July 28th, 2011

Early adopters of the Nintendo 3DS to receive a bunch of free games from the Virtual Console

359 Comments

The Nintendo 3DS is receiving a huge price drop from August 12th onwards. But, if you’ve already purchased a 3DS or don’t want to wait for the price drop, then don’t worry, you’re not losing out on the goodness. Early adopters will be able to download a total of twenty games from the Virtual Console service for free.

These freebies are split between the NES and the Game Boy Advance. Meaning, you’ll be able to download ten NES games and ten Game Boy Advance games. And yes, this also confirms that Game Boy Advance games are coming to the Virtual Console. But, early adopters will be able to download games that Nintendo doesn’t plan to make available for regular folk. These games include:

  • Yoshi’s Island: Super Mario Advance 3
  • Mario Kart: Super Circuit
  • Metroid Fusion
  • WarioWare Inc.: Minigame Mania
  • Mario vs. Donkey Kong

The NES games will be available for free from September 1st onwards, with the Game Boy Advance games being available before the end of the year.

  • sam3ds

    YAY

    • CerealKiller528

      Confirmed NES Titles:
      Super Mario Bros
      The Legend of Zelda
      Donkey Kong Jr.
      Balloon Fight

      More to come soon.

    • CerealKiller528

      Also Confirmed NES Title:
      Ice Climber

    • Andy

      please tell me the NES titles are 3D classics (or at least Legend of Zelda.)

    • Patrick

      Wait, are these the NES titles that are exclusive.

    • squirtle

      Final Fantasy, please…be one of them

    • creamyrootbeer7

      I hope they make Kirby’s Adventure too! =D

    • sam3ds

      Yeah, really pumped about this, I’m also ammused, at how many people have posted. Its actually really cool!

    • Sikaiya

      I love how fair Nintendo is to their consumers… And thank you David for giving me some info that even got my little sister excited!

  • ColorblindMonk

    It’s ok, Nintendo. You can keep my money. :)

    • JDUB

      i agree, im glad i bought release day, and im happy to support nintendo. but the people who are getting the best deal are those who are lucky enough to find a store selling the 3ds for 169 before august 12th, free games and cheaper price

  • Dazza22

    Woah, this is amazing news !
    But how does Nintendo know you’ve gotten your 3DS early and which countries is this in ?

    • Pokeneon7

      The Model. I bet that when that day comes, mew models will be sold.

    • silvernova

      you have to go on to the eshop before the price drop apparently

    • Soeroah

      The way I understand it, anyone who logs in to the 3DS eShop between now and August 12th (the price drop) should get a little tick next to their 3DS identification number, which will flag them as an Ambassador, which will allow them to get these games for free as they are released.

      Haven’t used my 3DS too much lately, but don’t all 3DS’s have a number used to identify them, replacing Friend Codes?

    • Ghost

      the 3ds knows when it was first registered or was before,
      like when you update it stuff like that as long as you did that BEFORE the 11th

    • akatsuki7

      lol mew

  • Boba2007

    Holy crap, those games are so good… this is awesome… just wish they came sooner

  • Josh

    Nintendo just slammed one hell of a nail into the PS Vita’s coffin.

    • hinkik

      YEAH! IN YA FACE SONY FANBOYS

    • Peter

      Amen!

    • ATK

      technically the vita hasnt even come out yet…so you can say that Nintendo is slamming one hell of a nail into the entrance of the PS Vita. (LoL) There is going to be good competition next year.

    • greeg

      how is that when its clear nintendo clearly did this to battle the vita because realistically it cant win at the same price point and nintendo never does price drops unless theres a new model or its being threatened price wise

    • Ghost

      and your surprised?

    • Marco

      Woot! Sony, step aside, you may be able to play the home console game well, but when it comes to handhelds, KNOW YOUR PLACE!

    • Symbol de Au

      No Nintendo didn’t. The Vita will still sell well I’m sure. Also I think this is because the 3DS was doing bad and this is before the Vita even showed up. It’s more like Nintendo removed their own nail rather than putting one into the Vita.

      I feel the need to tell everyone that I’m not praising or bashing any company, I’m just speaking logically.

    • Joseph

      DAMN RIGHT.

  • Explain . . .

    . . . So let me get this straight, i get 20 free games INCLUDING 10 gba games INCLUDING metroid fusion!!! Is there a typo?? what strings are attatched??? please someone explain!!! has nintendo gone mad!?! That’s about £100 worth of software!!! free!!! FREE!!!

  • Black-leg jex

    So wait! is this just for america or all countries cause as far as i can tell the price drop is only in america

    • Nick

      well, the price drop affects all countries, so i would expect this to be in all countries

  • cacaboy

    SWEET i spent those 80$ extra to get 20, 20 yr old games. Im SSSOOOO HAPY

    • cacaboy

      and they make us wait for the end of the year? even better! FUCK NINTENDO

    • Pokeneon7

      /\
      Calm Down, Bro…..

    • Supa64

      Another time traveler? I didn’t know you were from 2024. How’s the future?

    • greeg

      this guuy is right tho like really atleast give us a game everyweek or something not jus we gotta wait till sept for nes and wait till the end of the year for gb/gba -__-

    • AminakCrosser

      HEY. Take a chill pill dude. It’s not like they’re handing us the shit-stick. These games are amazing, and plus nintendo never does this sort of stuff. BE GRATEFUL. >:U

    • Symbol de Au

      @AnimakCrosser:
      They did this when the Internet Browser became free one Wii, however in that case it was only one game and you got to choose. I think this is awesome though since I never got to play those games listed.(At least not all the way through.)

    • Nesyaj0

      You guys are so ungrateful >_>
      I traded in my DSi, losing all of my DSi ware games to transfer, but I saved $70 on my 3DS, and now I’m getting 20 free games?
      You don’t deserve an offer like this… Get out

  • Grim653

    OMG the first part of the article i was like Meh then the second part was like woooohooooo

    • why capcom why?!

      same here!

    • Marco

      Dude I know!

  • http://www.ageofwonder.bigcartel.com LazyKite

    how are they going to actually give 20 free games??? will their some update that you can download that makes a special area in the eshop with a 20 max counter in there with all free games available…… hmmmm i will believe it when i see it and have 20 free games on my overflowing 2gig mem card!!

    • patadia11

      u have to download it from the nintendo eshop :)

    • AlexWusHere

      dude i think that update was done alrdy when you enter to the eshop says theres an update maybe thats the mark of ambassor or w/e

  • Pokeneon7

    I’m calling Fanservice!

    • Dan

      Oh my God, amazing, Im shocked!!

    • cacaboy

      fukin fagot fanboy

    • hungryhippo247

      Don’t feed the troll anyone…

    • Gamernerd321

      Cacaboy, in your comment, you misspelled two words, excluding the punctuation. Want to try again?

    • COLE TRAIN

      @cacaboy Your comments so far just make me believe that you’re a Sony fanboy…

    • Andy

      What’s wrong with fanservice?

    • Chris A.K.A. starfoxgeek

      oh oh i guess cacaboy is probaly 8 years old and he’s getting really fussy cause someome doesnt have the 3ds ;D

  • Biomechanic

    Yeah, I wonder how Nintendo knows who is an early adopter and who is not. Since Club Nintendo isn’t available in Sweden, I just hope we don’t get screwed over as usual.

    • darkgamer001

      I hear you dude…same problem here in Malta =(

    • AsDfGhJkL

      They find out by using the eshop.

  • wichi

    You have to enter to the e-Shop before the price drop stars (before august 13) and thats it they know you buy a 3ds already and they are going to give you the free games to your account

    • Marco

      August 12, if it was august 13, then everyone who would buy it on the price drop date, would get the games too.

  • Dutchgamer

    M Bison says it all (YES, YES)

  • Villain

    Gameboy Advance? it’s about time. I commend you Nintendo, nice move.

    • Marco

      lol @ text ad links

  • Awesomeluigi

    WOW its just like that time psnetwork shut-down but without the shutdown part and more free games!!!! I love NINTENDO!!!!!

    • http://gmail.com dan

      lmfao thats so true!

    • Marco

      Yeah, i think im gonna go ask my Sony fanboy friend, what he got when his online went down, and then tell him, I get a better deal for just buying it when it came out. lol :P

  • fred1712

    Seriously, ALL of the GBA games are good. I’m totally in and i’m glad I had my 3DS on day 1 :)

  • Moop

    Will it be available for Europe or not, but I know I paid MORE for the 3DS than any American did!

  • xfacto521

    apparently its for everyone in the world… global sales were really bad… something along the lines of about 700,000 were sold….total… i didnt think it was that bad … and i dont think all this content is for early adopters only if i read right…

    • Bobzco

      …840,000 in the US so far. Definitely more in the world.

    • darkgamer001

      I think it’s 700,000 global sales OUTSIDE of the launch period…it still isn’t good, but when you consider total sales including those of the launch window period, the figures are much better

  • TheNintend0Nerd

    Nintendo, remebr all those bad things i said about u when u didn’t release this 3 games in north america….well now i forgive u!! I’m gunna buys me some free games!

    • Marco

      no fellow early adopter, you are going to download some free, exclusive/early release, games.

  • Stefano

    This is so exciting since I actually have Super Mario Advanced 3, Metroid Fusion and Mario kart for original gameboy advanced! Well it wouldn’t hurt to download them again for free on the 3DS, but now I feel old :D

    • http://facebook.com cesarXbleicken

      when do we get these games

    • Marco

      I’m so happy, because i never had any of them! But still, regardless of wether you already had them or not this is still an awesome deal

    • FreakAlchemist

      i know right thats exactly how i felt when i seen all the names of those gba games. :D

  • Jeremy

    I honestly wouldn’t care if the price went down, because I’m in Australia, and got it for $300 the day it came out, with an accessory pack thrown in for free!

  • Wolf1998

    I can’t describe how awesome this is!!

  • LookInvert789

    Now I’ll be able to see at least another person holding their own 3DS systems for once! Plus, because GBA games for the eShop are confirmed, its safe(r) to assume that there will be Gamecube games for the WiiU as well.

    • Joshua

      You may be right about the GBA games but look here “These games will be available exclusively to Ambassadors, and Nintendo currently has no plans to make these 10 games available to the general public on the Nintendo 3DS in the future.” So i wouldn’t hold my breath if we don’t see any other GBA games but I agree that it’s closer than ever.

  • Jake

    oh god yes!

  • Theninwii

    yoshis island, my favorite game of all time for free? ALLL HAIL NINTENDO!!!

    • Sarah

      I second the Yoshi love! ^_^

  • kidtendo

    well,that’s a relief… I was about to be pissed about paying the full price instead of waiting (especially with games being delayed etc.)

  • Black

    hmmm.. And we get the DSi Ware Zelda Four Swords along with the 20 Games??

    • Roxas

      Yep Nintendo just upped the ante for Sony’s Vita

  • Mellow

    Does this count for europe too?

  • SwedishGamer_91

    Who actually gets this? everyone who registered their 3DS on a weird site? Those who got an account on the 3ds download shop BEFORE set date?

  • ThatWasMyPigeon

    I HOPE TO BABY JESUS THAT ONE OF THOSE GBA GAMES IS POKEMON RUBY/SAPPHIRE/EMERALD

    • Peter

      Uh that is the destined remake remember?

    • JDUB

      totaly forgot, i love those games!

    • Marco

      @Peter, still though nothing about them has been announced, and if they did do that, imagine how awesome it would be if you could to Gen III-Gen IV, compatibility? Plus, you can play it whenever, without having to go and search, or even switch out, just “home, x, a, scroll to game, a” if you were playing a game. And besides gamestop sells emerald for thirty-forty buck. So that would be awesome if they brought them to the eshop

  • kidtendo

    i’m just hoping Minish Cap is one of the available titles &(I hope all the games are) in 3D!~
    ’cause it’s one of my favorite Zeldas

    • patadia11

      amen to that!! ^-^

    • JDUB

      love minish cap, lets hope

  • darkecho64

    NINTENDO I LOVE YOU

  • Evan

    huh?? was this blog hacked? please provide a source

    this is waaay too good to be true.

    • Evan

      nevermind I scrolled down.. lol

  • Peki

    Just knowing that GBA games are available in eShop in the future gets me excited!

    Metroid Fusion F***K YEAH!

  • Blah

    Maybe stupid question but how will they know that I’m an early adopter?

    • Some random guy

      Have a 3DS in your hand before the price drop.

    • JDUB

      go to the E-shop before august 12.

  • Epak

    Finally Nintendo is waking up! Really excited for the eShop now! :D

  • Neel

    does anyone know if we have to register your 3ds on club nintendo in order to get this?

  • G-hunter

    Now I’m happy, Sick of just playing Street Fighter, Excitebike & Super Mario DS 64 everyday.

    NOW THEY BETTER BRING LINK TO THE PAST!!!

  • http://www.youtube.com/ThePBandJLover Kris Adams

    GAME BOY ADVANCE AND NES GAMES!? FOR FREE!? HOLY CRAP!!!

  • Oisin1001

    Ok, now I’m just going to reflect on how good value this is.
    I got a 3DS and SSIV for €215 in GAME.
    The price cut puts that down to about €115, if you convert the dollars price to euro.
    Okay, so if I take €45 of the 3DS price thanks to the bundle I got, that €170.
    Add the 10 NES games, which will be about €5 each, that’s another €50 off. So that puts the price down to €120. Then the free GBS games will probably be about €8 (I’m comparing the GBA games to SNES, even though they might be €10, a.k.a., N64 price). That’s 8 X 10 which is 80. So that put the total down to €40. So, my point is, if you’re going to get the games anyway, get the 3DS now because you’ll be saying about €80. I LOVE YOU NINTENDO

  • Robin S

    If this works, I’ll be happy. Vary happy.

  • (Drae)nmhar

    unlike sony, nintendo doesnt need to be hacked to generously give us these 20 free games =p . thank you nintendo!!!

  • Ap0c

    Holy crap, nice! i don’t care about money i did not pay for it anyway! :)

  • CK

    Wow, this has almost made up for me losing my ar cards, pokemon white and pokemon case… F**k yeah, <3 nintendo. Here's hoping one of the games is ruby/sapphire/emerald, as someone else said :D

    • DimeraX

      those will bring back my memories

    • Symbol de Au

      You can print out more AR cards and they’ll still work, so no worries.

  • Wowzer

    Aww… what do ya say to that? That’s just a company being really nice to it’s customers! That’s why it’s so exciting to be a Nintendo fan :D
    Thanks I guess :)

  • chaozuper

    YESSSS!!! WOOOO!!! HOORRAAYY!!!

    Man, you think things are going slow for Nintendo fans but then BOOM 20 free games! and the confirmation that we get gba games! awesome.

    i was actually just wondering a few minutes ago why i got the 3ds at launch now that there’s been a price drop, but not any longer! YAAASSS!!!

    • Marco

      yeah dude, i read the thing about the price drop, and was like, awww come on, (i didn’t care that much, because i could not have waited until mid august to get my 3DS)

  • Biggielittlez

    hey you know the weird thing is, they’re not losing any money. if people buy it now, they’ll save money (around80 euro, according to Oisin 1001) and Nintendo won’t lose money because it doesn’t cost anything to make VC games. Win win! yaaay!!!

  • theblueblur

    awesome!!!!!!!!!!!! in getting one july 29th

    so thanks nintendo now im sure i wont be able to sleep tonight

    P.S. how will this work do we register the 3DS on club nintendo or just go in the E-Shop

  • Ryan Atkin

    Free Metroid Fusion? Count me in!

  • PK-Gaming

    OH MY PORK, MOTHER 3 NEEDS TO GET RELEASED ON IT!

    • pokemonfaan

      HELL YEAH!!

    • SouperMaen

      YAAAAAAA…sadly, i doubt it will make it, for copyright reasons, but we can still have hope!

    • Travis

      HECK YEAH!!!

    • SuperYoshiBoy

      GIVE ME IT GIVE ME IT GIVE ME IT GIVE ME IT!

    • bmcj199

      Guys! It’s never going to happen! The Earthbound series is DEAD

    • PK-Gaming

      Fans are going to rage, bmcj199. It’s not dead. There are still fans. Blogs and sites about it are still alive.

    • Marco

      YES, but even though i would love that, i hate to be pessimistic about it, but i am. Can you imagine how loud the room would get if nintendo revealed Mother 3 for america @ E3, ever?

      @PK-Gami
      so is GLaDOS

    • PK-Gaming

      I doubt it would be loud enough as The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess’ debut on E3.

      Also, GLaDOS needs to get alive again to have Portal 3.

    • Simple Logic

      I don’t believe it because Mother 3/Earthbound was not a NES or GBA classic. /(-.-)\

  • Matt

    They actually said they have no plans to release the Gameboy Advance Games and they only for early adopters

    • Marco

      just for these specific ones though right, they didn’t make any announcement that says these are the only GBA games to ever be released on the eShop right?

  • joshua

    how do we check if we are a “nintendo ambassador”

    • darkgamer001

      Apparently you just need to log into e-shop before the price drop date…assuming you already have a 3DS, you’ve probably done that already :D

    • joshua

      i mean can we check if we are in the program

  • 3DSNERD

    AWESOME!! I just realized that if you have a club nintendo account, you get 10 coins per eShop game. 10 coins x 20 games = 200 coins!!!!!!!!!!

    • cancelln

      Yeah, your right I didn’t even think about that… Yay!

    • TheSpoonyBard

      THAT’S EPIC!!!

    • Marco

      WHOOOOO,
      unless because we are in the ambassador program, they are exempted from club nintendo coins, I hope not tho

  • Mike

    David, can we please get a source for this information? Who’s it coming from?

    • Claudia

      It’s everywhere, google it. Its a real deal

  • http://liamandsteve liam hetherington

    i,i think im gonna cry! this is FU**ING AMAZING i get 20 free games for free i mean for FREE hahaahah this just made my year! so do i need to sign up for anythink? or do nintendo know im on eshop becuase i downloaded it and downloaded excitebike ect????? anyone? just so siked! how do you feel about this magic epicness of nintendo kicks ass david?

  • WeegeeWarrior

    Awesome! I will be getting Yoshi’s Island for sure.

  • Marsalis

    Awsome! I hope they end up with a great selection!

  • Evan

    I don’t get how this works could someone please tell me.

  • TeiselBonne

    M.Bison says tThis Is Delicious and YES YES TO THIS DEAL!!!!

  • Duke Nukem

    WOW! This is amazing if true *suspicious* lol I got my 3DS BEFORE launch haha. Glad I did

  • marioman123

    this is why nintendo is the best i can wait for the games but doesent it seem wierd

  • GenotheVIII

    YESYESYES!
    THAT is a proper price drop!
    If the 3DS were out for years and had a bunch of great games on it, then they would not have to give the previous owners anything. But, it’s SOOOOO good that they are rewarding the early adopters in this way! F’yeah!

  • ???

    for anyone who dosent know how this works:These free games are available to anyone who owns a Nintendo 3DS system and uses a wireless broadband Internet signal to connect to the Nintendo eShop at least once before 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on Aug. 11. These users will automatically be registered in the Nintendo 3DS Ambassador program.

  • Nin10doLuba

    Yes..
    Yees!!
    NINTENDO Yeah! Go nintendo its your birthday!
    Eat my dirt Sony Fans!!
    woohoo go mario! go mario! go nintendo!.

  • Tommy

    YESH

  • Adrian

    I’m still upset. They should have just given consumers tax free 3DSware cards, or given us the ability to choose what we want within a given price range.

    FFS PLEASE LET POKEMON MAKE IT TO THE LIST!

    • Josh Reichman

      I agree %100 on pokemon. But what would you want more: 3ds point cards or games no one else can get? if it were me: exclusive games. Just be happy they’re giving you something.

    • Marco

      Yeah that would be aweome, especially if you could use dual slot mode!

  • Df

    Nintendo has given me my bday present.[ July28 is my bday]

  • Aero53

    YAYAYAYAYAYAY thankyou <3

  • Josh Reichman

    David, you just made my day! After all the bad news, we finally get some AMAZING news!!!!

  • Johnny

    And are these reworked in 3D, too? Amazing!

    • Josh Reichman

      sadly no. it’s virtual console, not 3d classics. which means no 3d.

    • sam3ds

      the GBA will be 2D..the nes games..unsure…i mean, 10 full 3D nes classics?

    • Andy

      I want 3D Legend of Zelda!

    • Johnny

      I can’t imagine them NOT reworking games like Mario and Zelda for the NES though, so they probably will be 3D.

  • kamepoh

    bout time they did something that didnt backhand its consumers

  • Turt

    thats 20 free games in all O_o

  • Metroid Zealot

    AWESOME!!

    Not only Gameboy Advance confirmed, but FREE Metroid Fusion!

    When are these coming? I can’t wait!

  • why capcom why?!

    I knew being first in line at gamestop on launch
    day and being the first person to pre order would
    some day payoff! :D :D :D :D :E :D :D
    ^
    LOL!

  • SouperMaen

    so, all you have to do is log into the eshop, and they know you will get the games, because i dont wanna miss this

    • SuperZeldaVaniaRoid

      Yes

  • Rummy

    YAY. now just hope for the rest of the gba and nes list

    i just sonic advence 3 comes to the list

    • Rummy

      i mean, i just hope for sonic advence 3 comes to the list

    • cancelln

      Unfortunately, I doubt that would happen considering Sonic is made by Sega, and Nintendo is probably only allowed to give out Nintendo made games.

  • wohoo

    i love you Nintendo!!!

  • Matt

    This is amazing news. I got my 3DS on launch day. How and when can we get these games?

  • Thomas Jones

    im sure gald i bought mine on launch haha awesome the only game I have on that list is MKSC

  • Peter Mattsen

    They should make a WarioWare: Twisted 3DS

  • Nesyaj0

    WHOOOOOOOOO! CAN’T WAIT FOR MARIO KART AND MARIO V DONKEY KONG XDDDD

  • Magnus

    They better give me Advance Wars or AW2. Please Nintendo Please just give me AW.

    • kumquat8

      i totally agree. those were my favorite gba games

    • SuperZeldaVaniaRoid

      That is also one of my favorite series. That would be very awsome.

  • Thomas Jones

    so that means i needed to use the E-Shop once and then come the 12th of August I get all those games?

    • Josh Reichman

      yes pretty much

  • Metalio

    Words cannot describe my love for Nintendo right now.

  • spyroman300

    im so glad i got my 3DS the day it came out, since the GBA games you’re allowing early buyers to download happened to be 5 of my favorite games on the system.

  • Colin

    Will they be offering 20 specific games to download for free, kind of like the PSN “Welcome Back” offer, or will it be a “store credit” type of thing?

    • cancelln

      20 specific, exclusive, games

  • J98

    Wow, that’s awesome.

  • TheSpoonyBard

    YAAAAYYY!!!! I hope WarioWare Twisted
    and Mega Microgame$ is available too!

  • http://serebii.net munther555

    This realy is the best possable 3ds day ever…i realy cant imagine it getting any better :{D>

  • http://serebii.net munther555

    This realy is the best possable 3ds day ever…i realy cant imagine it getting any better :{D>

    • Some random guy

      If majoras mask 3D is announced today,then ill say that today is the best day of my life.

  • brainiac1515

    oh crap mine is being fixed what if i don’t get it back before then

    • Sean

      as long as you’ve been on the eShop between June 6th and August 12th, you’ll get the games.

    • brainiac1515

      thanks

    • Chris A.K.A. starfoxgeek

      what happen to your 3ds?

  • Brazilian3DS

    How about Latin America? Specifically Brazil? Will we get this too?

    • Josh Reichman

      I’m not sure. Probably no unless it’s an american 3ds

  • AncientBaby

    This. Is. Amazingfulness!

  • http://3dsblog jester

    alright who the fuk said the 3DS sucks

  • Joseph

    In the words of NintendoCaprisun.

    SO FREAKING HAPPY!!!!

    • Cameron

      So Happy..!

    • Paper Mario

      what about the words of Chuggaaaconroy Nintendo Logic !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    • Some random guy

      In the words of napolean dynamite, YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSssssssss

  • Yes Man

    so if you buy a 3DS after price drop, you dont get the free games?

    • Electromagnus

      Correctamundo XD

    • Yes Man

      Then..I need a 3DS before its too late!

  • http://youtube.com/humdog HumDog

    http://www.nintendo.com/corp/nintendo3ds/news/ just in case you haven’t seen it. i’m too excited for this! <3<3<3

  • http://pokemonlance.forumotion.com/ crawford

    @anyone who can answer my question.
    When will I get my games exactly, because they are not on the shop now?

    • cancelln

      The NES games come Sept 1 and the GBA games come sometime before the end of the year.

    • http://pokemonlance.forumotion.com/ crawford

      Thanks, but that is still over a month h away and a month after the price drop, so it makes no sense to me.

  • Zack

    It says if you already own a 3DS you can download these games. But then you say that the NES games and GBA games are coming out as of September 1st…. so what is the deal? Will we get these games before august 12th? or will we somehow be able to show/prove that we had the 3DS before august 12th, so in september we can download them?

    • Kip

      Essentially what they mean is that:

      1. You prove that u have the 3DS before August 12 by using ur 3DS to log into the Nintendo eShop. Which means that u just enter the eShop without actually doing anything else, and they’ll just register that console as eligible for the 20 free games.

      2. the 10 NES games will only be available after Sept 1.

      3. then other 10 GBA games will be available by the end of 2011. whether they’ll be released as a single batch remains to be unknown.

  • Zack

    Nintendo has an article on it :P http://www.nintendo.com/corp/nintendo3ds/news/

  • dubYA

    This is awesome news! 20 games for free? Ridiculously cool! I can’t wait to play SMA 3: Yoshi’s Island on my 3DS!

  • Steven

    Sooo can we expect multiplayer with mario kart super circuit (take advantage of the local connectivity)?

    • Joshua

      I would assume so as that was in the original. I wouldn’t expect any extra features like added online play but local will most likely be there as it was in the GBA release.

  • Twinboy16

    This is a great deal and nintendo is actually me some money back because i got my 3DS for 210 dollars because i traded in my ds lite (forgot the charge so i lost ten dollars).

  • xXSuperNintendoXx

    GBA HELL YEAH

  • ICE

    Did I just read that right? This can’t be real life.

    I finally get to play Metroid Fusion. All I need is Ruby and Sapphire and I’m COMPLETE.

  • http://deathuriel.deviantart.com/ DeathUriel

    One question… If I buy a new 3DS that is from before this thing but I connect it to the internet after august 12 or turn it on for the first time after august 12…
    Will it take the promotion? I am asking because I will buy from someone who bought them in the US… So if I buy it in august 15 it was probably bought way before august…

  • Jodel

    YES!

    This is what I think the NES titles could be:

    Super Mario Bros.
    Castlevania
    Metroid
    The Legend Of Zelda
    Kid Icarus
    Mega Man 1 or 2
    Punch-Out!
    Mario Bros.
    Kirby’s Adventure
    Contra

    Let’s see if most of the games I listed here will be confirmed! :) AND THANK YOU NINTENDO! :D

  • Trulaw

    Nintendo this news has made me happy. Keep it up and I will start to think you are learning from your mistakes.

  • JG

    So how much memory are these games going to take up

  • amichay

    nintendo just maked my day i planed to buy this already and add some games and now i can add even more! (beacause before all the legendery games are out i need to have something to get me enertamed on trips and lego star wars ||| looks good and olso nintendogs)

  • Ben

    If I bought a 3DS 2 months ago, will I still get these 20 free games?

    • [V]ark

      yes

    • butterbiscuitt

      Yes, as long as you bought it before the price drop, you’re fine.

    • Joshua

      Yes! If you buy a 3DS from launch until August 11th and you have updated it and visited the eShop you will get those games. On August 12th, the price will drop to $169.99 and those games won’t be free for them. So short answer, yes you’re fine just make sure you connect it to the eShop.

  • David Hoyle

    normally i would call BS. but seeing metroid fusion there, that makes everything fine for me. and people thought i was wrong saying the 3ds is lame and not worth $250. now look at the price drop. tell that to me again, i knew the 3ds was a rip off for $250.

    • David Hoyle

      of course, giving me my $80 is better then nintendo’s idea.

    • JDUB

      how many times do i have to tell you, FUCK OFF TROLL! you obviously didn’t know that the 3ds was a rip at 250 because YOU BOUGHT ONE! if i had the choice between 20 free nes/gba games and $80 off, i’d go for the money, but i cant say that i’m sad that i didn’t wait. it was worth getting it early, and it was worth supporting nintendo, and now i get 20 games as an added bonus. i want nintendo to win, they’re the only company that knows how to make fun games.

    • https://sites.google.com/site/hybrilynx/ David Hoyle

      you want nintendo to win what? im not supporting any company. actually i treat all companies the same. if i was even interested in sony or microsoft related things, i would just be doing the same there like here. but they dont even have good enough things for me to even bother buying. i just like playing zombies on xbox/call of duty black ops, which is my brothers. xbox does have alot of things to do on it, thats even way better then nintendo, but it lags online so terrible. if i was on an xbox thing, i would just be saying what the freak is wrong with microsofts lagging issue. sure people there would be telling me im trolling, but im just telling the truth, if i was there. and yeah, microsoft online gameplay does suck, but thats becuz its true. if i say anything about nintendo, its true also.

    • cancelln

      I would rather have the games considering some are exclusive for ambassadors

  • Tayo

    10 NES games, 10 GBA games, AND ZElda 4 Swords free? YES

  • 1-up Dude

    FLIPPIN AWSOME! cant WAIT! :3

  • Brandon

    I LOVE NINTENDO!!!!!!!!

  • nintendofan123

    Okay so this is real? So anybody who bought a 3ds before august 12 gets 20 free games? Seems pretty unusual for nintendo when they can be making huge profits out of those popular games

    • Infernite

      Don’t question it. Go with the folw, or something.

    • Infernite

      flow, my bad.

    • sam3ds

      XD

  • Infernite

    Give us Pokemon Emerald!

    • 3DSNERD

      YES!!!

  • JMAN

    HOLY CRAP!!!

  • http://zurashii.deviantart.com Zurashii

    OHHH GOD YES

  • Brandon

    I bought mine 2 months after launch. Should I still get the free games?

    • JMAN

      did you connect to the eshop yet? if so, your ok, if not, do it by august 12!!!

  • londy

    how will they know if you bought a 3ds before august 12 and are eligible for the free downloads

    • JMAN

      if you did the updates that where made earlier than august 12

    • Brandon

      If you visit the eShop before then.

  • noah:]

    when would you be able to get the free games

  • JMAN

    HURRAY! now my friend can buy a 3ds (price drop) and i can download 20 free games!!!! :P

  • http://www.youtube.com/user/ReligiousHero Dan

    Yoshi’s Island: Super Mario Advance 3

    Dayum! I CAN’T WAIT!

  • Tagmannn the Ocarnia Song

    EARTHBOUND BETTER BE ON THAT LIST.

    • George Tirebiter

      Until this gets resolved, don’t hold your breath.

      http://earthboundcentral.com/2009/02/earthbound-legal-issues/

      Again, this isn’t Nintendo’s fault. It’s all the estates being dicks.

    • Sinan

      How about Mother 3?
      I mean, think about it, Nintendo can introduce people to the series and all they have to do is translate the game!

  • George Tirebiter

    I absolutely don’t believe Nintendo doesn’t plan to ever offer those GBA games to people who aren’t early adopters. I think this is just a GameStop-like scenario where the “exclusive content” is really just early access.

  • Elizabeth

    This almost makes for Mega Man.

    It’s still a rockin’ deal.

  • the otter

    If I had a USA 3ds and moved to Europe, would I still get the free games? PLEASE HELP!

    • Sinan

      It will work I bought a 3ds in America and then connected to the shop in Turkey.

  • I am Error

    Gaming with Nintendo:
    Show loyality and thou shalt recieve freebies.

    Gaming with Sony:
    Freebies?! WTF are freebies? ooo that thing, it was like a “I’m sorry cake” due to the hacking issue… PLZ don’t kill me D:

    Gaming with Microsoft:
    We got enought free games on Xbox arcade, prices are so low they’re almost free!

    Gaming with PC:
    *Enters “The Pirate Bay”*
    -Downloading Halo, PS3 Emulator, Resistance 3, Battlefield 3 Beta, etc, etc…-
    *Plays every console game for free*
    -A virus has been detected-
    FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

    • http://deathuriel.deviantart.com/ DeathUriel

      Gaming with Nintendo:
      If all else fails thou shalt use fire! XD
      Anyway… What you said was really true… D:

    • Paper Mario

      Loolllll so true

  • pableishon

    I hope this works for México too …

    • Axelt

      si amigo yo lo espero con ancias mas los de gameboy advance

  • JustMeJustinE

    Do you need a club nintendo account to receive the free games?

  • Rummy

    i know

  • Camcool

    I can’t wait for m vs d

    • nobrainer0

      me too

  • Devam

    OMG YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Woot!!!!So excited!o-o

  • Sinan

    I knew that the 250 bucks I dropped was worth it!

    Btw: what do they mean by early adopter?
    what is the criteria?

  • Rohan

    I NEED pokemon fire red/leaf green to be released for free as part of this program!

  • bjfh

    ya know, it would be awesome if they included mother and mother 3

  • sportsben7

    How will i know i am registered for the program? I just went to the e shop but nothing told me i was registered for the program or anything.

  • max

    I want Mother 3, Poke’mon Emerald, Poke’mon Firered

  • why capcom why?!

    I might change my name to yes Nintendo yes! because of this!

  • Beanish

    This is another reason why Nintendo is the best. Lol.

  • SuperYoshiBoy

    GBA games? YES. Of several games that come to mind: MOTHER 3, The first Mario RPG game (Not Super Mario RPG) who’s name I forgot, Mario Paint (Which I think was on GBA), Pokemon Fire Red, Leaf green, Emerald, etc.

  • Cosmo Black FTW

    “Starting Sept. 1, Nintendo 3DS Ambassadors will be able to download 10 NES™ Virtual Console™ games at no charge and before they are available in the Nintendo eShop to the general public. These games, including Super Mario Bros.™, Donkey Kong Jr.™, Balloon Fight™, Ice Climber™ and The Legend of Zelda™, are slated to become paid downloadable games, but Ambassadors get them early for free. Once the paid versions of the games are posted to the Nintendo eShop later in the year, the updated versions will be available to Ambassadors for download at no cost.”

    My question is what does it mean by: the UPDATED VERSIONS will be available to Ambassadors…? What are updated versions? In 3D?

    source: http://www.nintendo.com/whatsnew/detail/fttgI7OsQIB1tZqRMa5CtT45KLrmNkAY

    • Sarah

      That’s what I was wondering… Anyone care to explain? Should we wait to download them until they’re updated?

    • cancelln

      According to IGN the NES games will receive a multiplayer upgrade

  • rjohn14

    They need some Pokemon GBA games games though! I really want Fire Red or Emerald/Ruby/Sapphire and Sony would never do this >:D

  • jammin

    Gameboy Advance will actually not be coming to the eShop to the general public http://ds.ign.com/articles/118/1184670p1.html

  • Connor Russell

    Wow! I can’t wait until September 1st! I hope they have smb3!

  • Sean

    I can’t really say anything else about this except….

    HUZZAH!!! :D

  • Connor Russell

    Hey David, do you know if there will be any Game Gear games, ’cause my dad’s broke yesterday, and I want to play the original Sonic the Hedgehog again! :)

    • DimeraX

      doubtful since gamegear isn’t from nintendo i think and they only make virtual console games for nintendo systems

    • Some random guy

      They have announced GG and TG:16 games to be on the 3DS VC.

  • http://gmail.com dan

    correct me if im wrong but isnt the dsi xl still 170 in the us and canada?

    • jsslvr

      i believe so…….

    • Bluu

      yes

    • James

      It will obviously either getting a price drop as well, or it is going to be taken out of the market.

      Those poor people who have little knowledge of the 3DS and buy a DSi XL between now and August 12…

  • lukiman

    waaaaaaaaait so are these nes games going to be on the 3ds 0_o i didnt know they were doing that haha i though they were gunna be on the wii!

    • jsslvr

      yep…..you got that right!!!!!

  • Bluu

    Yes They better!! That would mean i could of saved $30 …. I bought my 3ds for 200 so Give me my free games to make up for it!

  • Random Furry Dragon

    ok…. now i <3 you Nintendo.

    (F#CK YEA!!!!)

  • Marco

    If this gets cancelled too, im gonna flip…

  • Luigi

    I am extremely exited for Mario Kart and WarioWare because I never got to play those before. I hope they will add a pokemon game :D

    • Sean

      That would be amazing but probably won’t happen.

      If they released Pokemon Emerald as one of the 10 gba games I think I’d burst with happiness.

  • Colin

    There’s no news yet on what the other 10 games are going to be, is there?

  • Derpe

    YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY
    I feel like a sir whenever I see the term “Nintendo Ambassador”.

    • SonicBJE

      Same! :D

  • rifzz

    I payed 90.00 KWD = 329.176 USD
    beat that americans :P

  • sergio

    hey guys just want to know when does this offer start?

    • Colin

      The NES games are going to be available starting September 1st, and the GBA games will come sometime before 2012.

  • http://youtube.com/user/djrollin212 David

    They should make it to were the gba games work like there in a gba slot on ds games were they draw info such as the migrate function from the 4th gen pokemon games! and oh yeah FREE GAMES doing the post play surveys will score me enough coins for a giant AR card!

  • Rune

    Guys, it’s not that great, the 80 extra dollars that we ambassadors paid divided by the 20 free games, thats 4, 4$ for x year old games! this isn’t enough.

    • Dae

      It’s more than enough. I’d pay more for a lot of those games that I really just want to have again, or for the first time. And anyway, they would normally charge 5 dollars for a standard NES game, and probably 8 or 9 for those GBA games.

  • Connor Russell

    Wow! I’m so exited! Please bring SMB3, Nintendo, to honor the tanooki suit in Super Mario 3D Land! :)

  • http://youtube.com Michael

    I DONT WANNA WAIT UNTILL SEPTEMBER!!!WAHHHHH!!

  • Sean

    I hope that we get GBA games like:
    Super Mario World GBA
    Warioware Twi$ted
    Mario & Luigi Super Star-Sega
    Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire
    Legend of Zelda A Link to the Past
    Kirbys Nightmare in Dreamland
    Metroid Zero Mission
    Sonic Advance

    • tkdkbw

      Ruby and Sapphire are not likely due to the need to trade to “Catch ‘em all” but I feel the others are likely…

      People want R/S/E remakes so putting them on the eShop would blow that out the window

    • Sean

      That’s taking into account that Nintendo have any intention to make 3rd gen remakes any time soon.

      If they didn’t, releasing Pokemon Emerald (why release Ruby & Sapphire?) would be a good consolation.

      The 3rd gen of games wasn’t THAT far away, I bet there are many who can still play it in some form already.

    • Jack

      Maybe nintendo will have R/S/E in the e-shop when (and if) the remake happens, for people who don’t have enough money, but I don’t know, sugestions

  • Travis

    Is there any way to know if you have been accepted for the nintendo 3ds Ambassador program?

    • SuperZeldaVaniaRoid

      As long as you have got on the eshop before the price shop your good.

    • SuperZeldaVaniaRoid

      Drop not shop. Sorry

  • MGS Gamer

    Can’t wait!!! That’ll be a good step up for Nintendo!!!

  • MGS Gamer

    There should be Pokemon games or Digimon games!!! or ZELDA GAMES!!!!!

  • MGS Gamer

    Is that available in Asia?? IT SHOULD BE!!!

  • me

    they should’ve warned us about that way earlier and made the price drop only a little and then dropped it more when years pass

    • cgkrazz

      This came suddenly because the 3DS was beginning to fail. They did warn us 3 weeks before the price drop would happen. It’s just a new marketing technique. You get 20 free games. Chill.

  • me

    i mean i dont even have a job, barely get allowance and pay 250 dollars only to find out the next month i could’ve saved 70 dollars…

    • David Hoyle

      i sold $350 worth of yugioh cards, for $250 for my 3ds in march. since yugioh is yugioh, those cards are probably worth over $400 now. and this is all i get from nintendo. i think $100 of nintendo points would have been better, since you cant even email anyone with a 3ds. plus with 3dsware, its not like nintendo are going to ship the games anyways, or even make cases, booklets, or anything like that. personally downloadable should be cheaper if you ask me. plus once they finish it, its there forever. it can never be sold out, hard to get, or anything else. plus it uses internet, cell phones uses satellites which is way more expensive and has cheaper downloadable games.

  • ian

    man this is so awesome but how do you get it again cuz i got a update that took like a hour to finish and i hope thats how u can get the games. but im not sure so if i did it wrong please type back cuz i NEED THEM

    • emily

      …if you go on the eshop before august 12, you qualify. that’s it.

    • Jack

      So I can get the free games scince i got my 3ds on launch day? thanks

  • Zero

    At first I was mad because I had to wait for the VC then I have to wait for the good games BUT now nintendo is telling every one thanks for be loyal here 20 FREE GAMES AND THERE GOOD GAMES this is why Im gonna work for nintendo :D

  • http://nyan.cat TVisawesome432

    Yes!
    I’m happy I got the 3DS before the price drop baby!

  • EgEm

    i just bought the 3DS a month ago, and i inmediatly noticed the main problem of the 3ds: No 3d games. Right now im playing Zelda 3DS and Pokemon Black. A DS Game.

    This really pisses me off mostly because in mexico the 3DS is about 450 USD. Its ok if they re going to give Free NES and GBA Games (i consider myself a retrogarmer) but… there’s a way to finnaly get MOTHER 3 on america via virtual console -_____-…… i mean, if Nintendo ever do this, i will forgive everything, This BS price drop of the 3DS, the friend codes, even the virtual boy! (the worst 200 bucks i’ve wasted on my life…)

  • SuperZeldaVaniaRoid

    I’m so happy, except 1 thing I bought metroid fusion literally 2 days ago. Still very happy.

  • JPB

    I still dont understand, when are they out for free

    • Jack

      They are free if you got on the e-shop before August 12, I think thats the GBA games, and September 1 for the NES games. If you didn’t go on the eshop until after August 12, you won’t be able to download any, NES or GBA.
      hope I helpped

  • Game_Gamer

    Yes ! Can’t wait. I love you NINTENDO…

  • sonicon2

    This would be nice if I could actually diownload something! eshop doesnt work for me, it keeps saying it failed to download every time I try to.

  • 213videomaker

    I CANT WAIT FOR THE PRICE DROP I THOUGHT I HAD TO WAIT UNTIL OCTOBER!!!!

  • Luigi277

    Metroid: Zero Mission, PLEASE!

    • Luigi277

      my name is Luigi

  • Manuel

    I want pokemon emerald as one of the gba games.

  • gilmaster63

    You know, it would be cool, if they also give us an application to record 3DS footage.

  • GERRELEY

    So, when will all these 20 Virtual Console games be able to download? I heard August 12th, September 1st. I have no idea. >_<
    I need to know for sure, so, I can get my wireless put back on to download them.

  • Luke

    When does this start? like when can you download the games?

  • SonicBJE

    I’m not so positive of it, but I would love to any of the Sonic Advance games there. Particularly Sonic Advance 2. That would make me very :).

    • Simple Logic

      Well maybe maybe not. Unfotunately, Sonic is not part of Nintendo but that’s when it becomes bizerk. There where a few Sonic spin offs for Nintendo, but it was only because of better graphics so…

  • Chris A.K.A. starfoxgeek

    omg thats so cool download 20 games for free =) i exacully no what i wanna get but i wouldnt think they will release it yet but ill tell you the games i would download if they had them
    GBA
    1.yoshis island
    2.super mario world.
    3.pokemon fire red
    4.donkey kong country
    5.donkey kong country 2
    6.donkey kong country 3
    7.kirby nightmare in dream land
    8.pokemon saphire
    9.Legend of zelda link to the past
    10.dont know

    NES
    1.super mario bros
    2.super mario bros 3
    3.legend of zelda
    4. duck tales
    5.dr mario
    6. castlevaina and thats the games i want if they release all those games =)

  • Joel

    One word……………..SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET! :)

  • Nivedevino

    Yay this gives me a reason to keep my 3DS

  • Nivedevino

    Nintendo, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon and the Original Donkey Kong please.

  • Simple Logic

    I bet the rest of the Virtual Console games include:

    *Urban Fighter (NES)
    *Mario 3 (NES)
    *Mario 2 (NES)
    *Burger Time (NES)
    *Dr Mario (NES)
    *Donkey Kong Country (GBA)
    *Kirby’s Nightmare in Dreamland (GBA)
    *LOZ Minish Cap (GBA)
    * LOZ FOUR SWORDS (GBA)
    *Mario and Luigi Super Star Saga (GBA)

    Why I guess these are because they’re all bestsellers!

  • amzab

    can you get these before or after the price drop?

    • Simple Logic

      After the price drop starting with NES games in the 1st September.

  • Emil

    I really hope that these games will be avaliable :)

    Mario And luigi superstar saga
    Pokemon Emerald
    Medabots rokusho version
    Golden sun
    Fire emblem
    Medabots metabee version
    :D i really cant wait….

    • Simple Logic

      I don’t believe it’s Golden Sun, Fire Emblem or Medabots because they’re not really Nintendo associated as in the Publisher as Nintendo.

  • Jack

    My b-day is september 1st! You know what I’ll be doing.

  • willie funk

    does anyone know if you will have to be part of nintendo club to get these free games?

  • Torch

    Wow we gotta wait till september 1st just to get 10 free nes games n we gotta wait till the end of the year just to get 10 free gb/gba games? Wow…but hey at least were gettin 20 free games ^-^ really excited for this