Now I'm back in London, I've gained access to that most wondrous of new devices, the 3DS. The media gave it a relatively good response but I didn't hear any cries of "greatest gadget ever" from the journalist masses, so I was willing to wait. After having the thing for almost a month now, I've decided to compile my thoughts on the thing;
- Visually, the device lots great. I chose the "Cosmo Black" version and it is really well designed. The top half is slightly larger than the bottom, allowing for easier opening. Opened up, it still looks great. The Start, Home and Select buttons are all discreet enough that you don't notice them all the time.
- The controller nub (or whatever Nintendo call it) feels responsive when used. It has just the right amount of give. I put in Super Mario 64 DS and ran around using it. Felt awesome.
- The Home screen is really well lain out. The ability to choose the size of the icons allows for a decent amount of customisation. The influence of the Wii homescreen is evident.
- The 3D works. There's no two ways about it, it looks amazing. It's definitely not perfect though. The viewing angle is pretty specific, and I often found myself having to adjust the device as to prevent the two images blurring apart.
- The inbuilt FaceRaiders is really nothing but a distraction, but it actually serves to show quite a weakness in the 3DS's stereoscopic imaging; moving the device around too much means you inevitably lose the 3D effect. Okay, you can switch it off, but it's not as fun that way.
- The augmented reality stuff is cool. I'm impressed Nintendo managed to shoehorn in a boss fight with a dragon to every game, even fishing. It will be interesting to see if anything more is done with this. I'm still hoping for an AR Katamari game.
- I can't really comment on StreetPass because I haven't passed anyone with a 3DS yet, one of the downsides of being an early adopter. StreetPass Quest is a nice light hearted RPG adventure which rewards Miis with hats. Pointless cosmetic upgrades? Count me in. Due to my lack of street-passing, I've been paying cats to fight ghosts for me. Yes.
- The pedometer seems like a needless inclusion but I really like the element of earning Play Coins. Games should reward me for not playing sometimes. I can see this being implemented into the Pokemon games, and perhaps being able to trade in Play Coins in Mario or Zelda for upgrades.
- The lack of the software store is a poor show on Nintendo's part. The launch line up was pretty lackluster, so to set the handheld free with no download service feels unjustifiable. I'm looking forward to it's launch, but in late March, after two months after launch? It doesn't seem to make any sense.
- The SD card will probably be useful. Some of the photos I'm taking do look nice, but mainly because they are 3D. The camera quality otherwise is pretty poor, so I'll only really be viewing them on the 3DS itself.
- I know it sounds daft, but I really like the charging cradle. It's just a simple piece of plastic, but it's nice to have a place where you can drop the 3DS to instantly begin charging it. It's also nice to have the option of disconnecting it to charge the device directly. Has anyone worked out what the little hinged bit on the back is for yet?
So there we have it. Overall, I like the 3DS. It looks good, the 3D works thankfully, and the features all show some, if not quite a bit, of promise. I can't say it's fantastic yet because I haven't really been able to play a proper game on it yet, but come late May and the 17th of June respectively, I'll be all over it.
See y'all next time
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