Ok, so I know this machine has already launched, and chances are if you were going to get one, you already did and these words won't be swaying you one way or the other. Hey, ya know what? I don't care. Your gonna read anyway, cuz your curious aren't ya? Yeah, look at that beast up there.
Ok, ya finished? I know, it looks familiar, doesn't it? In fact, it's pretty much the same DS we've been playing for years with a few alterations. Chief amongst them, yes...that is an analog nub you see, and relocated "hub" keys; i.e. "home", "select" and "start". If you were wondering, the analog stick is pretty sturdy and useful given how deeply it's inset into the machine ... but it would have to be, given that the screen still completely closes over everything, as with it's predecessor.
The home screen itself is reminiscent of it's Wii counterpart, and much improved over the DS it replaces. You've got several "Channels" that you can move around to create a home screen that is to your liking, and several different lighting options.
I should say that the 3D is visible even here, from the very seconds you turn the machine on when you are asked to calibrate the depth...and much like the old "cross your eyes and find the hidden picture" books, the effect is much the same, and yet vastly improved. Let me explain. The 3D Nintendo uses doesn't pop out at you so much as create a field of realism within the machine itself. It falls back in on itself rather than projecting forward, and the effect serves to provide a sense of depth that just can't be truly explained. Obviously the home screen isn't the place to demo this, but fortunately for us Nintendo knew this.
Packaged with the machine itself were several items of interest, much like the "Wii Resort" or "Wii Sports" Nintendo used to highlight the Wii machine.
Here, we have "Face Raiders" and "AR Games". Face Raiders let's you take a 3D image of... well, a face. Yours, your dog or cat, your adorable (or not) baby, or whatever has two eyes and something resembling a mouth. Yes, those are necessary...or at least the game would have you believe so as it superimposes 2 green dots and a green line that you are supposed to line up a face with. I however, have tested on a non-facial product, and I can tell you that it's not strictly necessary...just preferred. However, being that the game animates whatever you choose here, if you've ever wanted to see what a cackling set of books looks like as you shoot at it in real-time, here's your chance. Go nuts and destroy those books! Or...just shoot at a face. Also fun.
The game puts those images on a helmeted orb and has it fly at you from around the environment that you are in, using the dual cameras on the exterior of the machine. As you destroy the heads, they fly back and destroy the environment, leaving holes in space for more "face raiders" to hide behind. There are various levels, and as you defeat each one and kill each enemy (or face), the game catalogs them and adds them to the repertoire it can pull from. So while at first you may start off with one face, eventually you can choose to knock out all those annoying Backstreet Boys and Spice Girls, ya know ... or whatever you choose to put in their place. Next door neighbor? Boss? Hanson? It's all game, baby. Snap it and shoot it! Oh, with what looks like nerf balls. Sorry, your not using bullets. Call of Duty this is not.
The second included software is AR Games. Nintendo has included several cards with images on them, most of them just Nintendo mascots which can be viewed in real time on whatever surface you set them on. Move them, pose them, take pictures of them. Whatever, it's really just a tech demo, but it's pretty cool. The real juice here is the question mark card.
This little card is actually several mini-games that spawns a constantly changing virtual field...volcano, mountain, riverside, archery field, etc and has you shoot at multiple targets. The trick is that the field is spawned on whatever environmental surface you choose to play on...and requires you to move to stay with it and find your next target. Eventually the field turns into a miniature dragon and has you defeat it using whatever you just learned from the just-played game.
Very cool stuff, and this is the kind of thing Nintendo needs to be using to sell this system. Games played in real-world environments using the cameras to capture what's around you? Yes please, let me play Star Fox or Rogue Squadron while shooting down enemies flying around my living room.
I had read some reviewers noticed lag from the events as a result of the cameras and games simultaneously in action ... but I personally did not notice any. My only gripe is that with the AR Games you are required to stay in a certain proximity to the card itself, and if you deviate too far you get "snow" much like your trying to watch a bad TV show, and a message telling to you move closer to the card. It's annoying given that the game requires you to move, and yet when you do you run the risk of moving too far from the field of vision. Perhaps the inevitable next version of this machine will have a wider lens and greater range for this stuff, because the potential is incredible.
Otherwise, my only gripes here are with battery life but let's face it: we all knew it would suck. I'm honestly not too concerned with it, because what dedicated gaming machine with good hardware lasts more than a few hours without a recharge anyway? I think it's a bit unfair of people to bash the battery life (approximately 3-5 hours with 3D and WiFi always on), when if you were to play your iPad or iPod or iPhone in the same way, you wouldn't get much more time either. Use your phone to browse the internet or play your app games for the same amount of time and see if you do much better. Alright, then. Both 3D and Wireless are easily turned down or off for much improved battery life.
Yes, the 3D can be turned off for a strictly 2D experience, and while not as impressive I admit I've found myself doing it when necessary. The 3D can be disorienting but you do quickly adjust to it, and you can actually adjust the depth effect from full to nothing to find yourself whatever ground you feel most comfortable using it at.
I confess I've only played a handful of games and seen a few demos, but let's be honest with ourselves. Nintendo didn't launch with any "must haves" games, choosing instead to save those for summer releases. That didn't stop this machine from making roughly the same as DS launch figures, but the masses are waiting for a Mario or Zelda...and that prevented Nintendo from making some truly impressive sales figures. We'll know more about the staying power of this machine after the summer, when some name-brand games enter the picture.
Ocarina of Time 3D? Resident Evil? Metal Gear Solid? Dead or Alive? All this and more is on the way, along with a currently disabled full Internet browser, and Netflix support. Yes, Netflix on your miniature 3DS screen, along with 3D movies. I'm not sold on the idea of this on such a small screen, but if people wanted this on their PSP and their iDevices, apparently there is a market for it.
Additionally, there is SpotPass and StreetPass provided the machine is closed and in sleep mode, not off.. The first lets the machine automatically connect to Nintendo whenever you are in range of a supported WiFi signal and download updates or news bites related to games you have in the machine. The second recognizes any 3DS machine you pass within a few hundred feet of, exchanges IR signals with it, let's your Mii's go to the other machine (sometimes with goodies for use in the Mii Plaza), and also depending on the games you've played, exchanges other goodies. For racing games, this can be ghost races of people who have also played the game. Street Fighter has figurine battles. This is also some interesting technology. I'm sure Pokemon games will find some way to use this to their advantage, and any other type of collection game. The problem with this is that there are so few 3DS systems out there, finding one to "Street Pass" with is a pretty rare event. Your more likely to have it happen by accident at a gaming store than you are randomly on the street, though I did get one driving to the store the other day. Somewhere in traffic someone next to me had a system. If this thing takes off like the DS did, you'll probably start getting Street Pass notifications all over the place.
As mentioned, the system does have dual outward facing cameras and one facing inward. While the ability to take 3D photos is impressive, the pictures themselves are, unfortunately, not. The camera itself is shoddy, and the picture, no matter how great a photographer you are, will never equal a dedicated camera or even some of those included on phones of today's generation. In order to account for the 3D, the MP itself was lowered. This is not to say that the pictures themselves are horrible or unviewable... just that the system will likely never be your first choice of photography...but then, it was never meant to be. Nintendo has also hinted at the inclusion of video chat at some point in the future.
Finally, the machine is backwards compatible. Yes, all your DS games work here. Nintendo is going to be adding a channel in the future that lets you download other games from it's backlog, as well as classic games updated to a 3D (or non 3D if you play that way) format.
Alright, assuming you read to the conclusion and stayed with me (or just skipped to the bottom for a TL,DR), let me wrap it up for you. Also, if you are a TL,DR type... suck it up and eat the meat. You can't enjoy the meal without savoring the taste.
Would I recommend this device? Emphatically yes, though I confess I am a Nintendo fanboy (fanboi?). However, the machine does come in a a hefty $250 price tag, minus taxes, and I confess that there isn't a dearth of "must have" games right now, nor are all of the features active at the moment. However, Nintendo has promised much, and given their track record and the support from developers long missing from Nintendo's table I would suggest this machine will do well. There may not be much to warrant picking it up right now, but within a few short months the software line-up will expand with major first-party and third-party support, and come the holiday season (maybe even before once the aforementioned line-up expands) I daresay you will start seeing shortages of this machine, much as the Wii was once hard to find and in-demand. If you have the cash and are interested in this machine, my closing comment is: pick it up now and be glad you did, before you spend weeks trying to find one.
Agree with me? Disagree? Vehemently hate this article? Sound off and let me know.
