Nintendo 3DS, It's Shiny!

The 3DS is here! Whether you've been following it right from the word go or you're just interested to see how it works, there is no doubt in the fact that you want to see the verdict. It's a surprising verdict to say the least. The fact that this is a console, not a game, makes reviewing it a little harder, so we've broken it down into three sections for you to quickly glance over: the good, the bad and the overall verdict.

The Good:

There's no denying the fact that the 3D looks gorgeous. Whilst it might not be up there when compared to Avatar, the fact that it's glasses-free makes it even more amazing. Rather than jumping out at you, characters are sent back, giving depth to the environment you are playing through. Unfortunately, we were not able to get our hands on any proper games for the system, so we were forced to play around with a few cards and a mini-game where you shoot other people's faces. Both show off the brilliance of the third dimension. When a card is placed down on a surface, the camera picks it up and Mario pops out of the card on your screen. It truly looks amazing. The other game, Face Raiders, requires you to take a picture of someones face then it appears on the screen and you have to shoot it. It's original and pretty darn addictive, to be honest.

Also, the 3DS seems to have received a makeover in both the design and the presentation. The addition of an analog stick onto the console truly is brilliant. We found that the directional buttons were pretty hard to use, however the analogue stick makes controlling your character much smoother. Also, the location of the stylus has been moved to the back and a few buttons have been changed around, but these are minor tweaks. On top of that, the main screen of the 3DS looks similar to that of the DSi but with a few changes. It's now smoother and, overall, easier to navigate, which makes traversing the Internet, mini-games and the camera much better.

 

The Bad:

Unfortunately, all of the good points of the 3DS are outweighed by all the bad. The 3D is brilliant, but heavily flawed. Whilst this might sound obvious, the 3D only works if you are looking directly at it. This isn't so much of a problem if it's just one person using the 3DS, but if a few people gather round to watch, things might become problematic. What makes this so annoying is the fact that it's the tiniest amounts of twisting that makes it go blurry. If your hand twitches a lot, then seeing the 3D to its full glory could become problematic. Trying to get a six year old to keep the console still raises the fact that the 3DS probably wasn't designed for children like the DS and DSi clearly was.

Another problem is that the camera on the 3DS isn't particularly good at all. The resolution is pretty low in the light and even lower if a photo is taken at night. Sure, the photos look great in 3D but they appear blurry and out of focus; as if your hand was shaking whilst you captured the shot. And at night, the photo is literally black. You can't pick out anything at all. It's a shame because, when a photo is taken right, they really do look amazing in 3D. Maybe a flash on the console itself or a higher resolution would've stopped this from being a massive problem.

Overall:

The main problem with the 3DS is that for every aspect of it, there's something just holding it back from the greatness it deserves and these problems can be big or small. Sure, the 3D is great and it's a massive step forward for gaming and technology as a whole, but the fact that it becomes blurry far too easily stops it from really taking off. And the camera is just plain disappointing. Despite all these problems there's no denying the fact that the 3DS will sell in copious amounts, but parents buying the 3DS for their children may be slightly surprised; the 3DS just isn't designed with younger children in mind. Anyone over the age of ten should be okay but Nintendo does recommend no one under the age of six use the 3DS anyway. If you're considering buying a 3DS then don't hesitate; the latest handheld from Nintendo is a lot of fun, just don't expect anything too much and you'll be fine.