3DS: Friend Codes on First Page, OMG THE THIRD DIMENSION

[ocre]

PSA: Scribblenauts Unlimited and Harvest Moon A New Beginning are now available as digital downloads on the 3DS eShop.

[Kanthos]

Harvest Moon A New Beginning

Picked it up on launch day, and my game store had gotten a couple pre-order bonuses but no one had preordered, so I got one. It was a 6" stuffed yak that's now my one-year-old's favourite stuffed animal.

[Arrow]

Picked it up on launch day, and my game store had gotten a couple pre-order bonuses but no one had preordered, so I got one. It was a 6" stuffed yak that's now my one-year-old's favourite stuffed animal.

I turn 30 in six months, and yet the 6" stuffed cow is now MY favorite stuffed animal. No regrets.

[Mirby]

I have a stuffed llama.

He is the Guard Llama.

Nothing gets past the Guard Llama.

[Kanthos]

I turn 30 in six months, and yet the 6" stuffed cow is now MY favorite stuffed animal. No regrets.

Oh, the yak is awesome, but I couldn't bring it home and not let Will play with it. If it wasn't for him, I'd have it on my desk at work.

[The Derrit]

here's' a good question for everyone. what do you think about full titles for download? i doubt anyone thinks it's a bad thing, but do you see it as something you would want to do? i personally feel like i want the physical product still, but maybe i'm just old fashioned.

what are people's thoughts?

[Gollgagh]

I'm honestly more inclined to purchase a title these days if it's digital. With my getting a Vita as well, I've been pretty much completely sold on digital downloads. (though in the Vita's case, the physical copies nearly all come with close to jack shit besides the box, cover slip, and game card; they don't even come with the barest pretense of a manual!)

It's just way more convenient to have all of the games right there on the main menu without having the cartridges scattered everywhere; plus with large capacity SD cards being close to dirt cheap these days, space is almost a non-issue.

Edited December 7, 2012 by Gollgagh

[EC2151]

Until there's some sort of true account system, with true future-proof security (which is never), I'll feel 10x safer with physical games.

The major thing that turned me off of steam (among many, many other things) was their EULA saying I no longer owned the games I bought. It's a small difference in the grand scheme of things, but it definitely rubbed me the wrong way.

Giving the consumer more control over how they buy their product is definitely the best way forward, however. In that regard, Nintendo's eShop is a step in the right direction, though the lack of an account system makes all the "progress" seem superficial.

[Kanthos]

I have a lot of digital downloads on the PSP and on Steam and GOG, but not on the 3DS.

I'll get PC games as digital downloads if they're cheaper, which on Steam they often are if you wait for sales, or if they're not easily available physically (eg. most of GOG, since the games are older).

On the 3DS, I prefer physical games (unless it's eStore-only, of course), because a) You can't play them and trade them back and I haven't bothered to get a larger SD card. The one game I might buy digitally, if I buy it at all, is Animal Crossing, so it's easier to switch between that game and whatever else I'm currently playing.

PSP games load data faster when they're on a memory stick, so all my games are on memory stick (even for the few like Crisis Core that were only on UMD; my PSP is hacked so I kept the original and downloaded an ISO for the speedup). Plus, with a hacked PSP, you can try out a game before committing to buy it, so there's not as much desire to trade anything in.

[Soma]

here's' a good question for everyone. what do you think about full titles for download? i doubt anyone thinks it's a bad thing, but do you see it as something you would want to do? i personally feel like i want the physical product still, but maybe i'm just old fashioned.

what are people's thoughts?

Depends on the platform for me. For 3DS I absolutely want physical media. For Vita I only do Digital. I guess it just has more to do with the OS. With the Vita it feels like an Iphone, except when you hit a game bubble when the cart is not in it says "insert game to continue". With the 3DS there aren't tiles for every game you play, so it doesn't bother me at all. I know that's a weird psychological nitpicky thing. Ehhh.. works for me.

[Malaki-LEGEND.sys]

I'll never go for a digital copy as long as I'm paying retail prices, especially if I don't have control over the product I bought. I don't care what jargon a EULA may have, I didn't pay 40 or more bucks just to borrow something, and that's essentially what digital distribution is to me. I'll go nuts on Steam since I can get games on stellar prices.

With my 3DS, I'll always go physical, but I'd love the ability to install my games onto an SD card so I didn't have to drag my carts with me everywhere I go.

[Dhsu]

I guess the reason I haven't bought any retail games in the eShop yet (besides the fact that I never buy anything at full retail) is I don't know how big they are and I was afraid just one of them would fill up my SD card. But thinking about it now, as long as they're in the 512MB range, you could pretty much load up your entire collection on a 32GB or even 16GB card. I might even be willing to pay non-sale prices for that convenience. I'm assuming retail games can be re-downloaded later if you have to delete them at some point to make room for other stuff?

[ocre]

I have a 16GB card and have downloaded NSMB2 and Professor Layton and several eShop titles(Pushmo, Mighty Switch Force, Ketzal's Corridors, Pokedex 3D, Pokedex 3D Pro, Mutant Mudds + Granny Levels, VVVVVV, Dillon's Rilling Western, Bomb Monkey, The Denpa Men, Colors 3D art application + saved artwork playbacks, Cave Story+), DSiware- Shantae Risky's Revenge, Art Style: Box Life, Art Academy, Kirby's Dream Land VC, Link's Awakening DX, Mario Land 2 VC, Wario Land VC, Zelda Four Swords Anniversry Edition, Donkey Kong Original Edition, all 20 NES/GBA Ambassador titles, all the Preview Videos for upcoming 3DS titles (SM3DL, Animal Crossing, Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon, etc) and like 10 demos and still have PLENTY of room.

And yeah, Dhsu, as long as you're using the 3DS you bought the game on, or you've transferred the data from that system to another, you can re-download stuff you've purchased if you delete the orginal download.

Edited December 7, 2012 by ocre

[The Damned]

Just to point it out, the 3DS can take a 128 GB card if it's formatted correctly.

Yeah, I tried it out.

[Mirby]

Plus, with a hacked PSP, you can try out a game before committing to buy it, so there's not as much desire to trade anything in.

An unfortunate side effect of this is that it's still piracy.

And that piracy is most likely the main reason we won't get Type-0 here. Because the last several SE titles on PSP were pirated heavily, possibly by folks with this same philosophy. :/

[The Derrit]

An unfortunate side effect of this is that it's still piracy.

And that piracy is most likely the main reason we won't get Type-0 here. Because the last several SE titles on PSP were pirated heavily, possibly by folks with this same philosophy. :/

thank you for reminding me to get that

also i had never thought of the side of digital downloads that prevents used game sales. in that sense i support it, definitely.

and yeah gollagh i definitely agree with you that psp stuff you might as well have digitally, because it comes with nothing if you get it in the box. may as well just download it.

[Kanthos]

And that piracy is most likely the main reason we won't get Type-0 here. Because the last several SE titles on PSP were pirated heavily, possibly by folks with this same philosophy. :/

I don't have any games which I have not paid for. The only way it could be argued that downloading for a short trial (usually 30 minutes to an hour; enough to get through the intro and into the basic gameplay and get a feel for it) hurts game sales is if, by trying it, I decide that I don't like it and therefore don't buy it. However, since I have a limited amount of money each month to spend on entertainment, I don't buy games unless I'm quite sure I'll enjoy them, so if I'm sitting on the fence, I won't buy the game because I'm unsure, and trying it and then deciding I definitely won't buy changes the outcome. On the other hand, there have been a number of games I was unsure about until I tried them, and then went out and bought them. It's basically like borrowing a friend's copy of the game for an hour to decide if I want my own.

[Mirby]

So basically you're using it as an unofficial demo.

[Gollgagh]

So basically you're using it as an unofficial demo.

that's the idea

[Dhsu]

3DS XL + MK7 for $160 at Best Buy

This might be too good for me to pass up...

[ocre]

I am playing Harvest Moon A New Beginning. I heard this game had a slow start and I'm definitely feeling that. I'm willing to give it a chance since the tutorial stuff isn't given to you in an overwhelming way, but slowly over the first season. They start you off with a huge house and a full kitchen and a humongous rucksack, so HM veterans can hit the ground running. Lots of areas are blocked off and there aren't many villagers around at first, so that might frustrate or bore some. At least you get a free cow!

[Malaki-LEGEND.sys]

So I managed to score a copy of Epic Mickey and Paper Mario Sticker Star for Christmas this year. Full impressions later, but I can say without a doubt that Epic Mickey Power of Illusion is far better than the demo lets on(which is good, by the way). There is however one important detail:

After awhile, you'll eventually gain the ability to sketch Scrooge McDuck into helping you clear an area. Upon doing so, he will jump all around the screen on his trusty cane like a pogo stick ala Duck Tales!

This is the greatest thing.

[The Derrit]

i waited til i came back to the states to buy sticker star, and it was worth it. it feels kinda light but it's a lot of fun anyways. it seems to be ramping up into a better feel near the end of world one though

[ocre]

Anyone else excited for Fire Emblem Awakening? It releases a month from now on February 4th here in North America.

After being admittedly disappointed in the previous release, a meager remake of the first FE game, Shadow Dragon, I'm pretty excited about playing a new full featured Fire Emblem after all these years. The create-a-character thing seems very interesting, especially how your character figures into the story. New Fire Emblem!

[Thalzon]

I'll be getting it and playing on Super Casual Pussy Mode. I hate restarting because someone died (no, I cannot keep going if I lose someone, fuck that), so it's a welcome addition.