The sudden and massive price cut and the Ambassador Program to reward early adopters are two clear signs that Nintendo is already pushing the panic button on the 3DS after an unremarkable first few months on the market. Now Nintendo is lining up a star-studded fall/holiday game release schedule to give the 3DS just the shot in the arm it so desperately needs for its second-chance launch.
The run of Nintendo mascot titles begins on September 9th with the launch of Star Fox 64 3D. After that, Super Mario 3D Land will follow in November. And then Mario Kart 7 will follow in December.
Although still without a firm ship date, Nintendo also continues to push Kid Icarus: Uprising as a holiday season killer-app. Frankly, I grow more worried by the day that it’ll slip into next year. But hopefully my pessimistic side is proven wrong and the game makes it out by Christmas time.
Beyond Nintendo’s offerings, the outlook on third-party 3DS games is very promising over the second half of the year. Key 3DS games to look out for post-price cut include Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked (Aug. 23), Shinobi (Nov. 15), Dr. Lautrec & the Forgotten Knights (Oct. 18), Cooking Mama 4: Kitchen Magic (Oct. 18), Pokemon Rumble Blast (Oct. 24), Nano Assault (Nov. 22) and Cave Story 3D (Nov. 8).
Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D, Sonic Generations and Tales of the Abyss are also still slated for U.S. launches by end of 2011. But none have concrete dates in place, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if any one or all three fall back to 2012.
Here are the most recent trailers for some of the big 3DS games you should be looking forward to later this year!