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PSA: 3DS firmware update is live
I just updated my 3DS, and other users are reporting that they've been asked to do so as well. This is the delayed "November update" meant to add DLC capabilities, 3D video recording, and more. Looking around my system, I see a new "Nintendo Zone" app for interfacing with "participating locations," to receive special content from certain free wi-fi hotspots. The "3DS Camera" app now has a toggle for video or stills, and -- most unexpected of all -- there are new "accomplishments" (achievements, kind of) in the StreetPass Mii Plaza. A few popped up immediately upon starting the app (above). You can see them all in a list within the Mii Plaza. I have 20 total (!) relating to the number and location of the people I've met. Other new stuff in the StreetPass Mii Plaza includes a music player for Mii Plaza music, new Find Mii stuff (Find Mii 2 game and lots of new hats, accessible only to those who have all the hats from the first game), new Puzzle Swap puzzles, and even some kind of new SpotPass connectivity, to bring Miis into your Plaza from the internet. I'm not sure how this works yet. Though the eShop was down all day in preparation for this update, I didn't see anything new there yet -- except for a news item about the 3D video update.
3DS system update pushed back to December 8th, Nintendo confirms
November is just about over and 3DS users are still without that firmware update announced last month. They needn't worry, though, because Nintendo says it's on the way. In a statement posted to its site yesterday, the company confirmed that the refresh "is in the final stages of internal testing," and that it will be released by December 8th -- not the end of November, as previously indicated. When it finally hits, users will be able to record 3D video, access new StreetPass games, and transfer data across their 3DS systems. These all sound like good things, but they'll only come to those who wait.
Here's how Sonic Generations' 3DS-specific features will work
When Sonic Generations arrives on Nintendo's 3DS this November, it's going to let you show off to the world how totally into Sonic you are. That is, if you walk by spindash past other folks with a 3DS copy of the game somewhere out there in the real world. Sega revealed the game's 3DS-specific Spot Pass features this week, which it detailed as bi-functional -- trade missions with friends and exchange "profile cards." Apparently, Sonic Generations comes with 100 extra missions that can be unlocked via Spot Pass, though the extra missions consist of the game's main levels, albeit modified with specific objectives (kill a specific type of enemy, time trials, etc.) As for the profile cards, 3DS gamers will be able to show off their percentage completion of Generations, as well as sharing various other info (messages like, "Eggman is #1!," for instance). Might we suggest adding your killer Sonic fanfic into that messaging area?
Mario Kart 7's online and StreetPass features detailed
Mario Kart 7 will have wireless connectivity features that use both broadband internet and the 3DS's own "StreetPass" connection, Nintendo announced today. As noted at E3, you'll be able to race online or off, with 8-player online retaining a 60 FPS framerate. You can set up "communities" that allow you to create groups of people to race against, setting up various criteria for inclusion in the "community" and racing settings. You'll be able to collect data from other players by passing by them, using StreetPass. You'll pick up win/loss records, coin data, and more, including "ghost" data of other players' races, which you can then race against. You'll also have the option to install a Mario Kart Channel to your 3DS, to act as a hub for downloaded Mario Kart 7 stuff. Nintendo also announced a couple new playable characters: Lakitu and Metal Mario. In other news, Nintendo is apparently running out of ideas for Mario Kart characters.
3DS firmware update will include new StreetPass game
Nintendo of Europe announced yesterday that the latest 3DS firmware update, which adds video recording functionality, would arrive on November 4. However, NWR's Daan Koopman later tweeted an update claiming that the date was "an internal confusion." He did (re-)confirm one detail about the update, now coming at a non-specific date in November: it will offer a new StreetPass game. Previously, we'd heard that additional content for StreetPass Mii Plaza was coming, but we assumed it would be limited to expansions of the two existing built-in games, Find Mii and Puzzle Swap. We'll likely see a full reveal of this new game at tomorrow's Japanese event.
Nintendo planning November system update for 3DS, adding 3D video capture
If you're anything like us, you've been snapping 3D photos since day one on your Nintendo 3DS. We've got some pretty cramped up pointer fingers as a result, but that's all going to change come November. During Nintendo's pre-TGS 2011 press conference, company prez Satoru Iwata announced that the 3DS will get a system update this November that adds "3D video capture," among other things. What "other things," you ask? Nintendo isn't saying just yet, though the company's American Twitter account specifically notes the update will add "more content to StreetPass Mii Plaza." So, uh, hats? Hats!
Nintendo 3DS to add 3D video capture, upgraded eShop and more
Satoru Iwata came on stage at Nintendo's pre-Tokyo Game Show shindig and announced the 3DS will be getting a few upgrades soon. No word on any hardware changes -- yet -- but owners can expect 3D video capture as well as upgrades to the Street Pass Mii Plaza and eShop. The press conference is still ongoing, so check back for more details as they're announced or watch the live video stream (in Japanese) embedded after the break. Update: And it's all over! Nothing else new to speak of on the hardware front, and we didn't catch any more news about those software changes either. We're just getting our TGS team on the ground in Japan now, so expect more news in the days to come.
Lego Pirates of the Caribbean coming to 3DS with exclusive StreetPass feature
You'll be able to guide a swaying pile of rum-soaked plastic bricks through supernatural high-seas adventure in 3D this May. Disney and WB revealed that Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game will be released on Nintendo 3DS in May, alongside versions for Wii, Xbox 360, PS3, PSP, PC, Mac, and DS -- and alongside the Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides movie, of course. The 3DS version includes a few exclusive features, like support for the system's pedometer-acquired "Play Coins," and a StreetPass feature, "Pirate Duels," that automatically engages virtual Lego pirates against one another when two 3DS systems come within communication range -- with even more Play Coins awarded to the winner.%Gallery-116769%
Dead or Alive: Dimensions trades 'play patterns' via StreetPass
Super Street Fighter IV 3D's StreetPass functionality has collected "figurines" fight each other whenever two people with the game pass each other within local wireless communication distance. In his recent investor briefing, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata described the StreetPass integration of another 3DS fighter, Dead or Alive: Dimensions, and it's a bit more hands-on. "In Tecmo Koei's Dead or Alive: Dimensions," Iwata said (according to Nintendo's translation), "the character parameters, which shall be determined by a player's play pattern, shall be exchanged and, as the result, you will receive a challenge from the character, [Tecmo Koei says]." If we're reading Iwata's description accurately, the game will determine your play-style over time, and then broadcast an AI character based on these patterns over StreetPass to challenge other players.%Gallery-115426%
Shocker! Nintendo 3DS will have shorter battery life than DS
Who'd have thought that adding extra grunt under the hood, a glasses-free 3D display up top, a wireless "tag mode," and automatic wireless updates to the 3DS would serve to degrade battery life? Certainly not our naive souls. The same Q&A that informed us about Nintendo's Spot Pass plans for the 3DS has been found to also contain some commentary on battery endurance from Satoru Iwata himself. The company chief says "it is inevitable that Nintendo 3DS will be a device which requires more frequent recharging than Nintendo DS" and notes that as a major reason why a charging cradle will be bundled into the new console's retail package. With tongue firmly wedged in cheek, Iwata suggests that perhaps Nintendo ought to advise users to deposit the 3DS into its cradle as soon as they get home, but the overall point is as clear as it is obvious: your more powerful handheld will require more power.
3DS charge cradle motivated by StreetPass
Those of you who have spent a day out in the world looking for Dragon Quest IX tags know how taxing the DS's Tag Mode can be on its battery life. It appears that's still going to be the case with the 3DS and its expanded "StreetPass" passive communication mode. And that's one reason the 3DS comes with that fancy charge cradle. "As for the battery," Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said during an investor Q&A, "it is inevitable that Nintendo 3DS will be a device which requires more frequent recharging than Nintendo DS. This is why we are going to include the cradle, which is a dedicated battery charger. Perhaps we may need to dispatch to our consumers a message, something like, 'Please place your Nintendo 3DS on the cradle as soon as you return home with it.'" Though we like how Nintendo thought about the consequences of increased battery use on the daily DS routine -- and we happen to think the cradle is a really attractive accessory -- we must admit that we wonder how much that cradle adds to the cost of the 3DS package.
3DS Tag Mode functions called 'SpotPass' and 'StreetPass' in the West
We know them by the catchy names "Itsu no Ma Tsuushin" and "Surechigai Tsuushin," but an English-language hardware outline for the 3DS (PDF) provides the English names for these Tag Mode services, both of which allow the 3DS to communicate wirelessly without the user's involvement. The ability for the 3DS to seek wi-fi signals while sleeping, and automatically download content, is known as "SpotPass," while the passive communication between DS systems (used, for example, to trade Miis in the new Mii Plaza) is "StreetPass." "It is possible to transmit data for multiple games simultaneously," the document notes.
