No mention of Monster Hunter 4?

Where's that facepalm jpg?

I really don't like how it needs a AAA battery. I would've rather have them include a rechargeable battery that augments the existing 3DS battery and price higher more if need be. As it is, if I want to use the second circle pad, I would have to manage two energy sources. Also, $20 is a bit much for such a big thing that requires another battery.


I think it has been said that the games listed don't require the add-on?

First handheld kingdom hearts game with dual analog. Can't wait.

Well, that list of 3rd party games that will use the peripheral pretty much confirms that it's going to see some wide adoption.  That it requires its own AAA battery is insane, though.  I guess if you don't want to do that, there's always the inevitable 3DS redesign with it built in.

We need one with an infinite number of facepalms.

Would it be better if the Circle Pad Add-on plugged into the 3DS and syphoned off the internal battery pack instead?

I don't think a since AAA battery is all that bad, but I just hope they make the thing thinner and more attractive. It needs to be streamlined a little.




but since you guys requested it
http://i49.tinypic.com/200z5nr.jpg
there you go

This whole attachment deserves many facepalms.

Really? I really don't understand the motivation behind this. Did Monster Hunter's team demand it, with other third parties deciding they may as well tag along for the ride?

Can I contribute?

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p101/ShortyMcNostril/picardmontage.jpg

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p101/ShortyMcNostril/facepalm2.jpg

That's better.

This pretty much guarantees that there is a full redesign in the works.

Maybe the third party developers and Nintendo thought it would be a good idea for those that want more optional controls for their games. They seemed okay with not minding that fact that Nintendo should have thought of this before they launched the system.


Maybe we'll know more if there's a future Iwata Asks on the subject

Ehh... It still seems to be an optional accessory to me, not a required one.

It'd be hilarious if this never made it to the states... then everyone complaining about it existing would then be complaining that they don't get to have it.  ;D

Let me say MGS 3D NEEDED dual analog at E3.
Ace Combat looked like it would be helped.

Weren't a lot of those games mysteriously delayed at about the same time?  I'm waiting on Cave Story to support it.

People saying this accessory still looks optional, and that a redesign isn't imminent need to take their heads out of... the sand.


Monster Hunter, Metal Gear, Resident Evil and more all will need the accessory?  And that's known from the day of the official announcement. More major titles sure to follow suit. Sure we don't need the expansion, but that's assuming we don't care about playing some of the biggest franchises on the console.


Shame on me for getting suckered into buying due to the price drop. I don't have money to replace the system, and wouldn't dream of carrying that monstrous add-on with me (size alone prevents that from being practical). Maybe using it at home won't be that bad... but it feels like a big "F-you" to hear that the portable games I want to play aren't going to be portable due to poor design decisions and Nintendo rushing the initial model to market. But hey, who uses local multiplayer or StreetPass anyway?
:@




I've never understood why people try to excuse Microsoft for releasing a poorly designed and half-baked console with the 360.  The hardware was a piece of crap, regardless of the quality of games for the system, and Microsoft knew it. Nintendo's SNAFU isn't quite as bad because at least the current 3DS systems don't have insane failure rates... but their situation isn't much better and they certainly aren't getting a free pass from me. Way to kick your fans in the junk, Nintendo!

Do those games absolutely need the attachment? I thought they could be played without it. The demo of Revelations played fine without a right slide pad. I prefer the default RE5 controls but I'm okay without it.

The lack of Kid Icarus on that list is worrisome given the complaints of people who've played it.

I'm wondering the same thing.  I think that, for better or worse, the 3DS may now in its own small way follow in the footsteps of the Wii and have multiple (or at least, 2) control schemes for games. Remember how many Wii games, particularly 3rd parties, would have wiimote controls, wiimote and nunchuck, classic, etc...

The only way Revelations would NEED the attachment would be if they bundled it in with the game.  No way a 3rd party is going that route, because it would either raise the game's price point (if they raised the price to...say $49.99) or eat into their margin (if they kept the standard 3DS price of $39.99).  For Monster Hunter, they can do that because that game prints money.  Revelations?  Not so big.

Notice that list has no 1st party titles.

This screams "Not in a redesign coming anytime soon."

Yet again I can point to Monster Hunter Tri.  Most people prefer to play it with the CCPro but you are perfectly competitive and fine using the Wiimote and Nunchuk controls.  I really doubt any game will fully require this add-on.  Unlike say having to have a DSi to play DSi-Ware.

I don't think the circle pad icon is hinting at no redesign any time soon. Nintendo still has to let people know which games are compatible. Even after a redesign launches, that icon will still be present even if the circle pad is built in.

There's already six games announced that use this?  How many Motion+ games were announced when it was revealed?  Two?  It's clear that third parties want to support this and it was a big oversight on Nintendo's part to not have one in the first place (not that I'm surprised; Nintendo thinks "gimmick first" these days.)

The requirement of a AAA battery is really lame.  But it requires power and adding a rechargable battery was probably too expensive.  The whole thing is shoehorned in in the first place.  The position of it is dumb, the way it bulks up the system is dumb, so the battery requirement just fits the panicky amateur hour design.

The 3DS redesign is inevitable.  It was anyway but it's going to show up much sooner than we figured.

Gotta love how Nintendo talks big about being third party friendly with the Wii U.  Well, did you guys talk to third parties at all about the 3DS?  You figure this "you need a second analog stick" would have come up if you did.  Nintendo talks about winning back core gamers with the Wii U but 2011 has just been a massive "we-have-no-idea-what-we're-doing" clusterfuck.

...That game needs more than an extra circle doohickey to fix it.


It is my understanding that this remains optional for all games. Video of someone playing Monster Hunter 3G was shown during the event yesterday - without Circle Pad Pad. I've played RE: Revelations without the second Circle Pad, and it played fine - although I can see where it would help. I played MGS:3D - and while it needed this - I'm sure it is optional. Ace Combat benefits less than MGS:3D, so I doubt it is required there either.


I would guess all of these games can be played without, if only to prevent fragmenting the base.


But the AAA battery part is monumentally dumb.

This might be a little nitpicking but I can't find the Source link on the top of the article.  Should be there...

The requirement of a battery sucks, but it has to be powered somehow. This was probably the cheapest way they could pull it off, because including a rechargeable battery might have doubled the cost of the thing.

If the 3rd parties were in on design decisions like Nintendo said, all the same 3rd parties that were developing for PSP, then there is no way that 2nd analog stick didn't come up. If Nintendo had been listening to the consumer demands, then they would have seen that dual analog was a big request. If Nintendo had been paying attention to the PSP at all, and knew that they not only wanted to kill that system but take all of it's games, then they would have known that dual analog needed to happen as that was the biggest problem with the PSP and the most common complaint from consumers.

Everyone can wait for the MadCatz version that will double as a 2nd or extended rechargeable battery and a permanent dock. but will also cost nearly $40-50.




I just hope Nintendo includes a single rechargeable AAA battery in the pack. and then a port to plug the add-on in directly to recharge it.

Source: Japan

Cheater.

According to Ars Tehcnica, the attachment is $20. Who wants to pay that much for something that should have been built into the system from the beginning? "Not I," said the blind man as he picked up his hammer and saw...

Better yet the Nyko version that takes what they have already done w/ the extended battery so the attachment will screw in and lose a little of the bulk from having to slide on and still contain the Nyko extended battery that would be awesome.

Better yet, the Nyko version will be be Bluetooth wireless (with a plug for connecting the extended battery), "once again solving a problem no one had."  ;)

On a positive note, multiple games have been announced which support it. So that means there are now multiple reasons to own the peripheral as opposed to just one game which we knew about prior to today. It sucks it costs $20 instead of the $10 it was rumored to cost, but at least now we know its not just a one hit wonder.

But I can still play these games without spending $20 extra. Yeah, I'll do that.

Are you sure it isn't required? It might be in many cases.

Although there are similarities between this and Motion+, they're also vastly different situations. The biggest difference is that M+ came about pretty late in the Wii's life, and after most everybody already had the system. This has a much smaller established user base, comprised primarily of the kind of people who could be talked into buying one. It's a lot more realistic to turn this into something that's widely used than making M+ the standard ever was.

Also, this is less drastic in how it changes controls than M+ was. M+ required a vastly different way of motion control, and was basically either-or with the standard Wii remote, which limited its use to games more or less built specifically for it. As Crimm pointed out, this is easy enough to include as an option in games that also work without it, which means it's fairly likely that more games will include support for it. You don't get to be the standard by dramatically improving a select few games, you do it by offering a modest but noticeable improvement to a whole bunch of things, and this has the potential to do that, if enough companies get behind it.

A couple of people keep saying it won't be required, but I'm not at all convinced. Not any longer.


If dual analog does become the standard control for major third-party releases, then games will require it.  If there is a redesign before 3DS sales pick up, so that the majority of the install base has access to the extra stick either by default or by add-on, then games will require it. Maybe not in the short-term, but there is a reason the accessory is reported to be packed in with Monster Hunter instead of offering the game or accessory separately.

??

There is video out there of Monster Hunter TriG being played without the attachment.  I'll try to find it.

There's a MHtriG release without the slide pad.

http://www.siliconera.com/2011/09/13/arm-yourself-with-one-of-the-many-monster-hunter-3g-bundles/

As an aside, the figurine looks pretty cool.

The Lagi set with the SnS or GS but, I like the female one better with the Lance.

Though Serious enough my takeaway from that article is that you will be required to have a clock to play MHTriG.

I'm telling you people: the second Circle Pad is optional. I've played over half of these games before - without the pad.

But for how long?

It is a mystery.

I'm betting that there won't be a game that requires the second circle pad until the accessory sell a lot or until the 3DS revision sports the extra controls.

Long enough  to determine that Pogo Cat was the Superior game.

While I don't doubt that the expansion will be optional, some people played Odama with bongos...

I need to do that.

Well, you can't.*  The version that used Bongos was never released - only shown at some trade shows, before the Bongo use was cut entirely.*

*There's a small "glitch" (dunno if it's actually a glitch or not) that allows you to clap (or tap the bongos) and send out more troops - including before you've launched your next Odama ball - something that can't be done during normal game play.  This is completely undocumented and I've never been able to find out if it was done on purpose or left over from when the game was being developed to use Bongos.

They're not going to do this. This will not be required for a bunch of third party titles. Why would they want to split their base for a handheld that already doesn't have a very high installed base?


"Alright guys, we need a new corporate strategy to battle the recession. Go!"
"What if we sold less copies?"
"I'm listening."
"Let's split the base. It will look 'exclusive'!"
"GENIUS! DO IT! I DON'T WANT TO SEE US SELL MORE THAN 20k COPIES THIS YEAR! IF I DO YOU'RE ALL FIRED!"

I agree, I don't think it's likely.  I was just pointing out that your reasoning - having played pre-release builds of the games - doesn't really hold up. :D

I think it does.


Because Odama was...well it was Odama. It is not a valid counterpoint to anything.

Odama is awesome, shut your mouth.

But there are several games where the final product varied greatly from pre-release builds shown at various trade shows.  Donkey Kong: Barrel Blast would be another one.

Now, the only way I see any one of the games requiring the slide pad would be if the game was bundled with the item and that's the only way the game was sold (think Guitar Hero On Tour).  But even then, I'd be surprised.