You’ll see from the photos on the previous page that there’s a far few programs already installed onto the 3DS, and we’re hoping that just as on the Wii they’re all upgradeable; not that there’s anything particularly wrong or missing but it would be nice to know that Nintendo are able to, for example, add new AR Games or new missions to Face Raiders, a slightly bizarre camera-based shoot ’em up featuring you and your mates.
Of note is the new Friend List – the 3DS has one friend code that you can share with buddies, and the 3DS will alert you to their online presence via the notification system (a small orange flashing LED) although you’ll need to jump into your Friends list to see them, don’t expect PSN-like popups, although the Suspend feature makes this nice and slick. Friends are registered on the console and you can have up to 100, all of which feature a Mii and a favourite game tag, along with your name.
There’s also a camera application, which, to be honest, feels a little cheap despite the wow-factor of the ability to take (and thus, store) 3D images. The filters are a little gimmicky and the resolution is poor, although it’s well worth playing around with – the 3DS helpfully informs you that your photos may appear in certain games, which could be hysterical given a little bit of planning. You can also only view photos taken on the 3DS.
Likewise, there’s a sound player/recorder in there too, and although it plays MP3s without fuss (amongst others) and records at a decent quality, it’s not going to replace your MP3 player of choice.
Of more promise is the Nintendo eShop, which whilst offline at the time of testing (we’re told it’ll need a firmware update to activate and will be available at launch) the manual at least hints at some killer games on the way – Game Boy and Game Boy Color titles are just the start, with GameGear and PC Engine to be thrown into the mix soon enough. As we’ve said, the Internet Browser was unavailable to test at this point too, which is a shame.
It’s also worth mentioning the 3DS’s ability to play normal DS games – we fired up the old favourite Mario Kart for a quick spin, and as you’ll see from the photos below the games can either play in full screen (with a dash of scaling) or at their native resolution if you hold down Start and Select as the game boots. I’m a traditionalist and prefer the second option over ever-so-slightly blurry upscaling, even if it means the actual size of the game is reduced. The choice is yours.
In terms of the actual unit, the new analog stick is lovely. Nintendo are calling this the Circle Pad so non-gamers don’t get confused what games are talking about, but the intentions are clear: this is to replace the d-pad as the default method of control and although the latter is still present and correct it’s been moved down to almost the bottom of the system making prolongued play with the d-pad a little cramping. The Circle Pad assumes the role of the d-pad in regular DS games, by the way, albeit with a hefty deadzone.
It’s the plethora of other buttons and sliders that sets the 3DS apart from older versions: they’re everywhere.
From the side-mounted 3D slider top-right to the volume bar on the left and the wifi switch on the opposite side through to the Select, Home and Start buttons proud and centre, this is a console that takes a few minutes to find your way around.
It mostly works, however, despite a few oddities: the triggers really don’t need to activate the camera throughout the menu system, especially as the camera application takes a while to load, and likewise they shouldn’t skip music tracks when the system is on standby.
But it’s the 3D effect that warrants the most discussion. All the photos taken on this page were with the 3D slider set to off – as we said in our hands on it’s a matter of taste but technically it’s not possible to photograph the 3DS running in 3D – and after a good few days with the machine we’d have to concede that running the console with the 3D ramped up all the time probably isn’t a great idea. It’s hugely impressive, but we found that prolonged use took some adjusting to, as did viewing a standard 2D screen (as with typing up this article) afterwards.
The sweetspot is pretty small, too – not just in terms of angle but also distance, with the effect completely gone if the screen is either too close or too far away. You do have to be looking directly at the top screen for it to work, too, viewing it from even just a few degrees off centre and the effect is not only gone, but the screen becomes unviewable with double vision and dark stripes evident.
But when it works, it’s brilliant.
Parents can rest easy too, there’s a rack of control settings in there, limiting everything from internet access and sharing through to the 3D effect itself, which is all controlled via a PIN number and secret question meaning the little ones can only play the games suitable for them and not have to worry about anything else – Nintendo have nailed this aspect.
You’ll see we’re impressed, and remember, this is just the stuff that’s included on the device without mentioning any of the games that’ll hit day one and beyond. So, whilst some of the applications feel a little bare some of them, like the Mii Maker and Mii Plaza, are pure Nintendo through and through, with enough little touches to satisy the curious gamer whilst remaining accessible and open to those happy to just dip in and out occasionally.
Couple this with a launch line-up containing the likes of Pilotwings Resort, Nintendogs & Cats and Super Street Fighter IV and you’ve got a console that’s clearly had a lot of time and effort invested in it to ensure that it works on a technical level but also appeals to a wide audience – something that the original Nintendo DS did so well back in 2004…
Awayze
I played on the 3DS in Arndale and it’s pretty good. All I got to do now is decide between iPad 2 and 3DS >_<
jonny_bolton
Did you come into my shop to play it?
Shadowrider50
Yeah i saw him there.
TURRICAN-808
Shouldn’t it read:
3DS: Unwrapped, Unboxed, Uncovered, Hacked
lol
BIGAL-1992
I was waiting for someone to say that.
Sympozium
Its a bit tasteless imo
Joe
tasteless? we’re talking about consumer electronics, not punching orphans…
Sympozium
Did I type something wrong?
shit….
Bilbo_bobbins
Joe thats well out of order punching orphans.
Joe
Correct. That is in fact tasteless.
Bladesteel
Otoh it’s ok to punch kids with parents, just make sure they don’t catch you.
Joe
haha yeah, screw those kids. with all their parents and stuff…
TheDemocrodile
Im still unsure about buying it now, ill probably wait for the next hardware revision as im pretty sure the 3d sweet spot will be larger on a 3DSi etc
Sympozium
Meh wouldn’t surprise me if there was a new 3DS in maybe one/two years.
Well theres no store at its launch and I do not understand why I can’t copy Ghosts & Goblins and all of my Castlevanias & Megamans from the Wii to 3DS… I know some stuff would need to be updated but it shouldn’t be too much effort right? heheh
DrNate86
Well written hands-on. Can I ask how long the battery lasts? My main concern with the 3DS is that, for such a portable console, the battery lets it down.
TheDemocrodile
I`ll second that, battery life is probably the most important thing for a portable console, also, to test the battery life did you just keep the console on or play different games until it died?
R4U Eldave0
Detailed article :) Got to playtest one yesterday and was very impressed with the technology behind it all, but came away with a bad headache lol. As I say, clever tech behind it all though. Bound to sell well.
shields_t
Nofi, I believe we share the same carpet. I suspect ours is waaay more wine stained however.
Spotter5
Face raiders sounds like a name of an ‘adult website’.
Smallville2106
lol indeed. I think the missus will be getting one of these so I’ll have a play when she does. :)
jonny_bolton
There was one moment where the 3DS really screwed my eyes over. We took a picture of a guy holding one of the AR cards and my eyes just couldn’t focus on either him or the imaginary Link that had appeared. I had to turn it off it was so uncomfortable.
jimmy-google
Had it been £50-75 cheaper and no 3D I might have been tempted. I just don’t want to pay for an expensive feature that I’m not going to use. I keep handheld games for on the move and it just doesn’t appear that the 3D in the 3DS works well enough and is versitle enough for on the move.
heywoodstock
Nofi, you have carpet like mine. This is so cool. We have the same carpet.
heywoodstock
Nice piece, though. Good to get an early insight into the 3DS that’s so in-depth like you have done.