Black Friday and Cyber Monday have come and gone, but the deals are still coming so Nintendo can try to send its stock a little higher for Christmas shoppers. To help liven up its new-ish handheld, the 2DS, Nintendo announced a new bundle featuring the device that comes pre-loaded with the company's most popular title in the last few years, Pokémon X or Pokémon Y.
It's nothing too snazzy, as players forego a shiny game case by grabbing the bundle, as the games are pre-installed, but the $149.99 price tag makes sense. Most retailers have the 2DS going for $130, and the latest Pokémon titles at $40, so there's some savings to be had.
The only catch is that there's no trade out option. If you want the blue 2DS, you'll have to head over to Toys R Us, which comes with Pokémon Y. If Pokémon X is your choice, then you're stuck with going to Target and getting the red 2DS. Want the blue 2DS with Pokémon X, or the red 2DS with Pokémon Y? Well, tough. You'll have to shell out the $20 difference at your preferred store. But if you were that much of a choosey game fan, you probably already grabbed your choice Poké-title when the games launched back in October.
Pokémon X and Y released this past fall to rave reviews as well as great sales numbers. As a matter of fact, Game Freak Director Junichi Masuda's recently revealed that since launch, over ten million of the little monsters have been exchanged since the game launched. It's also been reported by Nintendo Life that Masuda expressed interest in making more Mega Evolutions.
The games represent a radical change for the franchise, the top down perspective having been replaced with more of a three quarter perspective, and battles look radically different. As per usual, players will see several new pokémon, 5 of which were teased in the game's trailer at the time of the announcement. There's the usual array of new starter Pokémon, and each game will play host its own type of new, legendary Pokémon. And what's more, a number of classic Pokémon have earned mega-evolutions they can transform into during battle.
No DLC is planned for the games.
Looking towards the 2DS, it certainly seems like an intriguing handheld. It's essentially a cheaper, albeit clunkier version of the 3DS, just without any of the device's three-dimensional graphics, hence the gizmo's namesake.
Dubbed the 2DS, it plays the entire original DS and 3DS's library, just without the foldup capability and trademark visuals. While it's not as portable, the cheaper price tag is a great means to for both gamers who could never concentrate or focus their eyesight enough to appreciate the 3D effect, as well as newcomers to the DS line. As Nintendo of America's COO, Reggie Fils-Aime described, the gadget is meant for "the entry-level consumer looking for lower-priced access to a fantastic library."
You can read more of an in-depth analysis about the handheld here. The bundles arrive later this week, December 6.
