3DS owners, especially the ones who have the aqua blue handheld: seems that you're holding on a piece of history, a collector's item, or something else. It would seem that the higher-ups in Nintendo decided to discontinue the Aqua Blue. Sad, really. But I guess there's a reason behind it.
On a personal note, I never really liked the Aqua blue color. For me it was either Fiery Red or Cosmo Black. First choice was the Fiery Red, but when all of the shops that I've canvassed doesn't have that color, I opted for the Cosmo Black. And never regretted it.
Going back, I could speculate that the slow demise of the Aqua Blue is because of its meaner, manlier kin: The Cobalt Blue 3DS.
I still dig the Midnight Purple, but this rocks too just the same.
3DS owners: You feel that the small screen is getting a bit cramped on your eyes? Apparently, there seems to be a third-party accessory that lets you hook up your handheld console to either a monitor or television. See that chunk of a cradle in the picture above? Supposedly that's the accessory.
But how the heck does it work? Beats me, that's what I can tell you. Sure there's an audio out on the 3DS (that's why we can use our earphones and such), but a video-out port? The other port that I see is the charging port. If it's a USB-compliant interface, then maybe that's how they did it.
Of course this wasn't the first time that the 3DS can be hooked up to an external monitor; when Kid Icarus: Uprising and Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir were released, there were booths set up with the handheld connected to an external display.
Intriguing. Hopefully it doesn't cost as much.
source: [3DS Tagbus] --site's in Chinese. So use Google translate if you're using Chrome.
Then in 2010 they gave us the game we fans have waited for so long. And then this year, its sequel. Drooling, are we now? Well, since the release is about 3 months away, Hasbro entices us with another game trailer:
Yes, Transformers Prime: The Game. Based on the latest iteration of the Transformers genre, it's slated to be released for the Nintendo platform, specifically the Wii, DI and 3DS.
Ever since the emergence and importance of the internet from the late 90s, most of us are now connected to the world one way or another. In my case, I have a desktop at home, a netbook for field excursions, an Android phone, and my trusty Nintendo 3DS as handheld console. At work, I have an HP workstation.
And with the internet, there are a lot of forms of entertainment to keep the user logged in and not get bored. There are forum sites to wage war against trolls and flamebaiting newbies to to talk to other users from different places/cultures, Youtube and other video-upload-and-share sites to watch, webcomics, blogs (mine included) and news sites to read, research, or laugh about (I don't know how to categorize 9gag), or play games.
It's not uncommon these days that casual people play games over the internet with their favorite browsers. (here's one classic example of them). But I suppose Facebook can take the blame for the rise of browser games, with all that Zynga-affliated addiction that is the -vile -ville games. From farm to city to I dunno what-else-did-they-attach-it-to-a-word (heck, maybe they did Spaceville already, I dunno), it's rampant. But I'm not here to demonize browser gaming.
When it comes to games on the browser, the norm is that you use the standard technologies of the internet in order to play web-based games. Like Flash, HTML, PHP, Java and such. In the case of the 3DS, where it lacks both Flash and Java technology, it's a real challenge to make a browser based game for Nintendo's current handheld console. But someone did. And he's got balls.
Code-named Project Triniate, the aim is to make a 3DS-browser-based MMORPG. Wow. They're taking it to RPG level at once. The project aim is a simple proof-of-concept, the leader said; that a web-based game on the 3DS is possible. It was also mentioned that it may not really see the light of day (ie, be released to the public), but yeah, it's a why-did-you-climb-Mount Everest-moment.
As seen on this kinda-fuzzy-screenshot, it's still in its somewhat-primitive stage. But hey, it all looks good.
And if 1 browser game for the 3DS ain't enough for ya, there's another game coming up as well; a platformer one this time. Now that's taking it to the edge.
The new Triforce in an unnamed, unreleased Legend of Zelda. If that happens, DO WANT.
Nintendo announced its first annual operating loss. So what's to blame? Well, supposedly because of the overhype of the 3DS during its initial launch. Not to mention that the Wii, which about six years old now (though its successor is scheduled to be released later this year).
The good news behind this? Well, price cuts during the months before March 2012. Good thing I bought mine around late January, for just around US$190.00. Hehehe. Well, not that much cut but if I was an early adopter, that would've been rad.
So what was to blame? Well, mobile gaming with phones is supposedly one of the culprits they're pointing out. There's this article the Apple's iDevices are to blame. Well, what can I say? Apple knows how to innovate and exploit areas, and casual gaming is one of their playgrounds now.
So what's in store for us 3DS owners for the rest of the year? The system update they just released resolves the issue for game patches, and we can anticipate new games like Super Mario Bros 2, Animal Crossing, etc.
Do we have to fear of less games for the 3DS because Nintendo's future in handheld gaming looks bleak because of the trend of cellphone/tablet gaming? In my opinion, hopefully it doesn't come to that. The 3DS is a wonderful console that I've come to love.
