Reminder: US Pokémon Fans Can Still Pre-Order the New Nintendo 3DS Gen 1 Bundle

It's a damn lazy and ugly faceplate IMO.

The fact we in the US didn't get the colorful 2DS models makes me sad. I wanted the yellow one.

Oh well. Suppose an import is always on the table for later.

It is completely sold out in Canada. I'm hoping that Walmart might get stock closer to release date. Otherwise I'd preorder it from the US Amazon.

I already have a New 3DS. With the XL models I buy because they're one of a kind. But these, I can just buy new faceplates.

I did preorder the Fates XL though.

Still the best bundle

My kid was considering this but the price point put him off. It's not a bad price point, but it's not a great deal for a bundle either, those games are only $9.99 each, and that's $200 he will put towards the NX if it's a portable. He'll buy red, his brother green, so that's $10 rather than $200. I don't think these games will have the same issue that Hyrule Warriors Legends does on the old 3DS.

I like the bundle, just not at that price. I'm sure they'll sell every one they make though.

LOVE that faceplate, but I already own a New 3DS XL.

Too bad. It would look great next to that Pikachu-themed GBC I own.

Related question: does anyone know how much Red, Blue and Yellow will cost on VC in the UK? I haven't been able to find the price anywhere...

While it is cool and me as massive Pokemon fan would love it I can't justify having another 3ds especially at that price.

I have the monster hunter new 3ds xl now. I love fire emblem games so I'm considering getting the new fates 3ds xl but I don't really love the design of it. This pokemon one is compatible with the cover plates and id probably get the Monado and Fates cover plates. Im just trying to decide if I want the XL for the comfort and size or the smaller one for the design of the cover plates. What's more important? The side I see when I'm playing or the side I see when I'm not playing? I'll prob get the fates 3ds xl.

I wish we could say the same thing about the Fire Emblem Fates Special Edition. -_-

This is for hardcore Nintendo/Pokemon fans only, and those people likely already have a 3DS, hence there not being a run on these bundles.

meh... I'll pass

Already got mine pre-ordered. I'm still using a launch day 3DS, so I was eager to upgrade to a New 3DS specifically so I could use a cover plate instead of having to try looking for some type of ridiculous decal for a New 3DS XL that I wouldn't really want.

No money ;_;

I wish I had one. Always wanted to replace the o3DS with the standard N3DS.

Preordered this the week it was announced, thinking this would sell out instantly like most Nintendo bundles do. I'm surprised it didn't.

@abbyhitter I was thinking the exact same thing! It's too bad.

@LUIGITORNADO

Exactly what I thought. HIDEOUS.

Id like to buy it just for the new 3DS but it has to be available in stores. If Nintendo needs to make a product scarce so that I can't just find it in store, or the store sells out before the end of the launch day, then I don't bother with that crap, I'll do without. Supply of New 3DS has been terrible so far, haven't even seen one in person in any store and I just may never see it the way things are going

I pre-ordered this through Walmart's website about a week ago. It hasn't yet taken the cash out of my account (I guess it won't do that till it ships) but it's still showing up in my purchase history, so stock seems to be doing pretty good thankfully.

The Blastoise face plates look slightly better (blue and white are easier on the eyes) but I'll likely be rocking the Charizard ones, as he's my favorite Pokemon of all time. Now it's just a matter of waiting for it to ship at the end of the month.

Getting that yellow 2ds very excited!

Tempting, but I think I'll hold out for a different N3DS bundle before I upgrade. I still own my Blue and Yellow carts, so I'm not too bothered with these VC releases.

...Maybe I'll pick up Red eventually.

I pre-ordered this day one. I was actually just looking for a good reason to upgrade to a N3DS, not an XL, because there was a cover plate out in Japan I liked. I was not into the HHD one, but I had been planning to get all of the Pokemon games on VC anyway. Now I'll just have to download Yellow. These cover plates are not bad, either, but not as nice as the cover plate I have since imported (once I had my pre-order confirmed). It's too bad the XL version doesn't do cover plates because I like the large size a bit better but I suppose the regular size will fit into my pocket better so there is that!

@rjejr I think that is wiser money management than I am showing. I know that the 3DS line is almost up, yet here I am buying another one, my third. It's not like there is anything wrong with the other two either! I am almost positive that the first stirring of what NX actually IS will come next month, which is literally DAYS after this bundle drops. There is literally no good reason to buy this bundle instead of waiting for the NX, yet here I am buying it anyway. All this is doing is guaranteeing I can't buy the NX handheld component at launch - which may not turn out to be a bad thing. Anyway, your kids are wise to save their money.

@Superzone13 I agree with you- I literally ran ove to Gamestop and threw my money at them (okay that last part is not literal) but I'm surprised it's not making more waves.
Anyway, I cannot wait to get mine. I'm "downgrading" from a black new XL too. I can't wait to get some faceplates imported/offline!

@TheLobster seriously I love that you wrote this. I myself thought about everything you wrote about as well and thought the same exact stuff.
...yet here I go with my 4th (and last definitely).
Way to go out with a bang paying homage to my childhood and one of my favorite games of all time.

Amazing bundle however its still disappointing to see no other faceplates sold in stores across retailers in the U.S. Anyone can compare night and day for what Europe and Japan has for faceplate options. I'm not saying that these faceplates arent amazing but it would be nice to sell faceplates in stores like Europe and japan have. Store space is small for selling 3ds faceplates?? How ...lol

@Thomas:
Revise the wording on the last paragraph as it seems is missing something...

"Considering the fact it comes with both games - but no Pokémon Yellow - and a couple of cover plates that doesn't seem too bad, especially as this model has only previous been released in North America as a bundle for Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer..."it's not so bad/it is a good deal, something along these lines.

@OneBagTravel

Ditto, my man, ditto.

As someone here mentioned previously, to have both Red and Blue on the same system and not being able to trade amongst yourself really is a waste and a missed opportunity. Nintendo of America really should have released 3 of the translucent 2DS models with 1 game pre-loaded on each. Or heck, they could release all four of them and make 200x more in international markets than they would normally if they decided to apply similar effort in what they did in hacking the Super Mario Advance 4 e-Reader levels into the actual game and translating the levels' titles to hacking and translating the "LEGENDARY GREEN VERSION," keeping all of its graphics, but equivocating its content and available Pokemon to the Japanese Blue's (considering the opposite was done for int. Red/Blue back in 1998 by compiling the graphics and select content of the JP Blue while equivocating the available Pokemon/in-game trades to the JP Red/Green). New players would be mostly indifferent, but droves of twenty-somethings everywhere would cause shortages of green translucent plastic, which would likewise draw higher numbers of that demographic back to Nintendo systems.

Another better choice would have been to release these faceplates seperately (or in a physical pack which contains a download code for one of the games, a faceplate set for that particular version, and possibly also a magnet and Town Map), but I know NoA is also trying (in crummy ways) to make the original New 3DS more widely available...

Yet another lazy, disappointing oversight with Nintendo's Pokemon and VC releases.

@OneBagTravel I have no argument!

I know we didn't get a Green version, but... no Venosaur plate?

The Best Buy listing is, at least for me, a no-go. It's not allowing either shipping or pickup in my area (central Texas). I ordered from Amazon instead, but would rather get it through BB for the points.

hurrah my pic is broken.
but why am I saying this here?

I'm so angry that this isn't coming out in Aus and NZ. I would buy that in an instant!

Its cool that it comes preloaded with red and blue but I would way rather have the colored 2DS come here instead. I really wanted the yellow one -_-

The 2DSs were cute, but this is nothing special. I can see why it's still available. Either way, I hope that all this Pokemon hype gets us a better, more robust VC with this level of advertising for games that...aren't old Pokemon.

@TheLobster He never spends any of his money that one, maybe a few packs of Pokemon a year. He's 13 and he doesn't want anything. (Helps to be raised by one Jewish and Catholic exended family, holiday gifts year round.) His 11 year old brother never has any money though, spends it as soon as he gets it. And we raised them both the same, so it's all just their individuality, so I can't take any credit for good parenting.

No, I'm perfectly fine with my new 3ds xl.

If it were XL I'd have preordered it ages ago.

@OneBagTravel

I got one of those second hand at a play n trade! I love it.

I bought the Majoras Mask edition XL last year, so as flipping amazing as this looks, and as much as I adore the face plate feature... I can't abandon my baby...

Being in Canada, I haven't seen in be available for pre-order yet. Like everyone else has mentioned, those faceplates are butt. I wouldn't hesitate to track one down if a plain white one was included though.

Also, does anyone know how pre-installed games work? If I transfer my account over to this 3DS from my XL, will it overwrite the games that are already on it? Will it "claim" them for my account, so I can transfer them onto something else later, or are they just stuck to the console?

@GooRoo Same hear in western NY. Guess ill wait until march 4th when Walmart gets it in store.

Price is pretty offputting for some it seems. Fortunately I bought my black JP unit for only $135 (plus $12 shipping), so I don't have to put up with this kind of pricing.

@TheLobster
I finally gave in and bought a 3DSXL on black friday in 2014 because they kept saying the New 3DS was TBD, and they announced it RIGHT after I got the thing. It's put me off upgrading again.

I hope that NA will still release more of the regular sized New 3DS bundles this year, or even make the regular sized ones go on sale as a standalone as the 3DS systems continue to age over time. Obviously the cover plates are the main appeal to me for this model. The regular sized model would be a side handheld while my New 3DS XL is my main one (because of my eyes). It's a shame that there are so many cover plates that appeal to me and I can't put them all on at once.

My favourite previous Pokemon consoles:

Blue Pikachu Nintendo 64

Pokémon Yellow Version Edition

Pokémon XD GameCube

Latias & Latios Game Boy Advance

Pikachu Game Boy Advance SP

Pikachu GB micro

Pikachu DS Lite

Pokémon Black Edition & White Edition

Pikachu Yellow 3DS XL

@abbyhitter At least you have a release date for FE Fates...

So close to pre-ordering this for my daughter, but I still can't understand why it has both pre-installed. If it had come with download codes instead, you could download one game and give the other to a friend/family member so you could trade. Instead you'll just have two games on your console that won't be able to trade between one another. Makes no sense to me. I'm hoping they announce a Pokemon Z this year and release a New special 3DS bundle that I can pick up for my daughter instead.

@LFiM Yeah. I figure I am doing everyone a favor because the day after I buy this will be the day they announce NX.

If this were a black unit, I'd buy it, no doubt about it. White units just don't go well with most cover plates. No sense in downgrading to a New 3DS and have the majority of cover plates not match well with it.

@OneBagTravel I have that bundle! Gonna get this one as well and relive good times.

I'm in the uk so not really relevant but have a new 3ds XL anyway so don't need another smaller one

@Refurin There will be a Pokemon Z some time this year and I'm sure it will come with a special / limited edition console.

@ioev Inititally, the pre-installed games are tied to the new console. When you transfer your content from another 3DS with an NNID they will then be linked to your NNID and you can transfer everything again to a completely new console later on if you wish. If you don't have an NNID, on initial transfer from your current 3DS, all games will be tied to the new console until such time you want to transfer them again to another new console. So, basically, you can just perform a transfer from your current 3DS to the new 3DS and the content will be merged. Do not set up an NNID on the new console first, whatever you do. It is not possible to transfer to a system with an NNID. It is only possible to transfer from a console with an NNID.

@Sakura: Thanks for the info/warnings!

Too bad the 2DS bundles didn't make it over here. They were more appealing and I would have totally bought one for my little bro. Guess I'll be getting him some WWE merch for his birthday instead. Thanks, NoA.