Taking a Leap into the 3rd Dimension
Recently I was asked by Nintendo to attend an exclusive pre-release event held in Glasgow at the ?Lighthouse.? This event would showcase the console and its applications to some of the public. I was part of a small group of around twenty people. We were taken to various rooms over the course of the event, each having a theme and demonstrations throughout. The first room was used as hall of fame of all Nintendo?s handhelds; from their 1980?s ?Game & Watch? (which the DS took its design from) to the most recent DSXL.
The presentation then moved on to a visual demonstration of ?StreetPass?, which is a type of constant wireless connection between every 3DS. It was explained that file sharing and data could take place seamlessly between each 3DS. To help put this idea into context for the audience, I was asked to stand on an interactive panel with another guest. Several connections appeared between us on the floor showing that information was being passed to both of us constantly.
Live Action Gaming
After our welcome and induction we were taken through to watch a live performance of two actors posing as Ryu and Ken from the game Street Fighter.
It was highly entertaining, and set the tone for the rest of the event. Next they split us up into smaller groups and we were taken through the ?Resident Evil experience?; as a fan of the game this was my highlight of the day. The actors playing Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine took us down a corridor barking orders at us and ?real-life? zombies attacked our group. Afterwards we stood and watched a video of the upcoming games for the 3DS, with guest star Jonathan Ross appearing towards the end of the video promoting the console.
Finally, it was the moment we had been waiting for: playing the console itself.
The Future Today
In reality, the console lives up to all the hype and buzz surrounding it. The technology is impressive if slightly varied in display quality. That being said, the addition of the slider along the side of the console to adjust the depth of the 3D is a great feature; this does help improve the quality in some games, where the 3D doesn?t work as well. The console itself is much smaller than you may expect. It is just slightly wider than an iPhone and smaller than the DSXL, and it?s slightly lighter than most.
All in all I got a hands-on play of seven games, including The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, Super Street Fighter IV 3D, Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, and Kid Icarus: Uprising. The first three definitely shone above the rest with really stunning 3D effects and graphical power that rivals most home consoles. The games which didn?t fare as well in the third dimension did however look amazing in regular 2D, with graphics I didn?t think possible on a Nintendo handheld. These games may still be in the demo stages and could improve on release; Kid Icarus especially looks shoddy in 3D.
The stand-out games were definitely Street Fighter IV 3D and Zelda 3D. Both games played perfectly smooth and the added dimension was used to fantastic effect. Street Fighter had the option of two viewing modes, one of which allowed the integrated camera to show off the 3D effects in full. Here it put the camera behind one of the characters so that something was always popping out of the screen. Zelda took full advantage of the extra dimension by having enemies, arrows and plants coming out of the screen during play. In one particular scene where the hero, Link, had to swing he looked like he was popping out of the screen. The depth of field in both games was also increased greatly and allowed for a much more expansive environment for the characters to move around and interact in.
?We?re certainly not interested in gimmicks? ? Sony E3 2006
I personally welcome gimmicks on the condition that they work and are tremendous fun. Nintendo certainly delivered that with the 3DS. Hopefully Nintendo decide to push the non-3D elements of the console as well, as these were very good. In the final room, we were shown some more non-playable game demos such as Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Mario Cart 3D and Nintendogs and Cats. Other software applications that the handheld will have pre-installed on launch day were also shown to us. Overall, these demos were impressive and really showcased how the final product would look at launch day.
Another impressive, if gimmicky, application was a card-based augmented reality game. I was given a card to place on a well-lit flat surface, and using the dual cameras at the back of the 3DS, I played an ?augmented reality? game. Characters and creatures came out of the cards and I had to move all around it to be able to fight it at different angles. This was so much fun and it was a great idea; the possibilities could be limitless, from high-end developers implementing this into their games to independent developers making quick and fun games with such simple controls. I was told that seven cards for the augmented reality games would be included with the 3DS and others would be available to buy in packets.
One other camera-based application I was able to try was the Mii creation game. In this mode you take a photograph of yourself with the camera on the front of the 3DS and the console will scan your face and make a Mii based on it. Granted it?s still in its early days, but this was amazing and my Mii looked remarkably like myself, although some other guests and I were recognised as ?Baby Boys? by the camera. Once my Mii was created it opened another augmented reality game to play. This was an excellent idea and a brilliant use of the camera. 3D image capture was also possible with the camera; however the quality did vary here.
Finally the biggest surprise of the day; Nintendo?s main partners and collaborators are BSkyB. Soon after the 3DS launch Sky will be introducing a Sky3D channel on the handset, streaming live and pre-recorded content. This will be free to Sky customers. The video quality was astounding and I was genuinely surprised that Sky was going to be able to broadcast on a handheld console let alone in 3D.
Final Impressions
Overall Nintendo certainly have everything covered for this new console on launch: tonnes of new and old games all in 3D, a whole bunch of software applications available with more on the way and powerful partners to help support the console. The console itself is light, looks good and feels great in your hands. This is definitely something you have to experience to believe. While the technology is powerful, the 3D is still quite limited as you can only view it straight on; another problem is that it could lead to eye strain with continuous play. However, the 3D slider to adjust to 2D is another great idea, as this lessens the effects of the possible eye strain. My advice is to check it out. Even if you don?t buy it, it?s still fantastic to have a go on.
Recently I was asked by Nintendo to attend an exclusive pre-release event held in Glasgow at the ?Lighthouse.? This event would showcase the console and its applications to some of the public. I was part of a small group of around twenty people. We were taken to various rooms over the course of the event, each having a theme and demonstrations throughout. The first room was used as hall of fame of all Nintendo?s handhelds; from their 1980?s ?Game & Watch? (which the DS took its design from) to the most recent DSXL.
The presentation then moved on to a visual demonstration of ?StreetPass?, which is a type of constant wireless connection between every 3DS. It was explained that file sharing and data could take place seamlessly between each 3DS. To help put this idea into context for the audience, I was asked to stand on an interactive panel with another guest. Several connections appeared between us on the floor showing that information was being passed to both of us constantly.
Live Action Gaming
After our welcome and induction we were taken through to watch a live performance of two actors posing as Ryu and Ken from the game Street Fighter.
It was highly entertaining, and set the tone for the rest of the event. Next they split us up into smaller groups and we were taken through the ?Resident Evil experience?; as a fan of the game this was my highlight of the day. The actors playing Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine took us down a corridor barking orders at us and ?real-life? zombies attacked our group. Afterwards we stood and watched a video of the upcoming games for the 3DS, with guest star Jonathan Ross appearing towards the end of the video promoting the console.
Finally, it was the moment we had been waiting for: playing the console itself.
The Future Today
In reality, the console lives up to all the hype and buzz surrounding it. The technology is impressive if slightly varied in display quality. That being said, the addition of the slider along the side of the console to adjust the depth of the 3D is a great feature; this does help improve the quality in some games, where the 3D doesn?t work as well. The console itself is much smaller than you may expect. It is just slightly wider than an iPhone and smaller than the DSXL, and it?s slightly lighter than most.
All in all I got a hands-on play of seven games, including The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, Super Street Fighter IV 3D, Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, and Kid Icarus: Uprising. The first three definitely shone above the rest with really stunning 3D effects and graphical power that rivals most home consoles. The games which didn?t fare as well in the third dimension did however look amazing in regular 2D, with graphics I didn?t think possible on a Nintendo handheld. These games may still be in the demo stages and could improve on release; Kid Icarus especially looks shoddy in 3D.
The stand-out games were definitely Street Fighter IV 3D and Zelda 3D. Both games played perfectly smooth and the added dimension was used to fantastic effect. Street Fighter had the option of two viewing modes, one of which allowed the integrated camera to show off the 3D effects in full. Here it put the camera behind one of the characters so that something was always popping out of the screen. Zelda took full advantage of the extra dimension by having enemies, arrows and plants coming out of the screen during play. In one particular scene where the hero, Link, had to swing he looked like he was popping out of the screen. The depth of field in both games was also increased greatly and allowed for a much more expansive environment for the characters to move around and interact in.
?We?re certainly not interested in gimmicks? ? Sony E3 2006
I personally welcome gimmicks on the condition that they work and are tremendous fun. Nintendo certainly delivered that with the 3DS. Hopefully Nintendo decide to push the non-3D elements of the console as well, as these were very good. In the final room, we were shown some more non-playable game demos such as Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Mario Cart 3D and Nintendogs and Cats. Other software applications that the handheld will have pre-installed on launch day were also shown to us. Overall, these demos were impressive and really showcased how the final product would look at launch day.
Another impressive, if gimmicky, application was a card-based augmented reality game. I was given a card to place on a well-lit flat surface, and using the dual cameras at the back of the 3DS, I played an ?augmented reality? game. Characters and creatures came out of the cards and I had to move all around it to be able to fight it at different angles. This was so much fun and it was a great idea; the possibilities could be limitless, from high-end developers implementing this into their games to independent developers making quick and fun games with such simple controls. I was told that seven cards for the augmented reality games would be included with the 3DS and others would be available to buy in packets.
One other camera-based application I was able to try was the Mii creation game. In this mode you take a photograph of yourself with the camera on the front of the 3DS and the console will scan your face and make a Mii based on it. Granted it?s still in its early days, but this was amazing and my Mii looked remarkably like myself, although some other guests and I were recognised as ?Baby Boys? by the camera. Once my Mii was created it opened another augmented reality game to play. This was an excellent idea and a brilliant use of the camera. 3D image capture was also possible with the camera; however the quality did vary here.
Finally the biggest surprise of the day; Nintendo?s main partners and collaborators are BSkyB. Soon after the 3DS launch Sky will be introducing a Sky3D channel on the handset, streaming live and pre-recorded content. This will be free to Sky customers. The video quality was astounding and I was genuinely surprised that Sky was going to be able to broadcast on a handheld console let alone in 3D.
Final Impressions
Overall Nintendo certainly have everything covered for this new console on launch: tonnes of new and old games all in 3D, a whole bunch of software applications available with more on the way and powerful partners to help support the console. The console itself is light, looks good and feels great in your hands. This is definitely something you have to experience to believe. While the technology is powerful, the 3D is still quite limited as you can only view it straight on; another problem is that it could lead to eye strain with continuous play. However, the 3D slider to adjust to 2D is another great idea, as this lessens the effects of the possible eye strain. My advice is to check it out. Even if you don?t buy it, it?s still fantastic to have a go on.
Thanks for the review!