, I just go online and check Gamefaqs. Most manuals suck anyways, so I guess this was a natural progression(especially with all the ios and android phone games), but it still sucks to see them go.
Chris
WizardStan
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The no-manual thing makes me sad. Some of my favourite times was reading the manual on the way back from the game store, getting myself hyped up to play. Of course, a new video game was a twice a year occurrence for me growing up, so pretty much everything was majorly hyped as a kid.
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