Examining Nintendo 3DS Launch Titles

 

Nintendo had recently announced the games (and prices) to be released during the initial launch of the revolutionary 3DS. Three of them are Nintendo-published titles, with the remaining 13 being offered by third party developers. So how does this launch seem to stack up, especially when compared to previous handheld launches?

As you may (or may not) already know, these were the listed Nintendo titles and prices:

On March 27, new Nintendo 3DS owners will be able to choose from the following Nintendo-published games, each available at a suggested retail price of $39.99:

• Pilotwings Resort™, an aerial adventure featuring airplanes, hang gliders and rocket belts. Players soar above tropical Wuhu Island in 3D as they complete missions or snap pictures.
• Steel Diver™, a submarine game that involves strategy and combat. The 3D visuals give players the sensation that they are looking into a miniature aquarium as they control the sub's speed, depth and pitch, and fire torpedoes.
• nintendogs™ + cats, a game that lets players interact with realistic puppies – and kittens – in a variety of fun ways. There are three versions of the software, each with different starting breeds: French bulldog, toy poodle and golden retriever. But in each version players can unlock and enjoy more than 20 different breeds.

Other Nintendo 3DS games in the works for 2011 from Nintendo include The  Legend of Zelda™: Ocarina of Time™ 3D,  Star Fox 64™ 3D, Kid Icarus™: Uprising and a new installment in the  Mario Kart™  series.

Not a terrible list, actually. It's also exciting to hear that Star Fox 64 3D and Kid Icarus: Uprising are in fact, works in progress. Either way we'll probably see a handful of disappointed Nintendo fans, who would have preferred to see one of these classics make it to launch. Pilotwings: Resort will probably maintain itself as a sturdy "everyone" title, with Nintendogs + Cats being an excellent choice for the younger (or cute object loving) crowds. As for Steel Diver, sounds like an intriguing twist, but we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

The $39.99 price tag also seems more than reasonable, even outstanding for a piece of 3D technology. This is still only five dollars more than the highest asking price of current Nintendo DS games (excluding those with accessories like Pokémon HG/SS). With 3D television sets and movies costing so much, Nintendo's price range -- which isn't far from the usual handheld cost standards -- almost seems like a blessing.

Moving on to the third party contributors:

Third-party publishers also have a strong slate of games ready to go on March 27. These include:

• Super Street Fighter® IV 3D Edition from CAPCOM
• The Sims™ 3 from EA
• Madden NFL Football from EA SPORTS
• Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D from Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.
• LEGO® Star Wars® III: The Clone Wars™ from LucasArts™
• RIDGE RACER® 3D from NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc.
• Super Monkey Ball™ 3D from SEGA
• BUST-A-MOVE UNIVERSE™ from Square-Enix, Inc.
• SAMURAI WARRIORS®: Chronicles from TECMO KOEI AMERICA Corp.
• Asphalt™ 3D from UBISOFT
• Combat of Giants™: Dinosaurs 3D  from UBISOFT
• Rayman® 3D from UBISOFT
• Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon® Shadow Wars from UBISOFT

Looks like a healthy combination of potential hit-and-miss titles. The concept of a purely 3D Super Street Fighter IV sounds rather promising, along with a 3D Rayman game and (quite possibly) Sims 3. Football fans might also enjoy a 3D Madden title, though sports franchises haven't seen the greatest amount of success on handhelds. Another sketchy title is Ubisoft's Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D, quite possibly the spiritual successor to other Combat of Giants titles that actually didn't fare so well. Perhaps the three-dimensional presentation -- and the fact we're actually dealing with dinosaurs this time -- will change all of that.

Overall, this isn't a bad launch. It's certainly not the greatest lineup to be remembered, though system launches are now infamous for being weak compared to those from the past. I'll probably go for Pilotwings Resort and Super Street Fighter IV myself, while possibly looking into Asphalt 3D, Rayman 3D, and yes, the seemingly flashy three-dimensional dinosaur game.