{"id":10493,"date":"2011-03-07T01:08:00","date_gmt":"2011-03-06T23:08:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T22:00:00","slug":"nintendo-3ds-hands-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/business\/10493-nintendo-3ds-hands-on","title":{"rendered":"Nintendo 3DS hands on"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Nintendo 3DS boasts an impressive piece of technology. Its main view screen creates auto-stereoscopic images to deliver the illusion of a 3D image with depth, easily fooling the human brain. It does this through the principle of the parallax barrier, which sits in front of the rear LCD image display. The parallax barrier partially occludes the view of each eye, delivering a different set of pixels to each.<\/p>\n

This is essentially the same trick that is used in lenticular printing, which one may commonly refer to as a hologram. The difference with the 3DS being that the images aren’t static and are rendered in real-time by a 3D graphics processor. Follow this link<\/a> for a visual explanation of the principle of autostereo display. This also gives insight into how multi-view auto-stereoscopic (being dubbed automultiscopic) displays work. The 3DS doesn’t include this leap in technology, and it probably would have been rather pointless to do so for a portable gaming device.<\/p>\n

The Nintendo 3DS can be viewed as the current pinnacle of decades of Nintendo tinkering with the concept. They started out with some shutter-goggles based technology in the late 80’s. This idea was followed by the ill-fated Virtual Boy. Even the Nintendo GameCube boasts an oft-forgotten 3D capability. Only one game was ever developed that could utilise the tech, launch title Luigi’s Mansion. The lack of commercially available 3D television displays meant that the 3D functionality was never used. A display similar to that of the 3DS almost made its way into the GameBoy Advance SP, but the experiment didn’t go well, and that idea was scrapped.<\/p>\n

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A Virtual Boy in use<\/em><\/p>\n

Enter the Nintendo 3DS. MyGaming recently had opportunity to get some time playing with the Nintendo 3DS device during the SA product launch event. Follow the link for an in-depth look at the features and pricing of the Nintendo 3DS<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On top of the auto-stereoscopic 800×240 (400×240 per eye) 3D display, it boasts functions such as the ‘circle pad’ analog input, accelerometer and gyroscope. The device has two 0.3MP cameras on its rear which can take stereoscopic pictures and are used for certain games and features. The graphics processor is based on a custom PICA200 processor developed by Japanese company Digital Media Professionals.<\/p>\n

When experiencing the device for the first time it can be a bit disconcerting to adjust to the 3D effect. One has to find the sweet-spot for their vision, as the spacing of human eyes varies slightly. Fortunately for most, this viewing distance is just about right for holding and playing the device comfortably. The 3DS should feel familiar in the hands of those who have previously owned a DS, with the design not having undergone a major overhaul and the analog control being the only real difference. The 3.5 inch main screen isn’t the largest in the range, beat out by the DSi XL. This is probably a consequence of cramming more gizmos into the 3DS.<\/p>\n

The games we managed to lay hands on included Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (a 3DS remake), Dead or Alive: Dimensions, Rabbids Travel in Time, Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition, Super Monkey Ball 3D, Steel Diver, and the augmented reality games. It’s pleasing to note that the entire back catalogue of Nintendo DS games is playable on the 3D.<\/p>\n

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There are some interesting ‘social’ features, which rather rely on the assumption that just about everyone within Wi-Fi radius is carrying a 3DS. A cool idea for busy city streets and packed public transport, but it remains to be seen how it will fit into South Africans’ lifestyles. There are even gimmicks designed to encourage users to carry their device around (as if dropping R2,800 isn’t enough incentive) such as a pedometer which counts steps and unlocks various in-game goodies.<\/p>\n

The 3DS has a slider which can adjust the depth of the 3D effect, from full to flat. The 3D visuals are subtle yet effective. The depth illusion created isn’t extremely pronounced, but it is undoubtedly done very effectively. However, it felt as though some games didn’t come off better for it, with the 3D effect becoming a distraction to the gameplay at hand. In some instances the small screen area felt restrictive to the games being played. Still, sliding the game into a ‘flat’ visual mode resolved this nuisance.<\/p>\n

The motion sensing aspects were usable, but also served to break immersion. Having to pivot about on the spot to rotate the camera view in Steel Diver was interesting for a short while, but would probably prove dizzying in the long run. Luckily there is a UI alternative. Tilting also manages to break the 3D illusion so one rather avoids it. Perhaps the chance to become familiar with the motion inputs would negate these complaints.<\/p>\n

All that said, certain titles really shine on the device, so it’s likely a game design and implementation problem for the others. The lesson here is probably to dodge the shovelware, see what reviewers have to say, and try before you buy a game.<\/p>\n

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Stand out titles include Street Fighter IV 3D and Resident Evil: Mercenaries. The visuals in these games were really quite good. Fighting Ryu and shooting zombies in a 3D space with some actual depth was a treat.<\/p>\n

One of our favourite experiences was the chance to toy with the augmented reality games that come bundled with the 3DS. There are six AR cards which are used to play the games. The card must be placed on a flat surface and the rear facing cameras focused on the card at a specific distance. Once everything is in order, a 3D game imposes itself over the reality of the real life card and surface. One can dot objects around the card to add to the real life scenery.<\/p>\n

The game we played involved shooting targets on a variety of scenes, including a pretty cool little dragon. To aim the reticule, one tilted and moved the 3DS into position, and it’s here that the worth of the motion inputs showed through. This gaming mode probably offered the most pronounced 3D effect of all, and it was a fun novelty. Hopefully the games don’t wear thin too quickly, and developers can come up with plenty of new ideas on how to make use of this feature.<\/p>\n

The 3DS offers a unique portable gaming experience, and it is probably going to be lauded as the first truly effective commercial 3D gaming device. It seems that Nintendo is continuing to pave the way with cool and innovative features. Hopefully the 3DS will usher in a new age of portable gaming which can only get better from here.<\/p>\n

Nintendo 3DS hands on<\/strong><\/a> << Comments and views<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MyGaming lays hands on the Nintendo 3DS to see what all the fuss is about<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":157,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/157"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10493\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}