I have a video to show you.

It looks neat but there is no way of getting one before summer. :L

gyuujuice Wrote:I have a video to show you.

It looks neat but there is no way of getting one before summer. :L

Thanks for that, now I know the extremely useful word 中蓋.

中蓋? I know what a regular 蓋 is but... >.>'

Playasia dropped around $30 off the price already.

wishroom Wrote:Playasia dropped around $30 off the price already.

Well, good for them. Another $150 and maybe we'll talk.

Hmm after seeing there will be a Metal Gear Solid game for the system I may have to consider buying one.... though there is no way I'm paying $450+ for it (why couldn't it be region free????)

Mcjon01 Wrote:

wishroom Wrote:Playasia dropped around $30 off the price already.

Well, good for them. Another $150 and maybe we'll talk.

Very true, I'm waiting for the $300 range.

"Hmm after seeing there will be a Metal Gear Solid game for the system I may have to consider buying one.... though there is no way I'm paying $450+ for it (why couldn't it be region free????)"

At that price maybe it would be worth it to "make it region free". (Still buy the games but on an American system.)

Are the ones sold in Japan region-free? Here, I think they are a little over $300 bucks so I'm almost tempted to buy one. But if it's only good for Japanese carts...

"Are the ones sold in Japan region-free?"

No, see Japanese people would readily import English games because they would be cheaper and English is not really a huge barrier. So I guess the want to prevent importing games as much as possible --

But there is good news -- now all games are region locked so perhaps games that won't come over to other countries won't be locked? :|

That's probably the reason. Games are bloody expensive in Japan. Well, I'll probably just wait until someone has tried a Japanese cart in a US unit or until a firmware hack that can bypass the region lock is available. By then, the price of a unit should be reasonable.

Just picked one up yesterday with Wining eleven, Ridge Racer and SF4. Expensive yes.. fun Yes. I might be easily amused tho. The 3d works really well, altho it does require you looking straight on with it.

gyuujuice Wrote:"Are the ones sold in Japan region-free?"

No, see Japanese people would readily import English games because they would be cheaper and English is not really a huge barrier. So I guess the want to prevent importing games as much as possible --

This wouldn't really happen. English proficiency is far, far too low for the population to import English games and play thus instead of in their native language. Not many are going to sacrifice being able to comprehend the plot and game itself just for a product that's 10$ cheaper. So far importing seems to be limited to A. hardcore gamers who don't want to wait the extra time for the release to their own country, or who want to play games that don't get released where they live, and B. people who are fairly proficient in the foreign language and are using it likely as a supplement to their learning. Both are tiny minorities of the market.

On another note, I decided to buy the two Zelda games and Okamiden for my DS
I'm afraid I'm slightly addicted to it, which is why I usually try to avoid video games. I've almost finished Pokemon White already. Pokemon sure has changed a lot since I was a kid!

Oniichan Wrote:Well, I'll probably just wait until someone has tried a Japanese cart in a US unit or until a firmware hack that can bypass the region lock is available. By then, the price of a unit should be reasonable.

A hack to run DS games was found within 24 hours:

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/gaming/2011...ese-laun/1

Only a matter of time before 3DS games can run from the same flash cards.

Anyway I finally got my hands on a demo unit, and...not massively impressed. The 3D effect is pretty cool at first, but getting blurry. Also 3D photos looked poor. Didnt have a chance to actually play any proper games though (just the built in AR ones), still might be tempted when Resident Evil is out.

Oniichan Wrote:Well, I'll probably just wait until someone has tried a Japanese cart in a US unit or until a firmware hack that can bypass the region lock is available. By then, the price of a unit should be reasonable.

A hack to run DS games was found within 24 hours:

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/gaming/2011...ese-laun/1

Only a matter of time before 3DS games can run from the same flash cards.

Anyway I finally got my hands on a demo unit, and...not massively impressed. The 3D effect is pretty cool at first, but kept going blurry. Also 3D photos looked poor. Didn't have a chance to actually play any proper games though (just the built in AR ones), still might be tempted when Resident Evil is out.

Aijin Wrote:On another note, I decided to buy the two Zelda games and Okamiden for my DS

Oh well, guess you won't be posted here for the next 2 months. Seriously, the DS Zelda's some of the best in the series - absolutely loved em.

I got to play around with the device at GDC. I gotta say, for Kid Icarus, how the heck do they expect people to balance the 3DS in it's very limited viewing angle and use the stylus with the touchscreen? You can use your right pinky but it's not exactly easy to do. I guess your realistic options are turn the 3D off or set it on a table. Also the lack of circle pad on the right side kinda screws over lefties.

Overall, it seems like pretty snazzy hardware. The 3d Photos are kinda cute. But like I said before, I'll probably wait for a hardware revision.

I won tickets to the 3DS VIP launch part last Thursday. It was pretty cool event (SF4 tournament, free food/drinks, bands playing), but most importantly I had a chance to play every 3DS game for long periods. Only things we couldn't touch were Zelda and RE (for VIPs only).

Best games to show off 3D were Nintendogs, Rayman 3D and Pilotwings. Worst game by far was Asphalt 3D (a poor ridge-racer clone). 3D effect still doesn't work great for me, though turning the slider down did help. Problem is it doesn't have much travel - it's basically maximum, medium, low or off.

Wasn't impressed with the photo functions, as it seems the cameras can't take pictures in slightly dim lighting conditions.

It's kind of a cool system, but I'll definitely wait for more games.

PlayAsia has the 3DS (Japanese) available for the next two days for $279, so if you're going to import it, now is a pretty good time.

Where can I buy a japanese 3DS (safe website please)? I want a japanese 3ds obviously because I want to be limited to japanese games.

Thanks.

http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-188-...-3ry2.html

they are reliable, but the jp. 3DS costs 329$ now.

Sucks that it went back up in price. I got mine from play-asia back when it was like $249 for a brief period of time. So I didn't really spend any extra to import it.

aphasiac Wrote:Oh well, guess you won't be posted here for the next 2 months. Seriously, the DS Zelda's some of the best in the series - absolutely loved em.

The DS zelda games were probably my least favorite in the entire series. I'm a huge zelda fan, but I could not stand phantom hourglass, and I didn't even buy spirit tracks because of how bad I thought PH was.

However, the Japanese spirit tracks is on play asia for $16 right now, and that is kinda tempting.
http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-9g-4...-3n25.html
I've heard it is quite a bit better than phantom hourglass, but I really hated the controls for the game. I got used to them, but they sucked the immersion quality right out. And all of phantom hourglass just felt lifeless to me, and it was boring to explore. I'm not sure if spirit tracks is any better in that regard.

I am currently waiting on the OoT 3DS remake to arrive though. That should be a ton of fun. And I'm really looking forward to skyward sword.

I liked getting my DS for Japanese, but is there really any value to upgrading to a 3DS for Japanese study, or for anything really?

vosmiura Wrote:I liked getting my DS for Japanese, but is there really any value to upgrading to a 3DS for Japanese study, or for anything really?

If you like the 3D, I think..personally, it gives me a headache and I can't play the thing for more than five minutes. :/ I'll stick with my DSi.

I don't care to much for the 3d myself. I usually leave it off, but consoles are mainly for the games, and I think quite a few good games are coming out for the 3DS. The 3d is a small part of it IMO.

If you see games coming out for it that you want to play then you should get one. If you don't, then you should hold off.

vosmiura Wrote:I liked getting my DS for Japanese, but is there really any value to upgrading to a 3DS for Japanese study, or for anything really?

I don't think there is really point upgrading for Japanese study, but I did because of the games that will now come out for the 3DS and not the DS. Usually I just turn of the 3d since you really don't need it to play the games, but if you don't play that much games on the ds currently then there isn't a point in upgrading.