Nintendo 3DS Review

Neal "NeoMahi" Evans

"If you want me to take a dump in a box and mark it guaranteed I will, I've got spare time. But for your sake, for your daughters sake you might want to consider buying a quality product from me." - Chris Farley (Tommy Boy)

(This is an Editorial Review of the Nintendo 3DS and is the opinion of the articles Editor and we hope you find the information helpful and informative. Please enjoy!)

Well, the long wait is over and the day is officially here. The next evolution and newest member of the Nintendo family has finally arrived on store shelves and in demo kiosks at many a Best Buy. Does the Nintendo 3DS live up the hype or is it really just the next iteration of the DS? Does it justify the $250 price tag or should Nintendo have priced it little over $100?

In our comparison with the Sony's upcoming NGP, we've given you our thoughts on how we feel the 3DS will compete against Sony's new handheld. Well, we've had considerably more time with the handheld unit and its various games and now are updating you on the 3DS itself as well as its games individually peppered with a few thoughts of the NGP.

HARDWARE 

The 3DS does in fact look, cosmetically, and feel pretty much like the Nintendo DSi with a few changes both big and small. The biggest thing you'll notice on the outside is the dual lens camera feature the 3DS sports enabling 3D photo's. We took the 3DS all over the place snapping shots wherever we could trying out various things. One place in particular was a convenient store while picking up some munchies. We had the idea to pull a Pepsi bottle from the cooler and pull it out a bit farther and take a picture just to see what would happen. Likewise with some sort of candy with a boxing glove and a trigger on it extending the glove and snapping a photo of it. The final product had us laughing and pretty amazed at the effect. Even taking a photo of a candy bar bargain bin had incredible depth. Simple yes, but pretty awesome at the same time. 

It also seemed as though the outer shell of the 3DS, unless I missed something with the DSi, had a glossy finish rather than the matte finish. I'm not a big fan of this. I was happy with the evolution of the PS3 Slim and couldn't believe the media was so taken by the Xbox 360 Slimmer having a glossy finish. I don't like my consoles and handhelds having fingerprint smudges all over the outer shell. Its looks filthy, disgusting and unprofessional.

The unit itself wasn't as heavy as I thought that it would have been. In fact, it felt much lighter than I had thought nor was it as bulky as I would have thought if it is bigger than the DSi, it probably isn't by much. The Nyko battery pack, we'll talk about later that I'm certain to pick up, may add some bulk and some thickness, but I don't think that's really too big of a deal as the unit itself right now is smaller and lighter than I had originally suspected it would be.

The button layout is pretty much the same as the DSi, with a few inclusions. The A,B,X,Y layout remains the same as well as the D-Pad, but an analog stick has been included as well as a HOME button similar to Sony's PSP handheld. I have to admit however, that I'm not a big fan of the D-Pad on the 3DS. Its very small, as was the D-Pad on the DSi and it felt extremely loose, flimsy and cheap. Given enough time with a fighter like Street Fighter IV for more precision, it could wear out that D-Pad pretty quickly, and then what do you do? You have to buy a whole new 3DS rather than a controller or send it to Nintendo and pay to get it fixed. The analog stick is very much like the PSP's. However, rather than a convex nub with grip, its actually two times as big and is concave and flatter which helps and feels good in that regard.  However, its a nub all the same. With Sony having revealed the NGP will use actual analog sticks, you can't help but wonder what that could have done for the 3DS. An analog stick is preferable, although its understandable that to meet a flip design, the analog nub was a better choice again, you still can't help but wonder what an analog stick could have done. As far as most games on the 3DS however, that nub works great though for fighters, I still prefer that precision with the D-Pad which takes us back to the concern of the D-Pad. The Home button is an excellent addition however. The shoulder buttons don't exactly wow me either and I have smaller bony fingers. The shoulder buttons are small and require the tips of your fingers to really use them. In short, small and compact can be nice, but not at the expense of functionality.

Another thing I couldn't help but notice was comfort of the overall unit. Again, with the NGP, on the rear of the unit, it appears that the NGP allows your hands to sort of 'mold to the unit,' for lack of a better term. It all goes back to that convex and concave sort of deal. Your fingers sort of sink into the unit giving it that 'controller' sort of feel. The back of the 3DS is a perfect plane totally level. For me, my fingers just feel tired and sore after extended play on that sort of stiff hard-surrfaced back. It would have been nice to have had a little more comfort. Again, with the battery pack in a bit, that could obscure the comforted feel of the 3DS even more.

Other than the analog nub, the biggest thing you'll notice is the size of the 3D upper screen. Its bigger and its 16:9 widescreen rather than a 4:3 aspect ratio. This is great for newer games on the 3DS. Its clear the screen is running at a higher resolution. The DSi has a resolution of 256 x 192 pixels, the PSP has a resolution of 480 x 272 pixels, and the 3DS has a resolution of 800 x 240 pixels giving it 400 x 240/eye and the lower screen resolution remains the same as the DS. With the screen comes the 3D slider which adjusts the 3D depth of the game you're playing and is a nice touch. Again, we'll more in the 'Software' portion, you can turn the 3D slider down for DS or DSi games.

The 3DS hardware is pretty astounding. The handheld itself is more powerful and more capable than its Wii predecessor and is almost as comparable to the Xbox 360. The screen is a little sensitive however, which if its any indication of how glasses free 3DTV will be, I think I'll stick with the current 3DTV's. For the 3DS however, for the most part, its ok because its only a single individual player. If that player chooses to show a friend, its sort of hard as the angle has to be just right to see it at its fullest effect, otherwise its a blurry mess. Some games are much more sensitive than others, but all the same, you have got to be within a certain angle to get the most out of it.

The 3DS also has about 2GB internal storage area with an SD Card Slot which is expandable and the 3DS memory stick carts have a storage space for games up to 8GB. About as much as a dual-layered DVD. An improvement in comparison to the UMD Sony was using with the PSP which came with loading sounds and consumed battery life. 

Finally, the battery pack of the 3DS will give you about 2.5 hours of 3D gameplay about 4-5 hours of standard play. Nyko will be releasing a third-party battery pack that will expand your play time doubling the length of 3D and standard at the cost of a little bulk which can be purchased for $19.99 for the pack alone or $29.99 for the pack and docking bay. This will require the removal of the rear plate and addition of the battery pack consuming the entire rear of the unit. You'll have to safely store the original battery and rear plate elsewhere. Its still unclear how the battery life of the NGP will compare to the 3DS but for the 3DS, 2.5 hours and a substantial charge time isn't really the greatest.

SOFTWARE 

Its apparent that the gaming software isn't exactly at its best right now with the 3DS. The only two games we've really agreed with on the 3DS are Super Street Fighter IV and Pilotwings, as they seem to best show off the capabilities of the 3DS, in our opinion. The software that's pre-loaded on the 3DS itself is worth mentioning. At start-up, the 3DS is going to need a software update out of the box. As you do this, an Ok Go music video is available that you can watch in 3D and is pretty impressive. There are games you can play with AR (Augmented Reality) cards. For example, you can take a photo of a friends face and shoot tennis balls at them (which Reggie Fils-Aime demoed on Jimmy Fallon) as well as a game that you try and shoot targets in 3D space. The 3DS still requires the use of AR cards, but for free games pre-loaded on the 3DS, its not bad and they're actually quite fun. Whether you'll spend hours upon hours playing this in a single sitting I doubt it, but here and there, its pretty fun.


3DS has a setup similar to the Mii's on the Nintendo Wii. You'll create your own Mii either by selecting specific features or, you can take a photo of yourself  with the third camera lens on the inside of the unit just above the 3D screen and the 3DS will create the Mii for you. It made me laugh so hard, I kept the suggested Mii with a little fine tuning of facial hair and hair color. I had also noticed when asking a friend of mine how his Mii turned out that he said it had a chubby face as a huge forehead just as mine did still, my Mii was humorous and I'm still using it because of that. You have your social area's within the 3DS world. One interesting feature is that you can set your 3DS to Stand-by mode rather than turning it off completely and as you walk about, or if you've played Super Street Fighter IV and leveled up your character, your 3DS can communicate with others letting you know that a fellow gamer is nearby and with SSF IV, will have duel-type battles. If you're leveled up higher than them, you'll score points. Its a nifty little system and helps you track other gamers.

A lot of the functionality of online features are still unavailable at the moment, but we'll update you when they hit. However, its known that the 3DS will support Netflix as well as having free AT&T WiFi hotspot support. It will have Internet browser support, most likely powered by Opera, available this summer as well.

The software selection so far isn't exactly as I had pictured it. When these games are mentioned, what's the first thing that comes to mind? They are: Pilotwings, Super Street Fighter IV, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3DS, Starfox 64 3D, Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater 3D, Rayman 3D, Splinter Cell 3D or Resident Evil: Mercenaries 3D. The answer is that they're all ports and these are Nintendo's biggest releases this year. What could be a concern of the NGP is already in practice on the 3DS. Pilotwings, Zelda and Starfox were all on the N64. When I asked a buddy of mine, whose been a diehard Nintendo fan so long as I've known him until this generation where he had and quickly traded off his Wii about this issue, his reply was "Well, they're not just ports, but they're remakes." What he meant by this is that they've gotten a graphical upgrade. They've haven't been remade from the ground up but rather the resolution has been upped not necessarily drawing much of the power of the 3DS. Though there are games more unique to 3DS coming, right now it seems more like a port machine just to have some software which gives the 3DS a weak launch. It just seems to me that building dedicated 3DS games are going to look much better similarly to a first-party PlayStation 3 developed game vs a multi-platform PS3 game.

A feature that's great to the 3DS is backward compatibility. If you put a DSi cart next to a 3DS cart, you'll see absolutely no difference other than 3DS and a little tab sort of a thing on the 3DS cart. This means you can pop a DS or DSi game into the slot and play your old DS games. The drawback really isn't anything that could take points away but is worth mentioning. Because the screen of the 3DS is not only 16:9 meaning you're going to see black bars on the left and right similarly to HDTV's and cable, but the 3DS screen is a higher resolution than the DS or DSi were. As we had mentioned earlier in 'Hardware' portion, because of the 3DS up in resolution, playing DS games running at a lower resolution means your DS games are going to look more pixelated on the 3DS which is a small gripe considering the 3DS in backward compatible which is great! There is no 3D upscaling for DS or DSi games so you'll want to make sure the 3D slider is down.

To finish this section off, the 3DS is capable of playing games in 3D and 2D mode for 3DS games. The games look phenomenal in both 2D or 3D modes and there doesn't seem to be a loss of resolution in either mode as has always seemed to be the concern with 3D gaming or with viewing 3D movies. Super Street Fighter IV looked great in both modes. It was clear the game was lower res for reasons we'd talked about in 'Hardware' but that doesn't take away from anything. If it looks great, it looks great. Concerning the 3D slider and Pilotwings, some have found the depth of the 3D is too much for them and you can adjust that to better fit your gaming preference. I had no issues with it after a while but at first, it was a little overpowering as it was new. I found when I was focused on one area, I was alright but when my attention shifted, my eyes would wigg out and I'd have to readjust and as was mentioned in the Hardware section, Super Street Fighter IV 3D was one of those games that the screen had to be positioned just right in order to get that 3D effect otherwise, its a blurry mess.

IN THE END

At the end of the day, the Nintendo 3DS is one powerful piece of hardware positioned somewhere between the Wii and Xbox 360. The 3D looks and runs great at minimal, at least, loss of resolution if there is any in 3D mode. Its familiar to DS and DSi fans. Its backward compatible with older DS games and has the addition of a analog nub. For the typical Nintendo fan, it has everything you're looking for as far as games go and Nintendo has plenty of support from their third-party developers to help support the hardware with games including AR games if so desired. More online features and likely a robust 3DS online store can help the hardware out as well as an Internet Browser likely provided by Opera just as the Wii.

However, 3D alone isn't going to save this console. Its potential is there to bring out some unique games to show what this baby can do and can't become a port machine. The hardware on its own can handle some heat but its going to need help from software and online services to carry it through its lifetime. Especially with a bigger and badder beast coming next year that surpasses the power of the Xbox 360 and comes near to that of the PlayStation 3, when properly motivated. Glasses free is a great idea, but doesn't have me encouraged just yet to wait out a Glasses Free 3D HDTV just yet. The screen is exteremly sensitive and with fighting games can make it difficult to keep stable.

Battery life is poor. The console consumes more power giving only 2.5 hours 3D or 6 hours standard gameplay. At $250 and a $150 profit for Nintendo, they could have afforded a little more. Nyko has beaten them out the door with an expanded battery pack which just adds more bulk and the hardware feels a little wuessy with flimsy on the fritz D-Pad, analog nub and tiny shoulder buttons.

We realize that One could take a dump in a box and stamp a Nintendo sticker on it and people would buy it because 'Nintendo Quality' makes them feel all warm and toasty inside and happy about their purchase, but others of us expect something a little more with a brand 'Quailty.' Nintendo has a lot of work ahead of it. It has a great start with some problems, but can be worked around if they play their cards right. 
 

 













For all other 3DS and gaming news, check back at ThumbDrive XGZ for all your gaming news keeping you inside the Gamer Zone. You can also check out our for our ThumbDriveXGZ Channel Nintendo 3DS Unboxing.