With our E3 impressions and coverage winding down, we wanted to leave the best for last. Our round table of three who were in attendance at the show this year, sound off on what they saw and thought when they got their hands on the Nintendo 3DS.
Andrea Campton’s Thoughts
Nintendogs + Cats
Besides my brief exposure to the Nintendo 3DS at the Nintendo media briefing, this would be my first real hands-on time with the unit. When I grabbed it and saw the puppy on the screen, I was immediately taken by the image. It instantly made what I had at home feel obsolete. I was seeing the dog and wanting to touch it, but of course it was simply an illusion of sorts. The puppy responded nicely to my petting, though it felt somewhat odd since I was doing so on a flat surface instead of the three-dimensional object that was show in front of my eyes. I decided to also play with the puppy and got the Frisbee out. When the dog ran off to fetch, it really did seem like he/she ran off to go snag it. As a first taste with what the gameplay could be like for a few games, I’d say this was mostly positive.
Mario Kart
Upon arriving and viewing the unit that was showing the Mario Kart video, I started becoming ill. It felt exactly the same as I get when I play certain first person shooter games. Adjusting the 3D slider that’s on the 3DS didn’t help to alleviate the problem either. So, I simply sucked it up and watched the demo play before my eyes. The 3D effect was quite obvious in this title, with the karts drifting and sliding around. I was able to move the analog slider around to change the view, but other than that it was simply a video showcasing the 3DS effects.
Star Fox 64
Seeing that Star Fox 64 was my favorite out of the two retro Star Fox games, this was a no-brainer for me to give a spin. This was one of the few games in the 3DS section that was actually playable and somewhat fleshed out. It also showed because this was one of the most impressive looking 3DS games with the effects in full force. When Slippy was being attacked and zipped in front of my ship so that I could get a clean shot at the attacker, it was so much more pronounced with the 3D. Although it looked impressive, I wasn’t a big fan of how the analog slider felt. I was expecting a smooth motion, but instead it felt rough and slightly sticky. Perhaps this was because of how many other hands (and who knows where they’ve been) had previously touched the unit, but it was disappointing when I needed to control the Arwing in the fashion I wanted. Still, with how beautiful it’s looking, I’m glad they decided to remake what some would consider the best Star Fox game to date.
Pilotwings Resort
If I had to pick a favorite playable title, it would be Pilotwings Resort. Perhaps a mix of nostalgia and the fact I was experiencing a new sensation of seeing 3D had me seeing this title through rose-tinted glasses. Still, the effects of the two activities available to play, jetpacking and airplane navigation, were stellar to me. When I strapped on the jetpack and flew around to power my way through rings, I could see the rings in a more solid form which helped to guide me through them. Unfortunately I was a bit pre-occupied with simply going forward that I kept forgetting to aim my pack downward for lift. This resulted in loss of points when I finally finished with the last ring I needed to proceed through. In the airplane session, things went much more smoothly and I had no difficulty directing the plane through the rings. It’s been a while since the last Pilotwings game and I’m heavily anticipating this new title on the 3DS with what I’ve seen so far.
Dead or Alive 3D
Up next was yet another video of a game in the works. I’ve never been big on the Dead or Alive franchise and haven’t followed it, so I’m unfamiliar with most of the characters. When I watched, I noticed this seemed to have less jaggies than other titles I perused through. The 3D was smooth and fluid and didn’t make me feel ill strangely. When the characters were in motion, they moved fluidly. It was a good video, though if I recall, I wasn’t able to adjust the 3D slider on this particular title since it was just for demonstration purposes.
Kid Icarus Uprising
Last but not least before being ushered out of the 3DS area was Kid Icarus Uprising. At the Nintendo media briefing, they showed the video that unbeknown to me it was exactly the same that would be shown on the 3DS, but obviously in 3D. Once again I was surprised to find that I wasn’t made motion sick by viewing the movie. It looks wonderful and fast in motion with good details, though the 2D version of the trailer doesn’t quite show that. With the 3D, it seems to either hide or smooth out the jaggies present in, making it flow rather nicely. Unfortunately the only real word that came to mind while I was watching the trailer on the 3DS is the cliché term “epic.”
3DS
Having never seen 3D effects previous to my encounter with the 3DS, I was initially blown away with what I saw. Being able to perceive depth is quite astounding and for games, it’s going to give developers another tool to do truly remarkable feats. Even though it sounds as if I have nothing but praise for the 3DS, I have a few points of concern and caution. First off is the fact that certain games and videos were making me feel motion sickness. I know I’m not alone with this problem and wonder how pervasive it will be once the masses become exposed to the system. My two other concerns are eye strain and viewing angle. Normally on my Nintendo DSi, I don’t have a problem with my eyes starting to get sore. Within a few minutes of trying out the Nintendo 3DS however, I noticed I was squeezing my eyes for a bit of relief. This ties into my other concern with the viewing angle. If you’re not looking at the system just right, the 3D effect isn’t there, so the viewing angle is quite limited. So for those who get eye strain and arms/hands start to falter because of one reason or another, how will this effect their play experience. It made me really wonder why Nintendo was only allowing such short sessions with the 3DS viewing and whether or not they’re looking into correcting a few issues. Even with those issues however, I can see 3D being the next big thing in gaming. I just have to wonder if this is simply a test bed for Nintendo for their more grandiose plans in the future.
Jim Avery’s Thoughts
Animal Crossing
This is the first game I checked out that really nicely showed off the 3D effect, as well as the slider; it was interesting changing the depth of the 3D and watching the image not only get more or less 3D, but the furthest part of the image was moving somewhat left and right as well, which was interesting. Besides that, though, the video was very slow-paced, just watching a character walk around, and it was very easy to find the sweet spot on the 3D screen and get the full effect. This is a bit concerning, that more fast-paced games might have difficulty working out on the 3DS, but it may just be the fact that my first game (Mario Kart) was just that, my first game. Later on I had less trouble, with things like Kid Icarus.
Xevious
At first I was a bit confused as to why they would be showing off such an old game (Xevious dates back to 1982, when it was an arcade machine), but then I played it and remembered: Xevious requires the player to not only battle against enemies in the sky, but against forces on the ground as well. Here, the 3D effect works well, and distinguishing enemies in the sky from the ones on the ground is absolutely trivial. This was the first demo I saw that really showed off the gameplay benefits of a 3D display, though I can imagine that platformers could put it to good use as well. This made me more excited to see what else the system offered.
Head-blasting demo
In addition to the standard game demos available, there were some tech demos on hand; one of them I tried took a picture of my face, then turned it into an enemy for me to shoot. The system made me twist and turn around to fire tennis balls at multiple floating copies of my own head, which was a little difficult with the system tethered to the counter. While the demo was entertaining, I don’t really understand its purpose; not only was my picture not taken with a 3D camera, but constantly moving about meant that I was almost never able to properly see the 3D effect. It was fun, but as a showcase for the 3DS’s capabilities it seems to have failed.
Disney’s Tangled
There was also a small assortment of 3D movies available to check out, and I took a look at the trailer for the upcoming Disney movie Tangled. The 3D effect wasn’t very deep, compared to the games I saw on display, but it was definitely noticeable and looked good. Portable 3D movies is a market that’s not been tapped yet, and I think that Nintendo could make it work quite well, promoting the system’s portability and lack of glasses. I can see myself watching a 3D film on a long plane or bus ride, as long as there’s not much turbulence to screw up the 3D effect.
Kid Icarus Uprising
I was hoping that this would be playable, but like most of the games it was only a video demo. Out of all the displays I saw, though, this was probably my favorite one. The game looks fantastic in motion, with and without the 3D effect; some have mentioned the jagged edges in screenshots, but they’re much harder to see when the game is in motion, and especially when it’s in 3D. There was one point where lasers shot out toward the screen that made me go cross-eyed for a second, but this was probably the best instance of 3D in a fast-paced 3DS title that I saw; I was hoping to get my hands on Metal Gear Solid 3, but I was kicked out before I got the chance. Either way, I need to see more of this game. It’s very fast-paced, and the shooting looks quite suited to the touch-screen controls, and I think the system could really use a fast-paced launch title to show off its capabilities powerfully.
3DS
With this system, my only real concern is that there were times were I had difficulty getting the 3D effect to work for me; you need to find that “sweet spot”, but sometimes this is more difficult when I’m not sure it needs to be. If Nintendo (or perhaps the game developers, if they’re the issue) can get it working a larger percentage of the time, then I’d be even more on board than I am now. As it stands, I still am very much on board; 3D aside, the system has excellent graphics, backwards compatibility with the DS, and a ridiculously good lineup of games. The Nintendo DS has already captured a huge portion of the mass market, but I think the 3DS has the potential to do even better, if it’s marketed properly. It’s got a new and exciting technology for the uninitiated, and all the best games for the more serious gamers; it looks like it really will appeal to everyone. I can’t wait for another chance to try it out.
Chad Fleming’s Thoughts
Metal Gear Solid 3D: Snake Eater The Naked Sample
I’ve made no secret of my love for the Metal Gear series, and I count Metal Gear Solid 3 to be my favorite game ever. Needless to say, if you tell me you’re going to take my favorite game ever and make it better looking then you pretty much have my attention. Much like Resident Evil, this demo was a video, albeit an interactive one. The camera swept low across the ground and you had limited control in that you could look back and forth over a range of about 120 degree. This was my first exposure to the 3D effect of the 3DS, as it was the game I had sought out instantly. I was floored, to be totally honest. As someone who did not expect it to work at all, I couldn’t believe just how incredible it was. Blades of grass flipped by as you slunk through the underbrush and snakes jumped right out of the screen to attack you.
Eventually the video got to the point where it was showing the character models,and they look the best they ever have. Even without the 3D this game still look gorgeous. The 3D effect was shown off once again when The Pain rolled up on you with his army of bees, all assaulting the camera at once. While it’s tough to comment about anything else because of the shortness of the video, and while I’m skeptical about playing a Metal Gear Solid game without the second analog stick, this is definitely my most anticipated title on the 3DS.
Resident Evil
Well, let’s start with what is in my opinion the worst example of 3D on the system, at least out of what I had seen on the floor. Like most of the 3DS “demos” I saw, this was just a short trailer to show off the 3D effect. The game looks awesome, with a level of fidelity I never thought I’d see from a Nintendo handheld device. The problem for me, however, was with the 3D portion of it.
There was not one point during the entire video where I was able to perfectly experience the 3D; I could almost perpetually see the two different images that were suppose to become one. Even adjusting the 3D slider did little to improve it. I can only assume the problem was caused because it was a pretty action packed trailer, with a ton of quick movement going on. For the record, this very well could have been my own fault for not finding the proper viewing angle, but the fact that I didn’t have a problem with any other demo leads me to believe it was the fault of the video.
Kid Icarus Uprising
Not really a ton to be said here. This trailer was the exact same as the one showed during Nintendo’s press conference. This also looked very nice in 3D, leading me to believe that Resident Evil was the outlier when it comes to forecasting the quality of 3D the 3DS will show us.
The general art style of the game is pretty consistent with what we saw from Pit’s character model in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, which is perfectly fine with me. The first thing that popped up in my head when I saw the gameplay footage was Sin and Punishment. Even on land the movement and targeting looks very reminiscent of that game. Either way, it did its job as a trailer and got me pretty excited for the game’s release, and for the release of the 3DS itself.
3DS
There’s one key thing about the 3DS that you can’t know without seeing it in person: it works. I have been very outspoken regarding my feelings about 3D, but this system addresses a lot of my problems with the technology. There are no glasses and you don’t need to buy an expensive TV (which actually cost no more to produce than current regular plasma TVs). The 3D effect is both real and substantial, and while I don’t feel like it necessarily adds anything to the gameplay it’s still kinda fun to mess around with.
Of course, it’s not all sunshine and lollipops. Overall I’m satisfied with the way the device performed under ideal conditions. Many people I know play their DS while in transit, and trying to keep the device in its so called “sweet spot” could become a chore when being jostled around on the bus or on an airplane. Additionally, any time I was distracted and my eyes flicked ever so slightly away from the screen, it would always take a few seconds to get my focus back. It’s not a huge problem, but I think it’s definitely worth mentioning. Overall I was still impressed with what I saw.
