The DS gazes also into you

[Green Gibbon!]

Despite having ended reservations less than two days after they began, there is apparently no shortage of 3DS's because to my amazement, I was able to stroll into Geo yesterday afternoon and buy one right off the shelf.

The design is kind of strange. It's like three thin bricks, each a different width, thickness, and hue, stacked on top of each other. It looks and feels very blocky and metallic like I've covered my system with some wholly unnecessary third-party shell accessory. I guess I'll have to wait for next year's model for something sleeker. The touch pen is very short compared to the DS and the holster is up on the top like the original model DS's - very inconvenient compared to the latter model DS's which had the holster on the right side. You can't just slip it in and out without looking now, you actually have to turn the system over to see where you're poking around at.

Anyway, dubious industrial design aside, I'd never seen this technology before, so I was eager to see how the 3D looked. It is completely convincing. Things don't really pop out of the screen so much as they recede in. It looks like you're gazing through a flat window into a small box. Obviously the illusion is broken if you're not viewing it from straight ahead, but unless you like to dance while playing, it's not an issue. Of course, only the top screen is 3D (and it's also a bit larger), which will kind of make it difficult to utilize for games in which the action flows between screens such as Sonic Rush or Space Invaders Extreme (granted, I don't know how many such games exist).

I didn't get any games to go with it because, well, I refuse to play Nintendogs, but it does come with a couple of things preloaded. I actually had fun just messing with the camera. Anything in view comes up on the screen as a 3D image, so it was kind of cool just looking at a miniature 3D version of my apartment inside my 3DS. It's got a game called "Kao Shooting" (Face Shooting) where you take pictures of yourself or your friends, then their faces are automatically texture-mapped into 3D disembodied heads that fly out the screen and try to attack you with smooches. It utilizes the camera, so the background for the game is actually whatever room you're in. You physically move the unit around to aim at the faces and try to shoot them with paintballs.

You can use your Mii's now - I assume it's possible to transfer directly from the Wii, but I didn't try. You can actually take a picture of yourself with the camera and the system comes up with some suggested Mii's based on your profile - again, some amazing technology in that! There's a new thing called "Surechigai Mii Hiroba", (crossing paths Mii plaza) with a couple of minigames involving collecting puzzle pieces or something. I didn't really understand the explanation, but I think if you carry your system with you and keep it in sleep mode, it will read any nearby powered on units, collect the user's Mii data, and earn you "Game Coins" which are used to unlock new features. It's impossible to progress in the minigames otherwise. (I imagine Tokyo is the only place this works in practice.)

The unit also comes with 6 "augmented reality" game cards. This is not new technology, but again, it was the first time I'd ever seen it, so I was wholly impressed. There's a simple shooting game similar to Kao Shooting, a kind of pool game where you have to knock a ball around a simple 3D course built from the backdrop of whatever the card is sitting on, a fishing game, and a doodle program. There are some additional minigames that require the aformentioned "Game Coins" to unlock. I assume they eventually plan to sell more of these cards.



So yeah, the technology is cool, the design sucks, the price is about $80 too high, and as of this moment, there is no software that any fiscally responsible adult should want to play. I keep reading about all this eyestrain nonsense, but I played for about two hours with no issues. Granted, I've spent so much of my life gazing at screens and monitors my eyes gave up the will to live years ago. They are numb to any further abuse.

[Green Gibbon!]

I just now discovered that the stylus extends to the same length as an old DS stylus.

One other thing, the system can go online for firmware updates, but as of yet, the browser isn't functional and there doesn't seem to be a way to access the DSiWare store.

[FlashTHD]

The touch pen is very short compared to the DS and the holster is up on the top like the original model DS's - very inconvenient compared to the latter model DS's which had the holster on the right side. You can't just slip it in and out without looking now, you actually have to turn the system over to see where you're poking around at.

As far as the old DS is concerned, I call bullshit seeing as I can slide the stylus out with my right index finger in one smooth motion without looking, thanks to the very noticeable notch in the back of the thing next to the R button.

But then I think we've all at one point or another established that you're some kind of weirdo anyway!

[G.Silver]

As far as the old DS is concerned, I call bullshit seeing as I can slide the stylus out with my right index finger in one smooth motion without looking, thanks to the very noticeable notch in the back of the thing next to the R button.

To be fair, those of us still using our old DSes have probably had plenty of time to get good at that smooth motion. I definitely think it's more comfortable, but then, I almost never play on a DS Lite.

[Green Gibbon!]

I should also mention that the holster is on the back left side, so now you'll have to learn to do it with your left hand.


Anyway, don't you guys use DSi's? In terms of ergonomics and style, it's the best handheld ever designed.

[Edgerock]

So yeah, the technology is cool, the design sucks, the price is about $80 too high, and as of this moment, there is no software that any fiscally responsible adult should want to play. I keep reading about all this eyestrain nonsense, but I played for about two hours with no issues. Granted, I've spent so much of my life gazing at screens and monitors my eyes gave up the will to live years ago. They are numb to any further abuse.

The new Professor Layton? Lots of adults love Layton. Especially in Europe and US.

[Segaholic2]

Wake me up when it has some compelling unique games to play. (never)

[Kogen]

I do not think you realise the potential for a Space Harrier 3D comeback. Tetsu Okano and the ugly guy from Platinum Games promised to deliver.

The whole camera thing does seem overly-gimmicky, though. I cannot imagine it being interesting after a week of playing with it. But I guess people enjoy needless, multiple cameras on anything portable now.

[Farmer]

Aside from the 3D, is there much to it apart from being a DSi with better graphics?

[Kogen]

Aside from being 16-bit, is there much to it apart from being a NES with better graphics?

[Farmer]

Aside from being 16-bit, is there much to it apart from being a NES with better graphics?

Touche. I'm personally leaning towards the NGP, although I'm going to wait until both are released before I claim one over the other.

[Kogen]

No, blindly run into purchasing one on release day then Tweet about how stupid anyone who likes the other is.

[Green Gibbon!]

When you take a picture of a face in Kao Shooting, the game tries to interpret the subject's age and gender. It is not very good at this.

Of the three faces I've taken (including my own), it was only accurately able to identify a woman in her 20's. A man around the same age registered as a 10-year old girl. It decided I was a baby.


This can be fixed in the options and it doesn't seem to have any bearing on the game either way. But still... a baby?

[G.Silver]

What does a baby Mii even look like?

[Delphine]

Your nose must have confused it.

[Green Gibbon!]

It doesn't use Mii's, it's just the actual photo textured onto a model. It looks like this: http://www.nintendo.co.jp/3ds/software/ ... index.html

Tried it again today with a teenage girl and a 64-year old man. It decided they were both baby girls.


Kind of a fun game, though!

[Dr. BUGMAN]

I'd be more excited, but I still can't muster the energy to play Galaxy 2.

I think I may be dead inside.

[Yami CJMErl]

The tail. The TAIL. They better have the goddamn Raccoon Leaf in this game.

[G.Silver]

I'm really curious to know how "small" Mario is going to work in a 3D game. How does it figure in with how many hits you can take? Does he actually fit through smaller gaps like in 2D Mario? (That's something that would be very difficult to show in 3D.)

[FlashTHD]

I'm really curious to know how "small" Mario is going to work in a 3D game. How does it figure in with how many hits you can take? Does he actually fit through smaller gaps like in 2D Mario? (That's something that would be very difficult to show in 3D.)

Maybe there's just nothing to this, but notice that small Mario doesn't have his hat...

[K2J]

I see what G. Silver is getting at, though. If you're running forward toward a hole with Mario, it's sort of hard to gauge whether or not you'll fit through it. Maybe they're doing it to show off how that sort of feature is only possible with stereoscopic 3D?

[Crazy Penguin]

I'm really curious to know how "small" Mario is going to work in a 3D game. How does it figure in with how many hits you can take? Does he actually fit through smaller gaps like in 2D Mario? (That's something that would be very difficult to show in 3D.)

Maybe there's just nothing to this, but notice that small Mario doesn't have his hat...

Like small Wario in the original Wario Land. Here I think it's just a visual cue to remind the player whether they have small Mario or Super Mario, given that this is 3D and the camera will never be a set distance away.

I'm pleasantly surprised that Nintendo are finally trying out the big/small formula in a 3D Mario title. No idea how it'll work, but I'm looking forward to finding out!

[Zeta]

I'd be more excited, but I still can't muster the energy to play Galaxy 2.

Galaxy 2 plays more like the 2-D Marios than the 3-D ones, that was my major beef with it. Everything was made extremely linear.

[G.Silver]

If you're running forward toward a hole with Mario, it's sort of hard to gauge whether or not you'll fit through it. Maybe they're doing it to show off how that sort of feature is only possible with stereoscopic 3D?

Or if you just run under any sort of obstacle that a taller Mario couldn't run under, unless viewed from a very narrow angle, you'd lose sight of him entirely.

[Dr. BUGMAN]

Well, in Sunshine (which I was sure would be Mario's 3DS premier title; thus continuing that awful trend from the GBA era) there were sewers that the camera wouldn't enter and Mario showed through the surface as a silhouette. I wouldn't be surprised if they made objects semi-transparent or dissolve into some sort of cross-section, either.