Great Review!  It's too bad I won't be able to pick one up anytime soon :(.  I just don't have the money right now.

Why such the high score if you hate it then? 

Or maybe you're being overly-cynical, of course. Or maybe I am???

A lot of credit has to be given to the 3DS IMO, simply because of the technical wonder which it produces. I've seen a lot of fanboys saying that the 3D is a 'fad' and wouldn't work, when, actually, it does. 

I believe that, if it's intergrated into games properly (like IR pointing in The Conduit or Sword Figthing with Red Steel 2), then it could be great and make the game that much more immersive. I feel that, with Ridge Racer and Pilotwings at least, it manages to acheive this to some respect. Or, Nintendo could just ignore it and leave it to die (Balance Board). 

The concept of 3D may be a flawed one in its entirity, and I know for a fact that 3D won't always be on for games like Zelda, for example. But shooting down a concept entirely before it's even got started seems overly critical, to say the least...

At any rate, I hope you enjoy your 3DS, I love mine

Yeah, I read this article a few days ago and thought I'd try them all out, and yes, they do work! 

The spinning logos is probably my favourite, because the 3D effect can be seen oh so clearly there that it's a better demo for the hardware than any other game I can think of...

@Shadowfest- Thanks! It's a shame you can't pick it up, but if you're planning on getting one in the future, I'd say it'd be best to declare your intent now. I know in the UK that Game (or Gamestation? Somewhere like that) are allowing you to pre-order your 3DS from different shipments, so for June, August etc. That way, you can be assured to get one, because every single 3DS was sold out just 10 hours after launch over here

A further note:

If you plan on playing DS games regularly, you may want to keep your DS.

After playing on Pokemon Black for a little while earlier today, I can say that the colours seem washed out and the image isn't as sharp. Personally, I don't think it's worth it when I can just play it on my DSi anyway...

If you aren't planning on getting a DS, then it'll be just fine, and if you're only going to play the odd DS game from time to time, then you won't notice the difference. But if you're looking to clear your DS back catalogue (Fire Emblem, Okami...), then keeping your current DS would be in your best interest.

Is this with the 3D slider turned down or the 3D feature turned off altogether? I don't know how that would affect the screen, but I'm curious.

Whilst playing normal DS games, the little '3D' logo next to the slider turns off, and it effectively becomes useless, well, it DOES become useless...

What does happen is that two thick black lines appear on the top screen, cutting off the excess fat and making it the same size as the touch screen. If you've ever watched something in 4:3 on a 16:9 TV, it's the same sorta thing.

Not terrible, but hardly ideal either

Hm. Tomorrow I'll make a comparison with Black and White in the 3DS vs. the DS Lite. Gonna need to make that comparison for myself.

Well if it helps, Destructoid have already done something similar:

http://www.destructoid.com/upgrading-to-3ds-don-t-get-rid-of-your-ds-just-yet--196897.phtml

It's different for different people, but personally, if I had the option, I'd go for the DS in most cases. The only time this may change is with racing games, where the Analogue nub can be used to control far better than with the D-Pad on the normal DS

I don't see how that could be true - don't thhose g ames have digital, rather than analog, steering?

Yes, but they still go in 8 directions, just like the Analogue nub does.  Even using the bike on pokemon earlier allowed for much quicker movements and changes of direction, and after playing Mario Kart DS, I won every single race, despite not playing it for months, and not being very good at it.

The controls aren't as good as, say, Ridge Racer, but it's still better than the anarchic D-Pad controls at any rate. And it's much better than the PSP's analogue nub as well, for it allows your thumb to rest in the groove on it, as opposed to sliding off it all the time