My 3DS Review

The Nintendo 3DS is the ambitious new handheld by Nintendo, boasting better graphics and the ability to display 3D images without need of special glasses. With a price point of $250 at launch, it did not sell nearly as well as Nintendo had hoped, causing the company to cut the price of the system by $80 after only five months on the market. To salve any bitterness from early buyers, Nintendo is giving these people 20 free Virtual Console Games (10 NES and 10 GBA). I got my hands on a 3DS and a couple of games for it from Craigslist a few weeks back. After playing around with it for a while, here's my review of the Nintendo 3DS, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly:

The Good:

The Nintendo 3DS boasts better graphics, faster processing, more memory, blah blah blah. It's a cool system capable of really pretty graphics or memory intensive programs (it can do Netflix!). The button layout is generally the same (D-Pad, four main buttons, L and R trigger, et cetera), but there are some new things added (circle pad, motion sensor, sliders for the 3D and the WiFi, et cetera). It's basically the same set-up which gives earlier system owners some familiarity, but the new stuff may come with a small period of adjustment. Unlike the DSi and the XL, you can actually import your DSiWare from those systems onto the 3DS, so your copy of Cave Story or Shantae: Risky's Revenge won't be lost if you trade in your older system. Not all apps will transfer though, like the web browser or Flipnote Studio as the 3DS is getting/has its own version. The eShop is a great improvement over the previous DSi Shop. Not only can you buy 3DSWare and Virtual Console (GB, GBC, Game Gear), you can also buy DSiWare. The software that's already on the system is a great demonstration of its capabilities and is actually fun to play (AR Games? MiiPlaza? Face Raiders? who knew?). There's also a pedometer (linked to a coin system, getting gamers to go walking with their 3DS) and a decently reliable web browser built right into the firmware. The internet works better on the 3DS with a WiiConnect24-like option to keep your system connected to the internet, even in sleep mode (this option can be turned off). Instead of each game having its own friend code for online play, there's now only ONE friend code for your system. And, of course, Nintendo promised a 3D effect without the need for glasses...and they delivered. It probably won't revolutionize gaming like the Wii, but it is a cool trick with a definite "Wow" factor the first time you try it. The built-in outward facing cameras can do 3D photographs instead of 2D like the DSi. It is a cool trick...

The Bad:

...one gives me a headache after about twenty minutes of use. There is a sliding mechanism on the console to let the user control the intensity of the 3D or even turn it off entirely. However, considering Nintendo is gambling heavily on consumers buying the system for the 3D effect, this is not a good sign, especially since my headaches are, by no means, an isolated incident. Battery life has become a HUGE complaint for 3DS owners. System tests by third parties put battery operation at 3 - 5 hours for 3DS software and 5 - 8 for DS software, versus up to 19 for a DS Lite. This does not bode well for potential transcontinental airline passengers looking to bring their new system along for a trip. The 3DS is backwards compatible with DS and DSi software. However, I have two issues with it: 1.) It makes the games look ugly. I was playing Dragon Quest IX with a friend and the text and general environment looked fuzzy, unlike when I played it on my DSi XL (which only stretches the pixels). There is a special option to make the resolution a 1:1 ratio on the screen. However, this makes the game look really small. 2.) The wireless will unexpectedly go out. Again, I was playing Dragon Quest IX in its Co-op mode and the connection between mine and my friend's system went out randomly. To be fair, it's only happened about 40-50% of connections. However, if I didn't say something about it, it wouldn't be right. Unfortunately for shutterbugs, the 3DS cameras are still only 0.3 megapixels and there's currently no option to upload directly to Facebook like there was with the DSi.

The Ugly:

Overall, it's a good system, but it's not perfect...and its expected to follow a really tough act. The DS was is immensely popular with great software, tapping into a non-traditional gaming demographic, an area I feel Nintendo is failing to reach when marketing its new system. Sure, you can play DS games on the 3DS, but in the mind of a casual gamer, Brain Age is only $120 away on a DS Lite (game and system), versus $190 on a 3DS. Speaking of software, there currently isn't a lot out there right now. I have The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Super Street Fighter IV, but passed that, there isn't a lot out there to make me drop $30-40 on a new game (on their own, games are expensive...or maybe I'm spoiled). Lastly (and the 500 pound gorilla in the room), Nintendo's competing with the iPhone and other smart phone devices. Every dollar that goes to a copy of Angry Birds is a dollar not going to Nintendo. Every minute someone flings a cartoon bird at a green pig is a minute Zelda's not being played. Nintendo can tout that a $40 epic will satisfy a gamer more than a $.99 shot of gaming. However, quality is subjective and a person can have a lot of fun with a cheap or free game (e.g.: Angry Birds). Also, the landscape is vastly different than it was years ago. It used to be a person was playing a Game Boy when they were looking down at a device. Nowadays, ninety-nine times out of a hundred, it's a smart phone. Even kids have them, where I catch myself thinking, "Is that a DS? Nope...it's a Droid."

Again, on its own, the 3DS is good, warts and all. Not great, but good. It's following a tough act from the DS with pressure from the availability of smart phones. Is it worth buying at $170? Not yet. Wait for more games, unless you absolutely want to play Zelda or just to have another means of watching Netflix (truthfully, the 3DS Netflix experience for me is hit and miss). Nintendo needs to try and retake the non-traditional audience it built with the DS/Wii. It needs the equivalent of Brain Age or Wii Fit to entice customers to buy a 3DS, something a grandmother can play and enjoy...if it doesn't give her a headache within twenty minutes.

Wii Fit Journal #1

I originally bought Wii Fit when it first came out back in 2007. At that time, I was at my lightest weight in my adult life (195). When I actually started exercising, I gained weight, much to the displeasure of the cartoon balance board on the screen, considering my BMI was around 24-25 at the time and the goal was to get it down to 22. Muscle, I thought? Anyway, I continued regularly for about a month or so before quitting, ending at around 205 (went through a break-up during that time, so that might have had something to do with it). Since then, my relationship with my balance board was sparse. Every once in a while, I'd get back on it and work out, but that would only last a few days or so. My main source of physical activity was going hiking and backpacking. I would also do DDR, go running. I tried 5BX and had a few stints with that. Point is, I wasn't playing video games much and I was going outside for things to do. In 2009, I did the Wonderland Trail, a 100 mile loop in the state of Washington. I was definitely in the best shape of my life at that time. I think I was around 200 at that time. After that, I moved to Oregon...and things slowed down. I bought Wii Fit Plus when it came out, but again, it didn't last long. I think I stuck with it for about a week or so. I ran my first 5K race in May of 2010, with a time of around a half an hour. Not exactly blistering speeds, but I was still happy I managed to do the entire race. When my time at U of O started in the Fall of 2010, I was walking and riding my bicycle to school everyday, so I felt like my time with the Wii Fit was done. I know the game isn't meant to make you a Spartan, rather it's a springboard to higher levels of activity. I sold the bundle a few months ago on Craigslist...

...fast forward to this summer. I was having pains in my leg and lower back from bad posture (I partially blame the rubbish seating in summer school, but I digress). Also, I gained 10 pounds since the Winter term (complacent lifestyle, not hiking as much, eating junk, et cetera). I was still walking and biking to school though. Last week, I went onto Craigslist and bought a Wii Fit board with Wii Fit Plus (luckily, I got it cheaper than I sold it for). I had deleted my original file from my Wii when I sold my first board, so the cartoon balance board wasn't appalled at me gaining 10 pounds. I'm resolved to doing an hour of exercise every day (a half hour doing a randomly assembled Wii Fit Plus Routine and half an hour doing the "Free Run"). The idea is that I would do this everyday so that I would get some kind of physical activity if I didn't walk or ride my bike to school. Think of it like "If nothing else...", you know?

My routine burns around 380 calories it's over, so I can look forward to a legitimate pound of fat being burned every 9-10 days (3,500 calories equals one pound of body fat). Even when I'd gained the weight, I thought I was in decent shape. I can still do the push-ups, the plank, the yoga, and whatnot, but it's harder than I remembered the first time around. It definitely got me sweating (a good sign, I think).

Five days later (today), I've lost 3 pounds. I started at 216 and am now down to 213. Most of it is probably water weight though. More importantly, my leg and back pains are substantially less than they were. If nothing else, the Wii Fit has made me more aware about what I put into my mouth as far as calories versus nutrition. For example, if I eat "A" at this time, how might it affect tomorrow's weigh-in or my overall health?

Maybe I'm being vain. It was only 10 pounds since winter and there are folks who are struggling to lose much more than that. Thing is, my heaviest weight in my adult life was 255 and I don't want to go back there.

My last long stretch with Wii Fit was about a month or so. Why should this be any different? Truth is, I don't know if it will. I'd like to lose the weight I gained and adopt a healthier rhetoric when I'm done. However, I think that's a flaw in and of itself. Health is not a goal. It's a journey. The goal is not to get sick or injured. Again, Wii Fit is not meant to make anyone a Spartan or a Coastie. It's meant to get you to be aware of your body, maybe tone up some areas, and act as a springboard toward better health. Who knows, maybe I'll actually take up rock climbing later in life?