REVIEW: Nintendo 3DS (3DS)

The Nintendo 3-D-S

After the long wait, I finally get my hands to play with the Nintendo 3DS. Here is a quick review:

The shell

The Nintendo 3DS has a layered cake design. It has a light-dark color from bottom to top. The top layer has a glossy casing which looks fantastic.

Layered cake design

Glossy finish

On the right side of the middle layer is the Wireless switch that is used for StreetPass and SpotPass functionalities. The volume adjuster is located on the left side of the system.

On the top screen, the 3D slider is located. You can adjust the 3D depth of the system to best suit your eyes. It can be adjusted to a full or turned off to reduce eye constraints.

A cool addition to the Nintendo's newest handheld is the Circle Pad. It really is comfortable to the fingers. In my hours playing games on the console, my thumb does not feel any aches. It has a soft-rubbery feel to it.

Circle pad

All face buttons and side buttons has a clicky sound to it and are very responsive. The touch screen works like its predecessors.

Overall, I don't have any negative thoughts on the design of this sexy-looking console. 

The eye-popping 3D

The 3D works! It adds depth to the game. These four games that I got, has a different 3D feel to it.

• Nintendogs + cats: French Bulldog and New friends - the depth shows your pup/kitten busy playing as if they were real. You can see the distance between the furnitures, pet and the background.
• Samurai Warriors: Chronicles - the distance between you and your enemies/allies are easily measured to ensure your attacks never misses.
• Street Fighter 4: 3D Edition - it feels like they are inside the box on static view, looks great by the way. On the dynamic view, 3D perspective over-the-shoulder view, the distance between you and your opponent can be measured easily.
• LEGO Star Wars III: the Clone Wars - the view is top-down, LEGO blocks and projectiles fly across the screen. The 3D effect is not that good when playing on foot missions but is great when doing flying missions.

The 3D is the main reason I bought this console, it does not fail me.

Casual only to everyone

The Nintendo company changed lanes in giving gaming experience to the market. Nintendo is a well-known gaming giant that focuses more on casual gamers, age 5-12 and 30 up. The gap between these numbers, they don't actually care. This is visible with the games they've made and licensed back then. No spot for hardcore gamers. Only few have been developed (like Resident Evil: DS and Dementium) but to no luck, these games didn't get enough praise thanks to the crappy looking graphics the console can do back then. And as of this point in time, Nintendo announced that they will now take the gaming experience to extreme and let hardcore gamers experience this wonderful piece of gadget. Everything is child friendly to them.

On the launch window games like Splinter Cell 3D, Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars, Street Fighter 4: 3D Edition and Samurai Warriors: Chronicles are aimed for Hardcore gamers with its Teen ESRB rating. The only noticeable games that got my attention are Street Fighter 4: 3D Edition and SamuraiWarriors: Chronicles. I will do a full review on those two.

Hooray for Street Fighter 4!

Various hardcore titles are also announced to the 3DS. Resident Evil: Revelations, Resident Evil; Mercenaries 3D and  Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater. Good reason to buy 3DS for those hardcore gamers that want Nintendo love. 

Built-in softwares

These are the softwares inside the 3DS:

• Nintendo 3DS Camera - for 3D picture taking and for use on some games and applications. The pixels are low but looking on the brightside, it can take 3D pictures. How cool is that? LOL

3D pictures FTW

• Nintendo 3DS Sound - it can do sound recording and this time around it can play mp3 files. StreetPass function is present. With StreetPass, songs can be shared with others.

Songs not included

• Health and Safety Information - the do's and don'ts on Nintendo's newest console.

Warning: May include awesomeness!

• Mii Maker - for making your own avatar. It can be made from scratch or taken from a photo. StreetPass provides Mii data exchange with other Mii's.

Your own avatar

• StreetPass Mii Plaza - for use of the StreetPass. It displays your Mii and other peoples Mii through the use of StreetPass. Inside are two awesome additions. The Puzzle Swap and Find Mii.

Nifty addition

• Face Raiders - a software that uses the camera. It is a fun game to play with your friends. I enjoyed playing it with my friends.

Pure addiction

• AR Games - Augmented Reality games that is built-in with the console. A neat feature inside the 3DS. It has Target Shooting, Fishing, AR Shot and other things.

Yea baby!

Mii Pics

LOL

 

• Activity Log - records your daily activities. it displays how many steps you have taken, games you played the most, game rankings and your software libraries.

Your records to everything

Thoughts

A handheld console that can do almost anything to ensure you have maximum gaming experience. StreetPass, SpotPass, Touch Screen, GyroSensor, Accelerometer, Augmented Reality and 3D is finally here. It can also play 3D movies.

The online capabilities of the 3DS is great. Having played SF4:3D online does not gave me hard times. Connecting to the server is easy. Thanks to SpotPass, updates are sent to me even when my 3DS is at Sleep Mode. StreetPass is also cool if there are many people around to exchange data with. Currently, I only exchanged data to 1 with a 3DS. Hopefully I will get my Mii Plaza populated with Miis. That is another reason why I should always go outside for walks.

Another reason to have a walk outside and explore the world is for the Play Coins. This is a feature that is incredibly useful. Every 100 steps you gained is equivalent to 1 play coin. These play coins can be exchanged in-game. For example: in SF4:3D, 1 play coin equals 100BP (used for Figure Collection) and LEGO Star Wars III (used for buying additional characters). A cool innovative feature of the 3DS.

The internet browser, Nintendo 3DSWare and other features are not yet accessible. It will be functional from a system update that is yet to come. I already updated mine and a 3D video appeared on the Home interface.

White Knuckles OK Go

Should you buy it? Hell yes, if you are into the latest gadgets and consoles. The 3D works well and built-in softwares are very cool. The only downside is the available titles as of now. There are no upgrades within a year or two so why wait? This is an awesome gadget you should not miss. It is far better than its younger brother, the Nintendo DS. The graphical power is way better, functions and added features are cool. You can  play and explore it on its own for hours.