Nintendo 3DS *HANDS-ON* *EYES-ON* Preview
Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2011 11:59 am
I just got the chance to try out the Nintendo 3DS this morning. Nintendo has these demo stations at select US cities, and of course they had one in the heart of New York City. You can find a list of the events here:
http://www.nintendo.com/3ds/events" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I spent about a half hour there, and was able to demo around 6 different games. Let me just cut to the chase: it has exceeded my expectations. Its everything we've all hoped, and more. The 3D was literally some of the best, if not the best, 3D I have ever seen in my life. I can safely say there was no ghosting, colors and brightness were great (even better than many 2D displays), resolution looked fine, and the 3D effect was breath-taking. The reason I say it looks better than current glasses-based systems is that you are not losing so much light. This is one of the first times I have seen a full quality, full color 3D image, like ever. Well, I have seen that on HMDs, but lets just ignore than for the time being. In terms of single screen solutions, this is really something to see. This really is the kind of thing you dream about as a kid, but now it is a reality. This is going to be *HUGE*. Everybody that was there was amazed by it, even a group of older women that thought it was a cell-phone. They were still amazed. Nintendo has managed to bring out a screen (possibly sourced by Sharp) that really does look as good or better than a lot of modern 3D HDTVs and PC monitors. Now, its not without some faults. Mainly that the viewing angles are ultra-narrow. There is really only one position that it works in. You might have a degree or two of horizontal wiggle-room, but thats about it. Vertical movement is also a no-go, but is a little better than horizontal. If you go outside the sweet-spot what you get is a 100% ghosted image, and then the eyes swap (pseudo-stereo). This makes it easy to realize when you are doing it, but still annoying. Honestly, the viewing angles aren't that much better than even my DIY parallax barrier (though it blows away my DIY setup in every other aspect). For some games this isn't any issue, but with fast-paced "button-mashers" you tend to shake the system a bit and you get some ghosting. This becomes more of a problem with the games that utilize the motion-controls. When you have to move the system around to play the game, it is very easy to shift the sweet-spot outside your view. Again, it is easy to correct, but still annoying. I guess its just a limitation of the technology, not much Nintendo could have done.
The games I played were: Street Fighter 4, Pilotwings: Resort, Asphalt 3D, Madden, Steel Diver, and the AR games. Demos were limited to around 3-5 minutes each, but I played some multiple times.
Asphalt 3D was the first game I played, and also had the best 3D implementation. I was seriously blown away when I first saw it. The 3D effect easily beats my Zalman, and is even better than the Panasonic VT25. The car had a nice depth to it, and felt really solid. The track also went into the screen, and you had a good sense of speed. I'm definitely picking this up on launch day. The game itself was a competent racing game, nothing special, but it was alright. Some cool cars and nice looking levels. The graphics looked at least as good as stuff on PSP. The analog controls were pretty good. Still not up to par with Xbox/PS3 controllers, but much better than the nub on the PSP.
Street Fighter 4 also had a good 3D implementation. Characters were at screen depth, and the background went into the screen. Very nice look. Graphics were pretty nice, lower quality but still comparable to the arcade. The controls seems solid, and the touch screen helped with special moves. This is the Super version, so it has all the characters in it (not sure if they were just unlocked for the demo or what). Really good fighting game, lots of fun. I will be sure to pick this one up.
Pilotwings was pretty fun, but I found the 3D to be a bit lacking. The plane itself looked really nice in 3D, but I found the landscape to be pretty flat. I guess this is realistic, since you can't see 3D past a certain distance. But I think they could have done more with it. When you were flying though rings and balloons, those did look very 3D, so that was cool. I still want to get this game, as I am a huge fan of the series, but it seemed like a safe move from Nintendo.
Madden seemed pretty bad, but I don't watch football so maybe that biased my opinion. The 3D was not well done at all, and the graphics were really shabby. Obviously a quick cash-in title.
Steel Diver was actually really cool. I played he periscope mode, where you actually have to spin around (in real life) to find enemy ships and shot them. With the screen close to your face, this is a very similar experience to using an HMD with headtracking. Combined with the 3D, this was really something else. The 3D was also well done, but maybe not as amazing as SF4 or Asphalt 3D. I think I might want to get this one too. If studios can make more games like this, then the 3DS will be an even bigger revolution than I thought. Imagine playing an FPS game like that! Wow! Through in some AR into the mix and we are really getting something special. This is the type of stuff that not too long ago could have cost $20,000 for a head-tracked 3D head-mounted-display with a stereoscopic camera. Nintendo is about to release a consumer version of this for $250. Simply amazing.
The AR (augmented reality) games were cool, but they were more of a tech demo than anything else. Just enough to show you what is possible, but not really stand-alone applications. However they did work pretty well. The system would track the marker with pin-point accuracy (better than I have seen on the PC with ARToolkit, for example). And there would be some mini-games were you would have to shoot targets and things like that. Showed a lot of potential, and I'd like to see what game developers do with this.
Overall what Nintendo has done is pure genius. This system is going to be a huge success. Not only is there no way it can fail, but I think it will be the hot item was a long while to come. I can guarantee that pretty much every kid is going to have to have this system, and many adults will want it too. It just really is the next-generation, more than almost any other portable device that has come before it. Not only will Nintendo change the face of gaming with this system, but they will push 3D finally into the mainstream. If they manage to start selling 3D movies on this (which is what they've been saying) then it will open up the market to more than just gamers. I can't imagine anyone taking a look at this system and not "get it". This is no gimmick. This is the future, and the future is NOW!
http://www.nintendo.com/3ds/events" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I spent about a half hour there, and was able to demo around 6 different games. Let me just cut to the chase: it has exceeded my expectations. Its everything we've all hoped, and more. The 3D was literally some of the best, if not the best, 3D I have ever seen in my life. I can safely say there was no ghosting, colors and brightness were great (even better than many 2D displays), resolution looked fine, and the 3D effect was breath-taking. The reason I say it looks better than current glasses-based systems is that you are not losing so much light. This is one of the first times I have seen a full quality, full color 3D image, like ever. Well, I have seen that on HMDs, but lets just ignore than for the time being. In terms of single screen solutions, this is really something to see. This really is the kind of thing you dream about as a kid, but now it is a reality. This is going to be *HUGE*. Everybody that was there was amazed by it, even a group of older women that thought it was a cell-phone. They were still amazed. Nintendo has managed to bring out a screen (possibly sourced by Sharp) that really does look as good or better than a lot of modern 3D HDTVs and PC monitors. Now, its not without some faults. Mainly that the viewing angles are ultra-narrow. There is really only one position that it works in. You might have a degree or two of horizontal wiggle-room, but thats about it. Vertical movement is also a no-go, but is a little better than horizontal. If you go outside the sweet-spot what you get is a 100% ghosted image, and then the eyes swap (pseudo-stereo). This makes it easy to realize when you are doing it, but still annoying. Honestly, the viewing angles aren't that much better than even my DIY parallax barrier (though it blows away my DIY setup in every other aspect). For some games this isn't any issue, but with fast-paced "button-mashers" you tend to shake the system a bit and you get some ghosting. This becomes more of a problem with the games that utilize the motion-controls. When you have to move the system around to play the game, it is very easy to shift the sweet-spot outside your view. Again, it is easy to correct, but still annoying. I guess its just a limitation of the technology, not much Nintendo could have done.
The games I played were: Street Fighter 4, Pilotwings: Resort, Asphalt 3D, Madden, Steel Diver, and the AR games. Demos were limited to around 3-5 minutes each, but I played some multiple times.
Asphalt 3D was the first game I played, and also had the best 3D implementation. I was seriously blown away when I first saw it. The 3D effect easily beats my Zalman, and is even better than the Panasonic VT25. The car had a nice depth to it, and felt really solid. The track also went into the screen, and you had a good sense of speed. I'm definitely picking this up on launch day. The game itself was a competent racing game, nothing special, but it was alright. Some cool cars and nice looking levels. The graphics looked at least as good as stuff on PSP. The analog controls were pretty good. Still not up to par with Xbox/PS3 controllers, but much better than the nub on the PSP.
Street Fighter 4 also had a good 3D implementation. Characters were at screen depth, and the background went into the screen. Very nice look. Graphics were pretty nice, lower quality but still comparable to the arcade. The controls seems solid, and the touch screen helped with special moves. This is the Super version, so it has all the characters in it (not sure if they were just unlocked for the demo or what). Really good fighting game, lots of fun. I will be sure to pick this one up.
Pilotwings was pretty fun, but I found the 3D to be a bit lacking. The plane itself looked really nice in 3D, but I found the landscape to be pretty flat. I guess this is realistic, since you can't see 3D past a certain distance. But I think they could have done more with it. When you were flying though rings and balloons, those did look very 3D, so that was cool. I still want to get this game, as I am a huge fan of the series, but it seemed like a safe move from Nintendo.
Madden seemed pretty bad, but I don't watch football so maybe that biased my opinion. The 3D was not well done at all, and the graphics were really shabby. Obviously a quick cash-in title.
Steel Diver was actually really cool. I played he periscope mode, where you actually have to spin around (in real life) to find enemy ships and shot them. With the screen close to your face, this is a very similar experience to using an HMD with headtracking. Combined with the 3D, this was really something else. The 3D was also well done, but maybe not as amazing as SF4 or Asphalt 3D. I think I might want to get this one too. If studios can make more games like this, then the 3DS will be an even bigger revolution than I thought. Imagine playing an FPS game like that! Wow! Through in some AR into the mix and we are really getting something special. This is the type of stuff that not too long ago could have cost $20,000 for a head-tracked 3D head-mounted-display with a stereoscopic camera. Nintendo is about to release a consumer version of this for $250. Simply amazing.
The AR (augmented reality) games were cool, but they were more of a tech demo than anything else. Just enough to show you what is possible, but not really stand-alone applications. However they did work pretty well. The system would track the marker with pin-point accuracy (better than I have seen on the PC with ARToolkit, for example). And there would be some mini-games were you would have to shoot targets and things like that. Showed a lot of potential, and I'd like to see what game developers do with this.
Overall what Nintendo has done is pure genius. This system is going to be a huge success. Not only is there no way it can fail, but I think it will be the hot item was a long while to come. I can guarantee that pretty much every kid is going to have to have this system, and many adults will want it too. It just really is the next-generation, more than almost any other portable device that has come before it. Not only will Nintendo change the face of gaming with this system, but they will push 3D finally into the mainstream. If they manage to start selling 3D movies on this (which is what they've been saying) then it will open up the market to more than just gamers. I can't imagine anyone taking a look at this system and not "get it". This is no gimmick. This is the future, and the future is NOW!