Happy birthday to me!

I know it's a bit uncouth to wish oneself a happy birthday, but don't judge me too harshly. There's a point to this, er, self-celebratory post, after all.

As for what that is: Well, it's to point out that I recently bought myself (using birthday money from my parents) one of those pink-and-white 3DS XLs I've been fawning over since the Japanese version was announced in late August.

Here are two photos of the system's rather stylish packaging:

And here's a snapshot of the system itself:

Oh, and here's how it looks when it's open and about to play a game:

Don't fret too much over that yellow-ish bottom screen, by the way; in reality, it isn't noticeable (or at least it isn't to me).

What do I think of it so far, you ask? Let's just say I have a feeling that, from now on, I'll only pick up my original 3DS when I want to play it while I'm out on the town. In every other situation, though, I'll be reaching for the beauty you see in the photos above.

Welp, it seems I'll be buying a 3DS XL a bit sooner than I initially thought I would

That's because, as some of you likely have heard already, during its latest Nintendo Direct broadcast yesterday, Nintendo of Japan announced that it will release a "PINKxWHITE" 3DS LL (XL to us heathens in the west) in late September.



Will this precious-looking handheld also find its way onto store shelves in other regions in the coming weeks and months? Sadly, I have no idea, although I certainly hope that will be the case. Should it fail to appear in my neck of the woods (that would be North America), though, I'll probably go ahead and pick up a Japanese one, as I'd love to be able to play some of the games--like Dangerous Jii-san Jya--that haven't been or won't be brought to our shores.



The announcement of the pink-and-white 3DS LL wasn't the only nugget of news that caught my attention during yesterday's Nintendo Direct, by the way. Also piquing my interest: This bit of gameplay footage of the next Animal Crossing title, as well as the title's colorful Japanese box art that can seen below.



Similarly thrilling for yours truly were two eShop game reveals. The first was for Denpa Ningen RPG 2, the sequel to the Genius Sonority-developed title that I once described as being "part Teletubby, part Tingle, part Pikmin, part Mr. Driller and part Mii," while the second was for HarmoKnight, a Bit.Trip Runner-esque platformer from the folks behind the Pokémon series. (To see HarmoKnight, which will hit the Japanese eShop on Sept. 5, in action, check out this recent tinycartridge.com post.)



Finally, I have to admit that watching the latest footage of Tomodachi Collection 3DS, which was shown during the waning moments of the aforementioned Nintendo Direct broadcast, made me feel sad that those of us who live outside the Land of the Rising Sun likely will never get to experience its wackiness. Maybe this will be the game that finally gets me to start learning Japanese?