Very soon now, Nintendo's promises of a glasses-free 3-D future will be fulfilled with the release of the company's new portable gaming device, the Nintendo 3DS. We already knew that the price is set at $249.99 and that the handheld will be released on March 27. Other details have been sparse however, including the all-important question of what games will be available at launch. Nintendo answered that question today for North American customers, and you can see the full list after the jump.
There are 18 games coming in all, unless you count the different versions of "nintendogs + cats" as different games, in which case the count becomes an even 20. The three first-party titles -- "nintendogs + cats" (three versions), "Steel Diver" and "Pilotwings Resort" -- will retail for $39.99, according to Nintendo. Nintendo has some big first-party offerings coming up later thigs year too, including the 3-D remake of "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time," "Kid Icarus: Uprising," "Star Fox 64 3D" and a new "Mario Kart" game.
The remaining 13 third-party games are spread across a range of publishers. The biggest highlight is probably "Super Street Fighter 4 3D Edition" from Capcom. No "Resident Evil: Mercenaries" though. Here's the full list straight from Nintendo's press release, detailing each game and its publisher.
* "Super Street Fighter 4 3D Edition" from CAPCOM
* "The Sims 3" from EA
* "Madden NFL Football" from EA SPORTS
* "Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D" from Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.
* "LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars" from LucasArts
* "RIDGE RACER 3D" from NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc.
* "Super Monkey Ball 3D" from SEGA
* "BUST-A-MOVE UNIVERSE" from Square-Enix, Inc.
* "SAMURAI WARRIORS: Chronicles" from TECMO KOEI AMERICA Corp.
* "Asphalt 3D" from UBISOFT
* "Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs" 3D from UBISOFT
* "Rayman 3D" from UBISOFT
* "Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars" from UBISOFT
For my money, any launch list that includes both a "Bust-A-Move" game and a new "[insert combat style] Warriors" game from Koei is a guaranteed winner. Which is probably why I don't run my own game company, but count me excited regardless.