At E3 this week, Nintendo announced the next version of its handheld hardware, the Nintendo 3DS. The 3DS features special 3D effects along with an analog stick, a larger top screen and various other features. A few RPGs have been announced for it.

Square Enix has announced both Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest games for the Nintendo 3DS, as well as a new Chocobo Racing 3D game. But the most developed 3DS title announced is Kingdom Hearts 3D, an entirely new Kingdom Hearts game starring the characters Riku and Sora.

Altus has also announced that it will release some of its Shin Megami Tensei games on the Nintendo 3DS, including the original Shin Megami Tensei, as well as Devil Survivor and Persona. The Shin Megami Tensei series is very popular in Japan, after Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest.

Nintendo will also release Paper Mario 3DS for the new handheld, taking the series back to its roots with turn-based RPG battles. And, of course, a new Pokémon title is on the way for the 3DS as well.

Not quite an RPG in the traditional sense, but The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time will also be remade for the 3DS.

The original DS got some love, though — Golden Sun: Dark Dawn was announced for the Nintendo DS.

It looks like the Nintendo 3DS will be friendly to the RPG gamer. More on this new handheld as we get it.

Microsoft just had its E3 media briefing, and has unveiled Kinect, its controllerless control system for the Xbox 360.

Previously known as “Project Natal”, Kinect is a camera/microphone system for the Xbox 360 that’s capable of tracking full body movements. With Kinect, games can be controlled by voice and body movements, while simple vocal commands and hand gestures can now control menus and media on the Xbox 360.

No RPGs for the system yet, but we do have a number of other titles including a dance game and a Star Wars game. I wonder how RPG menus would work. I expect problems if developers all jump on the Kinect bandwagon at once, without thinking about how the controls will actually work for other genres than those already seen.

Kinect will be out on November 4, 2010. Microsoft also unveiled a smaller model of the Xbox 360 with a 250 GB drive and built-in WiFi, which ships today for $299 U.S.

Kinect for Xbox 360 unveiled at E3 | Xbox Living

It seems that BioWare’s hit action-RPG franchise Mass Effect is on its way to the big screen.  Legendary Pictures, which has rights to produce the film, is getting everything together to put Commander Shepherd on the big screen.

Screenwriter Mark Protosevich, who wrote I Am Legend and the upcoming Thor movie, is currently in talks to write the movie.  The film will be co-produced by Legendary and Warner Bros.

Mass Effect isn’t alone, with other video games like World of Warcraft and Gears of War also making the attempt to transition into film. Meanwhile, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is on its way to theatres this Friday.

We’ll have to wait and see what this becomes, but Mass Effect certainly has the rich story and world mythology that could easily translate into film — if the right team is behind it.

With the holiday shopping season gearing up, RPG video game makers are beginning to make promises for the future of their games.  After all, gamers love the immersive worlds that RPGs deliver, and the promise of expansions can be tempting.  Three game makers are promising upcoming content for their games, The Last Remnant, Fable II and Fallout 3.

Square Enix is first up to bat.  The Last Remnant has only been out for about a week on the Xbox 360 and already the developer is promising new content within a month.  In fact, there will be four seperate downloadable content packs in December alone.  On December 1, two packs will be released: Purgatory’s Sins and The Key of Ancient Ruins. Both of these initial packs will be free.  On December 15, the next download, March to War Set, will be released for 150 Microsoft points.  Then on December 22, players will be treated to another free download, Price of Lies.

Lionhead has announced a release date for its Knothole Island Pack DLC for Fable II.  The pack will be released on December 22 for 800 Microsoft points over Xbox Live.  A free update will also come for the game, so that co-op won’t be broken when joining players who have the DLC.

Bethesda has also promised downloads for its Fallout 3.  There will be three downloadable content packs released in early 2009.  Operation: Anchorage will be out in January, with The Pitt following in February and Broken Steel out in March.  No prices have been announced.  For PC users, the game’s official editor will be made available in December, allowing the mod community to develop new material for the game.

Nintendo has announced one Super NES RPG that’s making its way into the Wii’s virtual console. For 900 Wii points, you can download and play Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars.

Super Mario RPG, which was later succeeded by the Paper Mario series, was a joint project between Nintendo and Square (now Square Enix).  It blends the general RPG style of the Final Fantasy series, with the fun and wacky nature of Mario games.

It’s one of my favourite RPGs of all time.  When I was a kid, I played through this game several times.  It’s just plain fun.

No date has been set, as far as I know, but it won’t be too long, I hope.

The use of drugs by characters in Bethesda’s upcoming RPG Fallout 3 has been deemed too realistic, resulting in a ban on sales of the game in that country.

The gameplay of Bethesda’s upcoming installment in the Fallout series relies on the use of “chems”, chemical enhancements that affect the player.  The chems are essentially drugs that affect player’s stats, with both positive and negative effects.

The use of the chemicals is represented through pills, syringes and a pipe.  Morphine can also be heavily used by the player to ignore pain.  The representation of the drugs in the game is far too realistic, according to a statement released by Australian officials:

“In the board’s view these realistic visual representations of drugs and their delivery method bring the ‘science-fiction’ drugs in line with ‘real-world’ drugs.”

The board also describes its discomfort with the incentives provided for players who use the in-game drugs.

Australia bans a small handfull of video games every year.  The highest rating available is “MA15+”, meaning that some games that would be rated “M (17+)” or “AO (18+)” in North America are simply banned down under.

Many Australian gamers are calling for a similar 18+ rating to be introduced in Australia to allow the sale of high-profile titles, such as Fallout 3, to adults.  Critics of the ban also point out inconsistencies in the Australian censorship board, namely their willingness to rate Bioshock, which also featured injection of “plasmids” via a syringe.

Fallout 3 has not yet been rated by North American or European censors.