So, I finally managed to get my 3DS today. Seems like I've been waiting forever even though it wasn't really that long of a wait. Decided since it's the same price everywhere to just go to the closest store, which was one of the last remaining Toys "R" Us anywhere near me. After waiting in line for nearly 15 minutes behind one person I finally managed to get to the counter. After some conversation with the salesman I discovered I was purchasing the last 3DS Cosmo Black though there were still plenty of the Aqua Blue ones left. He said they got 100 of each in on the 27th and that's all that was left. Car chargers sold out on the first day and they had only 2 or 3 games left and minimal accessories. I was actually surprised. I didn't expect something that expensive to sell out that fast. And this particular store rarely has any cars in the parking lot so I was even more surprised they sold that many.
Anyhow, getting past that I ended up with the 3DS Cosmo Black and LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars in 3D.
Opening the box you first discover a massive amount of paperwork and an instruction manual that makes most novels look like a free pamphlet. Below that is the A/C power cord, charging cradle, and the 3DS unit itself.
As for the charging cradle, what is the point of this thing? You plug the A/C adapter in the wall then in the cradle then sit the 3DS in the cradle. Why? You can just plug the A/C adapter straight into the 3DS without this thing. I don't see what purpose this serves at all.
Powering it up you get a nice intro and it talks you through setting up language, time, region, name, connection, colors, layout, etc. It then makes a whole huge production out of holding it just right and getting ready for the 3D to turn on, big count down and all that, I was like geez get to it already. But, I have to say, when it first comes on you're just like whoa, holy crap. I was really not ready for it to look THAT cool. Granted, you have to hold it a certain way or else you lose the 3D effect or it looks like it shifts, but, held correctly, the effect is AMAZING.
After I got over the initial holy crap that's cool part I started going through the tabs. It's set up much more like a windows or smartphone than any previous DS's. Has several built in things including, of course, the really cool 3D camera that was also surprisingly cool. Several games built in and so forth. However, a LOT of the software is initially unavailable. Several things say they will be available at a later date through a wifi update. I went to several locations trying to get connected to a wifi network and after a couple hours of driving around finally gave up. All the ones that were listed on the nintendo site near me were non-existent and the ones I do know exist I couldn't seem to connect to. I'm planning to get a wifi router next month if not sooner anyhow to resolve this situation, they're cheap. In the meantime I will try to update it on Sunday at my dad's house since he has WinXP still I can use my old Nintendo WFC USB connector according to everything I've read in my settings.
Moving along, the features are numerous, far too many to get into. Highlights would include the streetpass, camera, music player, etc. All of which can be learned about elsewhere.
Few things I discovered worth mentioning are first there's no rumble pak. And since the last 3 DS versions have removed the GBA slot there is no way of adding one at this time. There is the capability in the future to add things that connect either with infrared or wifi so they may make an accessory at some point. Second thing of note is that old DS games that used motion paks for controls or game features can NOT use the built in 3DS gyro sensors in place of that, yet. This also may be patched via wifi at some point, will have to see. But games like Tony Hawk's Motion won't even start up.
Another thing worth mentioning is that like it was expected and talked about in forums, flashcarts like SuperCard DSone and others do not work. It just says error and makes you turn the 3DS off. So, currently there is no way to play downloaded or hacked versions of games. Again, I expect that to change.
Physical aspects, it's nearly the exact same size as the DS Lite. In fact you can't even see a difference in size when compared to each other. However, there are slight shape changes and of course everything has been moved around, all buttons and sliders and mic and headphone jack. The game carts have a small little protrusion near the top to prevent them from being placed into a previous DS version, however old DS games of course fit in the 3DS. This of course means that the 3DS games will not fit in any of my really cool cases. My small travel case has a rubber interior which I already checked out I can mod that myself to hold 3DS games pretty easily. The other cases however are a no go. Also, the size of the plug for the A/C adapter is compatible with the DSi or DSiXL but NOT the DSlite so I have to find a new car charger somewhere. Furthermore, the headphone / mic jack setup is not compatible with the DSlite in anyway. There is in fact NO mic jack input. The headphone jack is simply a standard 3.5mm jack like mostly everything, but the mic is internal with no way to connect an external mic or headset, making my earphones and stereo headset also not compatible.
Overall it will take me probably the rest of this year to be able to find and acquire decent accessories to be as hooked up with the 3DS as I was or rather am with my old DSlite.
Not much else I can say, there's no way to demonstrate the awesomeness of the 3D effect here. Go out and see one for yourself it's damn impressive!
