@Kifa "eShop release almost guarantees a lower price, which is good for us all I guess..."

Except for the draconian DRM of the e-shop where a game is locked to a single piece of hardware. That is ridiculous and MUST be changed!

That is what you get when you release weak hardware two years too late. Nintendo finally bested the PS3, just in time for the PS4 to trump it! Great timing man. This made sales bad and that is why they don't want to support it.

They put out a system with a tri corePowerPC, which no one uses anymore, and it only runs at 1.2 GHz! For anyone waiting for the magic in the GPU , you will be waiting along time. They looked at it (litterally) and found nothing special. In fact they said that the memory speed etc will make it barely able to do 1080P (which is why everything to date is only 720P or less).

They released a wimpy system and tried to rely on the tablet craze to sell it. It fell flat.

@IrishCatholic "Is CNN still on the air? I thought Fox News put them out of business along time ago. I prefer fair and balanced over the state sponsored media any day."

"fair and balanced". That is a joke. I suppose they need to keep saying that otherwise people will just realize that they are the mouthpiece for the corporate billionaire elite who whant to buy the government so it completely does only their bidding. I suppose you will love the Tribune when the Kochs buy that up to propagate their pro fossil fuel adgenda (where they make their billions). Wake up man, there is no "state sponsored media", only corporate oligarch sponsored fascist media (and that is most all media including the Corporate News Network).

@Dev "Nintendo actually cares about games and doesn't have to slavishly fall in-line with whatever the competition does."

Ok then, where are they?

@HeatBombastic " If the data is stored on a disc or cart instead of your system, that doesn't make it any more "real". It's still just data. "

Yeah but with one important difference, the "data" on a cart is not locked to a single piece of console hardware like a downloaded game is. It can be moved at will, be sold or bought used, outlast the support from Nintendo etc.

@Fusion14 "Forever_Zero say good buy to all your(physical) games in 20 years. digital download lasts forever. You can just keep on making backups."

Huh? it is like the OPPOSITE dude! Carts will always work in ANY 3DS (you can still get old Atari 2600 carts that play in any 2600 unit!) , while your DRM filled downloads will only work as long as the 3DS that they are locked to is working. When Nintendo moves on and "EOL (end of lines)" the 3DS all of your download stuff will be gone!

Making backups? You know those backups have DRM and are totally USELESS other than on the unit they are locked to right? When Nintendo moves on to another system and your 3DS breaks, say goodbye to all of "your" games! Those "backups" will be useless on your replacement 3DS.

@KaiserGX "If you loose a retail game, you think Nintendo will replace that too?"

No, but I would rather lose a 3DS with one cartridge in it than a 3DS filled with 30 downloaded games that will be gone forever!

Yeah but "connected" probably does not necessarily mean always on the net and downloading all games digitally.

I connect to update firmware and download a demo or preview video but that is it. I don't buy e-shop crap due to their terrible DRM system where games are locked to a single piece of hardware. That is stupid, and you are foolish if you go for that nonsense.

@Azikira "I tend to get portable games digital, but like to have hard copies of Console games."

That sounds like the opposite of what makes sense. A portable is easily lost or damaged from dropping etc. In that case you lose all of your digital stuff. Since you don't drag a console around there is less chance of losing everything!

@eleven59 "seriously. only 1 thumbstick on the 3ds and no ID account system???... im sorry big N this is not being a "cool" rebel, its being poor at customer service.. stuck in the 80's are we??"

The solution is simple for the no account thing, buy physical copies! "problem" solved.

@gundam00

Of course that won't work. If that did you could just copy all of the games to a bunch of blank SC cards and pass them out to everyone! All digital games are LOCKED to a single console and only work on that one. If it broken or lost, you lose!

Just don't be so lazy, avoid digital , that is the only way they will fix it. Changing a cart after you beat a game is no major workout!

That is the main reason I won' touch a digital game if a cart is available, and I very rarely buy any e-shop game. Then there is the fact that transferring is a hassle, and with this restrictive DRM you really don't own the game, you rent it for as long as your console works. There is no lending, no resale. If in 10 years I want to go back and play a game (like many do with SNES etc) I won't be able to when these games/3DS are no longer supported by nintendo and I have a different unit.

DRM is too restrictive, and too many ways to lose your stuff. If I lose my 3DS with a cart in it I lose the system and one game. If I lose a 3DS filled with all of my digital games I lose them all. No thanks.

@Prof_Elvin_Gadd "The one thing that really bugs me about Nintendo right now is their approach to digital. If I lose my 3DS I lose all my digital games as well, huh? Not cool."

The solution is simple, don't buy that DRM laden digital crap. If people vote with their wallets they will change it. If they grumble and buy digital anyway they won't change because it is to THEIR advantage to keep it the way it is. They benefit by people buying games twice if their console is lost or breaks and by the fact that you will eventually lose the license to play the game.

I just wish there were a few FPS games, there are NONE and there were some for the DS and even GBA, why not the 3DS? That would certainly help in the gun-crazy West

@DaemonSword "Good for us 3DS owners, but bad for the WiiU owners. .., time to get those companies/teams off the 3DS for a little bit, and onto quality WiiU titles.

No way, keep focusing on the 3DS. The WiiU is crap and will be outdated as soon as the PS4 comes out.

@Red_Kinetic

Yeah GBA games scaled up to a big screen TV will look terrible!
What a dumb idea.

Still prefer physical because I can move it to any console at will, not need the internet to move it, and isn't locked to a single piece of hardware. Eventually at the end of the 3DS production, moving digital games may not be possible and you would lose everything when your console breaks etc. With download you don't buy the game, you buy a temporary license to borrow it for as long as Nintendo says you can.

Nintendo's DRM sucks, period. It is way too restrictive and I am surprised it does so well. I guess laziness trumps freedom. Hopefully physical copies that you can actually own will still be available in the future.

I am not big on the whole "Link Sticker star" look with link sticking to walls. That seems kind of dumb and ridiculous. I know it is not real but there is a limit. Turning into a chalk drawing is silly.

MP:"Ultimately, that is going to hurt them more than competitive graphics will help them."

Competitive graphics? The WiiU doesn't even have that. Just about every game on the WiiU is only 720P, the console has 3 super slow 1.2 GHz power PC cores (pretty much an abandoned CPU architecture) and only 1 GB of RAM. It has been said by tech gurus that the Wii U is only 1.5x the power of a 7 year old Xbox 360. That would have been OK had it been released 4 years ago, but the 360 is not the one to beat anymore, it is on its way out being replaced by much more powerful Xbox hardware as well as the PS4. The PS4 on the other hand has 8 CPU cores that are 400 MHz faster each, has 8 GB of super fast GDDR5 RAM, and a newer more capable GPU. To add icing on the cake, it also plays Blu-Ray disc. It isn't even close in the graphics department, I am suprised he doesn't even know that, if he did the assessment would be even poorer.

If they really wanted to do it right (too late now) these systems would have a system key such as a SIM type device that would look like a small game cartridge and have a unique code on it. It would plug into the console and games would lock to it, NOT the console. If the console breaks move the SIMand external HDD with the games on it to the new one and all your stuff will instantly work. Same with 3DS, could have had a unique removeable SIM card. Just move that and your SD card to any unit at any time and it would "just work" and all of this without lengthy transfer processes, internet connections, or a note from your mom.

"But do these people still buy CDs or simply get their music on iTunes[?]"

That is a dumb argument and totally different. You can move a music file to ANY MP3 player and even have multiple copies on different players, it isn't locked to hardware. I can have the same downloaded album on 10 different devices if I want. I can move the music at will and not have to ask Apple's permission to do it, I just copy the files.

With download games I can only have it on ONE console at a time and have to ask daddy Ninty to move it! Like DUH!

@GiftedGimp-" HDD failures are uncommon, or a lot less common than media drive failures.
The chances of both your HDD and WiiU failing a the same time is extremely unlikley and by using a HDD your reducing wear on the WiiU, prolonging its life and if the HDD fails you can buy a new HDD, redownload your games and not have to worry about the drm being linked to the console."

Media drives may fail but if you have physical copies you can still use them on your replacement console with no hassle. With the digital ones you need to re-download ALL games , if you can (you have to count on them having them still on their servers which may be an issue in a few years). If you have 20 games at 30 GB per game do you know how long that is going to take to get your stuff back?! Hopefully you have unlimited data and a FAST connection!

No way would I buy a download retail game on the 3DS. I don't even buy games that are download only, I do without.

This is especially true on the 3DS. This console is probably an anomaly. I doubt there will be another stereoscopic 3D capable one released again. It is too "nichy" and it isn't a big sales draw. It is likely that any future handheld, if there is one, will just have a 2D screen like the Vita. In this case I want to truly own every game that I want and I want to have it "forever". To think of losing all of my games once the console breaks, and Nintendo no longer supports it is a dealbreaker. In 10 years I may want to go back and play some of my favorites. While my current system my be broken I will always be able to find a working one on ebay and pop in my old games and go. That will be impossible with these DRM filled downloaded full priced rental copies we get now.

You have to realize with download games you really DON"T OWN IT!

@Nhoj1983 "Convenience and not having to worry about if my local shop has the game in stock or worse it went out of print and I have to buy it for more than it was worth new. (atlus games are infamous for this) "

You do realize when digital games "go out of print" they are lost forever since they are cleared from the companies servers. At least with the physical ones you can at least get them on eBay etc. If you still have some of these out of print digital games on your console, you better hope the console never breaks.

@nerdstick "They are gimmicks. 3D adds nothing to gameplay. For a company that people usually herald for being 'innovative', the 3DS does absolutely nothing new."

You can say that about anything. I could say higher resolution and more polygons are a gimmick. Those things add nothing to gameplay, so in that case the Vita is one big gimmick, the incresed resolution adds nothing to gameplay over a PSP.

3D is a graphical enhancement like anything else. If that is a gimmick because it adds another dimension like you get in real life, then higher resolution can also be a gimmick.

3D a gimmick? Well I see things in the real world in 3D, so like that adds realism to the graphics. I don't walk around with one eye closed so I am used to 3D. To me adding another dimension is better than some more pixels. The Vita is still flat. Boring. It is basically a PSP with a higher resolution and more polygons. That is ok I guess but not all that exciting. If you want to talk gimmicks I think the Vita with every surface being a touch pad is a bit stupid and that really doesn't add much, a huge gimmick. Most of the time it is just an annoying afterthought in a game.

As far as the MH gameplay I do agree with just that part. I played the demo and it was just cumbersome to control. I think they could have just designed the controls better. There were plenty of games made on systems with one or no analog sticks that play fine. MH is a bad design in the controls part.

@BossBattles

Yes locked, until you ask big brother Nintendo to let you transfer the game, which is a big hassle. This assumes that you have both units connected to the internet so ninty can watch ya', that you still have the original unit that has the game and hasn't been lost or broken. Then it is assuming that Ninty still supports the game and transfer, someday they won't and you will lose everything.

Locking games to a single piece of hardware sucks, people should boycott this until they do it right. It is WAY too restrictive, and just plain irritating. You should be able to transfer the game without the internet easily just like a cart.

@Five-seveN "I don't really know why it matters to fans that the 3DS sells better than the Vita over in Japan. Just play your games, have fun, and ignore sales figures."

Simple. More sales=more developer interest= more games made.

Too bad it is e-shop only, that will keep me from it. Locking a game to a single piece of hardware is ridiculous (not to mention EVIL).

As far as NEEDING a second pad for an FPS that is nonsense. Remember the DS, the GBA, the PSP, the N64, the PSX, none had 2 analogs (some had NONE) and all had MANY good FPS games. The "no FPS because no 2 analogs on 3DS" excuse is LAME!

@Wheels2050

It is called "sour grapes". It is always the reaction of fanboys to just say " well ____ game was crap anyway". If the announcement was made that said that the game would be comming out for the Wii U then they would get all excited and go on about how more games are better to have and how they might get it etc.

They are just in denial that the system is in trouble. Honestly the logic of comming out with a system like the Wii U with it's underpowered 1.2 GHz CPU and 1 GB of RAM this late is questionable. Again Nintendo will be bringing up the rear in power this generation as compared to the vastly more powerful PS4. They got away with having weak hardware before because motion controls were enough to open up a new niche with soccer moms and casual gamers. I don't think the whole tablet in a controller gimmick is going to make up for their weak hardware this time around.

I am not so sure about this whole "the vita doing better helps the 3DS" thing. The Vita doing better hurts the 3DS, period. Why? well if a developer has to choose a system to make a game for they will choose the one with more sales potential. If the Vita gains more sales potential developers will leave the 3DS in favor of the Vita. This in turn means more third party games for the Vita and LESS for the 3DS, so no it is not a good thing for the 3DS. That is just a case of Nintendo fanboys trying to make lemonaid out of lemons and soften the blow of the bad news, or Vita fans gloating.

@Knuckles

Actually it is the opposite. With downloaded you will eventually lose the ability to play it. Since Nintendo has this terrible policy of locking downloaded games to one SINGLE 3DS unit, once that unit breaks you lose the game(s). The game will not always be supported on their servers years from now so if you want to go back and play it for old times sake you will probably find yourself tracking down a physical copy, that will work in ANY unit, from ebay.

Juries are not made up of the most technically inclined. They make dumb decisions all of the time. That patent wasn't the same thing, and this patent troll deserves nothing.

I liked the demo. The graphics and art style were great. The attention to detail and lighting was pretty amazing to me. This is how 3D should be done, not a tacked on gimmick just to do it, but something like this that really adds to the art. You can tell it was made with 3D in mind. The atmospheric music/audio was great for what it was. Standing in front of the castle with winds rustling and howling just gave it allot of mood. This game has allot of mood which is rare for handhelds. I do think that there should have been breaks in the moody music for some classic tunes like remixes from CV 4, maybe like during boss fights. The classic tunes could have played through once when you are in a certain area then blend to the atmospheric sound rather than looping or something like that too.

I liked the combat, you had to play smart rather than just button mash and hope for the best. Gives it depth. It did get a little framey once in awhile but I would rather have that and the better graphics than cut down detail and always smooth.

I guess it comes down to what you are expecting. The only thing I DIDN'T like was the QTEs. QTEs must die in my opinion and are a blight on gaming. I hate them in every game that uses them. In the demo though they don't seem too overused (just to finish off a boss mostly) but to me zero QTE would be best. This just isn't the style of game for QTEs even if you like them. Over all I think it is great do far, will be getting the physical copy when released.

I think next Apple will sue because the 3DS XL is rectangular with round edges. Apple patented rectangles, remember?

I didn't like the demo much. The 3D effect was not there, basically a 2D environment set back into the screen. That is not 3D. They could have had the layers they use on different 3D planes. They didn't and that is just plain lazy.

Too bad Fractured Souls is only 2D. I wouldn't really bother with it because of that. Maybe next time.

@Qwikman_N_Bass "And to all you people who are complaining about not being able to get dlc until later, it's not that bad; you can easily reach that point in the game in about 4 hours or less, since it unlocks after either chapter 4 or 5."

It is bad because it is a DUMB idea. There is no good reason for it. like I said I am in the middle of another game. I don't want to stop that, play this for 4 levels, then go back to my other game, beat that then pick this up at level 4 after not playing it for awhile. It ruins the story etc.

If I wait the free DLC offer expires and is no longer free, so I must rush to beat a certain amount of levels before the time limit. It is idiotic and serves no purpose other than to be annoying. The way it should work is that I put in the game, turn on spotpass, then a menu appears to download the extra content, that is it.

@Void

The Xbox 360 is discontinued in Japan from what I heard. Microsoft basically gave up and pulled out. The Japanese are very racist when it comes to foreign products. They simply won't buy them if there is a Japanese alternative.

I hate how Nintendo sets up the free DLC for this. You must complete a certain amount of levels before it is available. Why? I won't be able to play this that far yet but have the game. I am in the middle of another one and don't want to jump around, it ruins it.

Why can't they just allow you to get the map when the game cart is in the unit? It makes no sense and is irritating. It is a VERY stupid idea. Why the restrictions?

@Yosher

Well if you really just want the XL with the logo mainly, you could still buy the bundle and get the cartridge too as a backup.

I don't like digital either because Nintendo's eShop method of locking games to hardware instead of an account sucks.

And to those in Europe don't feel too bad as the US really doesn't have the game either. They didn't make enough copies and it is sold out in all stores and online stores pretty much. I couldn't find a physical copy anywhere.

I hope this game will be available in a physical version. I hate e-shop because you don't really own those games especially when your unit breaks. Is this e-shop only or will it be both?

@DarkCoolEdge

No, BRING ON THE REMAKES!
There are allot of GameCube games I would like to see remade in 3D such as Metroid series, Wave Race, F-zero, etc. Remakes allow games to be released with ease by 2nd parties while Nintendo works on the new stuff.

Not all of us played the Wii versions. I don't even own a Wii. For those of us it is new.

@Bankai

Nothing is "free". It is a trick to get you hooked so then they can nickel and dime you to death. They prey on compulsive types and a little here and there dosn't seem much but it really adds up.

What you refer to "giving you something to play for free, and then expecting you to pay up if you enjoyed it" is also known as a "demo". I like the demo approach much better. I download demos all of the time on my 3DS and then buy the COMPLETE and physical copy if I like it. F2P is a hustle (that is why they like doing it so much).

I am in NA and never really knew much about FE. I wasn't really interested until I downloaded the demo. I figured what the hell it is free and gives me something new to look at for a few minutes.

So I played the demo and it seemed so well done. The 3D effects are slick and the story seems good. It kind of "pulls you in". So I went to get it but it was sold out in a few GameStops. It seems like it is pretty popular. I will get it when it comes back in.

Hadoooken. Hadooooken. sho-ryuken!

Take that evil skeleton!

Should be interesting.

I wasn't going to buy this anyway as a 2D scroller doesn't do anything for me.

I think it is dumb to hold something back for other consoles though. When it is done, release it who cares. If someone on the PS3 wants it they can buy it too, it is not like holding back the Wii U version makes the PS3 one come out sooner.

The Wii U is dissapointing me though. I will probably sell it and get a PS4 when that comes out. The PS4 will have much better graphics anyway.

Even the fanboiz have to admit the Wii U launch was a disaster. Forget the ports as I know everyone will blame "3rd party laziness" etc. The system was launched and it wasn't even finished. You had to do a day one hour and a half system update to use simple features. The Nintendo releases were lackluster. What did they have? A 2D SNES style mario scroller and a disk full of minigames? Really? that is it? No metroid, no Zelda, No Smash brothers, no 3D Mario. What the hell have they been doing for 6 years? They had all of that time to do stuff as the Wii was basically a GameCube with motion controls. The WiiU should have launched with great Nintendo titles that amazed with the graphics as well as design. It should have made the statement "welcome to next gen". Instead it said "welcome to me too" "now we have the power of the Xbox 360" too. That is great except the 360 is on it's way out and will be replaced by the 720 this year.

Then their demo kiosks in stores were (and still are) basically billboards saying "we have nothing". There is only ONE playable demo and the rest of the "demo games" are basically just still pictures. Yes, pictures not even video! I doubt that demo kiosk is going to convince anyone to buy a Wii U and most likely will have the opposite effect. It is like they are trying to fail and doing a good job of that.

Stuff like this is why I avoid the e-shop at all costs. I never download something if I can get a real physical copy. If it is download only I have to want it really bad to buy it.

The DRM is just too restrictive and a hassle. Will I still be able to transfer a game or re-download free in 5 years if my 3DS breaks? Probably not. It is at the whims of a 3rd party as to if i can get my games back. You just never know. I say don't download something if you want to keep it. Think of download titles as rentals.