14 DAY TRIAL // Satoru Iwata, who is the president of Nintendo, told the Japanese news service that in order to “expand into elaborate games targeting serious gamers,” his company is working closely with developers to make sure that the Nintendo 3DS, the new handheld set to offer full three-dimensional gaming without the need for any glasses, supports a wide array of gaming experiences.
The first party line up, those games that Nintendo itself is planning to publish for the new 3Ds handheld, includes titles like Kid Icarus: Uprising, Star Fox 64 3D, Paper Mario, Animal Crossing, Mario Kart, and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
These are core titles for the publisher and they will probably generate a lot of interest among those who already own and play video games made by the company. But in order to reach a wider audience, the fresh platform needs to appeal to those who might not be fans of the company, and that can only be done by attracting highly successful titles from third parties.
At the moment, we know of quite a few outside properties coming to the Nintendo 3DS. Konami has confirmed that it is planning to launch Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D, with the subtitle Naked Sample, Dragon Quest is coming from Square Enix, Final Fantasy is also in the works, Dead or Alive 3D has been announced, Ninja Gaiden is bound for 3D, classic casual titles like Pac Man and Galaga are also planned, alongside Pro Evolution Soccer and Dragon Ball. Other developers who have confirmed an interest in the 3DS are: Harmonix, Take-Two, Atlus, AQ Interactive, Disney Interactive Studios, Hudson Soft, Majesco, Marvelous Entertainment and SEGA.
The Nintendo 3DS was the highlight of the E3 trade show and the Japanese company is saying that a launch could come as early as this year in Japan and in 2011 in North America and Europe. No price has been confirmed for the device.