Nintendo 3DS - My Thoughts

It's here. My 3DS came in the mail today, and I was so excited to get started! But first, I had to read the phone book. Not literally, the phone book, I mean the manual for the 3DS. It's freakin' huge, and I obviously didn't bother with reading the whole thing, because I pretty much knew how it worked.

The giant box came with the 3DS, charger cord, base thing to charge on, AR cards (which I'll get to later), and a ton of manuals/promotional goodies. My garbage can was filled after opening. So I turned on my 3DS, and had to get briefed on basic information and stuff, and then the 3-D was turned on. Holy Crap...my mind was blown. This device is incredible, to be able to display 3-D without glasses! That's amazing. There is a spot where you get the most of the 3-D, and you sometimes have to position your head so you're right in the sweet spot, which couldn't be helped, but other than that, the 3-D was flawless. It added a whole new layer to an already brilliant handheld.

I also picked up Pilotwings: Resort and the review will be up later, but now I'm going to speak about the basic functions included with the 3DS. As most of you know, the 3DS features two 3-D cameras, something I've never seen or used in my entire life, and me, being the photography enthusiast, that was the first thing I went to. The resolution blows, but it's understandable, given that it's a tiny handheld, but the 3-D pictures look awesome, and although they're not 3-D when you place them in a computer, they're still fun to look at and mess around with. Also included is the 3DS sound studio thing, which is basically a repeat of what came with the DSi. Also new is a Mii Maker, which lets you create your adorable little avatars that we all know from the Wii. You can snap a photo of yourself, and your Mii will be made for you, but making it manually is more fun and rewarding.

There are some fun games included with the 3DS, one of these being Face Raiders, where you use the 3DS's gyroscoping capabilities to shoot down little bug monsters that have your or your friends' faces on them. It's fun, but by no means is it the star of the show here. I said that the package came with AR cards, short for augmented reality cards. These are little cards that you place on a flat surface, and then your 3DS can read them magically and you can play awesome little minigames with them. It's a lot of fun, and all your favorite Nintendo characters join in, and it's cool to see the world around you change with these cards.

I have yet to get to StreetPass and SpotPass abilities, because I haven't even taken a look or found someone with a 3DS yet. Once I do, though, be counting on an in-depth discussion about them. I was pleasantly surprised with the Wi-Fi capabilities this time. The old DS's couldn't read my home's wifi, because we're wired with an Apple network, but my 3DS reads it just fine, just like my Wii would, and now I can finally take full advantage of some old DS games. Speaking of which, the 3DS is fully backwards compatible with previous DS titles, but be noted that there is no GBA slot to be seen, which is kind of a disappointment.

The biggest upset, surprisingly, is the battery life. I could only squeeze 4 hours out of my 3DS with 3-D on to the fullest, until it went red and had to be recharged. This is a huge disappointment, especially for long rides or plane flights, when no charge capabilities are in sight. Of course, you could turn the 3-D down and change the brightness level to increase your time.

Like almost all of Nintendo's handhelds, the 3DS is phenomenal. What it can do is beyond my thoughts, and I'm really excited to see where it can go in the future. Stay tuned on my blog for more 3DS news and reviews.