As of today, July 26, 2012, Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] is now available to purchase in Australia and New Zealand. The game is, of course, already available in Europe, and will be released in North America on July 31, 2012. For those of you that have the game already, we hope you're enjoying it!
Update: It is now confirmed that all Australian retailers will be providing the exclusive AR cards.
Hey everyone! We at KH13 have received our review copy of the Mark of Mastery Edition of Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance]. This means you can look forward to our official review of the English version of the game later this week, but for now, we would like to treat you to a photoseries showing the box in detail. You can click here to find details about the special collector's edition, or if you would like to see our unboxing photos, simply look below in our gallery!
Television commercials for Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] have begun showing in North America, in anticipation for the game's release on July 31, 2012. ftrwrwbg managed to grab a recording of this commercial, and thanks to Kinode from KH13 for the find, you can watch it below.
Update: We have updated the video below with a higher quality version provided by Ryan of KH13.
Firemasterlucky5 has uploaded another version of the commercial, and this can be seen below.
Nintendo have sent out email invitations to their subscribers to inform people about the previously announced North American launch event for Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance]. You don't need the invitation to attend, of course-- anyone is welcome! The email does, however, reveal new details about the event. You can read it below, thanks to DreamDropStorm from KH13.
Come help us celebrate the launch of Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance]:
Be among the first in North America to experience the entire Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] game.
Attendees will have the opportunity to purchase the game. Very limited copies of the standard and Mark of Mastery Editions will be available for sale – one per customer, so get there early to beat the rush. When it's gone, it's gone!
- A special gift with purchase that is only available at this event.
- Have your picture taken with the official Keyblade!
- Free event poster at the door, whiles supplies last.
- And more!
With Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] already released in Europe, and releasing in North America on July 31, 2012, many publications and websites have already published their official review of Kingdom Hearts 3D. Since there are so many, we won't create a new article for each review-- instead, we'll link to them all here! These interviews combined have given Kingdom Hearts 3D a Metacritic score of 76, and a Game Rankings score of 81.92%, which is quite impressive. Also, keep an eye out, since KH13's official review of the game will be ready in about a week! Until then, here's a list of other reviews:
90/100 from Cubed3
80/100 from Eurogamer
81/100 from Family Friendly Gaming
83/100 from Game Informer
82/100 from GameTrailers
70/100 from games(TM)
90/100 from G4tv
85/100 from IGN
71/100 from Meristation
70/100 from Nintendo Life
84/100 from Official Nintendo Magazine UK
72/100 from Nintendo Gamer
80/100 from 3DJuegos
85/100 from 4Players.de
70/100 from Gamespot
BradyGames have previewed their Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance Signature Series Guide, the official guidebook for Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] in North America and Europe. To view this preview, simply head over to their Facebook page and follow the instructions. You will have to like their page, but in the end, you get a 6-page preview of the strategy guide in amazing quality! Alternatively, you can view these pages below, in our gallery. The guide will release on July 31, 2012 in North America, and can be purchased from Amazon.com. Thanks to JayC from KH13 for the find!
GFK Chart-Track have updated with the weekly sales of videos games in the United Kingdom for the week ending on July 21, 2012. Despite only being released for 2 days of that week, Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] appeared on the list and made 6th place! This is quite impressive for a 3rd party Nintendo 3DS game-- only second to Resident Evil: Revelations. Congratulations Kingdom Hearts! Let's look forward to good sales in the remaining regions.
Thanks to Decimo from KH13, we now have photos of all the illustrations from the first novel of the Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] novel series-- titled Side Sora. Please note that minor spoilers for Kingdom Hearts 3D are implied. You can view these images below, in our gallery.
Update: Decimo has uploaded scans of the front and back covers. You view these below, in our gallery.
Books → Kingdom Hearts 3D → Volume 1
Update: The official European website for Kingdom Hearts 3D has been updated with the trailer available via one of the four banners on the home page. It also now says "Buy Now!" instead of "Pre-Order!" with the game now available in Europe.
Square Enix Europe have released a Launch Trailer for Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance], which released in Europe on July 20, 2012 (with a North American release on July 31, 2012). The Launch Trailer contains new English footage of the game, including both gameplay and cutscenes. It's in HD 720p and quite impressive, so please check it out! You can watch it below, or download it from our video archive.
Square Enix Europe have also uploaded a short message from Shinji Hashimoto (the producer of the game) and Yoko Shimomura (the composer of the game) from Japan Expo 2012. You can see this below.
IGN have posted an unboxing video for the Mark of Mastery edition of Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance]. Like IGN's review of the game, it's done by Audrey Drake who labels herself as a "Kingdom Hearts nerd". The video covers everything in the edition, and can be seen below in HD 720p. The Mark of Mastery edition is exclusive to North America and releases on July 31, 2012.
Square Enix have announced that a premiere launch event will be held for the North American release of Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance]. On Saturday July 28, 2012, from 9AM to 1PM, at the Nintendo World Store in New York (10 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10020), fans will have the opportunity to purchase the standard or Mark of Mastery (limited quantities) versions of the game three days before its scheduled release on July 31, 2012. Fans will also have the opportunity to write messages to the Japanese development team of the game, or take photos in a Kingdom Hearts photo both. Exciting stuff! Will you be attending the event? Let us know at our forum.
Square Enix also released the following Launch Trailer for North America along with the announcement. This is identical to the recent European Launch Trailer, but also contains a voice-over to explain some features of the game. Enjoy!
Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] is now available in Europe, as of July 20, 2012. Everyone must be very excited! North American fans still have just over 11 days to wait (until July 31, 2012), so please keep our spoiler policy in mind when posting anything on KH13. We anticipate that everyone will be buying the game ASAP, due to the amazing previews we've seen so far, but for those of you who are fortunate enough to have Kingdom Hearts 3D already, we have prepared some areas where you can discuss the game.
- Feel free to use our dedicated forum for Kingdom Hearts 3D discussion to share your own experiences with the game. We will be making sure that everyone follows our spoiler policy, which means that spoilers will be properly marked, and the forum will be a great place for everyone (both those who have the game, and those still waiting) to discuss it.
- We have set up a dedicated topic for people to discuss and share any videos, walkthroughs, playthroughs or "let's plays" of Kingdom Hearts 3D. This will keep all of the new videos in one place, making it easy for the North American fans to avoid being spoiled, while still allowing the European fans to experience the new game together!
- For those of you who are still waiting, we still have our countdown topic for Kingdom Hearts 3D, where you are able to discuss your anticipation in a spoiler-free environment, countdown the time until the game's release, and share what you will be doing in preparation. (A marathon of the past games, anyone?)
This is, of course, just a small portion of the Kingdom Hearts 3D-related fun available on KH13! Please make sure that you spend a lot of time in our Kingdom Hearts 3D forum, since this is where a majority of the action will be happening. In the interest of keeping everyone un-spoiled until they've bought the game, we will be starting our full coverage after the North American release. Stay tuned!