Features// Nintendo 3DS - the Games Round-Up

Resident Evil Revelations
Another interactive trailer here, and one that only intended to showcase how much raw power the 3DS had within it. It involved a man in a chair being interrogated, refusing to give information. Flashbacks involve Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield, which culminate in a scenario where the two protagonists turn guns on each other.

With not a lot of detail to go on, the whole thing was a glorified teaser more than anything else. But the real-time use of the Resident Evil 5 models was a stunning sight to behold. It did seem like the device was being pushed though, as there were no backgrounds or scenery to speak of whatsoever. I highly doubt we'll see graphics that good in a real game, but kudos to Capcom for giving it a go.

Movie and Figure Demo
This was a collection of high-quality models and various real-world objects being showcased – including Pikmin, Mario figures, champagne corks flying and party poppers... popping. It was a very classy display of the handheld's 3D capability.

nintendogs + cats
Remember nintendogs on the Nintendo DS? This is basically the same thing, but in 3D. The demo didn't include any cats, so I resorted to playing with a Golden Retriever puppy and dressing it up in a Mario hat, pink starry sunglasses and a spiked collar. I have no idea what came over me, but I became very attached to this little pup in the space of 60 seconds. I was able to call him over and stroke him using the touch screen as before, but the graphical improvement meant the dogs could better show emotion.

Seeing that little Golden Retriever smile at me every two seconds and run up to me was pretty heartwarming. And the game will include face recognition within the player-facing camera too, so that the dog will lick the screen and give you attention if you put your face real close to the top screen. I had to figure out a way to turn off the game before I left, because I couldn't leave it there on its own, looking at me... God, what's happened to me?

Pilotwings Resort
Pilotwings makes a very welcome return since its Nintendo 64 days, and with the addition of the word 'Resort' in the title you would think that things would be slightly different. As a matter of fact, they sort of are. Your character resembles something of a Mii, for starters, and the intricately detailed game world resembles that of the one seen in Wii Sports Resort.

Two playable stages were available in this demo – one required you to fly a plane through various checkpoints, while another gave you the classic jetpack and asked you to pop balloons around the resort. A very easy-going, entertaining use of 3D, especially when you get to fly over colourful vistas.

Kid Icarus Uprising
Pit's glorious comeback was on show, and even though the demo was a 3D interactive video of the E3 trailer we all saw at Nintendo's press conference, it's still far and large the best example of 3D on the handheld. Intense shooting action and apparent on-rails activity should make your eyes pop out of their sockets when displayed in 3D, but unlike Mario Kart this game managed to pull it all off rather elegantly. I seriously can't wait for this game to be released.


Metal Gear Solid 3D
For many people, this interactive demo was the big gun in the Nintendo 3DS' artillery. And make no mistake, this remastered trip through Naked Snake's jungle adventure had Hideo Kojima's classic direction smothered throughout it. Animals pop out at you in first-person perspective and it adds to the thrill that 3D promises to add. Excitingly, a trailer of Snake exploring various mountainous regions with an in-game engine and full HUD gives the viewer ideas about how such a remake would really look like. And after watching the trailer, I have no doubt that it could be pulled off.

So the Nintendo 3DS, then. Vastly improved visuals, perfectly functional analogue stick, third party support and big-hitting first-party games make for a promising upgrade alone. 3D is where it's really at though, and ultimately, that will come down to how well game developers adapt to the technology. While the movie industry has already somewhat mastered the tech, it will require Nintendo's direction for third-parties to make the most use of the feature. And on first impressions so far, it's all looking mightily impressive.