Nintendo 3DS Hands On

The 3DS, brand new on the floor at E3.

So, after waiting patiently in line to watch little 3D Links and Bowsers rotate idly – but, yes, awesomely – on the 3DS at the Nokia Centre, I couldn't wait for my booth tour with Nintendo. There was heaps of waiting around to play the latest releases, but nothing quite like the wait for the 3DS, even with our guide's special badge. You can cut as many lines as you want, but if everyone else is doing the same thing, all you get is a line of line cutters.

Hands on/eyes on opportunities for the 3DS were a nice mix of gameplay and movies. At this stage, there's no way anyone could look at it without admitting that cutscenes and animations are coming up trumps over actual in-game action, though. The difference in graphical quality is astounding at this point – gameplay for both Samurai Warrior and Starfox 3D is exceptionally boxy. Controls still need a heck of a lot of work, which they'll no doubt get. A fantastic addition to the system is the joystick (very flat and round and Fisher-Pricey, in true Nintendo style) and this makes flying your ship in Starfox or slamming into enemies in Samurai Warrior much more exact than with a D-pad, although the D-pad remains also. The real problem is sensitivity – it's far too responsive, often sending you hurtling in the wrong direction.

We got eyes on with Kid Icarus, which will be a hotly anticipated title – Pit hasn't had his own adventure since the NES, and has only been able to attain immortality through Smash Bros. The movie we saw had him running through a cityscape, smiting enemies, flying (of course) and eventually facing off against Medusa. The 3D effects were very impressive, with a real sense of depth, despite the small display at 3.5” (although it is in widescreen. It was here that the “sweet spot” comment I rubbished in the wrap up of this morning's press conference came back to haunt me – in fact there are some issues, even if you're the one holding it. You only have to move a fraction to lose the effect or blur the image. I got through almost the entire 64 second Resident Evil trailer watching in double vision until I found that sweet spot.

We saw preview footage for 3D Mario Kart and 3D Animal Crossing, both of which look gorgeous in 3D. Neither of these were hands on, so it's hard to tell if they're entirely new games, or 3D versions of the ones currently on the market. Either way, they look like magic upgrades.

The star of the 3D showing was the camera function – it shoots in 3D, and allows you to use the slider to drop the photo back into 2D. It works great. I must admit, I didn't expect much here, but this would be enough to get me to start taking photos with my system, which I almost never do with my DSi.

Soon, I am off to participate in a developer round table for Nintendo. This has become especially exciting in about the last hour, following on from an interview with Eiju Aonuma, the director behind the Zelda franchise since his epic win, Ocarina of Time. When pressed for details about Zelda for the 3DS he (and his translator) wore down and told me that showing up nice and promptly will deliver something that will “make [me] tear up a little.” A big announcement? Can't wait to find out!

By the time this is posted, I will either be in there or all finished, so expect more details soon!

ADDENDUM: by now you’ll have seen our news post, Tweet, or someone else’s news post or Tweet about Ocarina of Time for the 3DS. More details on this in upcoming coverage!

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