We've been loving our 3DS' here at Everybody Plays - and if, like us, you bought one quite early on, you'll probably paid somewhere in the region of £170 to £200 for the privilege. It's a fair amount, we know, but in good news for everyone who's still sitting on the fence, Nintendo have announced that from the 12th August, they're slashing the prices they sell to retailers at by a third. This should mean that the consoles in stores should see a similarly sized drop, too (although it'll likely be closer to a quarter than a third) - taking the RRP of £229.99 from Amazon, a drop of a third would bring the RRP down to the region of £150. Taking the price Amazon are selling them for at the moment (£169.99), that means the actual sale price could go as low as £115 - at which point they would officially replace "hot cakes" it the old saying. Sadly, as they usually do, Nintendo are refusing to state a new RRP, saying they'd rather leave it up to the shops to work it out. Hopefully, they'll discount it by the full third - but we're not holding our breaths.
If you're an early adopter, feeling a bit peeved at the huge discount that's arrived just a few months post launch, there's no need to start gnashing your teeth and tearing out your hair quite yet, because Nintendo have thought of you too - and if there's one thing Nintendo seem to like doing, it's rewarding their fans with things like free games, as we saw most recently with Excitebike and Pokedex 3D on the 3DS. In the freebie stakes, however, Nintendo have outdone themselves this time, with the announcement that, if you own a 3DS and log onto the eShop (Nintendo's online store) before the 11th August, you'll be termed an 'eShop Ambassador', and receive not just one or two - but a whopping twenty - free downloadable games! Give that a moment to sink in - twenty. Two-zero. That's lots.
They won't be brand-spanking new games though - instead they're a collection of old NES and Game Boy Advance games, amongst which are some of the highlights of Nintendo's catalogue. With a back catalogue that stretches back over 30 years of making games (and before that playing cards since 1889), they certainly have plenty to choose from. It's good for people like me too, who only got into Nintendo with the DS and Wii, having only really played their recent efforts - in fact, the closest I've got to some of their classic games is watching them on the top screen during frantic sessions of Tetris DS...
And now for the main event - what games are we getting? Only half have been officially annouced so far, and will come in two batches. First, come the ten NES games on the 1st September - which will be available for non-ambassadors to buy later in the year. The first five are as follows:
Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros. lets you take either the moustached Mario or his lankier brother Luigi through eight different worlds on your quest to beat the evil Bowser, collect coins and power-ups and save the Princess. You'll need to jump between platforms, being careful not to fall to your doom whilst jumping on the various enemies' heads to defeat them - all in a days work for the two Italian plumber brothers.
Donkey Kong Jr.
Troublesome ape Donkey Kong has finally been captured by Mario and locked up - leaving his son Junior all alone. Playing as Junior, you'll need to climb vines as fast as you can (you can move faster by climbing two vines at the same time) and drop fruits on enemies as you try to rescue your dad from Mario's evil clutches. Fortunately, after this brief foray into being bad, Mario returns to the helpful chap he is today.
Balloon Fight
A hit from the 80s arcades, Balloon Fight puts you in control of a heroic balloonist - all you need to do is to pop all the balloons of your enemies as they float by, before they have chance to pop yours. It's a bit like Joust, but with balloons. To add a bit of an extra challenge, your opponents have come prepared - as they fall, they'll deploy a parachute, although you can hit this too, sending them falling into the jaws of the hungry fish waiting below. But watch out - the fish have their eyes on you too.
Ice Climber
Ice Climber lets you conquer treacherous mountain peaks, leap across icy caverns and swat snow-dwelling beasts, all from the comfort of your home. Armed with a trusty hammer, you'll need to use it to bash the blocks from below and defend yourself from the frosty wildlife as you jump from floor to floor towards the summit.
The Legend of Zelda
In The Legend of Zelda, a young, brave elf by the name of Link begins his hazardous journey across the land of Hyrule. Wandering through the land's winding forests, puzzling dungeons and myriad of secret passages, you'll be using your sword and shield to retrieve the eight fragments of the Triforce and save Princess Zelda from the evil Ganon.
Then "by the end of 2011" you'll get ten exclusive Game Boy Advance games - which Nintendo (so far) has no intention of putting up on the eShop to buy. As before, we only know what a portion of the candidates are though:
Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3
One day, a meddling magikoopa called Kamek intercepts a stork carrying the Mushroom Kingdom's newest set of twins - he manages to kidnap the one, but sends the other spiralling towards the ground. Thankfully, he manages to land on a Yoshi's back - and now it's him to them to reunite the twins, and send Kamek packing. You'll need to jump, stomp, swallow enemies and lay eggs as you negotiate the island's perilous landscape, trying to avoid losing baby Mario to Kamek's evil foot soldiers. It's an amazing game, and one you should be greatly looking forward to.
Mario Kart: Super Circuit
Mario Kart is a game that requires very little introdution - play as Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad, Wario, Yoshi or Bowser and get ready to race, tossing Koopa Shells and laying banana peels along the way to sabotage your opponents. With a whopping 40 tracks, each littered with obstacles you'll need to try to avoid, you should be set for a long time - but with one of Mario Kart's main selling point being multiplayer, we hope this port doesn't miss out...
Metroid Fusion
On her way to Planet SR388 with her exploration team, bounty hunter Samus Aran's spaceship is attacked by an unidentified life form - with unexpected consequences. The parasitic creature known only as 'X' attacks the heroine, mutating her into a fusion of species, granting her new and unusual abilities. Samus must explore the hostile planet, armed with bombs, missiles and other weapons, on a mission to unravel the mystery of 'X' - and hopefully find a cure.
WarioWare, Inc: Mega Microgame$
Wario isn't really greedy as such - just 'financially motivated', and always on the lookout for his next get-rich-quick scheme. When he stumbles on the lucrative video games market, he quickly starts up his own company - WarioWare, Inc. - and gets to developing over 200 of the wildest games the world has ever seen. Each game lasts about five seconds, and involve things like brushing teeth, picking someone's nose, cracking an egg over a moving frying pan, shaking a dogs paw and many more.
Mario vs. Donkey Kong
Ever the helpful chap, Mario must rescue the Mini-Mario toys that that dastardly Donkey Kong has nicked from Toad's shop. You'll need to find keys, learn new moves and track down all the Mini-Marios across six worlds, each full of head-scratching puzzles and reflex-roasting hazards, in this puzzling platformer.
So there you have it. For those of you who've already bought a 3DS, you've got twenty of Nintendo's finest games hitting your handheld for free before the end of the year - so long as you log onto the eShop now. Those of you that haven't taken the 3DS plunge yet have something of a dilema on your hands: buy it now for more, but get free stuff, or wait for the price drop and pay less, but lose out on a load of amazing free games.
For those who already own a 3DS, though, we have nothing left to do except to sit back and wait for 1st September to roll around - as long as you access the eShop before the 11th August, you'll be automatically registered on the program. Don't worry if you need a hand connecting your 3DS to the internet - our guide should help.
With any luck, we'll find out what the remaining ten games are shortly - our fingers are crossed for a Pokemon game!
