This past week has been quite hectic. First, with the release of Super Smash Bros. 3DS in Japan, then with the early release of the English demo for Platinum Club members. Of course, there's been plenty of other related Smash Bros. news in between.
With today's public release of the demo, let's celebrate by taking a look at some major announcements that you may have missed.
Naturally, character leaks and official roster reveals were always a hot topic amongst the Smash Bros. community. And between the recent announcements of newcomers such as Shulk, Lucina, Robin, Pac-Man, Duck-Hunt Dog and others, fans had plenty to talk about.
Hand-in-hand with the exciting roster updates came some bad news: those hoping to play the 3DS version using the Circle Pad Pro will be out of luck. Nintendo announced that while the C-Stick for the new 3DS/XL will work just fine with the game, Circle Pad Pro used with older 3DS and XL models will be not be compatible. Hopefully, a later update will fix this issue, but it's disappointing, to say the least.
Next up, the launch of Super Smash Bros. 3DS dropped September 13th in Japan (going by timezones that would be on September 12th in North American), and soon photos of the insanely long lines made the online rounds. Nintendo's Bill Trinen even made a compilation video showcasing just how crowded the launch was:
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Plenty of other people took to Twitter with a plethora of pictures of the crowds. A few can be seen below (credit to Cheesemeister):
At around the same time as the Japanese launch, Nintendo America surprised North American fans by first revealing a demo that would be released on September 19th in the eShop, and second, that select Nintendo Platinum Club members would receive demo codes on the 12th -- a week earlier.
As the lucky few downloaded their treasured codes, a multitude of gaming sites and gamers alike took to Twitter, Facebook and other sites to acquire spare codes. I bore witness to many of the former offering free subscriptions and merchandise to those willing to part with a code or two, and some of the latter even buying these codes for upwards of $20.
Japanese fans not only lined up by the boatload for a chance to purchase the title, but also put in a serious amount of time into the game. So much, in fact, that the pads on the 3DS analog stick actually broke off. As always, the internet became flooded with pictures showing the damage on some of these systems. A few can be seen below and you can check out the rest here:
Credit: ZELDA96320045
Credit: Megamann177
Credit: m_mmliy
To really wet our appetite, Nintendo America released a nifty unboxing video of the Smash Bros. themed 3DS XL, which showcases what exactly you'll be getting in the lovely bundle.
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Meanwhile, Nintendo Europe made quite the offer for its European fans: pre-order the new 3DS/XL and either Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire or Super Smash Bros. 3DS and receive a free game for download.
For an in-depth look at Super Smash Bros. 3DS, you can check out DualShockers' previews: the first by Staff Writer Ryan Meitzler during a Nintendo preview event in their New York office, and the second by Staff Writer Andrew Matt at Nintendo's PAX Prime media event.
You can also watch our Classic Mode walkthrough, as well as our compilation footage of character costumes, Final Smash attacks, Kirby's copy abilities and more.