Nintendo has been busy this week announcing their Japanese launch plans for the 3DS, but I'll start off with some Kirby's Epic Yarn stuff as new videos surfaced online since the game is getting closer to its October 17 release here at the States. I already mentioned how great Epic Yarn is a while back and yet it still looks very impressive to be another top-notch title for the Wii this holiday season. Then again, this game screams "sleeper hit" as well because only Nintendo fans will appreciate it and Kirby is not really their most popular mascot like Mario, Link, and Donkey Kong, which is unfortunate and considering what Wario Land: Shake It went through, I feel like Epic Yarn may suffer the same fate as being another under-appreciated title among mainstream Nintendo consumers. Also, factor in Wii Party likely having better success sales-wise as well as Donkey Kong Country Returns, Kirby may be left in the dust as gamers would be missing out on an unique take on one of Nintendo's lesser known franchises.
The 3DS has been the center of attention among the gaming world this week as Nintendo finally revealed their launch details at Japan for their new handheld, which is to come out February 26 over there while a March release for the U.S. and other territories. Now I have a day to soak all the info in, it is nice that the 3DS exists and people are excited for it, but the lineup revealed so far looks like something Sony would think of for the PSP as console games being shrunk down to be playable on handheld. Nintendo is once again retreading what was awesome back then can still be awesome with remakes of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Star Fox 64 along with their new Kid Icarus game. Third parties so far are migrating their popular franchises to the handheld from Capcom's Resident Evil games, Mega Man Legends 3, and Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition (Will the AE changes be in place for this iteration?), Tecmo/Koei with Dead or Alive Dimensions, Konami with their MGS3: Snake Eater remake, and more. I know its still early and the thing is not even out, but where in the world is the originality? The original DS capitalized on that aspect even though it took some time for that to kick in and I expect the same for the 3DS too as developers have more time with the system figuring what is capable to do in that thing. There's also the 3DS Virtual Console announcement as well with Game Boy games (GBC/GBA/even the Virtual Boy as well) being downloadable, which is cool along with DSiWare games being transferable, but I'm still wandering where are the new games? Nostalgia is nice and all, but I hope Nintendo will turn things around unlike how Sony handled the PSP. Of course, the steep price is going to question many consumers' minds considering it is currently at 250-300 bucks now. Despite my worries, I know people will still buy the 3DS because Nintendo apparently still knows what's up, but we'll see how things play out in the months to come closer to its Japanese launch.
