Nintendo 3DS Hands-On

Posted by Chris Holmes at 10:23pm on July 28th, 2010

Nintendo invited the UK’s media to come and play lots of exciting things yesterday. We were invited, and to kick off our coverage of what we got to have a look at is the Nintendo 3DS.  When Nintendo first announced the device, people were left scratching their heads. A 3D based gaming system that didn’t require glasses was too much for some to take, with most people wondering if they were in the future and stuff.

I’m happy to report we are in the future. Nintendo took us to what can only be described as a flock of gorgeous women with 3DS’ everywhere and told us to have fun. We obliged. Some of us obliged a little too much (they tried some outrageous geek flirting, which didn’t go down too well. If anyone from Nintendo is reading this, I apologise profusely for their unprofessional behaviour and their bizarre understanding of physics). Now that’s out of the way, let’s talk about the Nintendo 3DS hardware.

The units we got to play with were jet black, with a solid metallic feel. As you may know by now, the device has two cameras on the lid with another on the inside. There’s also a new analogue slider alongside the DS Lite style D-Pad, with the traditional DS touch screen and button arrangement. The face buttons had a glossy look, but felt responsive enough and easy to use. The shoulder buttons were more interesting though. They were smaller (thinner) and made out of a harder metallic material. The back side of the 3DS has a bigger cartridge slot, but old DS cartridges should fit in there just fine. Next to that is an infra-red connector.

Around the other side is the SD card housing, with the stylus slot taking up the spot directly opposite. It’s worth noting that the top lid had a slight over-hang to the bottom, but this is still prototype hardware and susceptible to a redesign. The 3DS top screen is just like what you’ve heard about everywhere else: a nice sizeable widescreen. The 3D slider worked well, but it’s interesting to note that when we took the screen to 3D, the image lost a bit of sharpness but worked exactly as advertised. We were playing in 3D and enjoying it.

Let’s talk about what we got to play with on the console: Pilotwings Resort, Nintendogs + Cats and Hollywood 61.

Pilotwings Resort

This was our first playable title on the Nintendo 3DS. The demo had two modes, one with a traditional bi-plane and another with jetpack. The objective for the jetpack mission was to fly around and pop balloons, with the bi-plane mission being to fly through some rings. You get to play as your Mii in this one, which was quite interesting. It used the typical “Wii Sports” look for the UI. Having a flying game in 3D is a good way to show off the technology, and Pilotwings doesn’t disappoint. It looks just like a Wii game, and the 3D really helped with navigation.

However, it became a bit too easy to focus on nearby buildings instead of the protagonist and it wasn’t always easy to determine how close we were to the objective. Other than that, the controls were fairly solid and the analogue slider was intuitive. It is much better than the PSP one and should be just fine with prolonged use. However, while we liked Pilotwings, it was a bit boring and the objectives seemed overly simple to get to. Hopefully they’ll be able to shape a whole game round the premise rather than do consecutive simple challenges.

Nintendogs + Cats

This was our next playable game in the long tour of upcoming stuff for the 3DS. The demo was distinctly lacking in cats for our liking, but it did have plenty of dogs. To be precise, there was a beagle, a golden Labrador and a terrier. They all behaved very Nintendogs-like and it seemed very natural to pick up and play, just like the prequel. What’s interesting about this one is that it has facial recognition. When I put my beautiful face towards the camera, my beagle came up and tried to lick me. It’s a fun touch but I’ve never seen this dog before in my life, so how does it know who I am? We’re not sure if the camera is advanced enough to tell owners apart from other humans and no one at the show seemed to know.

Regardless, the 3D effect was really entertaining here. It adds to the whole effect of owning and playing with your virtual dog. Throwing things like boomerangs and Frisbees looked amazing, and even though the demo only had an indoor location, there was plenty of space to muck about with. When the camera went to a semi-isometric viewpoint, the 3D effect was stunning. The dog’s home looked like a fully realised place. However, using the 2D touch screen to interact within a 3D space can feel a bit weird. That wears off fairly quickly though and we enjoyed it. Disappointingly, we haven’t seen anything to differentiate it from the original yet.

Hollywood 61

This was our first ever playable third party 3DS game. It’s a Hotel Dusk-esque game from Ubisoft, focusing on a detective going after a serial killer. The demo took place at a theatre, and included a cut-scene, a quick puzzle and an interesting brief ending segment. The cardboard cut-out style character design was competent enough, but the 3D element was surplus to requirements here really. The puzzle was a short “reflect the light with mirrors to the ending” one, and seemed to be very easy.

However, the ending of the demo really saved it. The protagonist moved to the middle of the theatre and we got to control his viewpoint of the stage with the analogue slider. When looking at it from the left, the message “YOU’RE” was viewable on the stage curtain, and when looking at it from the right, the message “NEXT!” was viewable. This used 3D strangely well, and we thought it was a highly entertaining way to try to scare us. Hollywood 61 has a lot of potential, but we’re not sure who exactly it’s appealing to. Hotel Dusk didn’t sell a massive amount and the puzzles on offer here don’t look to be as complex as those in the Professor Layton series. If they manage to frame it as a book-style adventure, it could do well.

Camera

Nintendo also showed us a 3D camera application. They didn’t confirm if this was the exact one that will be included with the 3DS, but it seemed adequate enough. Interestingly, the 3D depth slider didn’t work with this demo. Instead, you could change the focus of the 3D image on the bottom screen with a slider.  There was no ability to save or transfer photos in the demo. Pictures taken with it use a low resolution, but it seemed to work as advertised. The two front cameras on the lid do their job well. However, we were in a well-lit environment so we’re not sure how well it’ll do in the dark. There’s no flash on the device.

If Nintendo can get the pricing for the device right, this could be the first “cheap” mainstream 3D device with a 3D camera. It can push the format forward on mobile platforms and could lead to even bigger things in the future.

Everything else and conclusion

After playing with those, we were treated to the same trailers and videos that were at E3. There was a 3D film trailer about some owl film coming out soon (can’t remember the name), Mario Kart, Resident Evil Redemption, Metal Gear Solid 3D Naked Sample and a few others floating about (including Kid Icarus). Mario Kart looked like a cross between the Wii and DS version, and there wasn’t a massive opportunity for any 3D effects in the demo. Resident Evil Redemption looked very good, albeit a bit bland. We couldn’t follow the plot but if games really do look this good on the 3DS then we’re in for a treat.

Metal Gear Solid 3D Naked Sample (or something to that effect) was also highly entertaining. It follows either Snake or Big Boss (probably the latter) in a first person crawl through a forest. The camera then zooms out to show our protagonist, as he has an entertaining moment with a guard and a packet of cigarettes. He then runs across a bridge and fights the female Boss (we’re guessing she’s Big Momma). There are some beautiful flower effects and other various 3D elements as all this is going on, with the graphics looking better than the recently released PSP title Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker. Needless to say, we were very happy with it and we hope it will be released.

In conclusion, the Nintendo 3DS is an exciting step in the right direction for 3D. While many seem to be ringing the format’s death knell at the cinema, the 3DS can stand up to the plate thanks to the device not needing those Joe 90-style 3D glasses. People won’t be able to look over your shoulder to watch you play in 3D unless they get close enough to breathe their cancerous germs all over you, but you will be safe in the knowledge that they will be jealous. The system just needs one killer app and it could be epic. We’re not sure if Kid Icarus will be it, but this is Nintendo we’re talking about here. A new Mario or Zelda will come along and sweep everyone off their feet. The world will go mad with fanboyism and the 3DS will rule all. Sony really needs to come up with something mind-bending to trump this.

Days out | Hands-On | Nintendo | Nintendo 3DS | Previews | TheNPCs

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