Hey, Nintendo of America: Where's my free copy of 3D Classics Kid Icarus?

The question in the header above popped into my head while reading these hands-on impressions of the Japanese version of 3D Classics: Kid Icarus over the weekend.

I know I probably sounded less than excited when I wrote about this 3D-enabled update of one of my all-time favorite Famicom and NES games early last month (in this post), but I have enough interest in it to want to give it a try, especially if it's free.



For some strange reason, though, Nintendo has yet to extend to North American 3DS owners the same offer--folks who register at least two of about 13 3DS games with Club Nintendo by a certain date receive a free copy of 3D Classics: Kid Icarus as a reward--it recently extended to Japanese and European 3DS owners.

Here's hoping the company's North American branch throws us a bone--or maybe I should say eggplant?--soon.

(Via siliconera.com)

WayForward's Austin Ivansmith is a pretty awesome guy

I hope he won't mind me calling him out like this, but I just have to extend a digital/virtual high-five to Austin Ivansmith, a director at WayForward Technologies.

A few days ago, I wandered onto deviantart.com in the hopes of finding a few pieces of gorgeous game-related art that could be discussed and/or drooled over here.

Before I had a chance to search for said images, though, I noticed that a heretofore-unread note was sitting in my deviantart mailbox. The note, of course, had been sent by Ivansmith and included a download code for WayForward's Mighty Flip Champs DX.



I'm guessing he saw the whiny post ("Why didn't somebody tell me Mighty Flip Champs received a PSP port?") I published about said PSP title a few weeks ago, but I can't say that with any certainty since the content of Ivansmith's rather succinct note was limited to the afore- mentioned download code and a cheery reminder to keep an eye out for the company's upcoming 3DS release, Mighty Switch Force (which he promised will "rock your socks off").

Since I've only played through the first few stages of Mighty Flip Champs DX thus far, I can't say much about it at the moment. I'll do my best to spend a bit more time with it this weekend, though, so I can share some impressions with all of you next week.

A free RPG, you say?

Acquire, the Japanese developer responsible for quirky PSP titles like 100 Million Ton Bara Bara (aka Patchwork Heroes) and Yuusha no Kuseni Namaikida (Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman!), is sure to turn heads with its latest release, a dungeon crawler called Bakumatsu Revolution, and not because said release is a looker.

According to the latest issue of Famitsu magazine (by way of andriasang.com), when Bakumatsu Revolution hits the the Japanese PlayStation Store on June 25, it'll do so with a price tag of $0. No, your eyes aren't deceiving you--the four-player RPG will be free.

Unfortunately, this blurry scan contains the only (currently)
available screenshots of Bakumatsu Revolution.

What's the catch? Well, it seems that Acquire is aiming to turn a profit on the game by charging users for downloadable content, such as additional items and scenarios. Still, unless the DLC is amazingly overpriced, Bakumatsu Revolution should be a no-brainer of a download for PSP owners who enjoy the occasional dungeon crawler.

(Via andriasang.com)