Official Nintendo DS and 3DS Thread (Including WiFi Codes)

[sterlingice]

I'm tempted to go get Devil Survivor for the DS since the price has dropped some now and the 3DS version sounds like just a new coat of paint

SI

[terpkristin]

For those that have played Ocarina of Time 3DS, does it require you to use the analog nub? I was playing Super Mario 3D Land and found that I really didn't like the nub--it's very tight and hard to get the control I want. And it hurts my thumb (admittedly my left thumb is all kinds of jacked up) to use. I had a bad overall experience with SM3DL. Can I use the d-pad on Ocarina?

/tk

[sterlingice]

Like we talked about on chat- that's a shame because I think the analog controller is pretty good. I'm up to world 4 on SML3D and loving it. I have Ocarina of Time but haven't played it yet and have Street Fighter 4 and Pilotwings coming from Amazon Black Friday ($26 for the two games). With Mario Kart coming out next week, the 3DS library is starting to finally gain some steam.

SI

[MJ4H]

I'm still playing through the Ambassador versions of Metroid and The Legend of Zelda NES games. Wife loves Mahjong and bought some game called Mahjong Cub3D. She blasted through all the puzzles in the 3D mode in a few days and had a lot of fun doing it.

Hope to be able to pick up SML3D and MK7 someday, but with Skyward Sword and a newborn, the Ambassador games are plenty for me on the 3DS right now. Been itching to play through those two games for years, and this is absolutely the perfect way to do it.

Oh, and I still have to get through Ocarina of Time 3D. :/

[sterlingice]

I'm picking it all up as part of KMart's current coupon train, otherwise, I'm not much of a "buy it on release" person with a few exceptions (Pokemon being the primary one). But SML3D came with a $15 coupon that I used on Zelda, which had a $20 coupon, which I'll be using on Mario Kart so it's hard to pass at those prices.

SI

[Groundhog]

I'm late to the party but I grabbed a 3DS in Hong Kong a few weeks ago, after not having a handheld since my GBA years ago. It's US region but that's fine, given it's still cheaper for me to import US cartridges and pay for shipping than it is to walk down the street and buy the title here.

I finished SML3D yesterday. What an awesome little title, some amazing level design, but maybe a little easy? Especially considering the last platformer I played through was probably Super Mario Bros 3 on the SNES years ago. Made it through without losing all my lives, although various stages gave me some troubles, in the final world in particular, but I beat Bowser with something like 35 lives to spare. Looks like there's still a bunch of the bonus levels to play through anyway, and I can't really say that the level of difficulty affected my enjoyment of the game.

Also grabbed Street Fighter which I only played through once but was good fun, Ghost Recon which seems OK if a bit basic, and picked up the DS title Phantom Hourglass title because I was craving some Zelda.

I also used a play-asia.com coupon I had to order Mario Kart 7 and Ocarina of Time, which is probably my fave game of all time. Anyone played Starfox? Is it a faithful conversion?

One frustration I've had is that I just can't seem to connect my 3DS up to the internet. Every wifi connection I've tried has had incompatible security settings. I've played around with my router at home - my flatmate's small brand router which I can't find much info on online - without any luck, which has been frustrating.

[terpkristin]

I'd be interested in the thoughts of people playing Ocarina of Time on 3DS as compared with the original. I tried playing it and thought that the small screen made it hard for me to really feel where I was, I kept losing my bearings. I'm thinking I'm going to get it on Wii Virtual Console.

I'm thinking I need to give SM3DL another go. The thumbstick (which I don't like) aside, I was having issues with depth perception. I couldn't properly ascertain where the baddies were in 3-D space as compared to where I was, so I'd miss-jump. And it was giving me a headache (but it may have been that day?). I'm playing with the 3-D turned off, as that just totally doesn't work for me...would that make a difference?

/tk

[sterlingice]

I've played a few times with the 3D turned off on SM3DL and it plays a lot like SM64 then. The level is still 3D, but you just don't see it.

At this point, I have SM3DL which I've played quite a bit of- I'm on world 5 or 6. I also have played a little bit of Mario Kart- which plays a lot like Mario Kart DS. Then I have Zelda, Pilotwings, and Street Fighter that I haven't played yet for more than a couple of minutes of Zelda.

Groundhog - don't know what to say about the router issues. I've only tried to hook mine up to an old Linksys 54G at home. It's about as generic as things get.

SI

[Big Fo]

After the cable company installed a new cable modem at my place, I couldn't log onto the 3DS Shop. It was strange because I could play Mario Kart 7 online just fine. After looking around online and trying a few things, I found out I can get on there if I turn off the firewall. Otherwise, no luck.

[DataKing]

FYI Arceus is available (for the first time I believe) via the Pokemon Global Link. The password is ARCEUSVOTE.

[terpkristin]

I thought that was international versions only?

How does one do those Global Link things, anyway? I hated Pokemon White but I finally got around to beating E4 earlier this week in advance of the wifi event coming up soon...

/tk

[DataKing]

Arceus is definitely available on North American versions of the games. I got mine last night.

Global Link should be pretty easy to set up for (I think you just have to register on Pokemon.com first). Then you go to Promotions, find the Arceus promotion and enter the password ARCEUSVOTE.

After that you need to send a Pokemon from your Black or White game to the Dream World and wake it back up again, then go to the entralink, find it, and capture it with a dream ball.

There are far too many steps involved if you ask me, but I'm not complaining.

Bulbapedia has a good explanation of how the Dream World works...I'd recommend checking there if you need help.

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by DataKing

Arceus is definitely available on North American versions of the games. I got mine last night.

Global Link should be pretty easy to set up for (I think you just have to register on Pokemon.com first). Then you go to Promotions, find the Arceus promotion and enter the password ARCEUSVOTE.

After that you need to send a Pokemon from your Black or White game to the Dream World and wake it back up again, then go to the entralink, find it, and capture it with a dream ball.

There are far too many steps involved if you ask me, but I'm not complaining.

Bulbapedia has a good explanation of how the Dream World works...I'd recommend checking there if you need help.

Wow. This entire post is jibberish to me. Dream World?

Wake up? Entralink?

God I hated this evolution of the game.

/tk

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

Wow. This entire post is jibberish to me. Dream World?

Wake up? Entralink?

God I hated this evolution of the game.

/tk

I wasn't trying to be funny here, I really could use help! Does this require me to actually use the C-gear thingie-do?

Or a link for dummies? Pretty please?

/tk

[Chubby]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

I wasn't trying to be funny here, I really could use help! Does this require me to actually use the C-gear thingie-do?

Or a link for dummies? Pretty please?

/tk

It's a pain, I'm hoping Gray makes the whole process easier.

Pokémon Black & White - Pokémon Global Link

When you send a pokemon it has to be asleep.


Pokémon + Nobunaga's Ambition
looks interesting but will probably be region locked

[terpkristin]

Well I got a pokemon.com account, registered and sync'd my game, and I believe put in the password to get the Arceus but I can't find him.

So I put a pokemon to sleep (which is wrong on so many levels), wait for it to dream (how long does that take), then go to a completely different section of the c-gear for "entralink" and find it somehow?

Between the 3DS where the buttons feel unresponsive (half the time it doesn't pick up that I'm hitting the button to run) and the stupidness of Black/White, I never thought I'd crave for a return to the goodness that was SoulSilver and the Pokewalker.

Edit: OK I guess I figured it out. That was completely convoluted. Quite disappointing.

/tk

[Chubby]

as I said, it's a pain

[DataKing]

Sorry I wasn't around this weekend to provide any help or insight TK. And yes, it is a pain in the arse.

[terpkristin]

Serebii says....

Following the reveal of the Mewtwo WiFi event over a week ago, we now have the details on the end-date. This WiFi Event, which begins on Sunday February 12th is due to end just two weeks later on February 26th. This event is accessible by all English language games. This Mewtwo is special in that it knows moves it should learn at a later point and one it doesn't naturally learn: Psystrike, Shadow Ball, Aura Sphere and Electro Ball. The Event Database has been updated with these new details.

/tk

[terpkristin]

Dola,

I loved EO I (though I haven't finished it) and I have EO II. Am I a sucker for punishment that I'm considering EO IV (I skipped III)?
Now You Can Get Lost in the Sky

Also...
Pokemon Black/White 2. What could this be?
Pokemon Black and White Version 2 coming this fall to North America | Joystiq

/tk

[terpkristin]

Serebii posted....

In The Games Department
Pokémon Black & White - Reshiram/Zekrom Event

For those of you with the English langue games (American, European, Australian), a new WiFi event has been announced. This download provides a special Level 100 Reshiram or Zekrom for your games. If you have Pokémon Black, you get Zekrom while if you have Pokémon White, you'll get Reshiram. These Pokémon are to be Level 100 which indicates that this is an international occurance of the Movie Event Reshiram & Zekrom that came in July last year in Japan which had the special moves of Blue Flare, Fusion Flare, Mist & Draco Meteor and Bolt Strike, Fusion Bolt, Haze & Outrage respectively. This event is to run from March 10th 2012 to April 8th 2012. Like the Japanese counterparts, these event Pokémon will acces the special Pokémon Movie Home on the Dream World to access new C-Gears. The Event Database has been updated with details of this event

/tk

[sterlingice]

Good deal

SI

[terpkristin]

Played some of the multiplayer of Kid Icarus: Uprising at PAX East this past weekend (took off my thumb splint to do it). Despite my general disdain for the "joystick" thumbpad and stylus control for games, I found Kid Icarus to be kinda fun! So much so that I ordered it from Amazon.

I also went to a panel on the use of StreetPass. I've never turned on StreetPass prior to PAX, since I live in a suburb and would never get hits in normal life. Over PAX, I got ~680 tags, 620 unique. There is a group called StreetPass Network that arranges meetups. There are mini-games associated with the tags you get, and some 3DS games use the StreetPass and SpotPass functionality. StreetPass Network – Connecting Gamers Across the World

One of the upcoming games that will utilize the SpotPass functionality is Heroes of Ruin. It was described as Diablo for the 3DS. It's coming out in June in the US and will have online multiplayer and daily challenges via SpotPass. One of the devs was on the StreetPass Network panel so there was a lot of good info. I ended up pre-ordering that one, too, as it looks pretty freaking cool. I'm now trying to recruit others to get it. Heroes of Ruin - Welcome

Finally, I ordered Tales of the Abyss. I've heard good things about the Tales games in general, though this will be my first.

/tk

[terpkristin]

A bunch of news today on 3DS. Animal Crossing is coming (I really wish they'd make an AC type game for iOS, I'd be all over it). New Super Mario Brothers 2 is coming. Etrian Odyssey 4 is coming. And there's some AR Pokedex type thing.

From a firmware point of view, there is an update coming that will allow better organization of the home screen. I dunno, I keep mine alphabetical.

Also, I would really like the 3DS in this story: Nintendo announces 'New Super Mario Bros. 2' and major 3DS firmware update | The Verge

Also, I've only played about an hour of Tales of the Abyss so far but I like it alright. I'm not used to the "action" component in the fighting and I'm abysmal with the various moves (and the circle pad). But I'm hanging in...

/tk

[Big Fo]

I'm glad they've finally decided to do something about patches (I'm not sure whether they weren't allowed or just weren't possible before). The Mario Kart 7 update will be most welcome, getting rid of some unintended shortcuts that ruin certain stages.

I don't really like the NSMB games in terms of how they look, it's just kind of bland compared to the Galaxy games, Super Mario 3D Land, Super Mario World, Yoshi's Island, etc. The DS game was pretty good and the Wii one was better so I'm not really worried about how it plays though.

[sterlingice]

This would make me very happy, if true:
http://ds.ign.com/articles/122/1223421p1.html

The original might be my favorite game on the DS (it's between that, the amazing 2D revival from NSMB and Mario Kart DS, which was possibly the best iteration in the series).

SI

[terpkristin]

While I agree that Mario Kart DS was better than Mario Kart Wii, I still think "best in the series" goes to the SNES version. I really hate the blue shells. And never played on N64 or 'Cube.

/tk

[Grover]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

While I agree that Mario Kart DS was better than Mario Kart Wii, I still think "best in the series" goes to the SNES version. I really hate the blue shells. And never played on N64 or 'Cube.

/tk

This. The original is still the best.

[terpkristin]

For Pokemon Black/White players, Serebii announced another WiFi event, this time for a Darkrai. It started on 5/9 and ends 6/10 for North American versions of the game. It'll be a level 50 and will carry an enigma berry.

/tk

[terpkristin]

Lots of stuff to "report."

I bought New Super Mario Bros 2 for 3DS. I'm enjoying it a lot, much more than I did Super Mario 3D Land (which I'm slowly growing to like). I really like that you could get it as a digital download--no cart to carry around!

At PAX Prime, I played Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion. It was a nice retro-feeling platformer, I'll definitely be buying this one. It reminded me to a small extent of the old DuckTales game. I played this one on a 3DS XL. I was surprised by how the 3DS XL felt...where I felt like the DSi XL was a bit heavy and didn't fit well in my hand, I did like the 3DS XL. I'm contemplating buying one but am not sure how/if games and game saves transfer...and the Mii Plaza/Street Pass stuff...I've gotten something like 1500 Street Pass tags between PAX and PAX Prime.

I also bought Pokemon Conquest, but haven't had a chance to play it yet. Hopefully this weekend.

Awhile ago, I bought Heroes of Ruin (a 3DS game), it's a hack-and-slash type RPG that has single player, local co-op, and online co-op (and has Street Pass features and daily and weekly challenges). The control scheme is taking me a little while to get used to, but I'm also enjoying it. It's a bit like Diablo II.

I'm still playing Pokemon White and am looking forward to White 2/Black 2. W2/B2 will retain the C-Gear, which I think is one of the most useless "innovations" in the game. I have heard that it makes a lot of sense if you play local or online matches (but I don't). I wish they'd make the bottom screen useful again, like it was in HeartGold/SoulSilver.

Speaking of Pokemon, in celebration of B2/W2, there is a GameStop event to get a Keldeo (level 15). I got mine in Seattle. The event ends on 10/6, the day before B2/W2 comes out. I'm definitely going to be getting B2/W2 and am currently trying to decide between pre-ordering at Amazon or GameStop. I'll be recovering from my back surgery, so will not be able to drive myself and my folks may not want to drive me to GS to get it release day...so Amazon is simpler. But I do like the idea of having it on release day...

Speaking of Pokemon events, there is currently an ongoing event for Porygon. Serebii shows:

Originally Posted by Serebii

OT: Yours
ID: Yours
Ability: Analytic
Hold Item: No Item
Any Nature.

Entree Forest. Met at Lv. 10
Moves: Tackle, Conversion, Sharpen, Psybeam

Description: Pokémon Global Link Renewal Gift
Type: Global Link
Location: North America
Start Date 12 July 2012
End Date 27 September 2012

Games Available: Black, White

This Pokémon is transferred from the Global Link during the event but needs to be captured in Entree Forest at any time afterwards

Can someone walk me through how to get this? Do I need to put one of my Pokemon to sleep again? Man I hate that system.

/tk

[sterlingice]

Picked up a 3DS XL and am pretty happy one day in.

Let's start from the beginning, sort of. I had a DS Lite and I sat on it with it open face, snapping the hinge (which was part of the cover). I worked on laptops at the time so I bought a replacement case on eBay and put it on there- only the wiring was even smaller and more of a pain to route so it wasn't a perfect job. It was starting to come apart when the dsi XL came out so I made the jump and was in love from the start.

Then the 3DS came out: much lower battery life (never ran out but actually came close a time or two) and the little tiny screen. I felt cheated even tho the 3D was amazing. Well, I did the upgrade yesterday and am thrilled again.

Good:
-Nice screen: the 3D just looks better on a larger screen as it's slightly more immersive
-Longer battery life (in theory)
-Data transfer worked great! It took about an hour but I got all ambassador games transferred as well as other downloads and it wiped the old one so it was perfectly ready for a trade in

Bad:
-Why no 2nd circle pad, Nintendo?!?
-Yeah, it's a bit heavier but I like the heft, frankly- feels like a dsi XL
-$199 price tag on top of $169 for 3DS a year or so ago (I got it in the couple day window when it dropped to $169 but could still get the ambassador games)
-Traded in 3DS for $100 at Gamestop. However, they couldn't do transfer in store as it required internet access. So I had to buy 3DS XL yesterday, transfer overnight, and then do a return and rebuy

SI

[terpkristin]

Picked up Pokemon Black 2 today. Starters are the same as Black/White, so this time I went with the grass ferret thing. In White, I went with the water dog that looked like a panda.

I know SI picked it up...anybody else?

/tk

[Chubby]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

Picked up Pokemon Black 2 today. Starters are the same as Black/White, so this time I went with the grass ferret thing. In White, I went with the water dog that looked like a panda.

I know SI picked it up...anybody else?

/tk

I thought it came out tuesday but i'm grabbing it

[sterlingice]

I picked up White 2. I'll post Friend Code when I get to that point

SI

[Chubby]

Just grabbed white, starter will be fire as usual

[sterlingice]

I did Tepig in Black so I'll be going with Oshawott in White (since tk went Snivy). I was a big fan of Tepig in Black since he's got the double skill with fire and fighting.

SI

[sterlingice]

Actually, never mind. I did Snivy last time. I forgot that the promo Victini was my fire sweeper. And I had a nice balance with those two and Carracosta since I like turtles. Fire chicken (Torchic) was the fight/fire I really liked.

I'll try Tepig this time

SI

[Chubby]

so playing 3ds Pokemon Dream Radar unlocks more stuff?

[SackAttack]

I picked up a used 3DS a couple days ago for around a hundred. Decided I wanted to play the Mario games too much to wait for a new unit to get down to that price.

Picked up StarFox 3D for $10 on clearance at Sears yesterday, too. That should keep me busy for a while.

[sterlingice]

I couldn't convince my wife to go to Sears today to check for some of the clearance games as they are fairly inconvenient.

SI

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

I couldn't convince my wife to go to Sears today to check for some of the clearance games as they are fairly inconvenient.

SI

About half the games my store had were "clearance." Either old sports titles or things like Pokemon Diamond for $34.99.

They had Zelda for $25, but that was insufficiently cheap to trigger the hoarding reflex.

[sterlingice]

CAG had a pretty decent list. Star Fox was one that I wanted

SI

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by Chubby

so playing 3ds Pokemon Dream Radar unlocks more stuff?

That's what the Nintendo rep said at PAX.

/tk

[Chubby]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

That's what the Nintendo rep said at PAX.

/tk

I bought it, gotten 2 munna so far and some "energy". Not enough to upgrade yet tho

Downloaded genesect so now I just need to trade and ill have seen every pokemon. My caught list is prob 80% complete

[sterlingice]

I'm having a harder and harder time finding Pokemon I want to beat an entire game with. I tend to like 3 evolution Pokemon and I'm just not having any luck finding ones that are interesting or that I haven't used before so I think I'm going to give up on that this time out and just go with a nice combo to power through the game.

SI

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

CAG had a pretty decent list. Star Fox was one that I wanted

SI

Yeah, the list was great. The actual selection, less so. There was an employee looking over the bin when I got there, so...I suspect that's at least partly why.

[Chubby]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

I'm having a harder and harder time finding Pokemon I want to beat an entire game with. I tend to like 3 evolution Pokemon and I'm just not having any luck finding ones that are interesting or that I haven't used before so I think I'm going to give up on that this time out and just go with a nice combo to power through the game.

SI

Yeah, I'm going with emboar, lucario (can catch him early), prob genesect and then who knows...

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Chubby

Yeah, I'm going with emboar, lucario (can catch him early), prob genesect and then who knows...

I'm doing Tepig, Genesect, and recent event Keldeo (both event Pokemon at level 15 for game starting convenience!). Then my back of the napkin sketch has Beldum as I've always wanted to use one and really never have and Deino because I was looking for an interesting Dark Pokemon to work with and he looks strong enough that even with a level 50 first evolution, I'll be ok with him. So that's 5 pretty beefy Pokemon to work with, tho Genesect and Keldeo are kindof boring with no evolutions. That said, it didn't stop me from stomping through the game with Victini as 1A last time to my Snivy. I guess strong can trump interesting most days.

SI

[sterlingice]

After making a trade online, I have everything I need.

I'm glad I held onto my dsi XL so I could trade between my copy of Black and White 2. As soon as you have the c-gear you can trade between the two (tho they need to be on a flat surface to communicate at first).

So, I traded over the Gamespot Keldeo and a Deino level 1 that I bred from my Black cart. Someone online traded me a level 1 Beldum and a Ditto (for breeding purposes only) to my Black cart and I traded that up to White 2, as well. So, they join Tepig who is one level from evolving and Genesect to form my ... fearsome fivesome? I dunno.

SI

[sterlingice]

If you haven't played 999, go and do.

If you have played 999 and want to get Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward, the sequel, on the 3DS. DON'T! There's a glitch where you can lose your saved game. There are something like 24 endings in VLR and it sounds like it's a lot easier to switch between them this time out rather than playing through the game 5 full times like in 999 (again, highly recommended that if you play 999: do this to get all the backstory- I can help with the order of rooms). IGN had the game clocked at about 30 hours to play all endings and if you lose your save data, you lose all of it- not just the current playthrough. No word yet from Aksys on a patch.

The Vita version does not have this glitch so if you're going to get the game, get it on the Vita.

SI