Nintendo announced today that it would be slashing the price of its struggling 3DS handheld from $250 to $170. The price drop, which comes just six months after the system’s release will take effect in the United States on August 12.

“For anyone who was on the fence about buying a Nintendo 3DS, this is a huge motivation to buy now,” said Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. “We are giving shoppers every incentive to pick up a Nintendo 3DS, from an amazing new price to a rapid-fire succession of great games.”

The move comes on the heels of Nintendo’s announcement that it has posted a huge financial loss in the fiscal first quarter of this year. According to the report, sales are down over 50% from last year at the house that Mario built.

There is some good news though, early adopters of the 3DS system will be rewarded with free virtual console games. If you register for and connect to the eShop at least once before the price drop, you’ll receive the following games free:

NES games

Super Mario Bros.
Donkey Kong Jr.
Balloon Fight
Ice Climber
The Legend of Zelda
+5 more

Game Boy Advance games

Yoshi’s Island: Super Mario Advance 3
Mario Kart: Super Circuit
Metroid Fusion
WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$
Mario vs. Donkey Kong
+5 more

The NES games will become paid downloads for new adopters, while the GBA games are not currently scheduled to be available for purchase.

I’m what you might call a cynic. I’m not one for handing out praise and gooey words to games unless they really deserve it. Yet, I can’t say enough about Donkey Kong Country Returns. It’s epic, it’s fun, it’s gorgeous – it’s the best platformer you’ve played in a long time.

Strangely enough, Retro studios didn’t look to new technology or fancy new features for their attempt to restore faith in the once prominent franchise, theymerely returned one of Nintendo’s oldest heroes to his roots and in the process have surpassed everything Rare has done with the original.

Life is hard for Kong, he’s finally gotten rid of those pesky Kremlins, but now he’s got to worry about his fellow jungle animals running off with his banana horde. You see, the animals are under the control of the evil Tikis known as the Tiki Tak Tribe. As you’d expect, your goal is to traverse the jungle, defeat the Tik Tak Tribe and get yourself some potassium goodness in the process.

In essence, returns is the formula from the original Donkey Kong Country boiled down to its most simple assets. Anyone who remembers the last few games in the series will remember that they were filled with increasingly annoying King family members and stale gameplay. Save for our ape protagonist and Diddy (along with a few appearances by Cranky Kong), the extended family sits this one out in favor of a more streamlined story and classic gameplay.  Everything you remember is here, from the vine swinging, to collecting the gold K-O-N-G letters, the key here is that Retro Studios, the same team that revitalized the Metroid series with Metroid: Prime was able to make the gameplay feel fresh, without adding too much.

What’s most striking about Donkey Kong Returns is just how impressive and creatively brilliant the level design is throughout the entire experience. From striking set pieces like riding on the back of a whale to the series trademark mine car sections, every second of Kong’s latest adventure seems lovingly crafted to get the absolute most entertaining experience. Sprinkled throughout are clever nods to the original series, like characters and hidden rooms. It’s clear that Retro were fans of the original game.

That level design though isn’t just for show though, it also adds a world of difficulty. While it may not look as menacing as it is, there are sections of Returns that are unforgivingly hard. Much like the original, you’re going to gain a lot of lives, which will lure you into a false sense of security, but you’re likely to use them all during these punishing sections. More often than not, these sections will either be the boss fights or include them. Strangely enough though, the game feels instantly accessible and inviting even for those without an emotional attachment to the big monkey on the cover. Also aiding in helping frustrated players is the Super Guide. Much like in New Super Mario Bros, dyeing eight straight times leads to the option to see a prerecorded run through of the level.

For the first time in the series, Donkey Kong Country Returns includes co-op simultaneous gameplay, and while at times it can be a bit frustrating in the same way the multiplayer of New Super Mario Bros was, it mostly works. As you’d expect, Donkey Kong is more of a brute type character who uses mostly melee combat, while Diddy is quicker and uses projectile weapons. Undoubtedly, my favorite part of the co-op experience was the ability to have Diddy jump on Donkey Kong’s back, so it’s easier for less skilled players to advance while playing with a stronger partner.

The biggest letdown? Why no classic controller support? No don’t get me wrong, the Wii controller works fine in most cases, but growing up playing this very franchise on Super Nintendo and N64 and not being able to use a similar controller just feels wrong. There is some motion functionality in the game, by shaking the Wiimote, DK will perform a ground pound, but in some cases, the game confuses this motion for an attempt to get DK to roll, and it’ll likely cause you one of your lives.

The Blast Factor: With Donkey Kong Country Returns, Retro Studios proves that its talents aren’t just limited to first person shooters. The newest Donkey Kong adventure is a breathtakingly creative and fun instant classic that everyone will be able to appreciate. Whether you hold an emotional attachment to Nintendo’s monkey hero, or your experiencing the franchise for the first time, Donkey Kong Country Returns is one of the best games you’ve played all year.

Well, it was bound to happen eventually. A New York plastic surgeon has beaten Billy Mitchell’s Donkey Kong world record. A new “King of Kong” has arrived.

Face of a champion

Billy Mitchell and Steve Wiebe were the focus of the “King of Kong” documentary, covering the heated rivalry between the two, with Mitchell atop the leaderboard at the end, but no more. Hank Chien is now the champion of champions.

Chien beat Mitchell’s score by 11,500 points and racked up a whopping 1,061,700 on an original Donkey Kong arcade board.

What’s even more staggering, in an interview with The Examiner, it was revealed Chien has only been playing Donkey Kong seriously since he saw the film.

Source: Examiner via CVG

Steve Weibe, a Washington state native and professional Donkey Kong gamer attempted to dethrone Billy Mitchell from Donkey Kong glory yesterday in a live broadcast attempt at the staggering world record of 1,050,200 on G4TV at E3 in Los Angeles.

How did he do? Sadly, after 4 dramatic tries at the record, Wiebe ultimately fell short in every instance.‚  Was it the pressure packed scenario? Not likely. Wiebe has competed on live television before.‚  Was it a failure of mental aptitude? Again, not likely, as Wiebe is an advanced Algebra teacher and is known to break down the game to a mathematical base.

So what did the man who was first to break the 1,000,000 barrier in the legendary arcade game suffer from in his attempts?‚  Pure, cold, bad luck.

A first attempt yielded a mighty score of 923,400.‚  His second try garnered a tally of 653,700. A third attempt was disrupted by a brief power failure forcing the man to try again, and this time, believe it or not, the infamous “kill screen” halted Wiebe’s efforts at an impressive mark of 989,400.

This event marked the first time ever a Kill Screen was broadcast on live TV, and man oh man, what an unfortunate time for its occurrence.

A kill screen, for those unaware is, according to my main man Wikipedia, any stage or level, most commonly in Arcade games “that stops the player’s progress due to a programming error or design oversight. Rather than “ending” in a traditional sense, the game will crash, freeze, or behave so erratically that further play is impossible.”

Was legendary rival Billy Mitchell behind the power failure and happy to see the kill screen?‚  The world may never know. ‚  As far as we know the man resides in Antarctica perpetually practicing Donkey Kong only to arise when his record is broken.‚  Nah, he lives in sunny Florida, and is a respectable man, but we know Wiebe should be king.

Great rivalries are remembered for all time.‚  Who could forget the Red Sox and Yankees, perpetually stuck in a battle not limited to the confines of the ballpark, or Federer and Nadal, two heavy weights in the world of professional tennis.‚  The world of video games has a dynamic duo as well featuring Steve Wiebe and Billy Mitchell in a clash for the highest score in the original arcade Donkey Kong.

Wiebe will be making his fifth try at the record this summer at E3, with the proceedings officially refereed by Twin Galaxies, the world record governing body, and will be televised by gaming channel G4 TV.

Wiebe’s original quest to have his score recognized was well chronicled in the documentary “A Fistful of Quarters” but has since been broken by; you guessed it, Billy Mitchell.

This won’t be the head to head matchup enthusiasts have been calling for, but nonetheless very exciting and just another reason to tune in and follow E3 this summer.

via IGN