Nintendo 3ds news

Being unemployed and all, purchasing a 3DS probably wasn't my brightest move, but I do stupid things every now and then... so I might as well talk about it. This overview is going to be from a consumer perspective and address what comes in the box, the system's features, and whether or not it's worth a purchase. Priced at $250, the Nintendo 3DS is quite the investment and you should know what you're getting for your money if you do decide to take the plunge.

I've been rocking a red "Mario Kart" edition of the DS fat for several years. I love the thing; up to this point, the DS has been my favorite handheld platform and my preference for "on the go" gaming, but it was definitely time for an upgrade--was the 3DS the upgrade I was looking for? I can't deny that the 3DS is a cool piece of tech, and I'll go into the device's features and functionality later in this article, but the big question is: Is it worth a purchase? The short answer is: Not yet.

The system itself is dependably solid--it has a very "Nintendo feel" to it and you can feel confident that it'll survive some abuse (although I wouldn't recommend you intentionally abuse your system). The top screen is larger than the bottom and features a higher resolution than the previous Nintendo handheld (as well as the glasses free 3D everybody's been talking about). The face and shoulder buttons are the same layout as the DS classic, but the "Start" and "Select" buttons have been moved below the touchscreen (with one on each side of the new "Home" button) and the D-pad has been shifted closer to the base of the system and an analogue nub has taken up its original resting spot. The system also features a volume slider, a 3D depth slider (which, as the name suggests, allows you to adjust the depth of the 3D in the images, movies, and games you view or play), a wireless switch, and what appears to be an infrared transmitter/receiver (I could read the user manual to check that for certain, but I'm too lazy). There's also 2 cameras on the system's exterior (which can be used for taking 3D pictures), one inward facing camera (so you can... take pictures of yourself and stuff), and a microphone. If you've been following the 3DS at all, none of this should be news to you; it's a familiar build that feels comfortable, and I'm glad Nintendo didn't change much from the overall design since their last portable gaming device.

Of all the new things that the 3DS brings on the hardware side, the analogue nub is probably my favorite--its concave design allows for a more comfortable fit with your thumb than the PSP's analogue and it also feels like there's more room to move with it than Sony's handheld. In case you're wondering, yes, the analogue nub can be used in original DS games; grid-based games (the kind that has your character moving to grids instead of freely moving about... like Pokemon), however, don't work too well with the analogue and it's best to stick with the D-pad for those.

The system's interface isn't too unlike that of the Wii's; offering a user-friendly, graphical interface that manages to be clean and cluttered at the same time. I like the use of icons over text so I can easily find my way around a system's features and game library, but there's no organization to the icons aside from how you arrange them (the system gives you the same drag and drop ability to arrange your icons as the Wii). One thing they really did right with the interface is the addition of "suspended play" which allows you to back out of a game or application to the home screen to maybe adjust your screen's brightness or to utilize the system's new "Game Notes" feature (which allows you to make notes and doodle about whatever game or app you have in suspended play); starting a different game or application will end your suspended game so, if you do that, be sure to save! Also, suspended play doesn't work on standard DS games.

The system also comes with some augmented reality cards to play various minigames using the 3DS's cameras and some other preloaded software. What is included with the system is pretty light and you'll likely be bored with Face Raiders and the AR Games within an hour or less. The 3DS released without some of its most exciting features (a game download service for original games and classic handheld (original GameBoy, GameBoy Color, Game Gear...) titles, Netflix, and a web browser) with those to come in late May through a system update. This really limits early adopters to what they can do with the system and is one of the main factors in my opinion that it's best to wait a couple months before you decide to make the purchase (the limited software library is another good reason to wait).

The big system draw is the glasses-free 3D. It works well, really well... surprisingly well. I was expecting it to be blurry or the dual images to be apparent, but the 3D images are crisp and it looks natural--provided you are holding the system in the "sweet spot (the sweet spot isn't hard to find, though, and it's easy to get comfortable once you hit it). The 3D I've experienced on the system so far (with the included software and Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars) provides depth more like looking through a window than stuff actually popping out of the screen--this is something I actually like because it feels more like you're peering into that world instead of trying to be overly gimmicky with things flying out of the screen (although this could be different with other titles, the perception of depth is real and adds some nice visual flair to the games you play). I, personally, haven't experienced the nausea that has been a concern with extended play sessions with the 3D activated, but the night is still young! I have, however, experienced the blurriness caused by playing a DS game on the fancy new system--it's not bad to the point where it makes the game unplayable, and it's mostly noticeable in text, but it is there and something you should be aware of (this won't stop me from playing my DS games in my 3DS, though...).

The Nintendo 3DS is certainly a quality device--it feels solid while being easy to hold and light (this is, of course, in comparison to the original build of the DS as I never bought one of the redesigns), has a clean interface, and the 3D is something new and innovative... but the system as a whole feels incomplete right now. With such a small selection of launch titles (most of which have been receiving "meh" reviews), you're likely not going to get your $250 worth of gaming in anytime soon; the system itself is light on features and the absence of a downloadable game store or even a web browser is a notable omission (even if they are coming in May). It's a Nintendo platform, so it's highly unlikely that we'll see a price cut until the next version of the 3DS rolls around... which also means waiting a couple months to buy isn't really going to affect your bank account any differently than buying now, but waiting will likely give you the feeling of a more "complete" system and you'll have more software to choose from (which is a good thing since you'll be less likely to pick up a crappy new game just so you can play one in 3D).