Last Thursday I was one of the 200 and something lucky people who had the opportunity to haul ass to the city and try out the spanking new 3DS. To be honest, I went into the event pretty disinterested. I mean sure, it was exciting because it’s brand new and 3D, but then again, so is everything these days. While I stood in line I was handed a pre-order slip and put it straight into my wallet without giving it a second thought. The 3DS is retailing at $349 and that’s money I just don’t want to spend on a handheld console.

But that was until I had the opportunity to try it out for myself.

The first thing I noticed was how impressive the 3D effects actually were. The second thing was that I was staring at Solid Snake who was literally bursting out of the screen, so that if I had moved my thumb the tiniest bit, we’d be touching. And it was from that moment that I decided the 3DS was definitely, very, very cool.

First Impressions

-  The 3D on the console is surprisingly effective, considering you don’t have to wear 3D glasses. It is not just the menu, or interface that bursts out of the screen, but the characters and their movements as well.

-  The console is a lot larger than the DS Lite (roughly the same size as the DSXL) but was comfortable to hold in my hands. I found this especially positive, as my hands have been compared to those of a very small child. The addition of the analogue stick is welcomed, and though swapping between it and the D-Pad was awkward at first, it became much easier the more I did it. Like with most other controllers, my gamers hand soon found its way, and the button mashing becomes instinctual.

-  3D was most effective when you were staring at the console face on, and holding it approximately 30cm from your face.

-  The graphics look cleaner and much crisper, but there hasn’t been much of an upgrade from what we saw on the DS. To me that seems a little lazy, like Nintendo knew they could put minimal effort into some areas, simply because they were aware of the selling power of 3D.

What did I play

The first game I actually got to play on the console was Zelda. Now I know I’m probably going to be exiled from the community after saying this, but I haven’t really ever playedZelda titles before. I had a brief stint with one of the Game Boy Advance, but it never really drew me in. However I enjoyed the moments I had with the game on the 3DS.

I button mashed through the storyline, the conversation and the tutorials then ran around like a mad thing chopping everything in my path and whacking things with my stick. If you were there that night and heard a strange girl yelling things like “Take that flowers, feel the force of my stick!” or “come here and let me hit you with my nuts!” and then giggling profusely at the word ‘nuts,’ then that was most definitely me, and just about sums up my experience with the game.

After being deemed a “very odd girl” by the Nintendo guy I moved eagerly to the next game I could play and this one was called Augmented Reality. And it was amazing. This was the game that changed my concept of the 3DS, and ensured that on release date I’d be picking one up for myself.

Augmented Reality goes like this. There was a table in front of me with a card on it. The card looked like this:

I aimed the 3DS camera at the card and a little box popped up on my screen. It was cool, bouncing around on top of the card, just chilling, and then I spotted a target inside it. The Nintendo girl told me to shoot it, and I did. Proud of myself for getting it on my first go, I whooped in delight and looked around to see if anyone was watching. They weren’t, and in this moment of self love a bunch of other boxes had popped up on my screen. These all had targets inside as well, but some were hidden deeper in the boxes than others, meaning I had to crouch down to position myself in front of the box, rather than on top of it before I could aim properly.

Just when I thought I’d completed the level, a bunch more boxes popped up, these ones flying all over the place and making it damn near impossible to shoot what I needed to. But after a brief period of time where I closed my eyes, mashed A and hoped for the best, I’d completed that objective too.

But then came the big guy.

A surprisingly cool looking dragon popped his head out of the card and glared at me with angry eyes. Deciding that he wasn’t going to be my newest best friend, I began shooting him for all I was worth. This dragon was the boss, the be all and end all of my stint with Augmented Reality and I wanted to go out with a bang. I dodged fireballs, I shot bullets, I called that dragon every name under the sun. I turned into a worm; wiggling this way and that to shoot him from every angle I could so that I would be victorious. And though I’m sure I made a fool of myself, I was the winner of the battle, and damn it felt good.

Drawbacks

The 3DS is extremely cool, but it does have its setbacks. For example, if you view the screen from the wrong angle all you’ll see is a picture of blurred images that all seem to bleed together in that reddy green haze 3D images get. It’s very similar to the picture you’d see at the movies if you take off your glasses midway through. This means the console isn’t one you’re going to be playing in bed before you sleep, or even while you lounge on the couch. Considering that these two places were almost the only locations I ever played the old DS, this would probably present a problem for me.

If you’re one of those people that can’t handle 3D for long due to the strain it puts on your eyes or the inevitable headache that forms, the console does have a slider to adjust the intensity of the effects. Though this is a good idea, it almost defeats the purpose of playing the console in the first place. Without the 3D effects the handheld is nothing more than a slightly larger, much more expensive DS.

Final Thoughts

The 3DS is new, exciting and innovative. Whenever Nintendo do something, they tend to do it right, and this new edition to the handheld family is no exception. Though it has its setbacks, I’ve no doubt that when the 3DS Lite is eventually released (because we all know it will be) they will be addressed. Until then, these faults won’t stop me from buying the device. With release titles such as Zelda, Metal Gear Solid and Resident Evil, not to mention the incredible Augmented Reality, the 3DS definitely has more positives than negatives.

I haven’t yet preordered my very own, but I’ve no doubt that upon release day the hype that it gets will be enough to send me down to my local game retailer and hand over my money. For those who can afford it, it’s definitely a purchase I would recommend. For those who can’t (and at $349 I imagine there’d be quite a few) I’d advise you make a rich friend. It’ll be worth it.