Nintendo of Japan didn’t just reveal the price point and release date of 3DS at its press conference Wednesday. No, the Big N also displayed a smorgasbord of titles in development for the handheld.
Kid Icarus: Uprising. The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time 3D. Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater. Splinter Cell 3D. Dead or Alive Dimensions. Resident Evil Revelations. Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D. Street Fighter IV 3D.
But there is one genre noticeably missing for the 3DS lineup, at least so far: the first-person shooter. With that in mind, I talked to a couple of people known for making top-quality first-person shooters on Nintendo DS.
Jools Watsham, co-founder and director of Renegade Kid, created the Dementium franchise for DS, as well as Moon. He said he was “delighted” in an e-mail interview in regard to the big opening available for the genre on 3DS.
“I am delighted to not hear of any FPS titles announced,” Watsham said. “I am sure Activision already has its sights on a 3DS Call of Duty title, but I don’t expect the FPS genre to be overcrowded for a little while at least. Like you said, this leaves a big opening for developers who may be so inclined to develop such a genre …”
Speaking of the portable Call of Duty franchise, I also chatted via e-mail with Dan O’Leary, president of n-Space, and Ted Newman, creative director at n-Space. The Orlando-based company has worked on four versions of Call of Duty for DS, with the latest — Black Ops — hitting the handheld Nov. 9.
With that experience, O’Leary and Newman seem eager about the genre for 3DS and believe the potential is high.
“[n-Space] would love to be a part of that [making first-person shooters for 3DS],” they said. “n-Space, in general, has been a big believer in the DS as a great machine for first-person shooters — the 3DS even more so. When you combine new features like the 3D display and the analog stick with the existing touch-screen mechanics and the added power of the system, the potential to create an amazing first-person shooter on the 3DS is high.”
Neither Renegade Kid nor n-Space has announced any games in development for 3DS yet. And Nintendo of America hasn’t released a price point or specific release date in the U.S. Nintendo of Japan did announce a more general March 2011 release target for North America.
I want to know more about the mechanic of using the gyroscope to control your view in a 3DS FPS that Nintendo alluded to at E3?