3DS launch day special!!! 3D edition!

Date played: March 27th
Games played: Pilotwings Resort, Ghost Recon Shadow Wars, Ridge Racer 3D, Face Raiders, AR Games
Platform: Nintendo 3DS
Time played: 200 minutes
Session fun rating: 9/10

WOOHOO!  I have a 3DS!

I had a pre-order from a while back where Gamestop would give a nice discount if I traded in a few games and since my PS3 hard drive had just broken at the time, I traded in a bunch of PS3 games I didn't feel like restarting.  Either way, I got enough money from it that I could afford three games at launch.

The ORIGINAL handheld 3D device

I first started off by making a Mii, taking some 3D pictures and messing around with the interface.  The Mii maker is nothing really much different than on Wii but it's..... well, it's in 3D.  I made my little family and left it at that for now.  The 3D pictures are actually pretty fucking amazing.  The cameras are not super high res or anything but just having the 3D effect feels like I'm looking at my pictures through a Viewmaster!  I also fooled around in the interface, setting up my internet connection, making a friends profile and configuring a few settings.

Then, I tried out Face Raiders.  This game is funny as hell, if impractical to play.  Basically, the player takes a picture of a face and the 3DS sticks it onto a giant flying ball.  Then you must stand up and move your body around as you shoot the face while it flies around your living room/office/bathroom/car.  It's really simple but also really fun.  I've already fought and defeated 6 of my friends and family's faces.

AR games are also pretty cool but too simple and short to hold my attention more than a few minutes.  The game card basically turns whatever object you set it on into a firing range where you must shoot targets with an arrow.  The best part of it is that it transforms your environment by digging holes into it or morphing it.  It's hard to explain but trust me when I say that it really shows off what the handheld can do.

On to the real games.  First I played was Ridge Racer 3D.  Essentially, it's Ridge Racer..... in 3D.  Really, it's the same game that was on PSP and 360/PS3 in the last few years.  It looks better than the PSP games that's for sure and the 3D effect really adds a lot to it but overall, it's still Ridge Racer.  I only played two races but it seems like a lot of fun and the graphics are impressive.

WTF it's not 3D!  Oh right... this is a computer, not a 3DS.

Pilotwings Resort was the next game I played.  This one has good graphics too, it actually seems to look better than almost everything I've played on Wii, exclusing Mario Galaxy 1 & 2.  It controls really well and it's fun to watch my Mii crash into the ground at high speeds.  I played a few challenges for the plane and the rocket belt.  This game actually gave me a slight headache and I had to take a break after.  This is something that has been reported by many other players but it seems that turning the 3D down a notch helps, as does playing for a few days.  Then the brain is supposed to get used to it a bit more, we'll see if that pans out.

Last but not least, I played Ghost Recon Shadow Wars, a turn-based strategy game in the vein of Advance Wars or X-COM.  I just LOVE those types of games so I was glad to see a game like this on launch day.  This one is the least impressive visually as it barely looks any better than a DS game but it seems like the one with the best and deepest gameplay.  I played two or three missions and I enjoyed the mechanics.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with my purchase, let's just hope those headaches aren't a standard "feature".