Nintendo 3DS ‘folders and patches’ firmware update now live
Time to get out your Nintendo 3DS and head to the settings menu, the latest 3DS update is now live. This update will add folders to the Nintendo 3DS home screen so you can organize your games much better. Up to 60 games or apps can be in any one single folder. The eShop also has received a fresh makeover and added the ability to scan in QR codes into the eShop. Once you scanned you’ll be taken to the games page in the store. It’s hidden under Settings / Other.
This new update also adds patching support to games, the patches themselves, the first of which will be for Mario Kart 7 are coming at a later date however. Nintendo says May, so it shouldn’t be too long now. Want to see how the new update looks and how the folders work, check out our quick video below showing them off.
Downloaded yours already? Tell us what you think!
Took my about 5 minutes to figure out how to make a folder. You have to make it first then add stuff, it’s not like iOS haha.
i’m sooo LOVING the folders! 😀
Damn it I wish Nintendo would just grow up and add useful stuff to the 3DS, like a video watching software which isn’t terrible AND exists in Australia, some kind of social networking app and maybe a music app which is loud enough that I can listen to on the bus. Nintendo have really got to pull their finger out of their asses.
They’re getting there though. Sure LetterBox isn’t as useful as an IM app, but it’s got that Nintendo touch, something different and cool to use. Seeing exactly how and what friends wrote is kinda cool making every letter feel more significant, it is more like a letter than a message after all.
This latest update includes better ways to manage your growing library of games and a better look e-shop, which I thought was already a big step closer to the app store when it first launched. They’re slowly but steadily adding more much needed features, and they’re being done well. Nintendo doesn’t do what everyone else does, they don’t copy features of other systems and add them. Everything they make, every piece of software is well thought out, and it may not be as useful, but it does what it’s meant to, and in a way that differentiates it from others.
As for Nintendo Video, it’s restrictive and not particularly useful, but being able to watch Shaun the Sheep in 3D is always good. Sometimes I do want to watch 3D Youtube videos, but I realise the screen isn’t really made for that, and watching something on a screen that size isn’t really that enjoyable. It’s good for playing games but not so much for watching video on like a smartphone or a Vita. Maybe the inevitable revision will have a bigger screen(s) and a more dedicated video app. For now, it wouldn’t be all that useful to have one. (I think)
I agree that the music app isn’t particularly useful either, although it does have that cool Nintendo finish, being able to play along with the music hasn’t been seen before, and there are some great visualisers, like Mr. Game and Watch, a plane flying through coloured plate tunnels, shooting lasers when you play along (which looks great in 3D) and an analogue clock that highlights the time from which the music will play, and when it finishes. I’d much sooner reach for an iPod than a 3DS for music though.
In the end, the 3DS isn’t made to be anything much other than a device for playing games. We’re being drip-fed important features, and it becomes more useful all the time. I can’t wait to see it in another few years!
I completely agree with you, but I really think that Nintendo’s modern day responsibility in terms of handhelds is not what it was 10 years ago. I am really happy with my 3DS as a gaming device, and I’m happy to know those PSVitas aren’t going too well, but the thing is, the PS Vita deserves to have the better games. It has better hardware, better pre-installed software and better online capabilities, yet the 3DS still comes out on top. And I know, the 3DS does have the better games, but Sony is making such a larger effort. These days i’m finding i’m only taking my 3DS out with me instead of my iphone is to send my inappropriate mii’s via streetpass to small children. But alas, you cannot have it all.
Got my update – all my demos now safely stored in a folder. The challenge now is to fill a folder with games!
Some little things I noticed: You don’t have to click and hold as long to move apps around, and swiping left and right on the home screen makes the background music play faster.
Ah, the little things… 😛
That is particularly awesome! Yeah I love the little things as well. 😀
Another step in the right direction, but it’s still very behind. I want a YouTube app. I want an intergrated Facebook app. I want an Instant Messaging app. I want an accomplishment system for all games, not just the puzzle swap and street pass games. A better browser would be handy too. It’s crazy, the Vita comes with most of these things and more right out of the box from day 1. Nintendo needs to stop playing catch up with these things.