VideoGamerToday.com

Nintendo focused this year’s E3 on two things: 3DS and the announcement of Wii U. The Wii U won’t go on sale until next year and because of that specifics on the new console/controller were not announced.

Perhaps this lead to the consumer confusion about the announcement because Nintendo shares fell almost 10 percent in two days after the press conference.

“Honestly speaking, the reaction to (Tuesday’s) presentation and what I heard from people I met and the mood of the convention did not chime at all with what happened in the stock market,” Iwata said in an interview at the E3 games show in Los Angeles on Wednesday. “It’s very strange.”

Iwata was quick to point out that people also doubted the Wii in 2006. The concept for the Wii U is to bring new gaming experiences to both casual and the more dedicated hard core gamers.

“In the end, it is easy to get the mistaken impression that this is just a game console with a tablet,” he said. “People who came to the presentation and tried it out have understood very well that it opens up a lot of new possibilities. But people who have not tried it will find it hard to believe that this controller will change things.”

[source Reuters]

Gorgeous Zelda / Nintendo 3DS bundle concept by wasa-bi-redux (definitely click for the larger image).

If Nintendo released a 3DS bundle for The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time, which it likely won’t since the game will ship not too long after the system’s debut, this is exactly what I’d want it to look like. I really wish the silver/gray color was a launch option!

The artist’s inclusion of Link’s Awakening DX (coming to the eShop’s Virtual Console service) is a nice touch. You’ll note however, that he marked this as a Japanese release, meaning that if you imported this hypothetical bundle, you wouldn’t be able to play Western 3DS games on it!

Wasa-bi-redux has some other neat mock-ups:

• Pikmin Trilogy boxart, full packaging
• Luigi’s Mansion – “Take a Ride” render
• The Legend of Zelda Online Wii box
• The Legend of Zelda: Shadow Of The Colossus mash-up and Wii boxart

That Ocarina of Time bundle stands out from the bunch, though. It kills me that it’s not for this world.

Preorder: Nintendo 3DS (March 27, $249.99)

See also: Ocarina of Time 3D comparisons and more

[Via Wasa-bi-redux]

Unfazed by the threat of new anti-piracy measures and automatically updated firmware for the Nintendo 3DS, flashcart manufacturer Supercard is confident its device will run on the new system — at least in standard DS mode — according to a report from GBAtemp administrator Costello, who claims to have spoken with the team.

The Chinese company believes the onboard CPU in its DSTWO cart, which allows for Xvid/Divx playback and improved GBA/SNES emulation, offers opportunities for the firm to find a workaround to defeat whatever protections the 3DS might have quickly.

Of course, Supercard could be blowing smoke to convince everyone into buying its products, as no one really knows how advanced the 3DS’s security will be — we still have more than four months before it releases in Japan (five until it hits North America), after all. The company says it will work to defeat the 3DS’s countermeasures as soon as the portable is available to the public.

For those of you who haven’t followed the battle between Nintendo and flashcart manufacturers, Supercard was the first company to get its device running on the DSi’s recent flashcart-blocking 1.4.1 update after just a day.

Buy: Nintendo DSi XL (Blue, Burgundy, & Bronze), Standard Nintendo DSi (White, Pink, Black, & Blue)

See also: More DS piracy/anti-piracy news

[Via GBAtemp]

Nintendo’s 3DS is one of the most impressive systems ever to be revealed, both in terms of hardware and software. While Sony have spent years trying to convince us that we need 3D in our lives, Nintendo came through and convinced us in a matter of minutes. The jaw dropping technology coupled with fantastic games [...]

The general consensus among gamers is that Nintendo “brought it” this week at E3. You didn’t have to look far to see people remarking, “Nintendo brought its ‘A’ game,” or “Nintendo brought down the house with the 3DS”, or “Nintendo brought it right into my butt.” I’m for real, these are things that humans are saying.

Nintendo didn’t bring everything to E3, though — the maligned Vitality Sensor and Monolith Soft’s Xenoblade, for example. The company also neglected to pack more than a few DS games for its trip to Los Angeles, presumably leaving them back at home in Kyoto, next to a dusty Satellaview and a stack of Fatal Frame IV copies.

So, ten DS things that weren’t brought to E3 2010:

1. Last Window: Midnight Promise – The sequel to Hotel Dusk: Room 215 and possibly the last game we’ll see from Cing. (
2. Tomodachi Collection (Friend Collection) – What with the game’s 3.2+ million sales in Japan and Yoshio Sakamoto showing off the Sims-style Mii game at GDC last March, I thought for sure Nintendo had plans to localize this.
3. DSi or DSi XL price cut – This isn’t software, but I’m surprised Nintendo didn’t slash its prices for the DSi as it did in Europe and Japan.

4. Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem – Hero of Light and Shadow – The second half of Intelligent System’s Super Famicom pseudo-remake of the first game. The first half, Shadow Dragon, release Stateside last year.
5. Anything Tingle - No Tingle’s Balloon Fight DS (Club Nintendo prize), no Color-Changing Tingle’s Balloon Trip of Love (Tingle RPG 3), and no Too Much Tingle Pack (app pack for DSiWare)
6. Make Songs Monkey Band – A DSiWare game in which you can make a band of monkeys sing lyrics you’ve composed in a variety of styles and scenes. What’s not to love about this game?
7. Pokémon Black and White – Understandably missing as Nintendo wants to focus on Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs, which was at E3.
8. Shigesata Itoi’s Hobonichi Health Notebook – A free DSiWare app for keeping track of your daily health! Yet another release from Earthbound / Mother’s creator that will never leave Japan.
9. Welcome Home Chibi-Robo! Happy, Rich Big Sweep! – What we need more of is Chibi-Robo.
10. Jam with the Band / Band Bros. DX – Nintendo released this in Europe just last month, and it really fits with the company’s shift to games that take advantage of user-generated content. Why not announce it for North America?

Were there any other first-party DS titles you were hoping to see at E3 but didn’t show up? How about third-party games? Speaking of absent third-party DS titles, did anyone notice that for some reason, Majesco didn’t bring Jason Rohrer’s Diamond Trust to E3? Hmmm…

Buy: Nintendo DSi XL (Burgundy and Bronze), Standard Nintendo DSi (White, Pink, Black and Blue)

See also: The DS games Nintendo didn’t bring to E3 ‘09