Nintendo 3DS review

Nintendo have jumped on the Jubilee bandwagon and announced three new colours for their Nintendo 3DS devices. You can now choose between - you've guessed it ! - red, white or blue !

Sophie, however, didn't mind in the slightest that the Nintendo 3DS that arrived in the post for us to review was black. You may notice that this is about the only photo on the entire blog of Sophie where she isn't doing her "professional reviewer" pose, which speaks volumes - she couldn't drag her eyes off the screen !

She's not the only one who is happy though, as Juliette has inherited Sophie's "old" Nintendo DS Lite now that Sophie has taken possession of the new 3DS one !

We already knew everything that the standard Nintendo DS lite had to offer - a highly portable gaming device that is perfect for playing with in the car, which doesn't take up much room in the suitcase and which offers a huge amount of great fun and highly addictive games that players of all ages can enjoy. 

So what does the 3DS have to offer on top of that ? Well, we're still only just discovering all the features as we've only had it for a few days, but Sophie has already been using the camera and video recorder feature. From reading up online though, we hadn't thought about the fact that you can record a video or photo and then watch it in 3D mode, all without the need for any special glasses.

I have to admit, the 3D mode makes my eyes go funny so it seems blurry but Sophie said that the first time she had a quick play on a demo model in a toy shop too, and now she says that it's really good, so I think it's something you get used to very quickly ! From reading up on the Nintendo website, depending on the individual and their eyesight, different people see 3D images in different ways. I'm the only one in the family not to wear glasses which would probably explain why I don't see the images the same as the others (and why I see them as blurry). To overcome this problem, there is a '3D depth slider' so that you can set the 3D effects to the level best suited to your individual needs. Moving the slider downwards makes the 3D images appear less distinctive and having it set to the lowest point allows you to enjoy gameplay with the display images appearing entirely in 2D. I haven't played around with this yet so I'm sure that will sort out the blurriness issue. Nintendo also point out that children under 6 shouldn't play using the 3D mode because it could damage their eyesight and that you should take regular breaks (1/2 hourly with the 3DS as opposed to hourly for the normal DS Lite).

Some other features that we haven't investigated yet are :

- Internet connected: Get online when you’re out and about by using one of thousands of WiFi hotspots available free to Nintendo 3DS users across the UK/Europe

  

-Letter Box: Send notes and drawings to your friends via Letter Box, a delightful messaging feature on Nintendo 3DS 

- Augmented Reality games :The 3D capabilities of the cameras allow you to truly enter a new dimension with Augmented Reality, in the AR Games application. Place one of the provided AR Cards on a flat surface, stand back and watch your game explode into life!

- Create your Mii :Put yourself in the game! Anyone can easily make a personal Mii using the new Mii Maker application! Just take a 2D photo of yourself or someone else and Mii Maker will help you out.

- QR Codes : Look out for QR Codes around our website! Using your Nintendo 3DS system to scan a QR Code will take you instantly to another location, where you can download a demo or check out game information

- Videos Delivered Direct : Nintendo Video is a free application that allows you to receive video clips via SpotPass! Enjoy a wide variety of video content (in both 2D and 3D) delivered directly to your Nintendo 3DS every week, such as:Movie trailers  •  Info clips  •  Short animated films  •  Music videos

Sophie has mainly been playing on it so far, having great fun with the Super Mario 3DLand game that we also received so I'll be back with a separate review for that shortly.

I know that we've only scratched the surface of what the device can do so far - apparently there are also lots of free features such as the recent episodes of Shaun the Sheep available that the kids will love and I blogged recently (here) about how it is being used as a 3D interactive audioguide at the Louvre museum in Paris. For now though, Sophie is totally delighted to be discovering the games.


star rating : 4.5/5


RRP : about £140


 for more information : http://www.nintendo.co.uk/NOE/en_GB/nintendo_3ds_23802.html

Disclosure : We received a Nintendo 3DS device in order to write an honest review and to allow us to review further Nintendo 3DS games.

Other reviews you may be interested in : 

  

Nintendo 3DS launch Louvre Audioguide 

Wii game review : Mario Party 9 

Nintendo Teams up with HMV to Offer Kid Icarus: Uprising Multiplayer Action