My Mother Bought a 3DS - Welcome to the Game System Revolution

A tinier me on the 3DS

My mother bought a 3DS this past weekend. She headed down to Shoppers Drug Mart handed over her chalked filled points card and got a virtually free gaming system. Yes, my fifty year old mother owns a 3DS before her technological and game system savvy twenty-three year old daughter.

Luckily for me, I have a kind mother who has let me fool around with her shiny aqua 3DS. (Okay, I ran away with it and she is at the moment hunting me down. So if I don't return any calls or if you don't see me in the next week -- I'm six feet under.)

Old vs New

The 3DS is approximately the same size of a DS Lite, but it weights a bit more than its game device ancestor. When I first opened the 3DS, I was surprised at how capable the 3D graphics were. It is like having a small 3D movie theater in the palm of your hand. I like not having to wear the horrible 3D glasses over my own prescription pair (which has to be one of the most uncomfortable things ever). The downside is that you really have to stare straight-on to get the full 3D effect (or it looks all awkward with lines all funny and shapes blurred).

The system comes with some AR Cards that let you play a few simple 3D games like fishing and archery. They're not much, but they do show off the power of the game system. But after a few playthroughs, they become monotonous and don't add much to the gaming repertoire.

These are the cards that hold a window into your 3DS' soul

Unfortunately, I don't own any 3DS games yet. Yeah, so not much is going on in that department. I did try a few DS games on the handheld however, and they play fine. I really like being able to use the slide pad as it makes playing games feel more natural after playing on the bigger consoles (I played Okamiden and it felt right at home having played its bigger mama game before). The downside to playing DS games on the 3DS is that games are stretched and get a washed-out effect, colours muted and drab looking. There is a cheat to get a better resolution if you hold down the Select and Start button when you press the game icon however. It makes the game screen really tiny though, four big black bars surrounding game image on the top and bottom screen.

Another downside is that the Nintendo eStore will not be available until May. That means no downloads (DS or 3DS wise). No internet connection as it is either. For a $250 machine, you think they would at least have the internet working for their launch. And let 3DS users access the DSiWare shop.

Me and my mother's 3DS

As of now, the 3DS is only a beautiful piece of equipment that sits in its personal cradle imploring me to buy a game that will show off its full potential. I stand my my previous post that Nintendo hasn't released any game that I need to play right now (I have a real cat and Super Street Fighting IV is on every system). I'll be waiting not so patiently for the summer and fall releases instead. Bur for now I'll stick to playing PC games like Wandering Willows and Gemini Rue (a Pokemon/Animal Crossing/FarmVille/Rune Factory hybrid strategy game and a noir-thriller adventure game), until Nintendo really wants to wow me.