The
Nintendo 3DS is the successor to the
Nintendo DS series of handheld consoles. It was released in Japan on February 26th, 2011, Europe on March 25th, 2011, the United States on March 27th, 2011, and Australia on March 31st, 2011. The console has a 3D display without the need for glasses (known as
autostereoscopy), using
parallax barriertechnology. The Nintendo 3DS was shown for the public during E3 2010 in Los Angeles, California, coming in metallic colors, its upper screen slightly wider than the bottom touch screen. It costs $169.99 in North America, €169,99 in the Eurozone and £169.99 in the United Kingdom
[5]. The 3DS has game cards with a small groove that stops them from being inserted into an older Nintendo DS. The game boxes are similar in shape but not in size.
The prime feature of the handheld is the 3D display, which is shown in the upper screen of 3.5 inches. The Nintendo 3DS also includes a camera on its inner side located at the top of the upper screen and two outside over the lid, giving the 3DS the capability to take 3D photos, merge pictures, and play
augmented reality games. The handheld has added a 3D depth slider, a motion sensor, a gyroscope, and a
Circle Pad above the
Control Pad. Some buttons were moved, such as Select and Start, now found currently below the bottom touch screen. The power button is now located below the
,
,
, and
buttons.The
and
buttons are kept. The new
button, which allows users to directly enter the system's menu, is found between the
and
buttons. The handheld also is able to find Wireless Connection spots and other Nintendo 3DS consoles automatically for online play
[6]. Online expansion also includes achievements, friend lists, sharing game content with friends, and the ability to download new content for games
[7] and firmware updates.
Unlike its predecessor, the Nintendo 3DS has the ablility to multitask, which can be used by pressing the
button. Another feature is the "Tag Mode", in which the handheld detects other nearby 3DS systems automatically even when in sleep mode.
The Nintendo 3DS also has a 2 GB SD card included which can be expanded to more capacity and a charging dock instead of a charging cable like the Nintendo DS series use.
[8] However, the DSi's charging cable can be used for the Nintendo 3DS and the cable can be disconnected from the dock and plugged directly into the 3DS. The battery duration is in about three to five hours for playing normal software. However, the higher the brightness setting, the more battery power used. It depends on what software is running on the 3DS. To get full battery with the charger, it takes approximately three hours and thirty minutes.
It is backwards compatible with both DS and DSi games, although, as with the DSi, Nintendo DS games cannot make use of extensions that used the original DS's
Game Boy Advance slot which the 3DS lacks. Instead, the hardware comes with a
Virtual Console like
Wii's to download
Game Boy,
Game Boy Color,
Game Gear, and
TurboGrafx-16 titles. Also, the Nintendo 3DS has the ability for users to look at some videos of games.
It is currently available in three colors: Aqua Blue, Cosmo Black (all 3DS systems have black inner upper halves), and Flare Red, which was released in Japan on July 14th, 2011
[9]. Flare Red will also be released in North America on September 9, 2011. Other colors like gold and purple shown at E3 2010 have been confirmed,
[10] although their release dates for these two colors are unknown at this time. A green colored 3ds was also shown at E3 2010.
It has been officially announced that the 3DS will receive a price drop to $169.99 active August 12th, while early 3DS adopters will receive 10 NES eShop downloads and 10 GBA Virtual Console downloads for free (the latter of which will not be made available to the public).
