If you bought your Nintendo 3DS system before August 12th but missed the deadline to join the Nintendo 3DS Ambassador Programme, you’ll be pleased to hear you’re still eligible to register! For information on how you can still do this, visit our Nintendo 3DS Ambassador Programme page here.
For all consumers who purchased their Nintendo 3DS system and accessed Nintendo eShop or conducted the recent system update prior to the 12th of August, you will have already qualified to receive your free downloadable software. We’ll be providing an online tool soon to allow you to confirm your status. You can also find more details on this at our Nintendo 3DS Ambassador Programme page here.
I haven’t heard of Nintendo of America matching this offer as of yet. We’ll let you know if they make an announcement.
Based on a patent filed earlier this month, the Wii U controller will contain a magnetometer, an IR port, a speaker, a microphone, and ion battery, and built-in flash memory.
Some of this we were already aware of, and some of this isn’t too surprising – such as the inclusion of flash memory. Wii owners may remember that the Wii controller also featured a bit of memory to carry data such as Mii information.
As far as the magnetometer goes, I’m not quite sure if that’s even worth making a big deal out of yet. I can’t say I know much about the technology, though it’s apparently included in other devices such as the iPhone.
These images have been made available thanks to concept artist Hidetomo Komaki. Komaki worked at Namco Bandai for four years before moving on to Game Republic in 2005. He now works for Filmworks FX/Stranger Comics.
Thanks to Jake for the tip!
The DS Lite was made available on the market roughly a year and a half after the original system launched. With the 3DS seeing release less than six months ago, one would think that it’s much too early to be thinking about a 3DS Lite. Nintendo of America Reggie Fils-Aime seems to think so as well.
Fils-Aime said in a recent interview:
“The form factor, we believe, it quite strong and quite positive. We have nothing else to add at this point in terms of other form factor changes or other color changes beyond the Flame Red that we’re announcing today.”
I can’t say I have too many complaints about the 3DS’ design at the moment. The only issue I have is the system’s battery life. I’d most likely consider purchasing a third-party peripheral over buying a 3DS Lite, though.
Nintendo DS: Best selling platform.
Xbox 360: 277K (-37.5%)
Wii: 190K (-25%)
PS3: 148k (-31%)
Regarding the 3DS, we can determine that the system sold no more than 114,000 units in the United States last month. The exact NPD figure isn’t available, so it’s possible that the actual sales number is significantly lower than 114K.
And while is unclear how well the DS sold, it’s been confirmed that it was the best-selling system last month – that’s according to Nintendo’s press release.
Nintendo has posted the following notice and image on Facebook…
As you can see, that’s definitely Super Mario Bros. 3. The question is, why would they include that photo if Super Mario Bros. 3 wouldn’t be a part of the Ambassador program? It’d help if we could receive a confirmed lineup!
You won’t find any Wii or 3DS sales here. But yes, this is actually Nintendo’s response for the July 2011 NPD data, it seems…
Just Dance 2 Becomes Eighth Wii Title to Sell More Than 5 Million Units
Just Dance® 2 from Ubisoft®, which plays exclusively on Nintendo’s Wii™ console, has sold more than 5 million units, according to the independent NPD Group, which tracks video game sales in the United States. With this milestone, the Wii system now has eight 5-million sellers* in the U.S., twice as many as competing current-generation consoles combined.
In the month of July, seven of the top 10 and 15 of the top 25 best-selling software SKUs play on Nintendo platforms. Just Dance 2 sold more than 120,000 units to finish No. 3 for the month.
1. NCAA Football 12 – Electronic Arts (360, PS3)
2. Cars 2 – Disney Interactive Studios (NDS, Wii, 360, PS3, PC)
3. Call of Duty: Black Ops – Activision Blizzard (360, PS3, NDS, Wii, PC)
4. Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game – Disney Interactive Studios (Wii, NDS, 360, PS3, 3DS, PSP, PC)
5. Just Dance 2 – Ubisoft (Wii)
6. Major League Baseball 2K11 – Take-Two Interactive (360, Wii NDS, PS3, PS2, PSP, PC)
7. Zumba Fitness: Join The Party – Majesco (Wii, 360, Ps3)
8. Fallout: New Vegas – Bethesda Softworks/ZeniMax (360, PS3, PC)
9. New Super Mario Bros DS – Nintendo (NDS)
10. Mortal Kombat 2011 – Warner Brothers Interactive (360, PS3)
This information comes from Super Mario 3D Land director Yoshiaki Koizumi…
“We always try to use what is appropriate for the tempo of the game, so while a hub was appropriate for Mario Galaxy, it might not be appropriate for a game like Super Mario 3D.”
Hub levels have been in every 3D Mario adventure, though they’ve started to take on less of an importance now thanks to Super Mario Galaxy 2. I actually remember being disappointed initially after hearing about Galaxy 2’s small hub, but in the end I found it more accessible than the Comet Observatory in the first title. Although I’d probably be a bit saddened if there wasn’t a hub at all in Super Mario 3D Land, it wouldn’t be the end of the world!
