3DS Shocker

Today Nintendo made a huge announcement that set the games world ablaze, and that was they were cutting the price of the 3DS by 30 percent, from 249 to 169. Keep in mind that it's only been six months since the handheld came out. Nintendo has also stated that they are in a slump and sales are down quite a bit year on year. Is this that shocking though? No, I don't really think so, and I think it's a move Nintendo needed to make, although maybe a bit sooner than they had wanted.

Most people know that the console hasn't been doing the numbers that Nintendo had wanted it to, and some may say that's the rather high price point, and others may say it's the lack of games available for the system, or you could say that it's both of those things. The console is a cool innovation to say the least, and there's room to do some cool things for it, but there's not much going for it. Now though, I'd say that things are looking up for Nintendo. There's some things that still need to be worked on, and Nintendo is facing still the upcoming threat of the PS Vita, as well as the wide availability of Apple's touch devices, but this early price drop, and the games coming out for it this fall, I feel will actually start to put the 3DS in peoples pockets.

Now, at 169, with StarFox 3D, Kid Icarus, Mario Kart 7, Super Mario 3D Land amongst others coming out, I think the catalogue is starting to look pretty solid for the little handheld.

Not to mention the promise of GameBoy Advance games on the eShop.

As well though it is important to note that for those who already have 3DS's they will get 20 free games to download to their 3DS; 10 NES games, and 10 GBA games, including the original Legend of Zelda and Metroid Fusion amongst other great games. For those who already have one and are suffering the lack of games that's definitely a bonus.

I'm personally excited. I think the move was a bit early, and earlier than I expected but it's the right move for Nintendo to make to start moving units, and start putting games out there. Nintendo isn't really hurting but they needed to make a big and bold move, and I'm glad to see that they have definitely stepped up.

Now let's see how they do with the Wii U.

Final Fantasy III

Over the last month now there has been a lot of talk about Nintendo not releasing 3 great and deep game experiences on the Wii. Sadly there may not be any Xenoblade or Pandora's Tower coming soon, however they did slide in one of the greats onto the Virtual Console.

Final Fantasy III.

I have been playing games for over two decades now, but Final Fantasy III on the SNES still stands as my all time favorite game and one of the best games ever made in my opinion. While II for the SNES also had a stellar cast and story, everything that happens in III just seemed more epic, more important. While having grown up on a steady supply of fantasy novels and Star Wars, FF III seemed like the greatest combination of all that I loved at the time, in a nice 60-plus hour package. The story of the evil empire and the band of rebels fighting against them, all the characters, the romance, the twists, the magic, the epic shift half way through the game.

Everything. This game was amazing, and still is.

The opportunity to play through this game again on the tv is bringing back all those memories from when I rented it from the video store in my hometown, and spent countless afternoons and evenings playing it. Then after getting it for Christmas a few months after I played it even more. I still remember beating it the first time and being in awe of the ending that seemed to go on for forever, but even then, I didn't want it to end.

It's been awhile since I played FF III, somethings I remember, somethings I forget, and I am definitely glad I have the chance to play it all over again and enjoy one of the highlights of my youth.

Greatest game ever.