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The Nintendo Wii and DSi stores have been down for days with no explanation
Nintendo's DSi and Wii stores have both shut down for days with no explanation from the company.
Nintendo's DSi Shop is somehow still open, but not for much longer
Nintendo's DSi portable console, the precursor to the 3DS, was released way back in early 2009. Amazingly enough, the DSi's online shop is still up and running, even though Nintendo stopped selling the console years ago. But those days are about to end. As Nintendo announced a year ago, the DSi Shop will shut down on March 31st, 2017 -- that's this Friday, for those who don't have a calendar handy.
Nintendo is selling refurbished 3DS, DSi through its online store
It's hard to get more credible than "authentic refurbished Nintendo products" from Nintendo's official store. Nintendo of America is selling refurbished 3DS and DSi consoles, starting at $100 for Metallic Rose and Midnight Blue DSi XLs, and $130 for the 3DS in Aqua Blue and Midnight Purple.Nintendo's blurb says its line represents "the only refurbished products in the market that have been cleaned, tested, and inspected to meet Nintendo's high standards." Well then. The portables have a one year warranty and are guaranteed to work, even if there are any "minor cosmetic blemishes."Alas, Eurofriends, it seems this one's a NoA thing. "We currently have no plans and have made no announcements for this type of activity in Europe," Nintendo UK told Eurogamer.
Nintendo's Flipnote Studio 3D brings extra dimension to 3DS doodled GIFs
Nintendo's Flipnote Studio (aka Moving Memo Pad) brought shareable animated sketches to users when the wildly popular free app first launched for the DSi console many moons ago. Now, Nintendo's brought it up to date for Japanese 3DS users with Flipnote Studio 3D, supporting stereoscopic 3D images with three layers of depth along with six colors. As before, wannabe animators in that country will be able to share their artwork in AVI or GIF formats with friends on the 3DS network at no charge, or post to a larger audience on the Hatena World Flipnote Gallery for a fee. You can check the video after the break for more, but it would help to understand Japanese -- or be able to parse YouTube's inscrutable translation. Update: We've replaced the Japanese YouTube video with a new English version after the break, so all the aforementioned parsing and translating is no longer needed.
Engadget's back to school guide 2012: gaming
Welcome to Engadget's back to school guide! The end of summer vacation isn't nearly as much fun as the weeks that come before, but a chance to update your tech tools likely helps to ease the pain. Today, we're getting our game on -- and you can head to the back to school hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the month. Be sure to keep checking back -- at the end of the month we'll be giving away a ton of the gear featured in our guides -- and hit up the hub page right here! It's time to balance out that daily grind at school with some well-deserved leisure. Fortunately, many of our choices walk that fine line between work and play -- if you're willing to stump up some more cash beyond a normal laptop, you could get something capable of handling the latest PC titles. Some of our other choices may be a harder sell in the education stakes, but we all need some stress relief, right? And with bigger consoles nearing the end of their life cycles, there's never been a more wallet-friendly time to get involved. Jump in after the break for our favorite gaming choices. If all your money's been earmarked for learnin', then you should certainly enter our sweepstakes. Leave a comment after the break for a chance to win, and visit our giveaway page for all the details.
NPD: Xbox 360 ruled a steadily declining video game empire in July
Microsoft must sometimes feel like its lead in the game market is a Pyrrhic victory. The Xbox 360 once again topped the NPD Group's hardware charts in July, claiming a near-majority 49 percent market share of consoles -- but the 203,000 units sold were a steep drop from the 257,000 units that traded hands in June, and a far cry from the glory days that would have given a victory more meaning. Nintendo and Sony haven't shared their own figures, although the analyst group notes that only Nintendo's 3DS and DSi had any kind of increase in the month. The industry as a whole was unmistakably feeling the combined effects of the pre-holiday doldrums and a console generation that's long in the tooth: hardware revenue was down 32 percent in the month to $150.7 million, while the games in question saw revenue dip 23 percent to $260.7 million. If you need a culprit, earlier reports for the second quarter had credited similar shifts to sales of physical game copies declining faster than digital sales could replace them. Hope remains in the usual fall spike; even so, the July figures suggest the big three platforms might be living on borrowed time.
Nintendo DSi gets Matte Red and Matte Blue finishes, shrugs off sunshine glare
If glossy handhelds covered in fingerprint mess aren't your thing, then Nintendo's recently-announced matte finish DSi consoles might appeal. The games maker took to Twitter to announce that both the red and blue options could arrive in stores by the end of this week -- presumably with that tempting $100 price tag. However, if you're holding out for some extra-large 3D gaming, there's still a few weeks to go.
DSi is getting two new, shine-resistant colors
Nintendo is rolling out two new colors for the DSi in North America: matte red and matte blue. The new colors could hit retailers "as early as this week," Nintendo of America tweeted today.What a way to roll out the welcome matte, Nintendo. Sorry, that sounded better in our head than it red. Yeah, we totally blue this one. Apologies.
Nintendo DSi drops to $100, DSi XL drops to $130 on May 20th
Three-dimensional gaming not your thing? Then Nintendo's latest price drop might just grab you. It's cast an eye over the rest of its portable gaming family and decided to cut the cost on both the DSi (down to $100) and the hulking DSi XL (dropped to $130). These new prices will kick off on May 20th -- exactly the same day as this purple mess.
DSi drops to $100, DSi XL drops to $130 May 20
The DSi line of handhelds is about to get cheaper. Starting May 20, Nintendo is dropping the MSRP of the DSi to $99.99 (from $150), and the DSi XL to $129.99 (from $170). Finally, the DSi XL will be cheaper than the 3DS – which launches in a new color the same day!If you don't have a device that can play DSiWare, a $100 DSi opens you up to a variety of great games – especially now that the platform has had a few years to slowly build a library. Yes, there are worthwhile games on DSiWare – like Shantae: Risky's Revenge, Cave Story, Pictobits, and Antipole, to name a few.
IRL: Logic3 PowerSleeve, HP Folio 13 and a trio of Nintendo handhelds
Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment. This week's IRL is a bit of a mixed bag, with tales of gadgets well-used and those deployed for pure pseudo-science. In two paragraphs, Mat Smith sums up his experience with three generations of Nintendo DS handhelds, while Dan Cooper attempts to explain why he's still using a gadget he obviously hates. And Dana, our resident laptop reviewer, tries leaving the 'ole six-pounder in the office and going home to an Ultrabook instead.
Nintendo, NTT DoCoMo testing DS-powered speech translator
Nintendo and NTT DoCoMo are reportedly teaming up in order to create a voice-to-text system that'll help hearing-impaired children study. Using a modified DSi, speech is converted into text which is then archived in the cloud -- accessible afterward as a learning aid. That way, a teacher can have their words instantly typed up for reading by the students, who can also play interactive games to help them get along. Trials of the system are being held in Tottori and Okinawa Prefectures, with the overall aim of letting them use it as a universal translator outside the classroom. We're worried we'd be too tempted to swap out Tactical Assault during maths class.
Cave Story DSiWare still headed to Europe, but delayed
Cave Story hitting DSiWare in North America over a year ago, but Europe is still waiting for an official release. It looks like the region will go without the delightful title a little longer, as it has failed certification with Nintendo of Europe. Responding to a question on Twitter, developer Nicalis noted that Cave Story was submitted to NOE in December but failed because of "some really minor crap with the manual." Nicalis hopes to submit the game yet again sometime this month. Keep the faith, European Cave Story fans! Or you could always pick up the 3DS version.
Nintendo purportedly advising developers to not publish digital sales figures
Hoping to gloat about however many copies of [insert Nintendo title here] that you've sold? Think again. Richard Hill-Whittall, the owner and director of Icon Games Entertainment, recently passed a few sales numbers over to Gamasutra for publishing -- at the time, it hardly seemed like anything that'd raise a red flag. As it turns out, however, Nintendo reportedly pinged him and asked him to remove the numbers; according to Richard, the Big N doesn't actually condone the sharing of digital shares figures for any developer that's self-publishing WiiWare and downloadable DS titles. It's certainly a jarring stance to take, and it's probably not the wisest move in the grand scheme of things. As he points out, budding developers hoping to pick up funding will likely have quite the difficult time without having similar figures from fellow devs to share. Hard to say if the company will change its ways due to the backlash, but those interested in the full spiel should give that source link a visit.
Nintendo plans improved app store for Wii U, looks to serve Apple and Google in dance-off
Unless you go through the '80s-style "becoming super cool" montage, the other app stores won't respect you. Nintendo seems to be in this mindset, as a source has stated that it's creating an app store for its upcoming Wii U controller that goes "far beyond" the online stores the company currently provides for its DSi and Wii consoles. According to The Daily, the new gaming system, which is set to launch in the second half of 2012, will be able to use apps that operate on the controller itself, much like iOS and Android-based tablets. In other news, Nintendo has also vowed to buy each of its employees a cheetah with the Wii U app store profits.
Nintendo DSi XL bundles land on November 6th, just in time for the holidays
Looking to spring for a new handheld gaming system this Christmas? The Big N is doing its darndest to nudge you in that direction with a new spin on the Metallic Rose and Midnight Blue versions of the DSi XL. Both painted handhelds will be available in bundles alongside Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem!. These will set you back $170 a pop for each package deal, and you've got about a week to search the couch cushions for spare coin. You know, just in case the Mini-land ruckus can't wait for Santa's delivery.
PSA: Four Swords Anniversary Edition out now worldwide
What, those 10 free NES games aren't tiding you over? Well Nintendo's got another present for you, 3DS owners, with today's free release of The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition. Oh, and this one benefits you too, DSi owners. In addition to the multiplayer-only content, of which the game was exclusively composed on the Game Boy Advance, Four Swords on the 3DS comes with a brand new single-player section. Nintendo's weekly eShop update usually takes place on Thursdays in North America, so it's unclear whether the full update will arrive early today or if Four Swords will launch all by its lonesome (though the latter seems more likely as of now). As the game will only be available for a limited time (from today until Feb. 20, 2012), we can't help but wonder why you're not already downloading it. Get to it! It's free!%Gallery-135084%
The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures coming for free in September
During Nintendo's E3 2011 presser this morning, Super Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto revealed that Nintendo DSi owners will be getting a free copy of The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures. No, we're not really sure how a GameCube game with GameBoy Advance functionality will end up on Nintendo's DSi, but we imagine it'll have the GameCube game on your top DSi screen while the GBA part of the game shows up on the bottom screen. We'll be sure to ask Nintendo for more details as soon as we can.
Live from Nintendo's E3 2011 keynote!
Another day another liveblog, but not just another company. Today it's Nintendo that will be keeping us rapt with anticipation, and with any luck the big man, Reggie Fils-Aime, will be taking us on quite a ride. Will we see the unveiling of Project Cafe? Will Nintendo tell us just how its 3DS is going to compete in a PlayStation Vita world? Could we finally get that Nintendogs and Paper Mario mash-up we've been waiting for? We'll be going live shortly, at the following times below: 06:00AM - Hawaii 09:00AM - Pacific 10:00AM - Mountain 11:00AM - Central 12:00PM - Eastern 05:00PM - London 06:00PM - Paris 08:00PM - Moscow 01:00AM - Tokyo (June 8th)
Nintendo 3DS eShop to launch on June 6 with internet browser and free Excite Bike
Why wait until June 7th when you can instead get your update on June 6th? That's the question Nintendo has answered this morning, telling us that the coveted eShop update for the 3DS will come a day earlier than previously anticipated. This will finally give gamers the ability to download some titles straight to their system, but more importantly will give everyone a free copy of Excitebike, the NES classic, naturally re-mastered so that the 2-D side-scrolling racer will have a little bit of depth. Super Mario Land and a few other downloadable titles will come along help launch the show, with Nintendo pledging to add new content every Thursday thereafter. But wait, there's more! Pokemon fans will be able to use their AR card to check out those they've already caught in 3D, and if you've purchased any DSiWare games you'll be able to download those to your 3DS. Last, but certainly not least, will be a full internet browser that you can spin up without exiting a game, which might make keeping tabs on that Ocarina of Time walkthrough a little easier. It has, after all, been a long time since last we vanquished Ganondorf and his Gerudo chums. Again, all this is set to go live in the evening of June 6th (which could still be June 7th where you are), so now might be a good time to invest in that bigger SD card you've had your eye on.
