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There was a significant addition to the 3DS store this evening , one that was easily lost among Nintendo’s many E3 reveals today. It brings hope to neglected systems, and was easily overlooked if you updated your firmware this morning to install the new eShop and get your free copy of Excitebike (like I did).
After Nintendo’s E3 press conference, the eShop added Link’s Awakening DX to the Virtual Console, as well as all of the game trailers Nintendo showed at today’s event. This means that you can see Ocarina of Time, Super Mario, and eight other games in 3D, without having to be part of the gaming press. Although trailers may seem like an incredibly mundane update, this is the first time that we’ve actually been able to see how these games are going to look when they’re released.
Since the release of the 3DS, Nintendo has been promising us that a deluge of great games is just around the corner. The trailers shown today were full of gameplay and great-looking graphics, making it seem like those glory days are within reach. It will be months until we find out how good all of these games are, but I’m already convinced that they will look amazing. Paper Mario stands out with some beautiful artwork, Super Mario shows off some impressive level design, and they both had a whimsical use of 2D and 3D objects. I was going to insert a screenshot, but I want to encourage everyone to see these on the 3DS.
These trailers also made me aware something unusual about 3D gaming: our eyes won’t always be able to focus on our character and our enemies at the same time. This is really obvious in the Kid Icarus Uprising trailer, where the enemies tended to be further away from the main character. This means that we will be sharing a perspective with our protagonists, rather than seeing everything at once. Ideally, this will add a level of attachment to our games, and not distract from them
Nintendo quietly impressed me today with the addition of their eShop. The company has a history of underwhelming online integration, and they seem to really want consumers to check out what they’ve done, even if it means giving away free software. But the 3DS is also able to make trailers feel closer to playing than ever before, in a strangely intangible way. It’s not going to sell any extra units right now, but these trailers are showing off what is likely to be the first wave of system-selling software.