Walmart set to lower their 3DS prices early

With the 3DS due to lower in price on August 12 and with early 3DS owners being able to redeem 20 games before they hit the eShop. Walmart will be lowering the prices on their 3DS early.

What does that mean? It means that starting on August 9th, you can buy a 3DS for $169.99, connect it to the eShop before August 11 and be able to qualify for Nintendo's "Ambassador" initiative meaning free NES and GBA games.

Via [CheapAssGamer]

Iwata: Future 3DS titles may not use 3D feature at all

The Nintendo 3DS boasted that it would have glasses free 3D and that it would also have higher end graphics despite being a portable device. Now the 3D was surely a gimmick, the slider was there for you to control how much 3D depth there was or to turn it off altogether.

Most people would use the 3D for a few minutes but would turn it off when it came to serious gaming or when they started to feel a bit dizzy. But in Satoru Iwatra's financial briefing for this last quarter, the Nintendo President says that he believes that there will be future 3DS titles that won't even use the 3D feature.

"I think there could be a Nintendo 3DS software title which does not use the 3D feature at all, and I believe Nintendo will develop such software. Instead, other features of the Nintendo 3DS should be focused on. It might be a communication feature, or other functions (such as the gyro sensor or the motion sensor). The important thing is that each respective software title has its own characteristics, and appeals to the consumers in a way that fits the software."

Wait, the system is called the 3DS and some games won't even have a feature that's in more than half of the system's name? Sure it's a gimmick that probably won't be used most of the time but don't just remove the feature from the games. If I got a 3DS, I probably would have the 3D for the most of it but it's nice to know the option is still there.

Iwata then goes on to say that he's not worried about the "novelty of 3D" wearing off and that the big upcoming titles such as Super Mario 3DLand and Mario Kart 7 will all the 3D wazoo.

Kingdom Hearts 3D will bold and daring

An interview between Famitsu magazine and Tetsuya Nomura discussing the Kingdom Hearts games and what's instore for the series. That interview has been translated by SQEX GAL.

In regards of Dream Drop Distance, Nomura told Famitsu that he's trying to explain the story to Disney little by little, since it’s difficult for them to understand it all at once. Nomura may write the story but it has to go through Disney before he can continue.

Kingdom Hearts was said to have a simple story but Nomura says the reason as to why Kingdom Hearts is the convoluted mess we know today is because Final Fantasy creator, Hironobu Sakaguchi, once told Nomura long ago that if he wanted Kingdom Hearts to compete with other games, he needed to make the story more complex.

Much like Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, you will be forced to use both Sora and Riku separately and visit the same worlds but in a different order. Since Dream Drop Distance isn't a numbered game like Kingdom Hearts II, Nomura wants this game to be 'bold and daring'.

“Though the story is important to fans as shown by the results of the [Famitsu] survey, it won’t be drawn-out,”

said Nomura. The Famitsu editor conducting the interview asked if this meant the game would have fewer cutscenes, to which Nomura replied this wasn’t the case.

“Not meaning that we’ve decreased the number of cutscenes, but having each one explained one by one reduces the tempo of the game, so we’re introducing a new system to make up for it,”

Nomura replied.

“It’s a directionally different system like what’s being introduced in Final Fantasy Versus XIII, which won’t have cutscenes; it’ll be a sort of integration where you can play during the event scene. Along with that, Sora will fight alongside different friends. There’s also a secret movie being prepared, so please look forward to it.”

Via [Siliconera]

Wii U not getting price or launch date til 2012

Nintendo has just claimed that they will not be giving the Wii U a price of release date until next year, stating that the system is still very much in development and that the company is not ready to make a commitment.

"Since the Wii U we showed you at the E3 show in June was still in the development phase without very specific proposals on the software titles, we are going to announce the release date and the price next year when we are able to explain the specific proposals."

said Nintendo President Satoru Iwata.

He also said that the recent 3DS price drop might affect Wii U early adoption.

"With regard to the influence on the Wii U, what we have to take most seriously is that the price markdown could damage the trust of the consumers who bought the Nintendo 3DS just after the launch. I feel greatly accountable for it. Our decision of the price markdown this time has a side effect that, at the launch of the Wii U, people may feel that the price might drop in the near future if they wait. What we will be able to do to recover the consumers' trust before the launch of the Wii U is very important to us."

I can see where they are going with this and from a marketing stand point I don't blame them, if they did announce a price this early, people would just wait it out and say "oh the 3DS dropped 80 bucks in less than a year, we should just wait until they do the same with the Wii U".

I say let them take their time cause personally I'm not excited for the Wii U at all. The main reason I got a Wii was just for Super Smash Bros. Brawl and since we won't be seeing a sequel for it anytime soon then Nintendo , at the moment, has not given me a solid to get excited for the Wii U. Via [Destructoid]

Smash Bros. sequel is a long way off

During Nintendo's E3 2011 press conference, what got me excited the most was when Nintendo President Satoru Iwata teased that we'd be getting 2 Super Smash Bros. games. A sequel to Brawl that would be on the Wii's successor, the Wii U and a portable Smash Bros. on Nintendo's new handheld, the 3DS. But when series creator Masahiro Sakurai basically said "Wtf?" to Iwata's tease and admitting that HAL Labs currently has no plans on making a sequel anytime soon, my heart was crushed.

Talking to NowGamer, Sakurai explained that he's focusing on releasing his upcoming 3DS title, Kid Icarus: Uprising, and has yet to decide how to best utilize the Wii U's controller for the as of yet unnamed sequel to 2008's Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

"I will think about this once Kid Icarus is complete, but as it is a game of a competitive nature, I do not think that any one person should have an advantage."

Of Brawl, Sakurai says that

"there are many things that can be improved upon" and that we should set our expectations for the forthcoming game "once you see how well-made Kid Icarus is".

The main draw to Smash Bros. is the expansive roster. Having multiple Nintendo characters from different games duking it out to see who is the best and seeing their abilities from their games adopted into a fighting game was fun. But with the inclusion of characters outside the Nintendo universe, fans are desperate to know who gets added in next. Almost every major Nintendo character is already in it and Nintendo doesn't seem to be bring out a lot of fresh faces recently.

Sakurai states

"that is completely undecided,but it is true that Nintendo has not created many new characters lately."

Source [Destructoid] Via [NowGamer]