Just about four and a half years ago, Nintendo got a big win in terms of the "cool" factor with the release of their current generation home console, the Wii. The system, with its incredibly unique and wholly intuitive control scheme, impressed nearly everyone and certainly brought those who weren't traditionally considered "gamers" into the fold.
Now, with their latest handheld release, the Nintendo 3DS, the company again takes home a massive "W" in terms of cool. The portable system is not only backwards compatible with DS and DSi titles while sporting better graphics' capabilities, it features glasses-free 3D play.
Okay, unless you don't follow anything about gaming at all (and have a tendency to ignore all technology stories in general), you probably already knew that glasses-free 3D bit. There has been talk about the 3DS since before Nintendo released the latest updated to the DSi, the DSi XL, in March of 2010. But, while buzz has been at a maximum for the system, visibility hasn't. Now that is all changing, the system is releasing in the United States this Sunday, March 27, with a suggested retail price of $249.99, which happens to be what a Wii cost when it was first released.
Before we delve into what it all works like, let's take a look at some facts about the new handheld. The 3DS most closely resembles the look and feel of the DSi, not the DSi XL. The two systems (DSi and 3DS) boast nearly the same length (5.3 inches for the 3DS and 5.4 for the DSi), are both 2.9 inches deep, and closed a 3DS is .8 high whereas a closed DSi is .74 inches high. In terms of weight, the DSi is 7.5 ounces and the 3DS a negligible half-ounce heavier.
The screens on the DSi are both 3.25 inch displays boasting 256x192 resolution (and the bottom, of course, is a touchscreen). The 3DS does not sport such uniformity of display – the 3D top screen is wider than the DSi one, measuring 3.53 inches on the diagonal with a
resolution of 800x240 (3.02 inches wide x 1.81 inches high). The bottom touchscreen (which is not 3D) is in roughly the same proportion as the screens on the DSi, but only measures 3.02 on the diagonal. However, the 3DS' bottom screen resolution is greater than either of the DSi's screens (320x240 on the 3DS) and whereas the DSi only supports 260,000 colors, the 3DS touchscreen has the same 16.77 million color capability that the 3D top screen can produce.
In terms of controls and other doodads on the 3DS, the system comes with a motion sensor and gyro, a telescoping stylus, a 3D front camera (which means that there are two lenses on the front), and an analog pad for your left hand. Gone from the DSi is the incredibly annoying sound toggle on the left side of the case, it has been replaced here by a slider, and another slider exists on the edge of the top screen so that you can adjust the level of 3D you're seeing (it goes from full-on 3D to perfectly flat 2D). There is also a home screen button on the 3DS so that you can instantly be brought back to the console's main menu.
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