I was at EB Games today, and there happened to be a Nintendo employee on-site demoing the Nintendo 3DS. I got to try it out and play with it with my girlfriend for about 20 minutes, and I must say, I was surprised.

Build Quality:

Color me impressed. The 3DS fixes everything I hated about the DS Lite and its incremental successors. The buttons are fantastic. They are tight and clicky, like those on the Game Boy Advance SP. The D-Pad is a little awkwardly positioned to make room for the analog nub, but diagonals actually work and the pad itself is light years ahead of the old DS pad in terms of responsiveness and precision. As for the nub itself, it also works great. Suffice it to say that it outperforms the PSP analog nub in terms of responsiveness and quality. Even the triggers are better - not mushy at all. The only buttons that are awkward at all are the home/start/etc. buttons, which are spread beneath the touch screen and are a single long button. They are somewhat difficult to press but not a major issue because they are not gameplay-centric. Interestingly enough, I didn't use the touch screen much outside of navigating the firmware menus. Not that I mind, but I'm wondering what will prove to be the bigger gimmick here - the touch controls or the 3D.

Aside from the controls, the thing just looks and feels very nice in the hand. It has a nice weight to it, the stylus is much-improved, and the device just feels like it is well-made.

The screen:

As skeptical as I was, I must confess that the 3D effect works. It is difficult at first to hit that sweet-spot, but when you do, it really is like looking through a window. That being said, the 3D for me made things just a little disorienting and tricky to focus on - I suspect that when I'm tired or have been playing for a while, I'll switch the 3D effect off to give my eyes a rest. I didn't feel sick or get a headache. The effect does look convincing and it will be interesting to see how developers implement it as a gameplay element.

Other than the 3D effect, I am sorry to say that I have been pampered by Apple devices in terms of resolution and brightness - the 3DS's srceens are slightly on the low-res side and not quite as vivid as a current gen iPhone or iPod touch. Still though, they are a solid improvement over the last generation of DS screens - especially the DSiXL, which I found to be way too pixelated to consider purchasing because of its larger screen.

The games:

I didn't play much, so I don't have much to say here. The graphics are sick - nearly Xbox 360 quality from what I saw. Street Fighter IV was hard to play on a handheld; I don't think the smaller controls and moving screen hold up well for fighting games, but it was technically impressive and the new camera angle really showcases the 3D. I messed around a bit with Lego Star Wars, which was fun, but other than that, I don't have much to say about games - I have to play more.

Overall:

I like it! I've gone from skeptical to interested from this 20 minute demonstration alone. Still not a day one purchase for me, but definitely something I will consider getting down the road when more games come out and perhaps a price drop makes the investment more palatable.