It’s been six years since Nintendo changed portable gaming with the dual-screen Nintendo DS, and now it looks to do it again with the arrival of portable 3D. We go hands-on (and eyes-on) with the Nintendo 3DS.
Our play with Nintendo’s next portable was brief, but we did get to experience the 3D screen first hand.
Much like a 3D TV, the top screen on the Nintendo 3DS does show up as if you’re looking through a window. What we saw wasn’t the whole “ball coming out of a screen” style of 3D that we get at the movies, but the screen was impressive nonetheless.
Because it’s a glasses-free 3D screen, however, you do need to find the right place to put your head. It’s not very difficult, but if you move your head too far to the left or right, the 3D image becomes two images ghosting each other.
Outside of the screen, the Nintendo 3DS comes complete with a 3D camera and six augmented-reality cards, allowing the console to show videos popping out of the cards as if they were a portal to another universe.
Media playback has also been provided, with MP3 and AAC playback supported out of the box. A 2GB microSD card will be included in the box, but you can always buy a larger one to use in the console.
Nintendo plans to bring the 3DS to Australian shelves on March 31 for $349.94, likely leaving both the Nintendo DSi ($249.95) and Nintendo DSi XL ($299.95) in the market for some time.
