A Nintendo community
by the fans!
           
  Forum main
 + 
My tepid 3DS US Demo Event Impressions!!
Editorial by 
(Editor)
March 12, 2011, 04:30
 
Reposted from the demo thread, because I am an egomaniac:

Yeah, so I went. Sorry, Zero.

I'm pretty tired from being upright for so long, so I won't go into much detail, but here's the skinny:

Overall, I was... a bit disappointed, perhaps? The 3D effect didn't blow me away. But it was nice. Caveat: You are going to have to find the sweet spot for EVERY game before playing, because it is different for EVERY game. Turning the slider all the way up on Pilotwings literally made my eyes cross, but I was fine jacking it up on Street Fighter. Steel Diver worked best at 60%. As for the system itself, it felt nice. The D-Pad is a bit out of the way, but the analog pad felt great. Buttons had a nice resistance. The Start and Home buttons were weird, but who cares? Now, the games!! I'll go in order of play.

Steel Diver: The biggest question mark. (The most potential?) I jumped straight into this game, fighting off legions of miniature submarine fans. No, not really. In 2D, this game looked like shit. In 3D, it looked like a pretty little aquarium. The main mode basically played like the treasure-grabbing mini-game in Phantom Hourglass, except sideways. Honestly, it was a pleasant, elegant game, but it was also super-easy and slow and didn't seem too deep. The first-person gyro torpedo mode was cool, but also simple, and I can't see it holding up long-term. Still, it worked. Yep.

Asphalt 3D: Next up... Rrrrridge Rrrrrrac... hey, this isn't Ridge Racer. It's Asphalt 3D. WTF. Oh, well. It's in 3D, and kind of a Ridge Racer clone.

This game was passable! Quite passable. The sensation of speed was moderately pleasant, the 3D worked, and the handling felt okay. Unfortunately, everything else was rough. Especially the framerate. Choppy, choppy, choppy. And the opponent AI seemed shitty. Cool effect when you boosted, though. They said I could control the car with gyros, but it didn't work for me at all. And it made me crash several times. Nertz.

Pilotwings Resort: This game was kind of making me sick, until I turned the slider down to juuuuust above nothing (which is still totally 3D). Then it transformed into a lush, pleasant rendering of your favorite island and mine. That's right, the Island of Dr. Moreau. Har. I tried all three main vehicles in Pilotwings. The plane felt like a (glider?) plane. It didn't feel unnatural like the plane in Resort, although that might just be my faulty memory. The rocket belt benefited quite a bit from the 3D. And the hang glider felt the most natural in the third dimension. Very relaxing and immersive. All the levels I tried were incredibly simple, but they were demos. I have to say, in 2D, it really didn't feel like this game even had a reason to exist. But the 3D justifies its development.

Street Fighter IV 3D: My first session was really horrible. I couldn't pull off any of Akuma's moves. Which was odd, because the shotos are the only characters that I kind of know how to play. The analog pad felt horrible for the game, and the D-Pad felt awkward, with a horrible move success rate. But the next time I played with Ryu, it felt better. I could pull off about 50% of my moves with the D-Pad. Seems like a quality game. It's what you'd want. The touch-screen buttons feel weird, since they're out of the way.

Madden 2020: The Madden of the future. I just tried this to see how these types of games looked in 3D. Well, it looked okay. Kind of shitty in 2D, which was sort of a trend. I literally did not understand enough about the game of football to run a single play. Huzzah. But the same lady had a photo Mii Maker, which...

Photo Mii Maker: didn't work at all. Finally, I tried some...

AR Games:, like the target shooting, Dragon, yada yada... you've heard about these before. Honestly, I was a bit let down by these games, since I had heard such great things about them. Conceptually, very cool, and they bought a smile to my face. But, in practice, trying to move the system around while maintaining the 3D effect was almost impossible. Especially since I had to be pretty close for it to work at all. The human body is not meant to bend that way. By the way, I passed on:

Lego Star Wars, because it seemed dizzying and I hate the Lego games, and Nintendogs, because I have a shred of male pride. Just a shred, though.

Speaking of which, I should mention that, throughout my tour, I pretended to NOT be a super-huge-mega nerd, even letting the hucksters 'lure' me over to the demo area after I walked a mile+ out of my way just to get to the Ogilvie Transportation Center. The jig was up when they saw my mad submarine skillz, though.

I'm still excited for the system, but that excitement has been somewhat tempered. Regardless, the system is nice, the 3D is cool, and I'm sure that the library will soon be overflowing with rich, creamy goodness.

Hmm, this has somehow become lengthy. I hope that you guys have enjoyed my half-assed impressions. Next time, I shall endeavor to use the whole of my ass.

Oh, grow up.

URL to share (right click and copy)
03/12/11, 04:30
 
Why not sign up for a (free) account?
 
Well, at least you got to try it out, even if your experience wasn't all that exciting. Perhaps you'll have a better experience with the system in a more intimate setting.

A lot of people seem to have trouble with Pilotwings when the 3D is on full blast. I have my theories on why, but personally, I have no problems with the game at all, even on max 3D, though it does feel like I have to focus harder when the 3D is maxed out.

Posted by 
 on: 03/12/11, 05:03
PRE-ORDER CANCELED

Posted by 
 on: 03/12/11, 05:04
Well, you just made my wait a bit more bearable.

Posted by 
 on: 03/12/11, 05:19
Hmm. My opinion on this stuff tends to be very different from the mainstream. I'll find out when I try it out tomorrow...

If my impression is like yours, then I'll cancel my pre-order

Posted by 
 on: 03/12/11, 05:54
Sooo....you kind of liked Pilotwings but not much of anything else. This is why I'm not buying the system at launch. Bring on the new Mario game.

Posted by 
 on: 03/12/11, 06:14
Thanks for the impressions. A couple questions--

-Are you getting the 3DS at launch? Has playing it affected your decision to get it at launch?

-If you had to pick any number of the games you played for purchase, which would you choose?

-Were the sound effects in Steel Diver ("Fire!" "Fire!" "Mayday!") repetitive?

-Where the heck can you play the 3DS in the US!? I want in!

Posted by 
 on: 03/12/11, 06:45
Can't wait to play SUPER Street Fighter IV in 3D. I'm sure the controls won't be that bad for me. Hell, I ended up being pretty damn good at Street Fighter Alpha 3. On Gameboy Advance.

The 3DS ain't gonna hold ME back!

Posted by 
 on: 03/12/11, 07:36
Way to go without me, jerkass!!!

Posted by 
 on: 03/12/11, 07:57
Hey Anand, just curious if you wear glasses or contacts.

Also, that stinks Rayman wasn't there. I'm very curious on how it turns out.

It seems that people who have played the 3DS say the 3D isn't really that big of a deal. Your experience has brought down my hype, which is good, because I've been way too excited for this thing. I wish Nintendo at least had StarFox or Zelda at launch.

I fucking love Pilotwings but I feel the hype behind the 3DS would be much greater with a Killer app from Nintendo.

Posted by 
 on: 03/12/11, 09:26
I guess I had a better time than you it seems, maybe it was the playing environment or the fact that they had the skits before hand that increased the excitement but I loved it. For anyone that missed them you can read my impressions here.

Posted by 
 on: 03/12/11, 11:23
@Simbabbad

At IGN the people who wear glasses seem to be complaining about eye strain whereas the people without are having very few issues.

Posted by 
 on: 03/12/11, 12:17
anandxxx said:
Reposted from the demo thread, because I am an egomaniac:

Madden 2020: The Madden of the future. I just tried this to see how these types of games looked in 3D. Well, it looked okay. Kind of shitty in 2D, which was sort of a trend. I literally did not understand enough about the game of football to run a single play. Huzzah.

Speaking of which, I should mention that, throughout my tour, I pretended to NOT be a super-huge-mega nerd, even letting the hucksters 'lure' me over to the demo area after I walked a mile+ out of my way just to get to the Ogilvie Transportation Center.

Lines that made me laugh. And cry.
We have to talk about football.

@Zero

Why didn't you go!?

Posted by 
 on: 03/12/11, 12:24
@warerare

Hmmm, you mean wear glasses in general or wear glasses while playing?

I'm near-sighted, but I usually don't wear glasses when I'm playing a handheld or reading a book because the object is close enough to see just fine.

Posted by 
 on: 03/12/11, 13:24
Simbabbad said:
@warerare

But how big is the sample? 1? 2? 5? 10?

It could just be 10 people with glasses on IGN are whiners.

I see how wearing glasses while playing could affect things a little bit, maybe, but certainly not contacts or myopia in general.

obviously the sample is very small and even smaller given that I heard this from the UK team but the people on the team who wear glasses have the issues the people without don't.

As a side note the guy that has played it the most says he has started having trouble looking a regular monitors after playing. It is as though his eyes are trying to see a 3D image where one doesn't exist.

Posted by 
 on: 03/12/11, 14:01
@casper884
Yeah, I was able to resolve even the games that made me dizzy, but I had to really concentrate. And, like I said, I'm pretty sure that my eyes were crossing.

TriforceBun said:
-Are you getting the 3DS at launch? Has playing it affected your decision to get it at launch?
This goes for all of the pre-order talk. I am DEFINITELY still getting it at launch. First of all, it's the new Nintendo system. Second, it's not going to drop in price for a year or two, and there will most assuredly be a game I really want within that time period. Why not get it early and enjoy it for longer?

TriforceBun said:
-If you had to pick any number of the games you played for purchase, which would you choose?
I've been thinking about it, kind of. Super Street Fighter is a quality game, pretty much exactly what I expected, but I already have it on 360. Pilotwings may be a modest package, but it provides a cool experience that I can't get anywhere else. Nintendogs is still up in the air. If I feel like getting a dog simulator, then I'll get it. I'm not getting Asphalt. Ridge Racer was the one I had my eye on, anyway. Steel Diver... Like I said, it was enjoyable and elegant, and I really liked the fishbowl effect (the first virtual fishbowl on 3DSWare is going to KILL). But it really is the Phantom Hourglass mini-game sideways. I want to see how they'll add depth to the concept before picking it up.

As for the AR games, the price is right!

TriforceBun said:
-Were the sound effects in Steel Diver ("Fire!" "Fire!" "Mayday!") repetitive?
You can only shoot two torpedoes at a time, so it isn't like "Lightning Bolt! Lightning Bolt! L-L-Ligh-Lightning Bolt!"

TriforceBun said:
-Where the heck can you play the 3DS in the US!? I want in!
I guess you already found out?

@GameDadGrant
Not all of us have your super-Darwinian adaptation skills. You can mutate multiple times within the same lifetime!

@Zero
Anytime. Haha, if you want to go during a workday, just drop me a line and I can meet you there. Even though I kind of wrung it out.

@Peppy-le-Fox
The best Rayman could be is Rayman. The worst it could be is a bad port of Rayman. It's weird that we've seen neither hide nor hair of it, but how could Ubisoft fuck it up, really? I mean, we have an analog stick now.

And I kind of need to wear glasses (even though I totally aced that driver's license test that I was sweating by squinting), but I never, ever, ever do, except when I play games in the dark. You know what I mean.

Like, video games. But I'm nearsighted, not farsighted.

Anyway, I'm glad that Ocarina and SF64 are delayed, because it shows that Nintendo is actually putting some time into the overhauls.

@warerare
Heh, your experience was definitely ritzier. But I didn't have a bad time at all. I had fun. I just wasn't as bowled over as I expected to be.

@Mr_Mustache
I don't wanna talk about football. We can talk about foosball, instead. I'll crush you. Does our house have a foosball table??

Madden is insane now. I used to be able to play Madden '94-'96 just fine. NFL Blitz was fine, too. What the hell were all of those arrows? And there were too many players! Five is enough!

Posted by 
 on: 03/12/11, 17:25
Well, I'm certainly not glad to hear you were underwhelmed by it, but I'm certain it will be a different experience in the living room where I'll mostly be playing it. I mean, I know the 3D sweet spot issue will still be there, but I won't be wading around hundreds of people trying to enjoy myself, either.

Posted by 
 on: 03/12/11, 18:06
Word on the street is that direct sunlight on the screen will absolutely destroy the 3D effect. I can't believe Nintendo didn't consider this when holding some of these events outside.

Posted by 
 on: 03/12/11, 18:16
Thanks for the answers! And yeah, I saw that thread after posting.

Word is, Best Buy will be putting out 3DS kiosks next week!

Posted by 
 on: 03/12/11, 19:06
anandxxx said:

You can only shoot two torpedoes at a time, so it isn't like "Lightning Bolt! Lightning Bolt! L-L-Ligh-Lightning Bolt!"


Different subs have different amounts of torpedoes that you can fire. The one I used had four torpedoes. Still, the repetitive sounds weren't really something that stood out until other people started pointing it out, and I noticed it more when watching videos of it online.

Posted by 
 on: 03/12/11, 19:08
Oh, okay. I used the smallest sub.

@TriforceBun
Damn, I walked 2.5 miles for nothing!!

Posted by 
 on: 03/12/11, 19:09
  Forum main
 +