Sony To Discontinue YouTube and Music Unlimited On Its PlayStation Devices, Including PS Vita...

Sony has today announced changes to some of its PlayStation applications. Amongst those applications affected are Sony's music-streaming app, Music Unlimited, which is due to be discontinued on the 29th of March 2015, and the popular video-streaming app, YouTube, which is set to be discontinued in April 2015.

The news has come as somewhat of a disappointment to fans of these two applications, but never fear: Sony has announced that it will be replacing its Music Unlimited service with a brand new music-streaming service called PlayStation Music, which will be powered by the extremely popular music-streaming service, Spotify.

Fans of the PlayStation YouTube app will also be pleased to hear that they will still be able to access the mobile web version of YouTube from their console's Internet browser, so they can enjoy all the videos that they used to get from the application itself.

Sony has also announced that they will be discontinuing the Near and Maps applications on the PS Vita console soon. This is expected to occur some time in March 2015 via a System Update. It is not yet known whether these applications will be replaced with new versions of similar applications or not but it is clear that some serious changes are afoot...Watch this space!

New Nintendo 3DS Console Gets Official North American and UK Release Dates!

The wait is finally over for Nintendo fans in the UK after a special Nintendo Direct broadcast at 2pm today has revealed some more information about the upcoming New 3DS, including the all-important European release dates!

Mini Gamers can now reveal that the console, which has already been released in places such as Japan and Australia will now debut in the UK and North America on the 13th of February 2015. Furthermore, both the New 3DS and its XL counterpart will debut in the UK on the same date, so there will be no need to upgrade to the larger model (which is equal in size to the current 3DS XL) at a later date. North America will only have the XL model of New 3DS.

Furthermore, there is good news  for Nintendo 3DS users who wish to use their existing 3DS games on the new system, which was initially considered incompatible with existing 3DS software as it has a different, more advanced processor.

Nevertheless, Nintendo yesterday revealed that some existing 3DS titles, including the ever-popular Super Smash Bros. 4, WILL receive a firmware update on the 13th of February that will make them compatible with the New 3DS system. However, Nintendo will still be bringing out some exclusive titles such as Xenoblade Chronicles 3D, (which is set to debut in April 2015,) which will work exclusively with the New 3DS systems only.

As well as being larger and having more processing power than the previous 3DS models, the New 3DS comes equipped with a new C-stick, for enhanced control, as well as a special 'Amiibo' button, which will allow users to sync their New 3DS with Nintendo's unique range of NFC figurines for the first time ever! Nintendo  also announced its second wave of Super Smash Bros. 4 'Amiibo' toys during the broadcast.

We here at Mini Gamers HQ are very excited by the news. Those of you who are desperate to own the New 3DS for yourselves will not have very long to wait at all! If you missed the broadcast yesterday, watch it below now:

Ubisoft's 'Child Of Light' Comes Top Of The Polls At The PlayStation Blog Awards 2014...

The results of the Annual Playstation Blog Game of the Year Awards 2014 were published last night. Almost 400,000 Sony console gamers have cast their votes for their favourite PS4, PS3 and PS Vita games online since voting first began on the 18th of December 2014,

Although results in the PS Vita category were incredibly close, it was Ubisoft who finally picked up the Platinum Award for their game, Child of Light, narrowly beating games such as Freedom Wars and The Binding Of Issac: Rebirth for this honour.

For those of you who haven't had the chance to experience the Child of Light game for yourselves, the trailer below gives you a small taster of this beautiful title:

Problems viewing this trailer? CLICK HERE

For those of you who wish to know which games made the top spot in the other categories, a full list of all the winning titles and runners-up can be obtained by CLICKING HERE.

Nintendo Today, Ebay tomorrow: How 'Loyal' Fans Sell Exclusive New 3DS Consoles At Way Over The Original Price!

In a continuation from our 1st of January post about an exclusive early UK release for Nintendo's New 3DS console, reports are now emerging that some of the special limited-edition New 3DS consoles that have been offered to selected Club Nintendo members are today being sold on the auction site EBAY for almost four times their recommended retail price.

According to an article on Eurogamer earlier today, over fifty New 3DS consoles have now been listed for sale, with the 'Buy It Now' prices reaching as much as £400 in most cases, which is a massive markup on the bundle's original £179.99 price tag. Furthermore, many of these consoles have yet to be shipped to their intended original owners by Nintendo.

Whilst Nintendo's exclusive invitation was a very clever idea, the New 3DS consoles were supposed to be sent to loyal Nintendo fans only, but today it seems as though loyalty counts for nothing when there is a quick profit to be made. Nevertheless, with the New 3DS reaching its official release dates in Japan and Australia, it is likely to be only a matter of time before these models end up for sale on the UK site as well.

For non Club Nintendo members in the UK, the choice is clear: either fork out for a massively overpriced limited edition version of the New 3DS console, or wait for confirmation of a release date for the official one. 

Nevertheless, with no official release date confirmed in the UK, fans of the handheld console are in for a long wait and Mini Gamers cannot help but wonder how many of them will succumb to the idea of an early look at what promises to be a great addition to the existing 3DS range, even if it means paying a lot extra for the privilege...

New 3DS UK Price Range Confirmed, but January 12th Release Date Only For Club Nintendo Members So far, it seems...

Happy New Year! Well, with the start of 2015, comes some interesting information regarding the New 3DS handheld console. Nintendo has revealed that the average price range for the latest addition to their 3DS range will be around £155.99 in the UK later this year.

The price was revealed in an email sent to select Club Nintendo members inviting them to get their hands on a New Nintendo 3DS Ambassador Edition Bundle, a special edition bundle featuring a white New Nintendo 3DS along with exclusive Ambassador Edition cover plates, Super Smash Bros. cover plates and a charging cradle.

The exclusive offer will open on the 6th January 2015, but only those members with an email invitation can purchase the handheld device early. The Ambassador Edition Bundle will cost £179.99 in the UK, with Nintendo pricing the value of the console at £155.99, and the cover plates and cradle at £7.67 each.

Surprisingly, Nintendo has confirmed that Club Nintendo members who which to take advantage of the exclusive invitation could in fact receive the new console as early as next week, but for the rest of the Nintendo fans in the UK, no official release date has yet been given.

The early release of such a console by Nintendo is a very smart move as it is likely to swell the numbers who wish to pre-order the device for themselves, as well as encouraging more fans to sign up for Club Nintendo membership in order to capitalise on any future console deals.

HAVE YOUR SAY...

What do you think of the limited-edition Ambassador New 3DS bundle?

Will you be taking advantage of the offer? 

If you have any comments about this article and you wish to share your opinions with other readers, then please feel free to leave us a comment and let us know.