Nukezilla Review: Nintendo 3DS

In 2004, Nintendo had the balls to tell us that one screen wasn’t enough. Now the cheeky buggers are at it again! This time, they’ve decided that two dimensions just won’t cut it anymore.

Hardware

On the outside the 3DS is very much like the DSi, but look closer and there are a few subtle differences. The most striking change is probably the glossy finish. Out of the two colors available, I picked up the Cosmos Black model (because it’s the boy one, duh). The gloss makes the system eye-catching, as well as a finger print magnet. Regarding the 3DS’ camera — Nintendo has added an extra outer lens, which enables the user to take 3D photos. This camera is 0.3 MP, meaning you have a nice film grain on every photo you take.

Outside of those two changes, the rest is minimal. They’ve swapped the stylus position to the back of the device, which I found awkward — prying the stylus from its holder is a lot more annoying than it should be. They’ve smoothed out some of the device’s edges, making it look very sleek indeed. The 3DS is around 8 ounces heavier than the DSi. Despite the extra bulk it’s still light enough to carry around all day, so you can rack up those steps and coins (more on those later). It doesn’t feel fragile though; it has a sturdiness to it that is always welcome with an expensive purchase.

Opening the device reveals another familiar sight with a few key changes. The D-pad has been pushed down to make way for the officially-named “Circle Pad.” The Circle Pad is the analogue nub from the PSP done right. Its concave face gives you a good grip, while making it it easy to use and very responsive. The D-pad being pushed down is a problem; it was quite awkward to use with Super Street Fighter 4: 3D Edition and it became uncomfortable after extended periods of play. There are three buttons below the touch screen: Start, Select and the new Home button. The actual buttons are covered by a piece of plastic, which means they can be difficult to press on the fly. The face buttons, D-pad and the L and R buttons all have a very nice clicky feel to them.

The DS was never known for its graphics capabilities, but with the 3DS Nintendo have changed that. They’ve upped the top screen’s resolution dramatically; it’s now 800×240 (400×240 effectively, since it needs to produce two separate images for the 3D effect), which is a significant step up from the previous DS. That, when matched with a PICA200 graphics chip, produces some seriously good-looking visuals.

3D

Unquestionably, this machine’s 3D capabilities are what the masses are drawn in by, and Nintendo have absolutely hit the 3D nail on the 3D head. The tech works, and it works really well. The sense of depth created by the effect is really something. Even on the medium setting it still provides a fantastic effect. The “sweet spot” or “where the 3D works” seems to vary from person to person, as does the level of depth people can handle. I grew accustomed to where I should be positioned to play the 3DS and after a while it felt very natural.

There are a few issues, however. The 3D effect does break if you move to the side, so that bumpity bus journey you take won’t be best suited to the 3DS. When this happens, it’s usually easy to get back into the right position, but it’s still an issue. Whilst it was rare, I have found ghosting to be an issue, mainly (and appropriately) in Ghost Recon Shadow Wars. This problem has popped up in other places though: the augmented reality games (Face Raiders included) often took re-adjustment to get “just right”. It’s only a minor annoyance, but one that can become frustrating.

There was worried talk leading up to the 3DS’ launch about the effect rendering two images would have on gameplay. Thankfully, these worries appear unfounded. I’ve been playing Street Fighter and Ghost Recon on full 3D blast and have had no issues with performance. Things run very smoothly with the 3D enabled — if there is a hit in the FPS then it’s negligible.

I’ve also yet to encounter any issues relating to my health. I’ve not experienced any headaches after playing the 3DS. The worst I’ve had is after a while of playing on full blast my eyes seemed a little fuzzy. This issue quickly disappeared, and after playing with the 3DS more I’ve not re-encountered this issue.

The 3D rises to the challenge, but unfortunately, the battery life does not. Initially I had no problems with the battery — the cradle did its job and I was never low on battery. It’s hit me now. The battery life is not terrible; it’s just not good enough. On full 3D with the brightness up and WiFi on, I get just about 3 hours before I have to hook it up to the AC adapter. Even turning down the brightness as well as turning the WiFi off only gives me about an extra hour. Turning off the 3D or playing a regular DS game enables about 7 hours of play before the blinking red light ruins all my fun.

Software

Nintendo have done a great job with the 3DS’ operating system. The OS is quick and responsive, and makes navigating the applications a breeze. I’ve also just found myself staring at the rotating pencils on the activity log; it’s a game in itself!

The 3DS comes packed with a good number of pre-installed goodies. The augmented reality cards are fun for a while. After doing the odd bit of fishing target practice, they became nothing more than a wow-thing to show my friends. Face Raiders, whilst being the most blatant proof of concept in the world, is very fun.

The 3D camera is something I’ve used roughly twice. It’s not bad, it’s just been handicapped by low resolution cameras. The StreetPass and SpotPass features — which automatically trade info between sleeping 3DS’s when they come within proximity of one another — in concept sound great, but being in a city where people are mugged for a packet of crisps limits the hits I’ve got. There are also issues with things not being unified. Receiving a Mii won’t make them appear in the Mii Plaza, and vice versa. You have to manually register the Mii in one application to have it appear in the other. It’s a strange design decision that seems to serve no useful purpose.

The 3DS has a pedometer built-in to it, so it encourages its owner to take the device with them everywhere. The more you walk with your 3DS, the more “Play Coins” you rack up. These work as a sort of in-game currency which — as of now — just provide for some help with supplemental features, like buying figures in Super Street Fighter 4: 3D Edition and hiring mercenary cats and dogs in the “Find Mii” minigame built-in to the system. This feature, combined with StreetPass, work as a clever way to get people to keep their 3DS’s in their pockets or bags at all times (E3 and PAX will be goldmines).

Online

One of Nintendo’s main weak points in the last few years has been terrible online support for their systems and games. Whilst the 3DS has some welcome improvements, there are still some major downfalls that hampers its usefulness. Friend codes rear their ugly head again. When you and a friend swap friend codes you’ll pop up on their friends list with the equivalent of a gamer card. You can then view what they are playing and see a status message, and that’s about it. No way to send a message, no chat, no way to invite them to a game from the OS, nothing. Without those options it’s an almost-pointless addition, and one that they’ll hopefully improve in future updates.

There’s also no online marketplace to buy games, but Nintendo will be adding this in an update this summer. Also included in this update will be a web browser — tapping the button right now just gives you a message that it’ll be available in a future update. The lack of these features at launch feel a bit strange — especially since Nintendo are usually not one to ship an unfinished product.

It’s difficult to give a star rating to the currently-existing Nintendo 3DS. Whilst the majority of what is on offer with the system is very good, a mediocre launch line-up, short battery life and missing features make me feel like I’ve taken a slice of potential from what promises to one day be an amazing, delicious pie.