Since the first announcement of the Nintendo DS back in 2004 and the many versions that have followed, hearing of a new iteration has many asking: do we really need another DS? In  this case, yes we do. At their press conference, Nintendo showcased for the first time their latest new portable device - the Nintendo 3DS. The Nintendo 3DS is a device that can show 3D effects without the need for any special glasses. 

Wednesday morning I beelined right into the Nintendo booth to get some hands-on with the new device. This is what I can say, holding the device felt great. The upper screen is bigger at 3.53 inches with resolution for the top screen is at 800x240 - effectively 400x240 per eye. The touch screen below is slightly lower at 320x240 QVGA. The button layout has your normal L and R shoulder button with the A, B, X and Y. Of course you have your D-Pad and the touch screen. New to the device is the Slide Pad, Motion Sensor and Gyroscope. One of the demos that Nintendo showcased is where the Motion Sensor and Gyroscope worked really well with camera where you can take 3D picture of yourself and you proceed to shoot your 3D self image. 

I bet you are wondering how well the 3D is on the 3DS. Ladies and Gents, it works. Nintendo was able to do what many thought was impossible. Granted the 3D wasn't in your face 3D but it was more depth 3D. They had many trailers, but very few playable demos. I did test the device by moving the 3D slider up and down to see if the 3DS will glitch. I am happy to report that it didn't and I tested it out on multiple 3DS. The only demo that I got to play was Nintendog and for a moment I thought the dog was gonna jump out of the screen. Kid Icarus looked really good on either 3D or 2D and it will be a day one buy for me. The only issue I had with the 3DS was when they were showing Resident Evil. Graphically it looked amazing, but once you turn on the 3D you couldn't turn it on all the way. I had to move the slider a pinch just to get that 3D feel. If I put the slider all the up it felt like I had to bust out some random 3D glasses to see it in 3D. Maybe it was a way to adjust to those who see things differently. 

My Take: 

I wish I could show you pictures on how well the 3D looked on the 3DS but I was not allowed to take pictures of the top screen on. Overall I am very excited for this machine to come out. If you followed me on Twitter, you would have saw my “first impression of the 3DS = want”. It is the first Nintendo DS system that I can truly say that I want on day one. If only we can get some of the TV companies to actual use this technology so we can watch 3D TVs without glasses.