Better late than never, I guess.

So, I grabbed a 3DS and Legend of Zelda, yesterday afternoon. $300!! I couldn't wait to get home so I fired it up at my mom's house. First thing I noticed was how it felt a bit heftier and solid than the previous DS's. I grabbed the Cosmo Black version. I soon realized that this may have been a mistake because this thing smudges more than a PSP! I almost hate to touch it. After marveling at the workmanship, I turned it on.

I'd tried Pilotwings and Street Fighter at different stores and I have to admit, the 3D in those games didn't impress me. I wasn't expecting much from the 3D. When I was calibrating the system, it said something like "Activating 3D in 3....2......1" and when it did, I was surprised how good it looked. I imediately restarted the 3D test for my mom, daughter, and little sister to try. They all liked what they saw.

Then, we tried out Face Raiders and the "?" AR Game. I'd heard about these things but seeing them in person really sold me on the 3D. The accelerometer aiming in Face Raiders worked great. It gave me an idea of what the Wii U will be like when I finally get my hands on that controller. The AR game worked very well, too. I'm 6 feet tall so it was a bit of a chore having to hunch over just to remain 14 inches away from my target but it was still very cool. My family thought I was crazy as I did battle with a dragon on the dining room table that nobody could see but me. Not bad for a tech demo.

After that, I finally went home and updated the console. I downloaded the free Excite Bike game and played it for about 10 minutes. I'll probably never touch it again but it was a nice freebie. Makes me wonder how long it will be before I buy all of the 8-bit Mario games that I've already bought for the Wii (25th anniversary), VC, GBA (Mario 2-4), GBC, Snes, Nes, etc. all over again (I will buy them. I know I will.). I also downloaded some E3 videos. Zelda 3D, Starfox 3D, Metal Gear Solid 3, and Resident Evil were sites to behold. I can't wait to buy the last three. Strange how only one of those games is going to be a new experience.....and even then, it's part of a franchise that I've already played to death. It's all good, though.

This morning, I finally played a real 3DS game on the 3DS. Legend of Zelda OoT 3D. It looked crisp and clean and the 3D was handled very well. For whatever reason, I was expecting N64 graphics and textures. That wasn't the case. The graphical improvements are noticeable. Textures have been redone and the new details put a smile on my face. It really does feel like a brand new game--I'm glad I didn't play the VC version for more than 10 minutes (the controls were horrific, there!). My only gripe is the analog nub. It seems to have a little too much resistance. I'm sure it will loosen up after a few days, though. Maybe I just got a little too used to the PSP's nub.

So far, graphically, it doesn't blow the PSP away but I've seen what it will be able to do in the future thanks to the videos. I have high hopes for it.

Better late than never, I guess.

So, I grabbed a 3DS and Legend of Zelda, yesterday afternoon. $300!! I couldn't wait to get home so I fired it up at my mom's house. First thing I noticed was how it felt a bit heftier and solid than the previous DS's. I grabbed the Cosmo Black version. I soon realized that this may have been a mistake because this thing smudges more than a PSP! I almost hate to touch it. After marveling at the workmanship, I turned it on.

I'd tried Pilotwings and Street Fighter at different stores and I have to admit, the 3D in those games didn't impress me. I wasn't expecting much from the 3D. When I was calibrating the system, it said something like "Activating 3D in 3....2......1" and when it did, I was surprised how good it looked. I imediately restarted the 3D test for my mom, daughter, and little sister to try. They all liked what they saw.

Then, we tried out Face Raiders and the "?" AR Game. I'd heard about these things but seeing them in person really sold me on the 3D. The accelerometer aiming in Face Raiders worked great. It gave me an idea of what the Wii U will be like when I finally get my hands on that controller. The AR game worked very well, too. I'm 6 feet tall so it was a bit of a chore having to hunch over just to remain 14 inches away from my target but it was still very cool. My family thought I was crazy as I did battle with a dragon on the dining room table that nobody could see but me. Not bad for a tech demo.

After that, I finally went home and updated the console. I downloaded the free Excite Bike game and played it for about 10 minutes. I'll probably never touch it again but it was a nice freebie. Makes me wonder how long it will be before I buy all of the 8-bit Mario games that I've already bought for the Wii (25th anniversary), VC, GBA (Mario 2-4), GBC, Snes, Nes, etc. all over again (I will buy them. I know I will.). I also downloaded some E3 videos. Zelda 3D, Starfox 3D, Metal Gear Solid 3, and Resident Evil were sites to behold. I can't wait to buy the last three. Strange how only one of those games is going to be a new experience.....and even then, it's part of a franchise that I've already played to death. It's all good, though.

This morning, I finally played a real 3DS game on the 3DS. Legend of Zelda OoT 3D. It looked crisp and clean and the 3D was handled very well. For whatever reason, I was expecting N64 graphics and textures. That wasn't the case. The graphical improvements are noticeable. Textures have been redone and the new details put a smile on my face. It really does feel like a brand new game--I'm glad I didn't play the VC version for more than 10 minutes (the controls were horrific, there!). My only gripe is the analog nub. It seems to have a little too much resistance. I'm sure it will loosen up after a few days, though. Maybe I just got a little too used to the PSP's nub.

So far, graphically, it doesn't blow the PSP away but I've seen what it will be able to do in the future thanks to the videos. I have high hopes for it.

And for my gripes:
- The browser doesn't feature video support. I won't be using it to watch youtube or anything for the foreseeable future. I'll be sticking with my Droid for that.....as a matter of fact, I'll be sticking with my Droid for all of my web browsing, video watching, music listening, and what have you.

-I don't think I can put movies on it. Haven't tried yet but I don't see anything suggesting I can. For that reason, I'll still be taking my PSP to work with me. I've got a memory stick with about 12 movies on it. I was kinda hoping I could ditch the PSP but I'll still be using it for movies and comics and the occasional PSP game.

-Only one analog. Zelda worked very well and I know I'll probably be using the touch screen for camera controls but two analogs is a bit of an industry standard. Since the only portable with two sticks is going to be the PSV, I can overlook that one. I will be buying a PSV, though. That's just the kind of guy I am.

-Short battery life. Three hours is a long time, I guess. The battery has never run out on me but looking at the speed at which that indicator fades isn't too encouraging.

-Wi-Fi hog! Maye it's just my router but I couldn't update the console until I turned off the PS3 (was watching netflix) and the laptop! When they were on, I kept getting error/restart messages. Then, when I later tried to download videos and stuff, it happened again. To use the 3DS's Wi-Fi, I guess I'm going to have to turn everything else off. Sucks since somebody is always using the laptop, 360, Wii, phone's Wi-Fi (that's me!), or PS3 at any given moment.

-No "multi-touch" on the touchscreen. In this day and age, touch screens offer as many as five touch points at once. The 3DS only has one. It's not a deal breaker but I was a little shocked when I tried the browser and I couldn't "pinch zoom". For $250, I expected such a common feature.

And that's about it. I'm satisfied with the purchase and the potential right now. There were just a few little things that didn't sit well with me. But as a gaming device, I plan to spend a lot of time fawning over the 3DS. The good far outweighs the bad. And there's a ton of features that I haven't even tried, yet!!

Most of my opinions have been covered here already, so I thought I would just comment on the 3D ...

While you do (occassionally) get a pop-out effect that reminds you it is a 3D screen, for the most part I perceive the 3D as just being the crispest, clearest, brightest and most colorful screen I have ever used.