TheNPCs » Nintendo 3DS

We're hiring! Click here for more info on Editorial and Development jobs.

Podcast: Non Playable
By: Joe Sayer & Chris Holmes

Review: Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game
By: Matt Purslow

Review: Shank
By: Matt Purslow

Non Playable Episode 5: So Special

Posted by Joe Sayer at 11:15pm on August 3rd, 2010

This time, Massive J Productions and Homez Industries are granted access to a super top secret hands on viewing of the Nintendo 3DS, and thus feel rather special.

Furthermore, the crew take it upon themselves to rage, shortly after offering insightful converse on such topics as Kirby’s Epic Yarn and Donkey Kong Country Returns.

Don’t forget to enter Ramblings of a Madman in a comment below.

Details:

Duration: 37:56

File size: 52.3mb

Non Playable E05 Direct link to file, right click to download.

– Subscribe via iTunes

Web Player:

Non Playable E05 [37:56m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Have a different podcast player/solution? Simply copy and paste this feed URL into it: http://feeds.feedburner.com/NonPlayablePodcast

Your thoughts on this episode will be very much appreciated, please leave a comment below or send feedback to chris@thenpcs.com

Non Playable is co-hosted by Joe Sayer and Chris Holmes. Produced by Joe Sayer.

943635768626428e94d4941518296efd

3D | E3 | EA | Europe | Hands-On | Harmonix | Industry News | Microsoft | News | Nintendo | Nintendo 3DS | Nintendo DS | Nintendo DSi | Nintendo Wii | PC | PlayStation 3 | PlayStation Network | Podcast | Previews | Xbox 360 | Xbox Live

Nintendo announcing 3DS date and price in September

Posted by Chris Holmes at 12:00pm on July 29th, 2010

Apologies for reporting on an announcement of an announcement, but Nintendo has come out and said that they will announce the date and price of the 3DS in Japan on 29th September. We played with the handheld earlier in the week and it officially comes hot girl approved, according to Nintendo.

Announcement of an announcement | News | Nintendo | Nintendo 3DS

Nintendo 3DS Hands-On

Posted by Chris Holmes at 10:23pm on July 28th, 2010

Nintendo invited the UK’s media to come and play lots of exciting things yesterday. We were invited, and to kick off our coverage of what we got to have a look at is the Nintendo 3DS. When Nintendo first announced the device, people were left scratching their heads. A 3D based gaming system that didn’t require glasses was too much for some to take, with most people wondering if they were in the future and stuff.

I’m happy to report we are in the future. Nintendo took us to what can only be described as a flock of gorgeous women with 3DS’ everywhere and told us to have fun. We obliged. Some of us obliged a little too much (they tried some outrageous geek flirting, which didn’t go down too well. If anyone from Nintendo is reading this, I apologise profusely for their unprofessional behaviour and their bizarre understanding of physics). Now that’s out of the way, let’s talk about the Nintendo 3DS hardware.

Read the rest of this story »

Days out | Hands-On | Nintendo | Nintendo 3DS | Previews | TheNPCs

We’re off to Nintendo!

Posted by Chris Holmes at 8:00am on July 27th, 2010

Nintendo has invited us to go and play with them in London today. We’re excited as we don’t normally get much time out of the office and it finally gives us the chance to dust off our portable office equipment, like our 30″ 4:3 CRT VGA monitor. It will also be the first time Joe has been anywhere outside the gym or work in a year. Reports that this will be my first early morning since studying for my degree will remain unconfirmed, but let’s just say I put this post on a self-timer and London has yet another sleepy commuter this morning. We will be drowning in coffee all the way to London and if it’s not drugged, we’ll have video coverage of our trip to the big N, as well as another fine episode of Non Playable recorded live from the show floor (with a special guest!).

Also expect lots of pictures, previews, and other write-ups from our playtime with Nintendo throughout the rest of the week. We’ll be spending some hands-on time with the 3DS, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and Donkey Kong Country Returns amongst everything else the company showed off at E3. There might even be a few surprises too if we get our bribery bank account (and credit cards) sorted. If there’s anything particularly Nintendo-related you want us to have a look at, feel free to comment below or send us a tweet over on our official twitter page. Adios for now, we’ve got to go raid our wardrobes for our very best Nintendo fanboy t-shirts and other typical “gaming journalism” clothes.

Days out | Fashion | News | Nintendo | Nintendo 3DS | Nintendo DS | Nintendo DSi | Nintendo Wii | TheNPCs

Pokemon Black and White to include video chat

Posted by Chris Holmes at 2:13pm on July 13th, 2010

A promotional pamphlet for Pokemon Black and White over in Japan has confirmed that the game will be getting video chat on the DSi and 3DS. After players get the “Live Caster” in the main game, two players will be able to video chat over Wi-Fi. Weirdly, the game supports up to four player video chat over a local wireless connection too. Another announced feature is a ‘pass by’ mode, where Pokemon Black and White players with dormant DSs can come into contact with each over and connect up for some bonuses. Previously, this type of thing was only announced for 3DS, so we believe that this functionality will be exclusive to that platform.

News | Nintendo | Nintendo 3DS | Nintendo DS | Nintendo DSi | Pokémon

Non Playable Episode 4: Algorithms and Poorly Assembled Office Chairs

Posted by Joe Sayer at 10:32pm on July 4th, 2010

On this extra special E3 2011 bonanza episode, Chris and Joe use the power of mathematics to voyage into the future of gaming journalism.

And just what has Joe gone and got tattooed onto his face? Unfortunately you’ll probably have to listen to the show because I’ve forgotten.

Don’t forget to enter Ramblings of a Madman in a comment below.

Details:

Duration: 47:20

File size: 55.4MB

Non Playable Episode E04 Direct link to file, right click to download.

– Subscribe via iTunes

Web Player:

Non Playable E04 [47:20m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Have a different podcast player/solution? Simply copy and paste this feed URL into it: http://feeds.feedburner.com/NonPlayablePodcast

Your thoughts on this episode will be very much appreciated, please leave a comment below or send feedback to chris@thenpcs.com

Non Playable is co-hosted by Joe Sayer and Chris Holmes. Produced by Joe Sayer.

E3 | EA | Microsoft | News | Nintendo 3DS | Nintendo DS | Nintendo Wii | PC | PlayStation 3 | PlayStation Network | Podcast | Xbox 360 | Xbox Live

Sony believes Nintendo is closed minded on 3D

Posted by Jereme Puik at 7:50pm on July 1st, 2010

Nintendo unveiled the Nintendo 3DS last week in Los Anegles at E3. The new handheld successor to the DSi. With it comes the technology to power 3D without the use of wearing glasses. Reggie (President of Nintendo of America) made comments poking fun at gaming companies requiring the use of 3D glasses and downplayed their necessity. Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios president, Shuhei Yoshida, didn’t appreciate those comments.

“I have hope that they have a broader perspective with 3D,” Yoshida said in an interview with IGN. Many of Sony’s game studios are working on 3D titles for PlayStation 3 that require glasses. “When you listen to what they are saying about the effect of 3D perspective to the games, they are saying the same message we are, but they don’t have to bash some small part of what the other company is doing,” he added.

Read more below to see what Reggie said during Nintendo’s press conference at E3.

Source: Gamastutra

Read the rest of this story »

Industry News | News | Nintendo | Nintendo 3DS | Sony

Saints Row 3D also coming to XBLA

Posted by Chris Holmes at 11:42am on June 30th, 2010

THQ has confirmed that Saints Row 3D started as an Xbox Live Arcade title before Nintendo waltzed in and requested a 3DS version. Now, both versions will be released, with the 3DS version using the pre-existing code-base.

Both games have been designed to sell Saints Row 3, and that they will unlock content for each other. Saints Row 3 will be hitting sometime before March 2012 (that narrows it down a bit).

News | Nintendo 3DS | THQ | Xbox 360 | Xbox Live Arcade

Amazon prices 3DS games

Posted by Chris Holmes at 12:55pm on June 28th, 2010

Amazon.com has priced up Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater, Frogger, Pro Evolution Soccer 3DS, Baseball 3DS and Contra for the 3DS. All these titles are listed $34.99, with a heavily optimistic “December 31st 2010” release date. Nintendogs + Cats is also listed, albeit at the slightly higher price of $39.99.

News | Nintendo | Nintendo 3DS

Namco Bandai’s Nintendo 3DS Plans

Posted by Jereme Puik at 4:07pm on June 22nd, 2010

Namco Bandai revealed today what titles it’ll have in the pipeline for the recently announced Nintendo 3Ds handheld. They announced they have 5 games currently in development for the system. Namco Bandai seems to have full confidence in Nintendo’s new handheld that it will be a success with the gaming public. It seems as though Namco Bandai is continuing its trend of bringing you familiar games to every platform imaginable. One is wondering if its really that hard for them to create a brand new franchise? But, let’s not be the ones to judge here.

Ridge Racer

Pac-Man & Galaga

Gundam Franchise (working title)

Dragon Ball Franchise (working title)

Super Robot Franchise (working title)

More info on the games will be released in time, for now, keep in mind these games are in very early development. It’s great to see publishers getting the jump on the 3DS early, this only means we’ll have more titles to choose from come launch time all before Ubisoft makes its obvious announcements.

News | Nintendo | Nintendo 3DS

Reggie thinks the 3DS will be released by March 31 2011

Posted by Chris Holmes at 1:04pm on June 22nd, 2010

Reggie Fils-Aime, the Nintendo of America boss, thinks that the 3DS will be released in all major territories by the end of the financial year. He was speaking in an interview with Industry Gamers, and said the following:

“The reason we haven’t announced a launch date or pricing is that, first, we wanted to get reaction here. Secondly, we’ll be making individual market decisions in terms of what’s happening in Japan, what’s happening in the Americas, what’s happening in Europe. The one thing, for sure, is that we will launch in all of our major markets by March 31, 2011.”

Reggie went on to say that the 3DS design hasn’t been finalised, and that Nintendo is working with feedback from E3 before the design is finished.

“We have an army of Nintendo representatives out on our show floor talking to attendees, getting reactions to everything in the device: the depth slider, the buttons, the sliding pad that is, essentially, an analog-type stick,” he said.”These are things that we’re looking to get reaction to, including the overall button placement. When we get all that feedback, then we’ll finalise the design.”

E3 | News | Nintendo | Nintendo 3DS

Nintendo 3DS cartridge revealed

Posted by Chris Holmes at 1:52pm on June 21st, 2010

Nintendo has shown off a new cartridge design for the 3DS. The new cartridge sports a 2GB capacity, and will apparently help to stop pirates. Not much else is known about it really, but obviously the new cartridges are for new 3DS titles. Pre-existing DS games will also be able to use the 3DS’ cartridge slot too. Have a look at the full screenshots of the cartridge and its slot after the jump.

Read the rest of this story »

News | Nintendo | Nintendo 3DS

3DS graphics chip revealed

Posted by Chris Holmes at 1:40pm on June 21st, 2010

Japanese technology firm Digital Media Professionals has announced that they are providing the graphics chip for the Nintendo 3DS. The chip is called the PICA200, and it’s from 2006. It apparently produces high quality graphics with low power consumption. It should be quite cheap considering its age, and Nintendo will be enjoying that as the company likes to sell hardware for a profit. Here’s a tech demo of the chip in action, from all those years ago:

News | Nintendo | Nintendo 3DS

Ocarina of Time 3DS on show at E3, just a tech demo (for now)

Posted by Chris Holmes at 11:36am on June 16th, 2010

Nintendo has been showing off a tech demo of a 3DS version of Zelda: Ocarina of Time at E3. The tech demo is just a short video, showing Link riding around Hyrule and its infamous castle. There was an Ocarina of Time 3DS logo on-screen at the end of the video so we thought, like the rest of the gaming press, that this was a full game. However, Miyamoto himself later confirmed that at this stage it’s just a tech demo.

Eiji Aonuma said that if he was to work on an Ocarina of Time remake, he would fix the water temple: “You’ve all played the Water Temple?” asked Aonuma. “How many people thought, boy that was really tough? I’ve lived with that for the last ten odd years. But with Nintendo 3DS we have touch screen.”

“One of the things I think was problematic or maybe troublesome for you when you were playing through the Water Temple was the fact that you had to take the iron boots off, put them back on, take them off, put them back on. The controls for doing it were very hard. What I’d like to do is lay this evil shame I have to rest by implementing the touch screen in such a way that it makes it very natural and smooth and easy to put those iron boots on and take them off.”

Miyamoto chipped in, saying that you will be able to change Link’s clothes “much quicker, too”. Sounds like more than a tech demo to us.

E3 | News | Nintendo | Nintendo 3DS

Nearly every 3DS game in development listed

Posted by Chris Holmes at 1:22am on June 16th, 2010

Nintendo has released a long list detailing nearly every single 3DS game in development. Nintendo first party titles announced here include Animal Crossing, Mario Kart, Paper Mario, PilotWings Resort, Star Fox 64 3D and Steel Driver. Third party titles include Capcom’s Resident Evil Revelations and Super Street Fighter IV, SEGA’s Sonic and Super Monkey Ball, and Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed: Lost Legacy. There’s loads more on the full list. It’s available after the jump.

Read the rest of this story »

Activision | Capcom | E3 | EA | Harmonix | Konami | Namco Bandai | News | Nintendo | Nintendo 3DS | SEGA | Square Enix | THQ | Take-Two | Ubisoft | Warner Bros