kid icarus

The weekend before last, I had the opportunity to attend Nintendo’s 3DS demo event in Chiba’s Makuhari Messe. My primary motivation for attending was the chance to see Ocarina of Time 3DS in action. Also, check out this video showing a member of Japanese superband Arashi as he reacts to the 3DS. Hilarious.

Before I get into the specifics of the games I played, I’ll remark on the 3DS in general. It’s a good handheld. It’s easy to use, it’s very DS-like. It works as advertised! 3D movies have been frustrating for me in these past few years, as I always have a hard time focusing on movement and individual elements of the movie screen. I feel like I’m in a crowded room of visuals, and my eyes don’t know where to look. Visuals can crowd the field between your seat and the screen with those cheap effects like “Oooh look, that thing jumped at your face.” The nature of the 3D technology of the 3DS moves the field of 3D away from your face and onto the front of the device, so all of the 3D effects happen underneath that screen. This combined with the small size of the screen, allow you to easily focus on individual elements of action. There’s a slider for the 3D effect I had expected to turn off completely, but in fact I has it set to maximum depth the whole time.

The slide pad analog stick felt smooth. It takes a moment to adjust to its low angle, but this did little more than mess up my timing for swinging at Deku Babas. The included stylus is metal and extendable, making its total length about 1.5 times longer than the DS Lite’s. The power button is in a very awkward place, especially for games like Kid Icarus that have you controlling your aim on the touch screen - my hand rested directly on the power button, and I did in fact turn it off accidentally.

Truth be told, although the 3DS appears to be full of potential, there are several design concerns that make me wonder if it can penetrate the mass market as thoroughly as its predecessor. Say what you will about dual joysticks and their utility in modern games, I don’t think they’re necessary for a handheld. However, a game like Kid Icarus requires 3 different points of input, using the slide pad for movement, the touch screen for targeting, and the triggers for shooting/attacking. A left-handed person would have trouble with this, unable to switch hands on the stylus with the slide pad in the way. Then there’s power button, as mentioned before - simply a poor design choice.

The 3D effect is temperamental at best. It requires you to look straight on at the DS from a specific distance at all times. If you should shift the DS at all during play, you’re treated to an eye strain comparable to crossing your eyes.

Lastly, it’s region locked! What a bummer! I guess the issues aren’t all that bad, given the fact the 3D effects are an optional feature, and not all games will make it so difficult for lefties. Still Nintendo is preemptively covering their asses with all sorts of warning that prompt all sorts of concern.

Continue reading for more details on specific games!

I’m really having a hard time putting this information into words. There’s a lot here. I’m going to have to make specific articles for Zelda and 3DS later, so I’ll just go through each item as a list.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is cel-shaded, but in the style of Twilight Princess. Miyamoto demo’d the game live on stage (with some technical difficulties), but it looks like it’s integrated WiiMotion+ rather thoroughly. The Wiimote is your sword, then the nunchuck is your shield. It looks really nice, but I’m looking forward to hearing back about the demo’s on the show floor. Apparently, the sky is a key plot element (which reminds me of the sky people in Minish Cap). Also, it’s been delayed to 2011. And here's the trailer! And here's some gameplay!

Then there’s the 3DS, which looks rather amazing. They weren’t able to demo the technology on stage, so this is another thing where we’ll have to wait to hear some opinions. The top screen will be widescreen, with full 3D capabilities, while the bottom screen is still touch, but not 3D. There’s motion sensors and gyroscopes, and something called a “slide pad” that appears to be a flat analog stick. There’s two camera lenses on the back that allow you to take photos in 3D. You’ll be able to watch current movies made with 3D technology on the device, with Warner Bros, Disney, and Dreamworks as frontrunners in support of that. There’s a free service that connects the device to Nintendo’s servers while you’re not playing, regardless of the presence of a Wifi access point, and downloads new game content.

Kid Icarus: Uprising - after describing the 3DS’ various features, “Project Sora” was revealed to be a new Kid Icarus game. The trailer they showed had me convinced it was a Wii title - it just looked too pretty to be otherwise. Turns out, it’s for 3DS, and seems quite fun. I’ll post more on this later as well.

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