Zelda.in

In light of the upcoming holiday season, several industry a analysts have put in their two-cents concerning this year's line-up. Both the 3DS and Skyward Sword were mentioned. If Nintendo's upcoming 3DS software can deliver, analysts think the system should start to pick up, but the iPhone and the PSVita will start cutting into the 3DS's potential sales market. The comments related to Skyward Sword were not so positive. More inside....

Nintendo's decision to cut the price of the 3DS by $80 was a bold one. The cut was even greater in Japan, where the 3DS went from 25,000 yen ($317) to 15,000 yen ($190). But did the cut pay off? According Japanese publication, Nikkei, following the price cut, the Nintendo 3DS sold 207,000 units in Japan between August 8th and August 14th. The price cut gave the 3DS a sales boost, making this week the biggest sales week since launch, but what's important now is that the handheld maintain its current sales rate. Remember, the 3DS had a great launch week, but sales slumped afterwards. So will Nintendo be able to keep the 3DS a float this time around?...

Well, the Nintendo 3DS can now be bought at $169.99, and registration for the Ambassador Program is over. For those who did register to the program, like me, Nintendo has given us a way to keep an eye on our status in the latest Nintendo eShop News Update. It's a nice touch for those who want to keep an eye on what is going on, and the website should be running within the next few days. The website will allow members to enter the Nintendo 3DS serial number to check their Nintendo 3DS Ambassador Program eligibility. They will be sending out another news post when the site is up. If you would like to see the full news post, continue reading!...

Nintendo 3DS users who frequent the eShop might often ask themselves why certain downloadable software isn't free. There are quite a few free downloads available in the eShop, but if you noticed, that software is strictly from Nintendo. This isn't because third parties don't want to offer freebies, but because they aren't allowed to. ...

Artist Mikaël "Orioto" Aguirre has been doing a little experimenting using the Nintendo 3DS's ability to view images in 3D. The artist has recently created three digital paintings that can be viewed in 3D when you load them onto your 3DS. For those of us who don't have that option, GIF versions of the paintings have been posted online, in order to give some idea of how hese paintings might look in 3D. Jump inside to check them out. UPDATE: An additional batch of 3D paintings have hit the web, along with a tutorial on how to make them. You can view the new paintings inside....

Unless you've been living under a rock, many of you are aware that the 3DS is dropping it's price from 249.99$ to 169.99$ in the United States today. Sure, some lucky folks have taken advantage of both Walmart and Target dropping the 3DS price early, but now people everywhere are able to get it at that price. As a reminder, the Ambassador Program is only available to those that owned a 3DS prior to Midnight this morning and had it registered via a new system update. This update is how Nintendo can confirm whether or not you owned the 3DS prior to Midnight or not. For those who forgot to do such an update, you may be out of luck to get 20 free games. I stress the word may because if you have already registered your system with Nintendo, it's likely that you can still call and prove ownership prior to date, and thus get your 20 free games anyways. If you have never connected your 3DS online however, you're out of luck....

If you are planning on waiting to buy a Nintendo 3DS after the price-cut later this week, you might want to wait a little longer. Nintendo announced this morning that the Flame Red edition of the 3DS will be released in North America on September 9th, 2011, in addition to the already available black and blue color options. Jump inside for the full press release....

One of the many things that sold me on the Nintendo DS was Colors! I remember some fellow students from my early semesters of college talking about Colors!. It was in a digital painting workshop, and they were talking about this nifty little application for the DS that allowed you to digitally paint on the go. Drawing tablets existed, but they were expensive and heavy, and it was a year or two before the arrival of the iPad and similar devices. It gave the handheld an extra egde over the PSP, at least until now. I think we can all assume that PSVita will have some sort of digital painting program developed for it at some point. So while there are several other and superior options for a portable digital sketchpad, the DS is still a nice option, especially if you already own one. Soon, 3DS owners will also get to enjoy Colors!...

So how about that: Walmart has started to sell the reduced price units today, and Nintendo's online system doesn't go into affect until Friday. This means that if you buy a reduced price 3DS today through thursday, and register your 3DS, you will get into the ambassador program and get the 20 free games. This certainly has to irk a "few" people who paid the full 250$, but it's not like this is Nintendo's fault. Walmart is simply doing what they do best - getting the cheaper price out before everyone else. So, what are you waiting for? Want to get the 20 free games and pay cheaper? Now you can! So head on out to walmart to get your cheap 3DS and still get all the perks those pesky "early adopters" are getting. Seriously, go buy one right now. For those doubting (because online it only lets you preorder at that price), I went to my local store and sure enough Walmart had it listed at 169$. One of my friends in the next state over actually bought one today at that price. So, this appears to be nation wide....

In wake of the Nintendo 3DS price drop, we learned that Nintendo was planning to offer twenty free downloadable games to loyal customers who had purchased the system before the drop date. These customers will become a part of what is known as the Ambassador Program. But free and early access to eShop games is not the only perk for spending an extra seventy dollars on the 3DS. Ambassadors who are also Club Nintendo members will be eligible to earn coins on all twenty of the offered free games....