3DS Extended Hands-On

3D without glasses is as awesome as it sounds

Nintendo's 3DS system, which recently launched in Japan and hits the rest of the world later this month, is far more exciting than even a new console launch would normally be. Why? Chances are good you already know the answer to that question, as Nintendo has made no secret of the fact that the console features real 3D without the need for any special eye wear. While it's not the first device to do this (some cell phone models in Japan achieved the feat first), it's the first mainstream device and the first to be readily available outside of the motherland.

Nintendo were in town recently to show off their shiny new toy and they popped by the office to give us some one-one-one time, bringing no less than eight of the devices in for us to have a play with.

The devices themselves are near-final but still what's known as development hardware, which means that there may be some minor changes between what we played with and what you'll be unboxing on the 31st of March when the 3DS releases here. Nintendo are still pretty sensitive about the way the device is treated from a media point of view, which translates to a lack of photos taken for this article. Don't worry, though, from what we saw of it this is going to be the most polished and "high quality" feel in the DS lineup yet.

So what's it like, then? We have already had some hands-on time with the device, with Sam having a play with the thing back when it was announced at E3 last year. While I wasn't there and so can't compare directly, it certainly sounds like things are a lot more advanced than Sam's impressions made it sound; controls are tight, graphics are solid and the games we played, though demos to a one, all felt close to commercial quality.

So I guess the first question you're going to want answered is going to be an exact match for what we wanted to know straight away: is this 3D thing any good or is it just a gimmick? The answer was not only obvious, it was also immediate - the 3D on the 3DS is the real deal. Approximately 0.3 seconds into my first experience with the thing, which, fittingly, was playing the Japanese version of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, I knew that the game was about to change.

Seeing things moving around in actual Z-depth for the first time, outside of a brief experience with an iZ3D monitor a few years back, brings a rush of potential and an even bigger burst of excitement about the future of gaming. It's not just a cool, textural layer added to improve your experience (although it is that, too), it's the unlocking of your brain's inherent ability (or dead reckoning) to know where things are. No longer do you need to interpret the graphics to figure out where that enemy / ball / bullet / wall is, you can tell without having to think about it.

Without waxing too lyrical about it, we were (to a man) impressed.

So what did we play, then? Zelda, obviously, with the Japanese version on hand to show off how games that weren't even designed for the technology could benefit from it. And benefit from it Zelda does, with that oh-so-familiar Kokiri Forest (the game's opening area) taking on an all new lustre thanks entirely to the 3D. Dust floats around in 3D space, with flowers, buildings and even swordplay bursting into life. It feels more solid, more real somehow - a feeling that's helped by numerous other gameplay tweaks, such as the "move your 3DS to move the camera" Augmented Reality aiming that's an option when looking around or using the slingshot.

Super Street Fighter IV - 3D Edition was another popular demo and it again showed off the extra life a 3D coat of paint can add to things. It feels much like the other versions of the game, but deeper. Larger characters, like E. Honda, show the depth that the new tech brings and feel so much more solid than anything before them. The new 3D over-the-shoulder camera is gimmicky but if you want to experience near first-person Street Fighter and feel the fear as a sonic boom rockets towards you in 3D space, it's definitely worth a play.

One of the surprisingly entertaining things we got to play with was one of the six Augmented Reality cards which come packed-in with the system. Augmented Reality, in this case, means playing games on the 3DS that use the system's external cameras to view and interact with objects in the real world. In this example, we placed a card on our desk and then pointed the 3DS at it; the system recognized the card and, in the view of our desk as seen on the 3DS, turned it into a target for us to shoot at.

As we progressed with the game, the card appeared to fall through the desk, creating a hole that a massive dragon eventually grew out of. It's hard to explain but it is truly awesome to behold - you're looking at your desk, as it really is, only with a dragon bursting from it. You have to move around (literally, in person) to attack it from it's vulnerable points. It's super cool and immediately raises the prospect of games like Pokémon taking advantage of the tech or even interactive advertising at bus stops, etc.

Another example Nintendo told us about but weren't able to demonstrate was that Nintendogs + Cats might, for example, have a card that allows you to position your dog or cat on your shoulder and then, when someone takes a photo of you with the 3DS, you'll have a 3D picture of yourself with your 3D dog sitting on you. Neat!

We also got to play Splinter Cell 3D, Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars, Nintendogs + Cats and have a play around with the built-in software. Each title showed promise and generates large smiles on the faces of the team - even Splinter Cell 3D. Arguably the earliest version of the games we got to play (it was quite dark / clunky in parts), it still showed considerable promise and made us excited for the potential of shooters on the system.

Nintendogs + Cats adds furry feline critters to the series for the first time

Nintendogs + Cats was pretty much what you'd expect with (we're starting to sound like a stuck record here) the 3D tech breathing even more life into the already adorable puppies. Cats are, well, cat-like, spending much of their time licking their hind-quarters at you.

Star Wars was one of the games we spent the least amount of time with but it left us wanting more - it feels supremely polished and, once again, brings that spectacularly charming Lego + Star Wars vibe along for the ride. 3D effects were perhaps the most subdued here but they still added valuable depth and weight to proceedings.

Graphically, the technology (which essentially splits the screen into a series of one-pixel bands) does appear to generate some pixelation, which is particularly noticeable on the more intensive games like Splinter Cell 3D. How much of this is due to the unfinished hardware and software, however, is unclear. What was clear was the sound - it packs an impressive audio punch for a device so slight.

We didn't experience any headaches, nausea or blurred vision after playing for an extended period (Nintendo recommend a break of at least 10 minutes after 30 minutes play), although my wife (who has considerably weaker vision in one eye than in the other) had difficulty using it for more than a few minutes at a time.

The Aqua system, one of two available at launch in New Zealand - the other is Black

The hardware itself felt like a very polished piece of kit, a far cry from the "prototype" feel of the original DS when it released in 2004. It's very much the next step in feel from the DSi / DSi XL, feeling very sleek and looking every bit the top-end handheld that it is - thanked in no small part to the stylish three-tone colour scheme. Aqua in particular had a very cool look to it, with the three tones of the colour highlighted by the pearlescent top lending an almost "executive" flair to the overall appearance.

Universally, our first impressions were overwhelmingly positive - this really is a device you need to have in your hands to appreciate. Technically that sounds like a marketing problem of epic proportions but Nintendo have beaten those odds before with the Wii so there's no reason to think they won't here.

We may have spent an hour and a half with the things but, if anything, that makes the next two weeks without one of our own seem all the harder to bear. Nintendo, you've done it again.