Prometheus
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2008
- Messages
- 9,472
Sorry for the double-post, but I got to try out a 3DS this morning and wanted to write up my impressions! 
Firstly, the 3D (obviously): It's not at all like I was expecting. It's thankfully nothing like when you watch a 3D film at the cinema, which feels unnatural on my eyes from the moment I put on the darkened glasses. The 3DS' 3D felt completely natural to me, and it was almost as if I was looking into a vast world through a portal in the screen, rather than things popping out of it. I played about with the depth slider a bit, and everything looks pretty good with the 3D turned off, as well. You can actually hold the 3DS at quite a distance and still get the 3D effect, which whilst it didn't surprise me as I had already extrapolated this information from videos I've seen, was pretty cool to see for myself nonetheless. Moving the unit around during normal play will likely not be a problem here, as I got to try out one of the built-in games which combines the 3D effect with physically moving the system around (and I moved it around quite a lot), and never once lost it.
Secondly, the unit was handed to me powered up, but I was free to do what I wished while I was trying it out. Curiously, I found there was no "Health Warning" screen to click through when it was switched on. I don't know if this is something unique to demonstration units or not, though, as the machine simply seemed to be a normal, production unit, the same as we'll be getting at retail. With any luck, this may mean that you can now turn the warning screen off (which will be welcome - after all, those of us who didn't keep firing off lawsuits would quite like the option to deactivate this option that those firing off the lawsuits were so determined to get out of one manufacturer).
Thirdly, they aren't allowed to demo the Augmented Reality games selection in-store, but I did get to try out the built-in Face Raiders game. The nice lady who fetched the 3DS for me to try out stood there and posed for the required face-photo that the game needs before it starts, and within a few moments, I was away. This was great fun, and it was very surreal to see these little human-face-bearing monsters bursting through the shelves and checkout area of a video game shop! (Literally - they were blowing holes out of the scenery as I played.) It was also very cool to see how the mouths of the little creatures move whilst they laugh at you, or look disappointed by their defeat.
Fourthly, I tried out the camera, and took a 3D photograph of my surroundings. This came out a bit fuzzy, but I kept playing around with the focus first, and wasn't able to set it back as it had previously been. I also took a look through the other photographs stored on the device, which all looked good - several of them showed the store's staff, and various parts of the store, and it seemed that taking photos at a greater distance from things gets a better effect (I was fairly close to the merchandise I took a picture of, so the effect was less pronounced). I also noticed that there were some pictures taken from some of the AR games in the album, including two different members of staff posing with Samus Aran and Link, respectively, which made me chuckle.
Fifthly, I noticed that the touch-screen membrane doesn't seem to be as "far up" from the screen as it is on the original DS models. Whilst I already find the DS, DS Lite, and DSi's touch-screens to be fine, the one on the 3DS seemed to be smoother and more responsive. The extendable stylus is good - it's just like the metal third-party ones that have previously been available for all of the DS line. The tip is different this time - it's not a separate piece from the plastic that leads up to it, and the end looks more like a blunt pencil, now, instead of "blobby". It's good and precise, I found, and the different tip makes it easier to see the area around the tip of the stylus when you're using it.
Last of all, I created a Mii of myself, using the "From Photograph" option. The camera took a great picture of me, but the position I was holding it combined with some very bright lighting (fluorescent tubes) seemed to cause the Mii generated from it to end up with a wrong-looking nose. Otherwise, though, this worked very well. I'd like to experiment some more with this feature - and it seems like a great means to create a clone army.
If you can find a demo unit in your locality, I'd have to say that it's well worth checking out.
Firstly, the 3D (obviously): It's not at all like I was expecting. It's thankfully nothing like when you watch a 3D film at the cinema, which feels unnatural on my eyes from the moment I put on the darkened glasses. The 3DS' 3D felt completely natural to me, and it was almost as if I was looking into a vast world through a portal in the screen, rather than things popping out of it. I played about with the depth slider a bit, and everything looks pretty good with the 3D turned off, as well. You can actually hold the 3DS at quite a distance and still get the 3D effect, which whilst it didn't surprise me as I had already extrapolated this information from videos I've seen, was pretty cool to see for myself nonetheless. Moving the unit around during normal play will likely not be a problem here, as I got to try out one of the built-in games which combines the 3D effect with physically moving the system around (and I moved it around quite a lot), and never once lost it.
Secondly, the unit was handed to me powered up, but I was free to do what I wished while I was trying it out. Curiously, I found there was no "Health Warning" screen to click through when it was switched on. I don't know if this is something unique to demonstration units or not, though, as the machine simply seemed to be a normal, production unit, the same as we'll be getting at retail. With any luck, this may mean that you can now turn the warning screen off (which will be welcome - after all, those of us who didn't keep firing off lawsuits would quite like the option to deactivate this option that those firing off the lawsuits were so determined to get out of one manufacturer).
Thirdly, they aren't allowed to demo the Augmented Reality games selection in-store, but I did get to try out the built-in Face Raiders game. The nice lady who fetched the 3DS for me to try out stood there and posed for the required face-photo that the game needs before it starts, and within a few moments, I was away. This was great fun, and it was very surreal to see these little human-face-bearing monsters bursting through the shelves and checkout area of a video game shop! (Literally - they were blowing holes out of the scenery as I played.) It was also very cool to see how the mouths of the little creatures move whilst they laugh at you, or look disappointed by their defeat.
Fourthly, I tried out the camera, and took a 3D photograph of my surroundings. This came out a bit fuzzy, but I kept playing around with the focus first, and wasn't able to set it back as it had previously been. I also took a look through the other photographs stored on the device, which all looked good - several of them showed the store's staff, and various parts of the store, and it seemed that taking photos at a greater distance from things gets a better effect (I was fairly close to the merchandise I took a picture of, so the effect was less pronounced). I also noticed that there were some pictures taken from some of the AR games in the album, including two different members of staff posing with Samus Aran and Link, respectively, which made me chuckle.
Fifthly, I noticed that the touch-screen membrane doesn't seem to be as "far up" from the screen as it is on the original DS models. Whilst I already find the DS, DS Lite, and DSi's touch-screens to be fine, the one on the 3DS seemed to be smoother and more responsive. The extendable stylus is good - it's just like the metal third-party ones that have previously been available for all of the DS line. The tip is different this time - it's not a separate piece from the plastic that leads up to it, and the end looks more like a blunt pencil, now, instead of "blobby". It's good and precise, I found, and the different tip makes it easier to see the area around the tip of the stylus when you're using it.
Last of all, I created a Mii of myself, using the "From Photograph" option. The camera took a great picture of me, but the position I was holding it combined with some very bright lighting (fluorescent tubes) seemed to cause the Mii generated from it to end up with a wrong-looking nose. Otherwise, though, this worked very well. I'd like to experiment some more with this feature - and it seems like a great means to create a clone army.
If you can find a demo unit in your locality, I'd have to say that it's well worth checking out.
