Topic: I played the 3DS today - who wants to touch me?

[BranDonk Kong]

Youtube video - 3DS, bitch! I went to Best Buy to kill some time today, and stumbled across that little gem. I must say the 3D is absolutely amazing, and the graphics are a monumental leap over the PSP and DS, and clearly better than the Wii as well (at least on the small screen). The 3D will get out of focus if you back up too far or move too far away from the system, but I don't think the "sweet spot" is nearly as confining as some websites claim that it is. Pilot Wings Resort (at least the parts I played) is boring as all Hell, but it does showcase the depth of the system quite well. It really does look like your character is there floating in front of your face, and the background extends beyond the screen. I had the 3D slider turned up all of the way, though I did experiment with different settings. It's actually pretty cool when you turn it all the way off, it looks like you're bending two screens together or something, and then they pop out at your face as one (hard to describe). Different settings will probably be appropriate for different games, but max 3D works perfect for PWR.

[Razorkid]

Did your first time view of glassless 3D make you go "Wow"? I had a big, stupid grin on my face when I first tried it  .  6 DAYS!!?!!

[Sarail]

This makes me sad.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Ewww, everything and everyone in here is all sticky

[Razorkid]

You know what? it ain't so bad 

[BranDonk Kong]

Well I saw glasses-less 3D months ago with that 3D digital camera, but it was still impressive that it works so well. There are phones coming out that put the 3DS's graphics and cameras to shame very soon, but I don't see anything detaining Nintendo's kingdom over the handheld market...ever.

[ShyGuy]

I JUST PLAYED THE 3DS TOO

Surprisingly, I like it less than I thought I would.

- The demo was PilotWings, but I wasn't very good at flying.
- The slide pad felt much better than the PSP nub, but still not as good as a analog stick.
- The 3D hurt my eyes, which really surprised me. Turning it halfway down helped.
- The sweet spot for 3D is pretty close. The kiosk recommended 10-14 inches away. I usually held my DS about 24 inches away.
- The screen didn't feel remarkably bigger than the DS.
- Dpad is in an awkward spot, I almost guarantee it will be adjusted in someway for the 3DS lite.
- Buttons feel good
- Graphics look Wii quality on a handheld.

[BranDonk Kong]

Well I think Pilot Wings, while easily accessible, is a horrible demo to really catch people's attention. If they had something more impressive in there, like Resident Evil, then I think people would have better first impressions. I will admit I was planning on getting one on launch day, but looking at the lineup, and realizing that it's just a DSi with an analog stick and 3D...I can wait a while.

[Traveller]

When I played the 3DS I wasn't super wowed really. It is definitely cool having it glasses less, but having seen quite a bit of 3D content at the movies and on tv's, it just doesnt wow me as much now. I was much more impressed with the AR stuff than any particular game. Pilotwings looks good, and ill get it when it comes out here. I also think playing Resident Evil at night will be great, after having watched the video of it.

[Mannypon]

I got to run in last week at my local Best Buy and give it a run.  I can say that I left very pleased given the conditions.  I don't know how it is at other Best Buys, but the one in my area sucked.  Let me explain.

First, they set up the damn 3ds demo unit all the way at the left end of the store practically near the laundry units.  The demo unit isn't even facing the main walkway of customers so from a far, you wouldn't be able to tell it apart from a regular ds demo station as none of the signs are facing you.  Not until you actually walk past the unit and look at it, do you notice its a 3ds station.  Mind you, this store has at least 3 ps3 stations, 1 large for the Move setup.  They also have at least 3 xbox stations, 1 large for the kinect.  They had 1 Wii station and no more 3d station that I could find.  This reminded me of how Gamestop used to throw their Nintendo section all the way in the back store with the smallest retail space available.

Anyways, onto the unit itselft.  The damn 3ds was bolted down to the station.  I couldn't even lift it up.  I'm 6ft tall so for me to find the sweet spot, I had to bend over and look into the 3ds as I played.  So imagine me hunched over, trying to fly my plane in PWs and trying to adjust the slider to find me range.  It was a pain.

Regardless though, I think I was almost dumbfounded when I first played it.  This was my first time with glasses free 3d and it was almost like my mind couldn't get believe what it was seeing lol.  I think I was there with a confused look on my face.  I didn't have a hard time seeing the 3d though.  As soon as I looked at it, it just happened.  A little fine tunning with the slider and I was away on Wuhu island. 

All in all, I had a good time with my short handling of the 3ds.    I still don't think I'll get a proper feel for it until I get it home and I'm playing around with it in a relaxed environment. 

[Oblivion]

The thing is, I've never even seen glasses 3D before. This will be my first experience with 3D, so no matter what it looks like, I'll be blown away.

[ShyGuy]

Not even those old red and blue cardboard 3D glasses?

[Crimm]

So yeah, the unit isn't bolted down. I went by Best Buy today for my fourth run-in with the 3DS and found I couldn't lift the unit. Having played 3DS bolted to an attractive woman, a counter, and (nothing at all) I was still able to left the unit in all cases. It didn't make sense, so I pulled on it harder.

The damn thing is held in place by a powerful magnet. Apply just enough pressure that you're worried you might break the demo kiosk and it comes up.

[BranDonk Kong]

Hmmm, I thought it was bolted down too, but I didn't apply too much force. I might go give it another try today. I wish you could use the cameras though, but I guess you can just go use a real 3D camera instead.

[Oblivion]

Not even those old red and blue cardboard 3D glasses?

Not even those. The 3DS will blow my mind.

[apdude]

I popped into Best Buy on my way home from work to see if they had one and they did.  It didn't even take James Jones superhuman strength to pick it up either (they used velcro at mine).  My impressions are similar to ShyGuy's.  It was a little disorenting to look at the bottom screen to look at the map then look back up to fly around in 3d.  I also found myself tilting the 3ds around trying to make a turn which kind of screwed up the effect, but that may also testify to the fact that it was an immersive experience.  This would probably be fixed once you play it sitting down.  All in all it's pretty neat and I will probably pick one up eventually.

[leroypantweather]

Played the system at best buy today for a good chunk of time. For my eyes the 3d did not really work,  trying to find the sweet spot was frustrating as can be.  The 3d was never consistent and constantly faded in and out.  this was especially disorienting/dizzying because when it would fade out it looked incredibly blurry.I suspect this is a personal problem as my roomate also tried the system and had no difficulties seeing the effects. Although,  the window of movement that will mess up the effect is incredibly small that much we could both agree on.  so i was like ok 3d just is not for me so i tried it with out the 3d and i found the graphical upgrade to be marginal at best.   I dont want to be to hard on the visuals because it is a launch game, but saying it has wii level graphics does a great disservice to the wii(unless we are talking ninjabread man level graphics then yea).    The one redeeming quality that i could find   was the slide pad.  That thing is great and PWR controlled great with it..   All in all this makes me incredibly sad as i was intending on the 3ds being the first system i ever buy on launch, but am left with a feeling like some stranger just kicked my dog.

[KnowsNothing]

I finally played one at Best Buy today (my superhuman strength let me pick it up!)

It's...interesting.  I guess I'll go with a pros and cons approach here, ignoring things I couldnt experience like battery life:

Pros:
-the 3D worked for me immediately
-the 3D slider is a stoke of genius...pilotwings with 3D set to max could probably kill a child, but around 30-40% was magic.
-the circle pad felt fantastic
-the start/home/select buttons felt fine to me (not really a pro, but certainly not a con)
-graphics were pretty tight for a launch title, I think people are forgetting how bad some DS games looked

Cons:
-low resolution screen.  This normally isn't something that would bother me but after playing with my gen 4 iPod touch for so long the 3DS looked kinda jaggy.  Like they forgot the AA.
-the 3D looked a little funky, but I remember thinking the same thing about Avatar for about 20 minutes before my brain got used to it and learned to love it.  not a really con I guess.  whatever.
-the sweet spot is a con only because game that require the gyroscope pretty much cant have 3D enabled...the sweet spot is very small, but at the same time pretty natural and easy to maintain.

Overall...I'll keep my preorder, but mostly because it's the next Ninty handheld and I want the software.

[Nemo]

I tried out PilotWings at Best Buy today. I thought... "This would be great... if I were playing Rogue Squadron right now instead of this crap."

[kraken613]

I planned Pilot Wings for about 20 minutes no one was in Best Buy they were about to close. It is very cool, alot nicer looking system in person than it is in the pictures. If the battery life was better I would consider getting one before the inevitable "3DS Lite". The 3D does work and is very cool to see the plane pop out and I just picked it up and put it at a natural distance didn't have to look for the "sweet spot". I noticed the 3D less as I played but not that I stopped seeing it I just got used to it being that way really cool that you are able to turn it off as you play to see how much it changed the experience. I don't think this thing is usable at full 3D it hurt my eyes but around half way was pretty good. The system feels very solid and I loved the feeling of the circle pad. After playing for 20 minutes I really could feel some eye strain which worries me but maybe it is just a getting used to it thing.

Overall it is nice system but I have no problem waiting a year or so for a price drop and revision. I do hope they switch the demo sometime so I can see another game on it.