3DS; First impressions

After a long wait, which had become pretty much unbearable since it came out in Japan last month and even more so in the past week, I've finally got my 3DS. 

It feels nice, heavy and sturdy. It's really shiny too! The joystick is brilliant, miles better than the PSP one. The buttons (A B X Y) and the D-Pad feel really nice, very much like the original DS's ones. The L and R triggers are very small but fall under your fingers really nicely so nothing to worry about. 

The dock you get with the console can serve as a charger. It looks quite nice, but feels a bit tacky - it's really light and the plastic does feel a little cheap. I'm generally quite a cautious person, so I'm not too bothered. 

The main menu feels good, easy to handle and has quite a few nice touches. The screens are really good - the bottom one is the same as the DS Lite one (320x240), and the top one is an all-new 800x240, so effectively 400x240 for each eye when the 3D is on. Speaking of 3D, I wasn't at all convinced at first - it kinda looked like those cards you get in cereal packets - move them and the footballer on them moves. After about half an hour and finding the setting that's right for you, you do get used to it and things really do start to seem further away inside the screen. 

So far I've only tried Ridge Racer 3D, the Shooting Faces thingy and the AR Cards game. 

Ridge Racer is the same as ever. The handling hasn't changed at all, and the graphics are pretty good. The music is pretty hardcore, not a huge fan. Overall, an ok game so far - I've only played half an hour. 

The AR cards game is utterly pointless but great. It's really very cool how things start popping out of your desk - and it works! I especially enjoyed seeing Mario and Kirby in my room :)

The Shooting faces game is really good - and kinda gives us an idea of what Zelda OoT will be like as far as shooting is concerned - the cursor never moves, you move the 3DS all over the place to shoot whatever needs to be shot. :p

So far, a great investment. Can't wait to get PilotWings: Resort... and for Zelda OoT and Mario Kart 3DS to come out!