Sega releasing a retail bundle of their 3D Classics line for the 3DS

[Leo_A]

Hopefully North America follows suit since the geniuses at Nintendo decided to region lock the 3DS.



http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=900554

It will include...

3D Space Harrier
3D Fantasy Zone
3D Outrun
3D Streets of Rage
3D Shinobi 2
3D Ecco the Dolphin
Space Harrier 3D (Master System)
Out Run 3D (Master System)

A second volume seems a natural since there are seven more releases currently in Japan, including Afterburner II and Thunder Blade for two highlights. No nice 3D SMS tie-ins left, though (Afterburner, Galaxy Force, and Thunder Blade were 2D releases on the SMS).

Since their Western arm is so gun shy with these, I wish they'd throw in the whole kit and kaboodle here and give us all 13 3D Classics releases in a single volume.

[WCP]

Yeah, it would be awesome if this came to the US, but somehow I doubt it will show up.

[Tanooki]

I'd buy that, but we're talking SOA and NOA here -- chances of it are slim to none since we're getting burned on the second run of the digital stuff which has far less expense to distribute which is a shame. Region locking just sucks. I get them doing it on the online stuff, like they did on DSi, but for the physical is garbage.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Damnit, I would so buy that, but like Sega Ages on PS2, we're unlikely to get this seemingly wonderful collection.

I wish Nintendo stuff wasn't region locked. How is it that Sony doesn't region lock and it has turned out to be an excellent business model? With how globally connected the world is, region locking is something that should be left in the past.

[Leo_A]

All those years on the region free DS, there was never anything I cared to import. Now that there is, Nintendo's handheld is region locked for the first time (Minus those "DSi Enhanced" releases that the DS saw a few of late in its life).

I hope that there's a follow-up over there with the rest of the lineup. Arcade Thunder Blade deserves a physical release even if it's only in Japan. It might even tempt me someday to import a 3DS although two Sega collections would be pretty slim pickings.

[sfchakan]

Yeah, I would definitely snatch this up in a heartbeat. I guess we'll see, but it's pointless hoping until there's a sign.

[FieryReign]

Were these released in the eshop in NA? Is eshop region-based too? Just recently picked up a 3ds and haven't took it online yet(no wifi in my crib). Is there any way to play imports on the 3ds? Like some type of converter or custom firmware?

[SparTonberry]

The individual games are all on the eShop, I believe. ("Shinobi 2" is "The Super Shinobi 2" which is the Japanese name for Shinobi III BTW)

[Jorpho]

No Sonic the Hedgehog 3D? But of course, they could probably make more money selling that in a different bundle.

[celerystalker]

That'd be awesome. I've continually held off importing 3DS because I tend to go in phases with portables where they collect dust, but between this and the recent Game Center C-X3, I might break down.

[Leo_A]

Retro Game Challenge 3 is done by a different developer and is, I hear, junk by comparison and without any of the charm.

No Sonic the Hedgehog 3D? But of course, they could probably make more money selling that in a different bundle.

They likely have a follow-up planned for the other half of their releases. Not included in this collection are the following seven titles.

-Sonic the Hedgehog
-Galaxy Force II
-Afterburner II
-Fantasy Zone II (A good bonus would be including the 2D SMS original of this)
-Altered Beast
-Super Hang-On
-Thunder Blade

The absence of Sonic the Hedgehog makes perfect sense when one realizes that there are another half dozen selections left off of this besides it, not just Sonic.

Were these released in the eshop in NA? Is eshop region-based too?

Some were, we belatedly got wave 1's releases late last year which this includes several of. No announcement yet for wave 2's group which includes Outrun and Fantasy Zone from this collection.

The eShop is of course region based.

[Oldskool]

Why not include some of the original 3D Glasses SMS games like Zaxxon 3D? That would have been neat.. but I do admit it would be cool to play Streets of Rage in 3D.

[sfchakan]

Damn, that's a great idea.

[Leo_A]

And one they already thought of.

It will include...

Space Harrier 3D (Master System)
Out Run 3D (Master System)

Nice touch on the borders since Outrun 3D never was released outside of Europe.

No obvious 3D tie-ins remain for the 2nd volume, but they could always include a couple of unrelated 3D Master System games like Poseidon Wars 3D or include a 2D game like the Afterburner conversion.

But I think the original 8 bit Fantasy Zone II, a 2D SMS/System E game which M2 remade a few years ago on the System 16 arcade board that the original ran on, would be the best fit. Since a 2nd volume would include the 3D Classics port of the remake, including the original version would make for a nice addition that would also make the sequel equal the 8 games that this one has.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasy...stem_16_remake

It wouldn't be in 3D, but they're just bonuses anyways.

[Gameguy]

Is there any way to play imports on the 3ds? Like some type of converter or custom firmware?

There's a way. Supposedly you can bypass the region coding with a Gateway flash cart. Early ways to do this involved modifying the firmware of the flash cart, which ended up bricking consoles. Supposedly it's been fixed now so there's no need to modify the flash cart and there's no bricking. You'll have to look more into it, I only looked briefly into it.

[Jorpho]

Last I heard, the Gateway also only works with fairly old versions of the 3DS firmware – if you've ever installed an update, it's probably too late now.

[xelement5x]

Damn, I really would love for them to bring this stateside....