Gaming Nintendo 3DS London/Manchester event Feb 5th & 6th

[jpxdude]

So yeah, I went to the Nintendo 3DS event in London on Saturday 5th, and had a good play with some games. Overall impression is that it is a very impressive piece of kit.

The hardware felt lovely to hold. It felt more svelte and sturdier than a DS Lite. The Slidepad felt great, and accurate. The buttons just beneath the screen are not completely flush as they appear, but when you run your finger over it, there is a small bump that clicks when you press it in, i.e, the Start button. The whole thing appears a lot smaller than what it seems on camera or in media. I also thought the screen could have been bigger. As far as the 3D on the device is concerned, you had to find a comfortable 'sweet spot', but once you did, it felt very natural, and there was no strain. If you move the 3DS about 5cm away from your direct field of vision, then you get the 'double-vision' effect. The D-Pad and Buttons felt like they usually do, except maybe slightly smaller.

Games I thought were outstanding on the 3DS were:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5AH2FoE5L0

Zelda: Ocarina of time - This looked gorgeous!! Check the video above, filmed from the London event! The models, animations and 3D effect were brilliant, and contrary to what was said in the Amsterdam thread, I disagree about it being disappointing. It was probably the most impressive game I played on the day, very bright, 60fps, sharp and colourful. I was never drawn into playing the Original that much, but once I started this, I found it hard to put down, and was made to after the 'Thank you for playing' demo limit message popped up on the screen. The game is A LOT better than I expected.

Super Street Fighter IV: WOW, I really never expected to see anything this good on the 3DS, but I was blown away with how crisp is looked, especially with the 3D effect switched on all the way. The depth slider all the way up adds extra details IMO. The animation is fluid, and everything seems here! The only thing I noticed were that backgrounds are static. I was taken by surprise at one point, when someone managed to join into the game who was standing close to me at the event. It was so seemless and fast joining that we didn't even notice until we both reached the character select screen, and our 3DS's synchronized. I played in Dynamic mode, which gives an pseudo over the shoulder view, and the opponent is in the distance, and he played classic side-by-side. Next to Zelda, I want this game bad!

Resident Evil: Mercenaries - This looked great, the 3D effect wasn't as impressive, but the game handled and played very well. Feels weird playing a 3rd person shooter on something that feels like a DSLite! I enjoyed it though, and can see it being addictive in multiplayer.

Ridge Racer - Again, contrary to earlier opinion in the Amsterdam thread, I quite enjoyed this, especially with the 3D effect switched all the way up. It makes the track and scenery seem really far away, and a better sensation of speed. They also have nitro boosts in the game. What I don't like is that they still have the same physics as the very first ridge racer, so when you spin out, your car swerves side to side unrealistically.

Face Raiders! - This was one of the Augmented Reality games on show, so much fun! It is a silly same where you take a picture of your head, and it gets superimposed on other peoples bodies as you swivel the camera around. I like the way that the eyes and mouth are animated in 3D when you shoot the head, or when it goads you on.#

AR Card game: There was an augmented reality game where a card was put on the table with a ? block. You hold the 3DS about 35cm away, and things start coming out of the block which you start shooting at. I like how you can go 'around' the objects in real time, and shoot stuff. A dragon sprouts out of the block eventually and you can walk all the way around it shooting off parts of its body.

Biggest disappointment: Rabid Rabbits - this game was a shit platformer, really shit! It was weird seeing this on display when everything else was so good!

Saw videos of Paper Mario, Pilot Wings and Mario Kart in 3D which looked fairly good, but couldn't tell very much just from the videos which were very short. I heard Kid Icarus was also on show, but I must have missed it

Did anyone else go to the events?

I have been convinced, and for me now the 3DS will be a day one purchase!

 

[Master Mo]

Nice, I really wish there was something like this here in Germany. Amsterdam was sadly a little too far for me so I have to wait til launch to actually being able to finally get my hand on this thing, even though I`m dying to try some of these games...

I`m also pretty impressed with all these games but I´m very disappointed with one game and that is RE (both):

I really dislike the changes they`ve applied to the combat, which was introduced in RE4. I mean I cannot understand why the beloved over the shoulder view was ditched in favor of a first-person-view that snaps into a whole new screen and is just distracting and imo unnecessary.
Also anyone who played RE4 or 5 on Wii, PS3-Move or PC I think would agree, that when you have a Mouse (which the TS essentially is) would never go back to analog-controls. RE4 Wii edition and RE5 on Move are imo the best versions and after playing those there is no way in he*l I go back to analog-controls.
Maybe these things are configurable (which I hope) but at the moment I`m very displeased with that!

 

[heartgold]

Ahh I've been waiting to ask this question for ages, as you've played around with the 3DS could you tell me how the 3D is like. Is it more depth to the screen or do images appear to pop out?

 

[shaunj66]

I had the chance to go to the event in London yesterday but decided against it. Not worth the trip for just 30 mins gameplay. Shame though, I'd love to try my hands on the 3DS. Hopefully I can find a store near me with a demo unit soon.

 

[jpxdude]

Ahh I've been waiting to ask this question for ages, as you've played around with the 3DS could you tell me how the 3D is like. Is it more depth to the screen or do images appear to pop out?

Hi There,

The 3D effect is more depth 'into' the screen, but I found that in addition to this, the detail in games, such as Zelda and SSF4 is increased, probably due to the doubling up of pixels. It is the same kind of effect as what you see at the movies with 3D glasses, except it just works without glasses, and there is no strain. In Zelda, when the little bugs are moving around the screen, and Navi is moving in, out and around you, it does look really really cool, and sometimes appears to be 'popping out'

 

[jpxdude]

I had the chance to go to the event in London yesterday but decided against it. Not worth the trip for just 30 mins gameplay. Shame though, I'd love to try my hands on the 3DS. Hopefully I can find a store near me with a demo unit soon.

I can understand if you were travelling from far, but really once you were in the 2nd room, there was no limit to how long you had to be there.

 

[heartgold]

Ahh I've been waiting to ask this question for ages, as you've played around with the 3DS could you tell me how the 3D is like. Is it more depth to the screen or do images appear to pop out?

Hi There,

The 3D effect is more depth 'into' the screen, but I found that in addition to this, the detail in games, such as Zelda and SSF4 is increased, probably due to the doubling up of pixels. It is the same kind of effect as what you see at the movies with 3D glasses, except it just works without glasses, and there is no strain. In Zelda, when the little bugs are moving around the screen, and Navi is moving in, out and around you, it does look really really cool, and sometimes appears to be 'popping out'

Many thanks, I diffinity look forward to the 3D. I've never seen a 3D movie

 

[chris888222]

That was enough to convince me to get the 3DS and not the NGP.

YAY 3DS! (is there an icon!?)

 

[lostdwarf]

you lucky sod, me and my girlfriend both got invites to manchester event but couldnt afford it in the end

but my gamestation is getting one in 2 weeks!!!

great review

thank you.

also could you be close and/or far away and still have the 3D work? for example could you move closer and further away from the DS (not side to side) during gameplay without loosing the effect? the reason I ask is my arms always get tired and I drift hehe

 

[jpxdude]

you lucky sod, me and my girlfriend both got invites to manchester event but couldnt afford it in the end

but my gamestation is getting one in 2 weeks!!!

great review

thank you.

also could you be close and/or far away and still have the 3D work? for example could you move closer and further away from the DS (not side to side) during gameplay without loosing the effect? the reason I ask is my arms always get tired and I drift hehe

Hi!

For me I found moving it closer or further was ok, I found my eyes took a split second to adjust if I moved it too quickly, and I didn't feel too comfortable holding the 3ds very close. So really I think it depends moreso on your eyes. So cool that your local game station is getting it so quick!

 

[lostdwarf]

i have pre-ordered a black one... Did i choose wisely?

 

[jpxdude]

i have pre-ordered a black one... Did i choose wisely?

Sounds good! I'm waiting on a price drop, I missed the deal where it was available for about £183, but I'm sure they will crop up again. Wife will be getting me one for my birthday lol.

 

[R2DJ]

When I was about to book, the London one was already full! I wanted to go. Still, already a Day 1 purchase for me, based on the feedback OoT got

 

[JuliaJolie]

I heard Kid Icarus was also on show, but I must have missed it

Kid Icarus was way in the corner, off to the far right of the "clubbing"-type blue room. I saw it by accident. It made excellent freaking use of the whole concept of 3D - having tons of targets being thrown at you mid-flight (also making good use of that weird toggle). How come you were ushered into the next room? No-one seemed to care how long I was in there. I went on the Saturday, too, but earlier (around 3pm-ish).

Oh, hello all, btw

 

[jpxdude]

I heard Kid Icarus was also on show, but I must have missed it

Kid Icarus was way in the corner, off to the far right of the "clubbing"-type blue room. I saw it by accident. It made excellent freaking use of the whole concept of 3D - having tons of targets being thrown at you mid-flight (also making good use of that weird toggle). How come you were ushered into the next room? No-one seemed to care how long I was in there. I went on the Saturday, too, but earlier (around 3pm-ish).

Oh, hello all, btw

Hello and Welcome to GBAtemp!

I went on Saturday in London at the earliest showing, but I didn't go in because I was pulled away, along with some other guy to do some weird marketing Big Brother thing! That was where I got to play Zelda for an extended period of time when they took ages to set things up, and then in the end had too many technical problems to proceed. In the end, I got in there 11:30, and after a little while we got ushered out of the clubbing room into the white room, where people stayed for as long as they liked.

I think I missed out on most of the games, because I spent too long playing RE:Mercenaries, and Ridge Racer in the club room lol. I'm glad to hear that Kid Icarus was good! Did you just play the flying parts of the game? If you got to the ground sections, how was the gameplay and 3D there?

 

[JuliaJolie]

Sadly I didn't have time to play past the flying levels as I started to get a bit preoccupied with where my friend had gone...!

That marketing thing sounded weird - I know there were a few photos being taken and when my friend and I were sitting down they asked us to do an interview (in which I displayed my spectacular awkwarding skills).

Did you find there was a timer on each game? I swear I played Rabbids 3D twice and both times I got the "thanks for playing!" message at two different levels...

 

[Omninox]

i thought there was still time for the event and didnt bother checking >.<
i found out about it on the 8th T_T