A closer look at the 3DS launch line-up

It’s official: Nintendo has cancelled Christmas. Or at least, it's announced that its forthcoming wonder handheld, the 3DS, won’t be available until next spring. This means I’ll now spend the entire festive season sitting under my Christmas tree in the void where the console’s box should have been, arms folded, sulking.

Still, Nintendo has provided some solace by revealing a list of the games we can expend come the 3DS’s launch. While many of the titles are familiar ones – there are few original properties to be found among them – there are some truly cracking names that are sure to get longtime Nintendo fans wringing their hands with excitement.

Kid Icarus: Uprising is perhaps the most appealing of the lot – if nothing else, it’s exciting to have the erstwhile Kid back after 19 years in videogame purgatory – but the two Resident Evil games, Revelations and The Mercenaries look as though they’ll provide an ample showcase for the 3DS’s new, improved graphics tech. And Pilotwings Resort sees the return of the 16-bit era’s most fondly remembered titles - and having had a little hands-on time with it, we can confidently say it shows off the console’s specs-free 3D perfectly.

And while some have criticised Nintendo’s line-up to be a little too ‘safe’ and devoid of original titles, it’s great to see the return of Ocarina Of Time, and to see the big N’s core-gamer audience so roundly catered for after years of baby sitting and horse training simulators.

Indeed, the only obvious concession to the casual crowd we can spot is Nintendogs And Cats, though it could be argued that Animal Crossing will also appeal to a broad audience, from the very young to older players who, faintly embarrassed at playing a game filled with whimsy and furry animals, will enjoy tinkering with the game in secret.

Nintendo’s launch line-up trailer, which you can see below, also affords our first glimpse of the 3DS’s recharging cradle, as well as the shiny Aqua Blue case, an alternative to the only other colour available, which Nintendo call Cosmo Black.

While production worries have forced Nintendo - against president Satoru Iwata’s wishes, we’re told - to push the 3DS’s launch to February in Japan, the company reportedly expects the handheld to shift four million units in its first month.

Those are big sales for a handheld console with a £189 RRP, a price point that will possibly place it beyond the reach of a broader, more casual audience. But a glance over the games due out for the console in its first few months suggests that Nintendo is devoting its attention almost exclusively to the hardcore market, initially at least.

The 3DS is pencilled in for a March release outside Japan. Until then, here’s that full list of upcoming titles…

Spring 2011
Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time 3D
Nintendogs And Cats
Pilotwings Resort (working title)
Pro Baseball Spirits
Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracle
Ridge Racer 3D
Samurai Warriors Chronicle
Steel Diver
Super Monkey Ball (working title)
Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition

Unspecified 2011
Kid Icarus: Uprising
Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D - The Naked Sample

To Be Announced
Chocobo Racing 3D (working title)
Star Fox 64 3D
Animal Crossing (working title)
Dead or Alive: Dimensions
Paper Mario (working title)
Mario Kart (working title)
Resident Evil: Revelations
Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D

Gamespot