Thursday, July 28, 2011

Nintendo 3DS cut from $249 to $169

Nintendo debuted the Nintendo 3DS in North America on March 27, 2011 to much fanfare but a mere four months later, the price of the 3D-capable handheld is being slashed from US$249 to US$169. If you're one of the 830,000 early adopters who bought a 3DS on launch day and in the past few months, don't feel  too bad. Nintendo is consoling owners of the 3DS with a choice of 20 free games that may be downloaded from the Nintendo eShop. The generous move is called the Nintendo 3DS Ambassador Program and the company's statement reads as follows:
Starting Sept. 1, Nintendo 3DS Ambassadors will be able to download 10 NES Virtual Console games at no charge and before they are available in the Nintendo eShop to the general public. These games, including Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong Jr., Balloon Fight, Ice Climber and The Legend of Zelda, are slated to become paid downloadable games, but Ambassadors get them early for free. Once the paid versions of the games are posted to the Nintendo eShop later in the year, the updated versions will be available to Ambassadors for download at no cost.

By the end of 2011, Nintendo will provide Ambassadors with 10 Game Boy Advance Virtual Console games. These include games like Yoshi’s Island: Super Mario Advance 3, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Metroid Fusion, WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$ and Mario vs. Donkey Kong. These games will be available exclusively to Ambassadors, and Nintendo currently has no plans to make these 10 games available to the general public on the Nintendo 3DS in the future. 
The new price of US$169 for the Nintendo 3DS takes effect on August 12, 2011. Nintendo recently reported a 25.5 billion yen (US$328 million) net loss and 37.70 billion yen ($485 million) pre-tax operating loss in its quarterly report for the April to June 2011 period. The company also slashed its annual profit forecast from 175 billion yen (US$2.25 billion) to 35 billion yen (US$450 million). Nintendo president Satoru Iwata told reporters, "we feel the price change and several prominent software releases by the end of the year will definitely change the situation."  Nintendo expects to meet its  target of selling 16 million 3DS systems by March 31, 2012 which is the end of its fiscal year.

 PSP Queen's Gate Spiral Chaos Gekisen Pack - New Import


NCS Product Synopsis
«©NCSX» The opening cinema for Queen's Gate Spiral Chaos showcases the heroines that have been called upon to do battle in the game. Mai Shiranui of King of Fighters fame shows a lot of presence whle Dizzy from Guilty Gear appears happy just to be somewhere. An assemblage of cast members standing upon a rock formation closes out the cinema.

   Spiral Chaos is an action-RPG where the cast of woman warriors from Queens Blade and Queens Gate mingle with the likes of Mai Shiranui, Dizzy, Mina Majikina, Cham-Cham and Iroha from Samurai Spirits, Kasumi from Dead or Alive, Lili from Tekken 5, Pastel-Ink from Moetan, Wonder Momo from the game of the same name, an original character named Maron Makaron who wears a Pooka (Dig Dug) hat, and more. When an attack is ignited on screen, the attacker performs a short but visually entertaining display of offensive power that knocks the attacked for a loop. The short combat animations are reminiscent of the attack sequences found in the Super Robot Wars games and are accompanied by yelping voices and general histrionics. Since the warrior maidens in the game are unusually well endowed, their animations are also accompanied by undulating bosoms that bounce up and down as if compelled by an invisible power. To add to the active bosom-play, critical attacks may splinter an opponent's armor for additional revelations.

   The limited edition of Queen's Gate Spiral Chaos includes a Maron Makaron Figma figure, a Card Carrying Case, and a Reversible Carrying Bag.

 PSP Code 18 - New Import


NCS Product Synopsis
«©NCSX» The latest interactive adventure in the "Infinity" series of games is titled "code_18" which follows the format of earlier adventures such as "Never7," "Ever17," and "Remember11." The setting in code_18 is high school where the protagonist Hayato contends with a time paradox and an experiment while interacting with fellow students and teachers. Illustrator Yutaka Akatsu who worked on After War Gundam X provides the character designs and visuals for code_18.
   Preorders for the Xbox 360 and PSP versions of Code 18 are welcome to ship on September 29, 2011. 

 NEWS General Updates

 Queens Gate Spiral Chaos Gekisen Pack
  
Due to a split shipment from Tokyo, the regular edition of PSP Queens Gate Spiral Chaos and the remainder of the Gekisen Packs are scheduled to arrive tomorrow.
Girl Gamer Survey (Not ours)
  
Concerning the psychographics that determine game purchases for girls.
Final Fantasy Type-0
  
Preliminary reservations for PSP Final Fantasy Type-0 are being accepted. A formal preorder offer with product synopsis will be updated soon. The game ships on October 13, 2011 at JPY7700 or US$95.90.