Nintendo 3DS


Sorry for the double-post, but I got to try out a 3DS this morning and wanted to write up my impressions! :D


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. :p


If you can find a demo unit in your locality, I'd have to say that it's well worth checking out. :)
 
ok before even reading the post, i hate you right now, 3ds still nowhere to be found in most of usa, now to read post
 
Sorry for the double-post, but I got to try out a 3DS this morning and wanted to write up my impressions! :D


...nice detailed review edited for space...


If you can find a demo unit in your locality, I'd have to say that it's well worth checking out. :)

I was just wondering, did you get to try any of the launch games or just the on-board apps? Great review btw, I was wondering about what the 3d effect would be like and am happy to hear it felt natural to you.
 
ok before even reading the post, i hate you right now, 3ds still nowhere to be found in most of usa, now to read post
Sorry DM. :lol:

I was just wondering, did you get to try any of the launch games or just the on-board apps? Great review btw, I was wondering about what the 3d effect would be like and am happy to hear it felt natural to you.
I only got to try out the on-board apps and features - I don't think they've received any games at this time, or else I'm sure they'd have offered to let me try a game, too.


EDIT: I forgot to note, the screens are nice and dense-looking, too. During my brief time trying it out, I got a similar impression as I did with the Pandora - that is, it was almost as though the images are printed on them. Also, the menu system is lovely and responsive (it's an *incredible* improvement over the horribly clunky one that the DSi has), as is using the Home button to suspend things, and so on.


EDIT 2: Oh, and the "Circle Pad" (the analogue nub) is very different to the nubs on the Pandora. It's quite springy, and has good movement (that's not to say that the Pandora ones don't, of course! :p ). Outside of the display, it was this that I was wondering about the most, I must admit. And the d-pad's positioning doesn't actually seem too bad, either.
 
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My 3DS is bought and paid for but I forgot one crucial thing..... a game to go with it! I'm gonna go this weekend and reserve one but I'm torn between Zelda and Starfox. Which one looks better to you guys? Unfortunately I can only afford one at the moment. :unsure:
 
zelda wont be out til mid to late june, and still no date for starfox, and it seems like youre in the same boat as me, i dont think any of the regions have any games at launch worth buying
 
Well, holy wow. Here are some very early MegaMan Legends 3 testing screenshots which hold some hope for original series fans like me.


See that placeholder model they're using? That's the original Mega Man, who shouldn't even be in this game because it's set at least 3000 to 4000 years after his time. The game's director says that it's a placeholder that they've dropped in from another game - except I've never seen this model elsewhere before. There is no explanation for the model of Bass.EXE, though - nor any explanation for the atrocious fact that it should have been Bass from the original series in his place, since the original Mega Man is there (for the unintiated: The Classic series and the Battle Network series exist in completely different continuities. Legends is the far future of the Classic series. Battle Network is completely unrelated).


I've had a gut feeling for a while that we might be seeing a Classic series Mega Man game on the 3DS, and this halfway confirms my suspicion, although the Bass.EXE model makes me wonder if we might finally be seeing that all-Mega Man-series crossover fighting game that they wanted to make a few years back instead (or as well?). Either way, this could be interesting. Just WHAT is this other game?

The model of classic Mega Man is likely from Mega Man Powered Up on the PSP, which was a 2.5-D game. As for Bass, I have no idea. Don't get your hopes up, though.


MML3 is the biggest game I'm looking forward to for the 3DS. I hope they fix the awful battery before that game comes out...
 
The model of classic Mega Man is likely from Mega Man Powered Up on the PSP, which was a 2.5-D game.
It isn't. That game had a foul and soulless "chibi" style (in the badly-designed sense, rather than the rather cute ones used to promote Mega Man 8 in Japan), and they miscoloured Mega Man's eyes as green. That model looked nothing like this one. ;)


I'm guessing that people keep guessing this because that game (very deservedly) flopped and most people have never seen it.

As for Bass, I have no idea. Don't get your hopes up, though.
My current guess is that both are from the cancelled Wii all-Mega Man-series crossover fighter, Mega Man Scramble Battle. My related guess is that there may be a possibility of them doing a 3DS port, since that would probably work, and mean that previous work won't be wasted.

MML3 is the biggest game I'm looking forward to for the 3DS. I hope they fix the awful battery before that game comes out...
Seven hours doesn't sound bad to me. :p (Reports of actual usage have been surfacing.)


It looks like they're having trouble getting MegaMan Legends 3 approved, though, although that's understandable considering how MegaMan Legends, The Misadventures of Tron Bonne, and MegaMan Legends 2 all put Capcom in the red (source: Mega Man Megamix Vol. 3 - an interview at the back of this book reveals that fact). I'm still amazed that they announced Legends 3 with as much fuss as they did considering that it was obvious that no sane person would blindly approve yet another game which may follow the no-profit path of its three forerunners. I hope they get to make it, but I could easily understand if it got cancelled.
 
7 hours is inexcusable to me, given that the worst of the DS line was the regular DSi @ >= 8 hours on average. If you want to compare battery capacity (what really matters), then look no further.


DS: 850 mAh


DS Lite: 1000 mAh


DSi: 850 mAh (this is important; why would a system with _higher specs_ use a _smaller_ battery?)


DSi XL: 1050 mAh (much better, and features the best battery life of the entire DS line)


3DS: 1300 mAh


Given the huge bump in specs, the 3DS deserves at least a 2000 mAh battery to get a decent life out of it. Given that it takes 3.5 hours to charge it and you get 7 hours out of it on average, you're spending a third of your 3DS's lifespan charging the damn thing. It's just plain laziness.


For the record, the Pandora uses a 4000 mAh battery and lasts up to 14 hours or more with average use. Keep in mind its specs are much higher, but the OPT still used a good battery. I'm a big Nintendo fan, but I'm in my mid-20s now and have learned more about portable devices. When I see a device that lasts 7 hours on a single charge and I'm expected to pay $250 for it, my practical side raises a red flag and I say "No". If your standards are lower, that's great, but it's difficult to say "7 hours is good" with a straight face. Before the DS line, the GameBoy line regularly got 15-25 hours from a single charge or pair of batteries. So one of two things is true: battery tech is lagging behind (partially true), or Ninty's been stingy with batteries.


EDIT: Corrected the 3DS battery capacity to 1300. Scroll down for source.
 
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If your standards are lower, that's great, but it's difficult to say "7 hours is good" with a straight face.
It's a good thing that that's not what I said, then. ;)

Seven hours doesn't sound bad to me. :p
And I'll add that that's reportedly with everything on full, in one go non-stop. That's one hour less than a Pandora with everything on full under full load from a full charge, in one go non-stop.


Hopefully that should make it clearer why I don't think seven hours is bad.


EDIT: Whoops, missed a bit, do pardon me. :lol:

DSi: 850 mAh (this is important; why would a system with _higher specs_ use a _smaller_ battery?)
Why? Because it's ridiculously, detrimentally thin and there's nowhere for it to go. And the shoulder buttons suffer for it. :(

DSi XL: 1050 mAh (much better, and features the best battery life of the entire DS line)
Just curious, what is the battery life the DSi XL gets?
 
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Ah. Well, it's better than the original DS line (they usually get 4-6 hours with wifi gaming on the whole time). Why not test everything else, though? That is, start with lowest brightness, no sound, 2-D, no wifi, and selectively turn each thing on individually, then in concert. The real battery culprit could then be found, and honest, conclusive numbers can be provided.


If 7 hours is wifi, max volume, max brightness, and max 3-D, then it's decent. If the brightness compares to the XL, you'll never put it on max. Same goes for volume.
 
^ The DSi's brightness is blinding also, and it hurt my eyes at first. I don't believe I ever changed it, though, but the second-highest one is equivalent to the DS Lite's highest setting, and is much less retina-searing.


They quote the same battery life for the DSi as they do for the 3DS, incidentally, and in practice it gets much, much more. (My main DS nowadays is a DSi, since there were some downloadable titles that I really wanted to get. I'm looking forward to being able to play them on a machine that's more comfortable to hold and that has usable shoulder buttons - it's only a shame that the option to transfer stuff won't be present immediately. Once it is, though, I'll probably trade my DSi towards some more games.)
 
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I think I'll wait on the 3DS until the inevitable redesign and/or improvement comes along. By then, there will also be exhaustive battery tests done.


Edit: I use a DSi XL because my hands are big. It was a must-buy once I saw Cave Story was available. The buttons on the DSis are the best, too.
 
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^ They haven't bothered releasing the DSiWare Cave Story port here yet, unfortunately. :( I'm waiting for the 3DS remake now, though.


I'm just glad that the 3DS is near-enough the same size as the DS Lite - it's much nicer to hold and use than the too-thin DSi is.
 
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Before the DS line, the GameBoy line regularly got 15-25 hours from a single charge or pair of batteries. So one of two things is true: battery tech is lagging behind (partially true), or Ninty's been stingy with batteries.
The gameboy line previously used AA batteries which tend to pack in between 1500 and 3000 mAh with alkaline (non-rechargeable) being at the higher end of that. Rechargeable batteries, like the li-ion and lipo found in modern devices, tend to have about half that (maybe 2/3 now) capacity for the same volume. They're getting better but still not as good as their non-rechargeable counterparts. If the Pandora battery was a one shot non-rechargeable, it'd probably last almost at least 20 hours of continuous use.


Battery tech isn't lagging, nor is Nintendo getting stingy, you've simply switched from tossing high capacity batteries in the trash to using lower capacity but rechargeable batteries in everything.
 
Interesting tidbit about AAs. I didn't know that.


However, the GBA SP and Micro used Li-ion batteries and still lasted 15-20 hours. With the DS and now 3DS, the underlying technology is improving in power but battery life is lowering. That phenomenon can be explained by one of the two causes I mentioned previously. If battery tech isn't really lagging behind (that is, maintaining small form factor and good capacity), then clearly Nintendo has been using batteries with capacities too low for their newer devices to maintain the same battery life.


I feel like I'm the only one who sees the numbers and sees a problem with the direction things are going. The same could be said of smartphones and other devices designed to be charged daily.


As it currently stands, I can put my DSi XL through light to medium gaming and it will last about a week before it needs a charge. My GBA SP could last a week and a half of medium gaming. The 3DS in its current form will be lucky to last 2-3 days of medium gaming before a recharge.


Note: light gaming = 1 hr/day; medium gaming = 2-4 hr=day, heavy gaming = 5+ hr/day
 
As it currently stands, I can put my DSi XL through light to medium gaming and it will last about a week before it needs a charge. My GBA SP could last a week and a half of medium gaming. The 3DS in its current form will be lucky to last 2-3 days of medium gaming before a recharge.


Note: light gaming = 1 hr/day; medium gaming = 2-4 hr=day, heavy gaming = 5+ hr/day
Now this is curious... I can put my DSi (the one with the lowest-capacity battery of the lot) through the same amount of "medium" gaming daily by the chart you provide, and it, too, can last about a week before it needs to be recharged...
 
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