Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      Eskom targets 32GW green energy shift by 2040

      16 July 2025

      MTN Group appoints new chief enterprise officer

      16 July 2025

      Kruger Park’s white rhinos get a hi-tech lifeline

      16 July 2025

      South Africa loosens media ownership rules – but keeps one hand on the remote

      16 July 2025

      The real cost of a cashless economy

      16 July 2025
    • World

      Grok 4 arrives with bold claims and fresh controversy

      10 July 2025

      Samsung’s bet on folding phones faces major test

      10 July 2025

      Bitcoin pushes higher into record territory

      10 July 2025

      OpenAI to launch web browser in direct challenge to Google Chrome

      10 July 2025

      Cupertino vs Brussels: Apple challenges Big Tech crackdown

      7 July 2025
    • In-depth

      The 1940s visionary who imagined the Information Age

      14 July 2025

      MultiChoice is working on a wholesale overhaul of DStv

      10 July 2025

      Siemens is battling Big Tech for AI supremacy in factories

      24 June 2025

      The algorithm will sing now: why musicians should be worried about AI

      20 June 2025

      Meta bets $72-billion on AI – and investors love it

      17 June 2025
    • TCS

      TCS+ | Samsung unveils significant new safety feature for Galaxy A-series phones

      16 July 2025

      TCS+ | MVNX on the opportunities in South Africa’s booming MVNO market

      11 July 2025

      TCS | Connecting Saffas – Renier Lombard on The Lekker Network

      7 July 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E4: Takealot’s big Post Office jobs plan

      4 July 2025

      TCS | Tech, townships and tenacity: Spar’s plan to win with Spar2U

      3 July 2025
    • Opinion

      A smarter approach to digital transformation in ICT distribution

      15 July 2025

      In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

      30 June 2025

      E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

      30 June 2025

      South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

      17 June 2025

      AI and the future of ICT distribution

      16 June 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CambriLearn
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SevenC
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » Top » Nintendo’s 3DS is a box full of tricks

    Nintendo’s 3DS is a box full of tricks

    By Editor20 May 2011
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp
    Sweetness overload with Nintendogs + Cats

    Nintendo’s handheld gaming systems face growing competition from smartphones and tablets that offer a selection of addictive games that cost less than a dollar or even nothing at all. With the Nintendo 3DS, the Japanese gaming company’s answer to the challenge is to pack as many cutting-edge features into a tiny device as it possibly can.

    At nearly R2 800, the Nintendo 3DS is expensive for a handheld gaming system that does little else. But it is crammed full of clever technologies and applications that developers can combine to create games that are completely different from those you might play on your Apple iPad.

    Foremost among these is the 3D display that gives the device its name. But there is as much innovation in the 3DS’s controls and interface.

    The glasses-free 3D that the 3DS offers is a little gimmicky, but it is also magical the first time you see it. Held at the right angle, the 3DS creates an illusion of a few centimetres of depth behind its screen that adds a touch of immersion to its games.

    The Nintendo 3DS (click for larger image)

    I had no problems finding and keeping the optimal angle to view visuals in 3D and experienced no eyestrain after hours of gameplay. Those that find full 3D visuals uncomfortable can switch down the intensity of the 3D effects or turn them off completely using a slider. It is a nifty technology, but it remains to be seen just how long the appeal endures.

    Controls and interface
    The interface you’re presented with when you fire up the 3DS for the first time is as clean, simple and intuitive as you’d expect from a Nintendo device. It’s quick and easy to navigate the system software and set up your Mii avatar, network settings and other personal information.

    The number of ways to interact with the device for games is mind-boggling. Your eyes will immediately be drawn to the ergonomic analogue circle pad and buttons, which I found to be much improved over the analogue controls of the Nintendo DS. Even if you play only traditional games rather than ones that make use of more innovative control schemes, the 3DS may be worth a look just for that reason.

    In addition, you can interact with the 3DS through its microphone and touchscreen as you could with the DS and DSi. The 3DS also includes a gyro and motion sensor that can detect movement of the device through space as well as 3D cameras at the front and rear of the device.

    Two throwaway “augmented reality” (AR) games preinstalled on the 3DS showcase how developers may use this technology to create interesting games. In Face Raiders, you can photograph the faces of friends, family or co-workers and shoot them repeatedly. You aim by moving the 3DS around in space. The faces are overlaid on the backdrop that the rear camera sees as you move around the room or shopping centre with your 3DS.

    In AR Games, meanwhile, you lay down some playing cards (supplied with the 3DS) on a flat surface and then watch as the cards morph into 3DS Nintendo characters or game objects on the 3DS display. These objects will be transposed onto the table or floor on which you set out your cards. You’re able to take a 3D pic of Link or Mario on your kitchen table, battle a stone dragon on your living room floor or shoot some archery targets on your bed.

    Face Raiders and AR Games are just modest tech demos, but they excited me more than anything else I saw on the 3DS. AR isn’t particularly new, but the way Nintendo has implemented it seems to work well. The potential applications are quite cool – imagine, for example, something like the hologram board game Chewbacca and Luke Skywalker play in Star Wars.

    Online features
    Nintendo is the laggard in the online space among the three console manufacturers, so it’s no surprise that the online features in the 3DS are fairly basic.

    It’s especially disappointing that the eShop for games downloads and the Web browser were not ready in time for the launch since the3DS feels a little unfinished without them. An incoming firmware update will add the eShop in early June.

    On the positive side, Nintendo has streamlined its much-hated friends code system. Whereas you needed to add friends game-by-game in earlier Nintendo platforms, you can now add a friend once to the system and play any online game together.

    StreetFighter IV is the star launch game for the 3DS (click image to enlarge)

    The StreetPass Mii Plaza, which allows you to trade Mii avatars and game play data with other 3DS users you pass on the street with your 3DS, is a cool trick. Hopefully, Nintendo will add to this feature rather than let it fizzle out after the novelty wears out.

    The games
    The 3DS launched with a solid, though not awe-inspiring, selection of games that covers a mix of genres. They include a new version of Nintendo’s ever-popular pet simulator Nintendogs + Cats, the kid-friendly Lego Star Wars III and Pirates of the Caribbean games, the brawler Dead Or Alive Dimensions, and the tactical game, Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars. Retailing at nearly as much as an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 game and with console-like production values, such titles compete with triple-A retail console games more than they do with the likes of Cut the Rope and Plants vs Zombies.

    The highest rated of the bunch with an 85% average on Metacritic is Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition, which does a great job of translating the console game to a portable system. This game’s clean, colourful visuals are a superb advertisement for the graphical power locked in the 3DS.

    It also showcases the responsiveness of the circle pad for traditional games. However, the 3D effects don’t really add that much to a two-dimensional fighter and the game — like most of the launch titles — doesn’t really do much with the other gimmicks that the 3DS has on offer.

    Though the launch line-up is a little anaemic, the 3DS is backwards compatible with most games for the Nintendo DS and DSi, adding hundreds of titles to the list of games you can play on the device. And when the eShop launches, a selection of lighter and cheaper games will also become available for the 3DS.

    THE VERDICT — 7/10
    Nintendo clearly hopes that it will be able to carve out a niche for itself with a gaming system that sits somewhere between iOS snack-gaming (Angry Birds is gaming’s cocktail peanuts) and the big-budget experiences that the consoles offer. There is something to admire in the purity of its gaming vision — unlike its rivals, Nintendo has never thought of itself a media company.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I97cDg06NM4

    One major drawback with the system as a mobile platform is the battery life — I struggled to get more than three hours out of a charge. It is the games that will really matter in the end and the 3DS will offer up many strong titles from franchises such as Metal Gear Solid, Zelda and Mario within the next year or so.

    The 3DS is already a wonderful if pricey toy for children and the Nintendo faithful will find a lot to love in the device. Most mainstream gamers can probably wait a few months for a price cut and a wider selection of software before they take the plunge. The 3DS has the potential to be a great gaming platform, but it will need some time to mature first.  — Lance Harris, TechCentral

    • Subscribe to our free daily newsletter
    • Follow us on Twitter or on Facebook


    Nintendo Nintendo 3DS
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleVirgin Mobile eyes growth as rates fall
    Next Article TalkCentral: Episode 38 – ‘E-lected’

    Related Posts

    Microsoft in radical shake-up of its Xbox strategy

    16 February 2024

    Legend of Zelda movie in development by Nintendo

    8 November 2023

    Microsoft buying Nintendo would have been a disaster

    27 September 2023
    Company News

    Ransomware in South Africa: the human factor behind the growing crisis

    16 July 2025

    Mental wellness at scale: how Mac fuels October Health’s mission

    15 July 2025

    Banking on LEO: Q-KON transforms financial services connectivity

    14 July 2025
    Opinion

    A smarter approach to digital transformation in ICT distribution

    15 July 2025

    In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

    30 June 2025

    E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

    30 June 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.