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Wednesday, April 25, 2012

April 25th 3DS Thoughts

With today's 3DS firmware update and several other announcements, it's further encouragement that the 3DS and eShop is continuing to move in a positive direction.  I don't often have the time or energy for a post, so let's quickly get to it before that changes:

Home Menu Folders:

This is something people have been wanting for a long time on the Wii and I can't honestly blame them.  (hint: it's not too late Nintendo)  My 3DS screen was getting quite cluttered especially with all the demo and video titles.  Overall this is a great implementation with the minor quibble that it automatically names the folder then you have to go back to edit.

How's mine now?  I'm too lazy to post a screenshot, so here's the basic idea:

  • Cartridge Launcher (don't think you can move it), eShop, Settings
  • Mutant Mudds and Swapnote for easy access.
  • Folders: Demos, Videos, System (all the other 3ds "stuff") and finally a generic one to collect the rest of my eShop games.
I can see this leading to an overly-clean/folderized layout, but is that such a bad thing?  I really like this feature and the ability to keep things on one screen.  Having the option of customizing the icon size per folder is also cool.

eShop:

There doesn't seem to be anything major, but I do like the dual-row layout and the fact that it sets us up for DLC and patching.  I guess the recommendations section may be helpful, though I can't say I ever use that sort of thing much.  One cool thing is that they featured Jools Watsham in a "Pro Pick" feature.  

The other item I didn't see mentioned much is the new QR code scan under Settings.  I guess is this their first step into faster purchasing, but I'd rather just buy via computer.  Then again, maybe they're going to use it for something else.

3D Updates:

Apparently CaveStory is getting an update to replace the DSiWare version which adds 3D and many features/content that were already in other versions such as WiiWare and CaveStory+ on Steam.  Since I've held off on every other version to date I'm pretty excited about this news.  Ok, sure, they already have the code and art assets so it's not a huge leap and adding 3D is probably going to create some buzz and drive sales.  From a strictly selfish standpoint I'm fine with that and will be purchasing.

Another interesting update is for Might Switch Force which apparently adds some content, adds a retry feature and improves 3D.  All in all very cool and while I've held off on this game so far, it's certainly on my radar.  Possibly a bit higher now.

That's all I've noticed at the moment and will be updating this post if I find anything else.

What are you thoughts on the firmware and game updates?

Thursday, April 19, 2012

April Update


So I posted a 'Hiaitus' entry in December followed by 6 more posts, then don't do anything for over two months. Go figure...

What's been going on?