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• Reggie articulates what's compelling about Nintendo's 3DS launch games

  

  Just as Super Mario 64 DS ushered in the era of the original DS system, it seemed fitting that a 3D-enhanced version of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time -- the cherry on top of last June's "E3DS" scoop -- would be the linchpin of the 3DS hardware launch this March. Except, it's not going to happen.

   

  Footnoted in a vague announcement that more than thirty 3DS games would be released between the system's launch and E3 2011 (in early June) was the equally ill-defined update that Zelda: OoT 3D was still "in the works," along with other triple-A Nintendo iterations for the new handheld, including Mario Kart, Paper Mario, Animal Crossing and Star Fox -- not to mention the ballyhooed Kid Icarus comeback, Uprising, which did impress at last week's preview event.

   

  "Mario, Zelda, all of those titles are coming," Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aime told MTV Multiplayer. "From our perspective, we like to launch titles when they're ready. And so they'll be ready. They'll be ready soon -- just not in that initial time period of late March to early June." In other words: "after E3."

   

  That leaves Nintendo with a somewhat dubious 3DS launch "window" lineup (we still don't know exact release dates) of first-party titles -- three to be exact: Nintendogs + cats, Pilotwings Resort and Steel Diver. You could make a case for those first two serving strong supporting roles in the hardware launch; and Reggie, off the top of his head, said that the Nintendogs and Pilotwings franchises have combined to sell "tens of millions of copies," despite neither being a particularly prolific sequel bearer.

   

  Steel Diver, on the other hand, is an unknown (it began as a tech demo for the original DS) and stars ... a rather drab submarine. Astutely sensing our apathy for the game, Reggie explained that "from a compelling standpoint, we think it's awfully compelling."

   

  If you're not buying it ... you could just buy Street Fighter IV again.