From the Vault — originally published February 5, 2011. Some links, videos or prices may be out of date.
So today I was lucky enough to be able to attend a pre-launch event for the Nintendo 3DS in Manchester.
When I first arrived at the venue it was 8:30 am, the doors were supposed to open and the event to begin at 9:00. However they were running late and didn’t let us in until 9:30. Wouldn’t have been a big deal if it wasn’t for the fact it was pissing down rain outside and they wouldn’t even let us stand in the lobby, so by the time we actually got in everyone was dripping wet through. Not a good start to the day.
However, when it actually started I was thoroughly impressed. We were given a little introduction about what to expect from the day and details about the 3DS it’s self. We were escorted into a darkened room where a theatre stage was setup, and 2 guys dressed up as Ryu and Ken from Street Fighter began to act out a fight reminiscent of the opening sequence to Street Fighter IV. It was pretty cheesy but at least Nintendo made the effort.
We were then taken through to another room where we were greeted by more actors but this time dressed up as Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine from Resident, and they got the crowd involved by escorting us through the room where we were being pulled at by people dressed as zombies, still very cheesy but fun nonetheless.
Into another room and we were treated to a software title demo showing the upcoming 3DS games, and a message from TV presenter Jonathan Ross talking to us about the 3DS.
Up another flight of stairs we went into another darkened room where we were asked to line up, but this room was full of all the playable 3DS stations. Flashing lights and music made it quite special. A quick talk from the guy running the show and we were let loose to try out all the games on offer.
I started with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time as it was the closet station to me and one of the games I wanted to try out the most. The game looked great with the spruced up graphics and the 3D effect was really immersive. I played the level that takes place in Kokiri Forest and wished I could play it for longer. I definately can’t wait to get my hands on the full game.
Next I moved over to Kid Icarus: Uprising. Again the 3D worked really well and I was amazed at the gorgeous graphics. Showing Icarus flying over rolling hills and seas was really great.
Next up a tiny bit of Ridge Racer, and I mean a tiny bit, because at this time I was looking for the Super Street Fighter IV station and I came across this as I was looking for it. So not much to say here because it literally was around 15 seconds I played.
Then I found Super Street Fighter IV and jumped straight into a match using Ryu and coming up against Blanka. I switched the game into the 3D mode and it was fantastic. The game looks great anyway but the added 3D effect really worked well. I like how Capcom has tried to make the game more accessible to players by allowing special moves to be mapped to the bottom screen. Some might think it’s easier but if you’re a Hardcore Street Fighter player then there is nothing stopping you from inputting the moves manually. If I was to get a 3DS at launch this is by far at the top of the list for games to buy.
It was also here that I got caught filming gameplay footage and was told to stop lol, luckily I didn’t get thrown out, but I was asked then to move onto the next area.
The next room was again filled with 3DS machines, but this time it was showing demos of upcoming games like Paper Mario, Mario Kart, Animal Crossing, Star Fox and my favourite of all, Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater. This was the Naked Sample demo shown at last years E3 and it looked amazing. If anything is going to show what the 3DS is capable of then MGS might just be it’s killer app.
A fine ass girl then caught my attention and asked me to try out the Mii Creater software. Unfortunately I was pretty underwhelmed by the fact you could take a photo of yourself using the cameras on the Console and then that is then used to create your Mii character. The result ended up being something that could have easily been made using the preset character creation options and at a quicker rate. I guess it will be fun to use for the younger gamers.
Then just like that my time with the 3DS had come to an end. I was disappointed that I didn’t see Resident Evil Revelations on display other than the demo they had us watch, but maybe it was there and I just didn’t have long enough to find it, but the bottom line is I came away thoroughly impressed by the Nintendo 3DS and even though Sony’s NGP has also been announced i’m still wanting to pick up the 3DS too. I thought it felt really good in my hands. The analogue nub was really nice and felt way better and more comfortable then the PSP’s nub. I was actually very surprised at the size of the machine too. I was expecting it to be huge but it was pretty much a perfect fit and something I wouldn’t mind carrying around with me. The 3D slider was excellent, it was so effortless to set your desired 3D effect, whether to none or full. I must admit my eyes were a litle sore after the event. So yes, I want a 3DS even more so than I did before. My only issue really is the launch line-up as the only interesting title for me there is Super Street Fighter IV, but maybe the release of Pokemon Black/White versions (yes I know they are not for the 3DS but can still be played on the machine) will persuade me to pick one up on day one. I’ve got about 6 weeks to make up my mind, but as of right now i’m itching to have another go on it.
Check out the video and gallery below for my impressions for those who would rather not read and also for some short gameplay videos.
