Now that that's out of the way let's move right on to what I wanted to blog about today: the Nintendo 3DS. If you haven't been keeping up on the video game front and have no idea what a "3DS" is then check out the official specs and features here. All right, now that I don't have to go in to descriptive detail about the unit itself let me start by saying: yes, it works.
While I am somewhat near-sighted and wear prescription glasses, I have had no problem seeing the "glasses-free" 3D with both my glasses on and off - and I have to say that it is very impressive. While the majority of the 3D effect is indeed depth perception, many times during play, images have appeared to pop out of the screen in an effect similar to 3D movies in the theater. I even used the two rear-facing cameras on the system to take a picture of my dog and was surprised to see how well (and immediate I might add) the unit rendered the photo in 3D. My German Short-Haired Pointer's long snout really did appear to protrude from the bright screen while the wall and floor behind her faded in to the background appropriately.
Unfortunately, there is a very big downside to the 3D aspect, and that is that it does indeed cause eye-strain and headache. Now maybe this isn't the case for all that have been using the system but certainly everyone I have spoken to and showed the 3DS to has commented on varying degrees of both symptoms. So does this ultimately render Nintendo's newest handheld useless? No! While the 3D is obviously the selling point that Nintendo is pushing, it is just the cherry on top of the icing of a very delicious cake.
What really drew me into the 3DS was the overhaul of the operating system and a plethora of added functionality and features. Not only does the main menu easily surpass that of the Wii but it is comparable to the 360s dashboard. All of your applications, games, and settings are displayed neatly on the screen and you can even bring up the home menu without exiting games/applications. What is further impressive is the way Nintendo has handled its online. While there are still friend codes in place it is incredibly easy to add and keep track of friends. In fact, the system will even let you know when your friends are online and what they are playing (which can also be accessed from the home menu without having to close the software you are running - a la 360 dashboard).
As if that aspect of the online wasn't impressive enough, Nintendo has also built in Streetpass and Spotpass functions which allow the 3DS to receive information while it is closed and in sleep mode. Just yesterday I took my 3DS out with me and when I returned home I flipped it open to see a notification waiting for me that an update was available - very slick indeed. This might not seem to impressive from my example but imagine simply walking past someone else who has a 3DS in sleep mode and trading game information like high scores, characters, bonus content - pretty much anything. The only real bummer about the online is that the web browser and Netflix streaming (yes, you'll be able to watch 3D movies on your handheld) are not yet available and will be added with an update sometime later.
Moving along though, while all of that is cool and nice, I'm hoping nobody intends to buy the system simply for its hardware... it's the games that matter! While Nintendo's first party launch line-up was a bit underwhelming to say the least (Steel Diver, Nintendogs + Cats, and Pilotwings Resort) a handful of third party publishers took the opportunity to push some well known franchises like Street Fighter, Super Monkey Ball, Ghost Recon, and Lego Star Wars. However, being the oddball that I am, I decided to go with Koei's latest iteration of the warriors franchise: Samurai Warriors Chronicles.
While I won't go in to too much detail about the actual game since the focus of this blog is the 3DS I will say that I was thoroughly impressed by the graphics and sound presented here (I'll post a video below). Maybe it's just my imagination but the game certainly seemed to look just as good, heck probably even better, than Samurai Warriors 3 on the Wii. Either way, it's certainly a quantum leap past the DS era graphics. I was a bit worried before playing the game, though, because of several reviews complaining about the camera control. I didn't find much of a problem here and thought the game actually played very smoothly thanks to the 3DS's new incredibly intuitive circle-pad.
In conclusion, I am incredibly pleased with my new Nintendo 3DS and with titles like Super Mario 3D, Paper Mario, Kid Icarus, Ocarina of Time, Resident Evil, and Kingdom Hearts on the horizon I have a newly renewed respect and passion for Nintendo. Don't be turned off by reports of eye-strain or headache, like I said, the 3D is only a very small part of the package here and turning it off only increases the resolution of the top screen. I would definitely suggest that any Nintendo fans (or just gamers in general) give the system a shot if they have the extra cash available.
Software Lineup Trailer:
If anyone has any questions about the system please let me know below in the comments!
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