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Nintendo 3DS review: Part 3 - 3D or not 3D? That is the question

The sweet spot

Nintendo 3DS review: Part 3 - 3D or not 3D? That is the question
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3DS

The biggest draw of the 3DS is undoubtedly its ability to display a three-dimensional image without the use of cumbersome glasses. When this feature was first announced many balked at the suggestion, and some even openly doubted it was even possible.

However, as Nintendo has gone to great lengths to point out, seeing is believing. The moment you lay eyes on that auto-stereoscopic display is likely to stay with you for the rest of your gaming life.

The impression of depth is uncanny, and even the slowly rotating menu items on the 3DS home screen look amazing. When you eventually pluck up the courage to insert a game cart, the effect is even more staggering – although it should be noted that it varies from game to game.

In Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition it’s quite subtle, whereas Ridge Racer 3D goes for a more extreme application, possibly to ensure that objects way off in the distance possess the appropriate sense of depth.

One thing that’s worth noting is that the 3D ‘sweet spot’ is pretty tight. If you as much as tilt the machine during play you’ll lose the effect, which isn’t an ideal situation when you consider how hard it is to keep a portable console completely motionless during use.

After a while you begin to adjust to this limitation and within an hour you’re totally accustomed to it, but it's disconcerting initially.

There’s a slider on the right-hand side of the screen which controls the strength of the 3D effect, and this can be set to zero if you’d rather play the games in good old 2D. There are practical advantages to this – the 3D effect sucks battery power at an alarming rate, and you’ll only get around three hours of play out of a single charge.

That’s a far cry from the impressive stamina of the DSi, but not so terrible when compared to the underwhelming performance of the PSP. Switch the 3D off and you’ll get around double that amount.

Much has been made of the 3D effect’s long-term impact, with some gamers complaining of headaches after just a few minute’s worth of play. We’ve yet to experience such ailments, but there are enough reports floating around to suggest that Nintendo could have something of a PR battle on its hands when the western launch arrives at the end of the month.

Part one: Introduction
Part two: The hardware
Part four: The word on the StreetPass
Part five: The bundled games
Part six: The verdict

Damien  McFerran
Damien McFerran
Damien's mum hoped he would grow out of playing silly video games and gain respectable employment. Perhaps become a teacher or a scientist, that kind of thing. Needless to say she now weeps openly whenever anyone asks how her son's getting on these days.