Nintendo of America just announced release dates for several 3DS eShop games. Among them are three of LEVEL-5’s Guild01 games: SUDA 51’s Liberation Maiden, Yoot Saito’s Aero Porter, and Yasumi Matsuno’s Crimson Shroud. Liberation Maiden will be released “before this holiday season,” with Aero Porter and Crimson Shroud to follow “by the end of the year.” Unfortunately, Nintendo did not mention the fourth Guild01 game, Rental Bukiya de Omasse.

The other games mentioned include several demos, four other original titles, six Virtual Console releases, and four existing 3DS games that will soon be downloadable from the eShop* as well as physically purchasable. Read the press release below for details.

* Those hesitating to re-purchase digital copies of the games they already own physically may soon have an incentive to do so. Yesterday, Nintendo of Japan revealed a free eShop utility to transfer saved games from a 3DS cartridge to its digital equivalent. However, whether the reverse is also possible remains undisclosed. The utility will be released Spring 2013, presumably in Japan only. An international release remains unconfirmed.

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NINTENDO ESHOP FOR NINTENDO 3DS HEATS UP FOR THE HOLIDAYS

More Original Games, Classic Games and Recent Nintendo 3DS Hits Will Be Available Digitally in 2012

REDMOND, Wash., Oct. 4, 2012 – Nintendo 3DS owners are getting an amazing lineup of downloadable games for the holidays and beyond. Original games, classic games and demos will all be making an appearance in the Nintendo eShop. Fans also will soon find downloadable versions of select Nintendo 3DS hits that have already launched as packaged goods.

Nintendo 3DS owners will see a sequel to fan-favorite Pushmo, classics like Ninja Gaiden and Castlevania: The Adventure, plus a series of three original games developed by LEVEL-5 and several well-known Japanese collaborators.

“The Nintendo eShop demonstrates Nintendo’s commitment to providing consumers with unique digital content through a combination of creativity and convenience,” said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “The variety and quality of games coming this year is unmatched, from new entries in established franchises to original properties.”

The following content is scheduled to launch in the Nintendo eShop in 2012:

ORIGINAL GAMES

  • NightSky launches Oct. 25. NightSky is an action-puzzle game that offers an ambient game-play experience with cerebral challenges that fill uniquely designed, picturesque worlds. Each of these worlds is broken into different areas in which the player must maneuver a sphere by using realistic physics to advance.
  • Crashmo launches Nov. 22. Players can embrace the laws of gravity and challenge themselves with a whole new kind of action-puzzle play in this exciting sequel to the critically acclaimed Pushmo. New gravity mechanics and gadgets like floating blocks, doors and move switches await, testing players’ skills as they push, pull and slide each puzzle’s colorful blocks in order to climb to the top. Just be careful where those blocks are moved—unsupported blocks will come crashing down. Crashmo contains lots of puzzles to test your brains, and enhanced puzzle-creation and -sharing features mean that even when all the puzzles are cleared, the fun never has to stop.
  • Fluidity: Spin Cycle arrives on Dec. 27, letting players tilt, turn and even rotate their Nintendo 3DS system 360 degrees to maneuver a puddle of water named Eddy through a maze-like, magical world. Change from liquid to a block of ice or a steam cloud to solve fun, gravity-defying puzzles and defeat Goop monsters. Fluidity: Spin Cycle features a new storybook setting to explore that spans the ages, from a lost world full of dinosaurs to the modern world and beyond.
  • Three original games from LEVEL-5 and several well-known Japanese collaborators will launch in the Nintendo eShop for Nintendo 3DS before this holiday season. The first of these games, SUDA 51’s LIBERATION MAIDEN, is set 100 years in the future, when the president of Japan boards her Liberator, Kamui, and fights to free her country one region at a time. AERO PORTER by Yoot Saito and Yasumi Matsuno’s CRIMSON SHROUD are also slated for release by the end of the year.
  • Get ready to unleash pedestrian-tossing pandemonium with Grace and Savannah in Tokyo Crash Mobs, a fast-paced action-puzzle game coming to the Nintendo eShop for Nintendo 3DS in early 2013. Players will need lightning-fast reflexes and an eye for strategy to survive the three chaotic weeks that lie ahead for our heroines, as they take on anyone and anything that gets in their way.

RECENT NINTENDO 3DS HITS AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD

Super Mario 3D Land, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, Star Fox 64 3D and Mario Kart 7 will become available for purchase from the Nintendo eShop on Oct. 18 at a price of $39.99 each. Additional Nintendo 3DS software currently only available at retail stores will become available in the Nintendo eShop in the future.

VIRTUAL CONSOLE

  • Mario Golf (launches Oct. 11)
  • Castlevania: The Adventure (launches Oct. 25)
  • Ninja Gaiden (launches Nov. 8)
  • Zelda II – The Adventure of Link (launches Nov. 22)
  • Wario Land II (launches Dec. 20)
  • Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (launches Dec. 27)

GAME DEMOS

Two demo versions of Style Savvy: Trendsetters will be available for download from the Nintendo eShop. The first demo is available today and lets players participate in a fashion contest, create an outfit based on the contest theme, style their model’s hair and makeup and send her down the runway. The second demo will be available on Nov. 1, and lets players style their clothes and makeup, and then connect to the Internet via Nintendo Network to visit the online Fashion Plaza where they can check out ensembles that actual Style Savvy: Trendsetters players have created. Any items purchased using in-game currency in this demo version can be transferred to the full game. Style Savvy: Trendsetters will launch in stores and in the Nintendo eShop on Oct. 22.

Additional game demos coming soon include:

  • Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why’d you steal our garbage?!! from D3Publisher
  • Disney Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion from Disney Interactive
  • LEGO The Lord of the Rings from Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
  • Moshi Monsters: Moshlings Theme Park from Activision
  • Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed from SEGA

Remember that Nintendo 3DS features parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other features, visit http://www.nintendo.com/3ds. For more information about Nintendo, visit http://www.nintendo.com.

About Nintendo: The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii™ home console, Nintendo 3DS™ and Nintendo DS™ family of portable systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System™, Nintendo has sold more than 3.9 billion video games and more than 630 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi™ and Nintendo DSi XL™, as well as the Game Boy™, Game Boy Advance, Super NES™, Nintendo 64™ and Nintendo GameCube™ systems. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario™, Donkey Kong™, Metroid™, Zelda™ and Pokémon™. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, please visit the company’s website at http://www.nintendo.com.

Oscar Tong
Oscar joined oprainfall late September 2012 in response to a recruitment drive. He quickly discovered his job was much harder than he had anticipated. Despite the constant challenge, he has come to enjoy his responsibilities. When he is not scrambling to meet a deadline, Oscar enjoys story-driven games with a strong narrative. He is especially fond of computer adventure games, role-playing games, and visual novels. He hopes the world will one day awaken to the power of video games as a storytelling medium.