New 3DS US Midnight Launches At GameStop and GAME in the UK...

There are only six more days to go before Nintendo's latest console, the New Nintendo 3DS and its XL counterpart go on sale in the UK, and many of us have been frantically pre-ordering the console with either our favourite Monster Hunter 4, or The Legend of Zelda Majoras Mask 3D bundles. 

However, for 3DS fans in the USA, there has been an extra chance to get your hands on a new console, with popular video game retailer, GameStop, holding many midnight launches in stores across America. Gamers will be able to buy the console from precisely 12:01 am on the 13th of February 2015 and will also be able to take their pick of the aforementioned bundles as well! 

If you don't fancy waiting in line, US gamers can also order the New 3DS/New 3DS XL from the Best Buy website, (http://www.bestbuy.com) but the retailer has warned that it has had to cancel some pre-orders of The Legend of Zelda: Majoras Mask bundle because it has proven so popular and is now out of stock.

Video game retailer, GAME has also promised some UK midnight launches in around a third of its stores. GAME is also the only UK retailer to stock the limited edition Monster Hunter 4: Special Edition New 3DS XL, which features an exclusive design.  

Furthermore, GAME has also have added an incentive for those 3DS owners who might be reluctant to trade in their old 3DS for the New 3DS/3DS XL console because of the "Data Transfer" function which requires both the old and new machines to port saved data across from one console to the other. 

According to GAME, anyone who now buys a New 3DS/New 3DS XL console and keeps the receipt, will be able to trade-in their old 3DS console  at the higher trade-in price, which is usually offered for only seven days after the launch of a new console!

The participating GAME stores will be opening just before midnight on Friday the 13th of February 2015 in the following areas:

High Wycombe

Glasgow

Preston

Leicester

Ipswich

Harlow

Lincoln

Milton Keynes

Stockport

Carlisle

Manchester (Trafford Centre)

Barnstaple

Bristol (Cribbs Causeway)

Burnley

Belfast (Abbey)

Halifax

Newbury

Sutton

Enfield

Staines

Newtownards

Mansfield (Outlet)

Glasgow the Fort

Manchester (The Fort)

Talbot Green

Leicester the Shires

Doncaster

Manchester (Denton)

Plymouth (Drake Circus)

Preston Deepdale

Cambridge

Leeds Headrow Centre

Stratford upon Avon

Bournemouth Castle Point

Bury the Rock

Wakefield

Chichester

Crawley

Lisburn

Swindon

Bath Southgate

Sheffield Fargate

Manchester (Arndale)

East Kilbride

Luton

Stevenage forum

Kingston

Uxbridge

Newcastle

Poole

Norwich

Belfast

Middlesbrough

Chester

Portsmouth

Wigan

Bolton

Nottingham (Victoria)

Mansfield

Londonderry

Douglas

Livingston

Bedford

Basingstoke

Dumfries

Hereford

Aldershot

Aberystwyth

Bullring

Craigavon

Accrington

Brentwood

Nottingham

Ipswich

Birkenhead

Lincoln

Chesterfield

Lancaster

Bradford DS

Glasgow

Slough

Bristol Broadmead

Rotherham

Chorley

Hanley

Lewisham

Carlisle

Newcastle under Lyme

Pontypridd

Stirling

Blackpool

Crewe

Bracknell

Liverpool Lord Street

Oldham

Welwyn Garden City

Morecambe

Falkirk

Canterbury

Isle of Wight

High Wycombe

Glasgow

Preston

Leicester

Monster Hunter 4G WILL get Western Release Date...

Capcom has confirmed that the latest Monster Hunter title, known as Monster Hunter 4G, which has recently been announced for development in Japan,  WILL also be released in Europe some time in Spring 2015 under the slightly different name of Monster Hunter 4: Ultimate.

 As well as promising that the new game would stay true to the successful format of previous Monster Hunter games, producer Ryozo Tsujimoto has promised that Monster Hunter 4: Ultimate will include lots of new game mechanics that should entice new fans to the series.

 Among those changes mentioned were: more vertical and lateral movement than in the previous games, as well as more multiplayer options, including the ability to hunt monsters with friends via online multiplayer, which is now being offered alongside the usual local wireless connection.

This is good news for all European Monster Hunter fans, although no doubt the news will come as a slight disappointment to those of you who had expected a 'late 2014' release date.

The game will be exclusive to Nintendo's 3DS and 2DS handheld consoles. Unlike last year, with the release of Monster Hunter 3: Ultimate, no Wii U version of the game has yet been mentioned. A video of the Capcom announcement can be viewed below:

* if you are having trouble viewing this video, please click HERE

Flare Red 3DS Gets USA, Australia and UK Release Dates?

*This Post has been updated*

To read about the new UK release date for the Flare Red 3DS, please CLICK HERE...

The Nintendo 3DS Flare Red console has finally been given some official release dates outside of Japan. The very stylish Flare Red console will first be released in North America on the 9th of September 2011.

According to various American sources, including the Engadget website, the red 3DS console that many of us were expecting to see at launch will now be released alongside Nintendo's newest 3DS gaming tite Star Fox 64 3D.

Furthermore, according to the website, Zelda Universe, Nintendo of Australia has apparently announced that the Flare Red console will be released on the 22nd of September 2011, although it is not clear whether the console will be bundled with any particular 3DS games at this point.

In the UK, the release date of the Flare Red 3DS remains a mystery, although several unofficial reports are beginning to surface - including one from You Tube - which suggest that Nintendo might be planning to release the new 3DS console alongside the first 3DS Super Mario titles, such as Mario Kart 7,  in December 2011.

So, it is still an anxious wait for those gamers in the UK who are hoping to purchase a Red 3DS console, nevertheless, the official American and Austrailian Flare Red release dates do make a future official UK release date even more likely.

Remember to check in with the Mini Gamers blogsite for more news on this topic as it develops.

3DS UK Release Date Now Official!!!

"This isn't the launch of a new gaming device - This is the launch of a new Entertaiment era..." [Sotoru Shibata]

The UK release date for Nintendo's 3DS console has been officially set for the 25th March 2011.

 Speaking at the 3DS preview event in Amsterdam this afternoon, Nintendo's Managing Director of Marketing and PR, Laurent Fischer, spoke about the 3DS console which will be released in two colours - Aqua Blue or Cosmos Black (nothing was shown or mentioned about the Red 3DS console originally shown at E3 2010).

Fischer went on to describe the 3DS' new wireless communication features SpotPass and StreetPass.

SpotPass will allow users to download fresh content for their console such as news from Eurosport, TV items from SKY 3D and even short films like Aardman Productions' Shaun the Sheep, which will all be presented in stunning autostereoscopic 3D without the need for 3D glasses.

Meanwhile, Streetpass will download game data, statistics and content from other 3DS users even if the console is in Sleep Mode. This feature has already been Incorporated into games like Super Street Fighter IV.

Capcom's producer of the Street Fighter series, Yoshinori Ono discussed how StreetPass will allow users to engage in battles with other 3DS users everywhere. He said: "Street Fighter battles have always been head-to-head but now battles can take place anytime, anywhere, with anyone, immediately..." 

Ono said that Super Street Fighter IV will have a line-up of 35 fighters (including classic characters,) and it will also feature a Channel Live mode, which will allow 3DS users to watch battles between other 3DS users.

Other developers that were featured at the Amsterdam event included Ubisoft, who said that they would have up to eight launch titles for the 3DS including Assassin’s Creed: Lost Legacy, Rayman 3D, Ghost Recon: Shadow Cell, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, Battle of Giants and Driver Renagade.

Konami announced that they have developed Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 for the 3DS. PES' Producer Naoya Hatsumi spoke about how the 3D capabilities of the 3DS has allowed them to improve realism and express depth. Hatsumi said that a new camera angle called Player's View means that the camera is centred just behind the player and helps to immerse gamers in all the footballing action.

Team Ninja announced that they would be releasing a version of their popular Dead or Alive series for the 3DS. The Head of Productions, Yosuke Hayoshi said that:  "Dead or Alive: Dimensions [3DS] will be a kind of 'Best Of ' collection of highlights from the previous four Dead or Alive games" but he went on to say that it would feature some new content as well. He said that the new game would be: "A whole new dimension in 3D fighting games..."

Nintendo Europe's CEO and President, Satoru Shibata, spoke about the long-awaited PilotWings Resort and Nintendogs + Cats as well as the range of Pre-loaded Software that would be included in the console.

 The software will feature a Daily Activity Log which turns the 3DS into a useful pedometer, whilst the new 3D Motion Camera and Mii Studio will allow players to take a 3D photos of themselves and convert it into a recognisable Mii avatar for use in some games.

A new StreetPass game called Face Raiders will also be included in the console free of charge. The game will post pictures of players' Miis into a shooting gallery! The 3DS will also feature Augmented Reality software, which has recently been used in the PSP game, EyePet.

Furthermore, the 3DS will come with its own Internet Browser and E-shop which will allow players to access and download new Nintendo software more easily.

Shibata also gave details of the kinds of existing DS games that we could expect to see being developed for the 3DS over the coming months, including Animal Crossing, The Sims 3, Steel Diver, Paper Mario and many more...

Shibata claimed that there would be a "Launch window between 25th March and 30th of June 2011 where more than 25 games would become available to 3DS users..."

The preview event helped to answer several burning questions that fans had about the new 3DS and its capabilities. However, the end of March still seems a long way off. Nevertheless, the various games and features that have been developed so far have definitely piqued Mini Gamers interest.

Keep checking back with the Mini Gamers blogsite over the next few months for all the latest news concerning this revolutionary new console.