by Colin Anderson

Created on: February 16, 2011   Last Updated: December 24, 2011

Excitement is building steadily as the launch of the new Nintendo hand held, the 3DS, draws near. The system goes on sale in Japan on April 26th, in the European Union on March 25th, and North America on March 27th. Each region has its own list of titles that will be available at launch, with a mixture of Nintendo published titles and titles produced by other companies being available in each region.

The Japanese release of the 3DS is the earliest, and the games that will be on sale in Japan on “Day 1” are:

Winning Eleven 3D Soccer

Super Street Fighter 4 3D Edition

Samurai Warriors: Chronicles

Tobidasu! Puzzle Bobble 3D

Nintendogs + Cats

Ridge Racer 3D

Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D

Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracle

The European launch list is a little different:

Pilotwings Resort

Nintendogs + Cats:

Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition

The Sims 3

PES 2011 3D – Pro Evolution Soccer

Lego Star Wars III - The Clone Wars

Ridge Racer 3D

Super Monkey Ball 3D

Samurai Warriors: Chronicles

Asphalt 3D

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Shadow Wars

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell 3D

Rayman 3D

The North American launch list includes:

Pilotwings Resort

Nintendogs + Cats

Steeldiver

Dead or Alive

Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D

Madden NFL

Super Street Fighter IV 3D

Asphalt 3D

Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D

Ridge Racer 3D

Resident Evil: The Mercenaries

Lego Star Wars III - The Clone Wars

It should be noted that in all cases these are titles that will be available along side the system, there are many more titles expected to launch over the following weeks. Nintendo has stated that they expect over thirty titles to be available in North America by June.

Each region has its own high-spots amongst the launch titles. European games will be looking forward to Sega's first 3D title in the “Super Monkey Ball” series, a series that has been successful on Nintendo consoles such as the Gamecube and Wii in the past, as well as on various smart phones. Ubisoft are bringing a 3D version of “Rayman” a popular game in the “platformer” genre, and two titles based on Tom Clancy's “Splinter Cell”. Whilst Japanese gamers are getting the fewest titles on day one, possibly as the system launches a month earlier than in other regions, there will be some quality titles on sale. The “Professor Layton” series has built a cult following amongst gamers, and this new instalment is very eagerly anticipated. The North American launch list includes one title that is particularly interesting. “Steel Diver” is a new Nintendo game making its first appearance on the 3DS, it is a submarine combat game, and it looks to make use of many of the new features of the 3DS, including the gyroscope which is used to aim the submarines periscope. This could potentially be an unexpected hit as it offers something new and innovative.

In addition to the games listed, the 3DS comes packaged with some “Augmented Reality” games, which use playing cards and the systems camera to produce unique gaming experiences, such as trying to shoot a monster that appears to be sitting on your coffee table!  Another game included on the system is called “Face Raiders”, a game which allows you to take pictures of yourself, or your family and friends and superimpose them on targets in a shooting game!

In May the 3DS “eShop” will launch and this will allow you to download games to play. Little is known regarding which games will be available at the start of this service.

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