The Mega Nintendo 3DS FAQ – Everything you need to know

Everything you need to know about the Nintendo 3DS and maybe some stuff you don’t.

It’s that magical time when Nintendo launches a new console and like with all new consoles comes questions. We’ve done Mega FAQs for the Nintendo DS and DSi in the past and we’re continuing the tradition here. We want you to be fully informed about what the Nintendo 3DS is, does, costs and what it can’t do. If someone has a question, refer them to here and spread the knowledge around.

The Nintendo 3DS is an entirely new console from Nintendo, it is not another Nintendo DS revision. The system is an entirely new platform, your DS can’t be upgraded to 3D (believe us, we’ve heard that one too). The Nintendo 3DS’s main feature is the big widescreen glasses-less 3D screen that features on the top half of the unit. This screen projects 3D images without the need for special glasses. The system also contains an all new graphics processor, enhanced wireless and internet features and a whole lot more. Some things have stayed the same though such as the clam shell design, touch screen and control layout (bar the introduction of the slide pad and HOME button).

So here’s what a Nintendo 3DS looks like, they’re coming to Australia in two colours; Cosmos Black and Aqua Blue.

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We’ll go into full details of the features below later, but if you just want a quick list or a ’brag’ list of what the Nintendo 3DS does then this list is for you. If we have missed anything, do let us know;

Hardware

– Widescreen Glasses-less 3D Display on the top screen
– First commercial device with a 3D Slider for adjustable 3D effect
– All new CPU and GPU allowing for more complex games
– 3D Camera on top lid of the system for 3D Photos
– Inner Camera and Microphone
– Backwards compatibility with Nintendo DS software
– 3 to 5 hour battery life depending on usage
– Extendable Metal Stylus
– Notification light to let you know when friends are on or there’s content to be downloaded
– SD Card slot for expandable memory
– Inbuilt Gyroscope and Pedometer
– WPA security for wireless for all games (DS games will remain WEP)

Software

The Nintendo 3DS will launch in Australia on March 31st. This is a great release date, just six days after Europe and four days after North America. It’s great to see a Nintendo console release in Australia in line with the rest of the world.

The Nintendo 3DS has a retail price in Australia of $349.95. The New Zealand Price will be $453. Expect most retailers to do bundles, pack-ins and all sorts of deals in order to secure you money. We will be covering the launch bundles and deals in another article leading up to launch.

Japanese box contents.

Unlike the Wii the Nintendo 3DS is not coming with any full titles bundled in with the system. There are 6 AR Game cards and Face Raiders pre-installed on to the system but these are merely demos. You will want to pick up a proper game with the system. As for everything else, let’s have a look at what’s in the box;

– 1 Nintendo 3DS system in either Aqua Blue or Cosmos Black
– 1 Nintendo 3DS charging dock
– 1 Nintendo 3DS AC charger
– 1 Spare Nintendo 3DS Stylus
– 1 2GB SD card
– 6 AR Game Cards
– Manual, Warranty Information

Note: The 3DS Charger and the DSi charger are the same

The charging dock.

What sort of packaging does the system come in?The Nintendo 3DS has done away with the boring packaging that the Nintendo DSi had and gone full on with colour. The box is either Black or Aqua Blue depending on which colour system you purchase. The box is also quite larger than the previous Nintendo handheld, however the Japanese one remains slim. Here is a picture of our Cosmos Black Japanese box.

What are the games that come included with the 3DS?

While there is no pack in game with the Nintendo 3DS in the traditional sense, there is a collection of smaller games and apps to check out. The included AR Games pack includes at least 10 games and there is also Face Raiders. Also included is the Mii Maker, Streetpass Mii Plaza, Activity Log, 3DS Sound and Camera and an internet browser. The browser however won’t be switched on until Nintendo updates the system.

So now we know what a Nintendo 3DS is and what it comes with – how does the damn thing work?Glasses-less 3D? What the freak is that?

It’s a forgone concept to a lot of people. Up until recently if you wanted 3D visuals on anything, you needed some sort of special glasses to make it all work. Now things are changing and Nintendo will be one of the first on the market to have a device with a 3D screen, that doesn’t need you to wear the glasses.

The technology to pull this off has actually been around for years, however up until now it’s been too expensive to get not only into a handheld but also to mass produce. How it works is actually quite interesting too. The 3D effect you see on the Nintendo 3DS is something called an ’auto-stereoscopic parallax barrier’. What this does is it fools your brain into seeing a 3D image on the screen. Each eye is sent two different images through something called a ’parallax barrier’ which is fitted to the screen. You can’t see it and it just looked like a normal LCD screen but with popping 3D graphics.

Picture thanks to mandiller.

One of the big differences with the 3DS compared to the small amount of other devices on the market with similar technology is that they have included a 3D slider on the side of the console. This slider will adjust the ’power’ of the 3D sent to the screen. Everyone’s eyes are different and everyone will have a different spot they want the slider on. This slider also allows the 3D effect to be switched off completely.

Naturally this parallax barrier technology isn’t perfect. The 3D effect works great and most people won’t have any problems however you’ll want to keep the console in the ’sweet spot’ to keep the 3D effect going. It’s a generous spot but you’ll want to keep the 3DS mostly still and in one position.

Parallax Barriers, 3D Slider, it all sounds unhealthy for my eyes, right?

3D Displays are pretty new, so long term research about the subject is still years away. Nintendo themselves recommends two things with the 3DS, first is that you should take a break every 30 minutes from playing it (Nintendo normally says take an hourly break for Wii and DS games). They also recommend kids under 6 don’t use the 3D graphics. Parents will be able to lock the system to 2D if need be, but as with most things new and scary, parents – do some parenting and decide what’s best for your kid.

So what about the controls?

The first thing you’ll notice about the Nintendo 3DS is that there is a big old analogue stick on the console. Unlike the PSP, it doesn’t suck but it’s still not a full pivoting stick – it’s called the Slide Pad after all. The pad allows full analogue control for Nintendo 3DS game.

The rest of the controls on the system are typical Nintendo fare with a traditional D-Pad and face buttons on the front of the system and shoulder buttons adorning the top.

So there’s two cameras on it?

Actually there are three camera lenses on the system! The front two (on the lid) are used to take 3D photos, but regular old 2D photos can be taken as well. Nintendo says they are thinking about if they’ll add 3D video recording capabilities to the system. There is a front facing camera on the inside of the system too, for use within games as well.

The 3D Cameras. The little dot is the light so you know it’s working!

What’s up with the wireless settings on the 3DS?

Unlike the Nintendo DS, the Nintendo 3DS will essentially be always on and connected to the internet if you let it (or you’re in a Wi-Fi spot). The internet connectivity this time around has been built into the system and designed around it – rather than just tacked on like the Nintendo DSi. The Nintendo 3DS can connect to both WEP and WPA networks out of the box, and this time the games connect to WPA too. Nintendo DS games will still remain WEP only, apart from DSi enhanced games like Pokemon Black and White.

I’ve heard bad things about the battery.. should I be worried?

The Nintendo 3DS battery life is very un-Nintendo like. That’s a very nice way of saying that unlike usual, Nintendo hasn’t given us a huge battery life for the system. That means that you’re going to get about 3-5 hours for 3DS games and about 5-8 for Nintendo DS games. This all depends of course, on what features you have switched on or off. 3D, Wireless, Brightness, will all drain the system differently.

What is StreetPass and SpotPass?

Nintendo’s keen on getting the social scene kicking with the Nintendo 3DS, two ways they’re going to do this is via both StreetPass and SpotPass. StreetPass will allow the Nintendo 3DS and games (without being in the console) trade data, battle, contact details and more with other Nintendo 3DS units in a 30 metre radius. There is also two games included in the StreetPass Plaza, more on them here.

The StreetPass Plaza where your met Miis

SpotPass is a little different, instead of swapping information with other Nintendo 3DS units, SpotPass will swap and download information off the internet. The Nintendo 3DS (with your blessing) is always connected to the internet and whenever it’s at home on your Wi-Fi or finds a free open Wi-Fi spot it’ll connect to see what’s new. Nintendo and third party developers have promised new game content but movie trailers, game information and more could possibly be downloaded overnight. It also notifies you of system updates.How is the online experience on the Nintendo 3DS?

With the Nintendo 3DS connecting to the internet all the time, we’re happy to tell you that the online experience on the Nintendo 3DS is much, much better than the Nintendo DS and even the Wii. Yes, Friend Codes are back, but actually it should be Friend Code. You’ll only need one code for every game you own and you can add your friends in-game on the Home Menu.

Friends Codes? Really, again?

As we said before, there is only one Friend Code this time. This is a great improvement to what we’ve had previously; obviously it’s not as sophisticated as Xbox Live but you’ll only need to trade codes with a friend once. However Nintendo is also allowing people to add other people to their friends list via a StreetPass connection. The Friends List in the game is always available from the Home Menu in the top bar, and you can see what your friends are playing right at this very moment, what they have played and more. The friends list can be accessed during games or just when you’re on the home menu.

The Miis are now on the 3DS? What can do they on the portable?

The Miis are now a big part of what Nintendo is doing, even more so on the Nintendo 3DS. The Nintendo 3DS allows you to make a Mii the old fashioned way just like on the Wii, but since the Nintendo 3DS has cameras on it, Nintendo has developed a system to let you take a photo of your face and create a Mii. It works quite well and is sure to be a hit. The Miis are also integrated into games, StreetPass, your friends list and even the main menu.

You can play games with the Camera? What’s all that about?

AR Games is what that is all about! Nintendo is including 6 cards out of the box that enable these games and functions. You place a card down on a surface in front of you and the system transforms the card into an interactive object. Five of the cards are just there as figure cards, they will spawn the character they have on them into the ’real world’. You’ll have Kirby, Samus, Pikmin, Kirby and Mario on your desk! However that’s not the bulk of it, the main draw is the ’?’ Card which has (what we’ve found so far) at least 10 different games included with it. Actually that’s not true, there are no games in the card – it’s just a placeholder, but the Nintendo 3DS does come loaded with these games. Check out our impression of the AR Games here.

There is also a second camera based game in the console, it’s called Face Raiders and has you using the Camera + Gyroscope controls to move around and shoot things floating in view.

A screenshot of Face Raiders

Is it true I can take 3D Photos and Videos?

Yes, yes it is! Well partly. From day one out of the box you can take photos in 3D to show to your friends on the 3DS screen (you can save them as an MPO file to your SD card). However Nintendo has also revealed that they’ll be enabled 3D Video Recording in a system update in late May. Like the Nintendo DSi there is various other things you can do with the camera in regards to image manipulation and other fun things. That’s a little further down.

I heard something about 3D movies? Is this true?

Nintendo has recently announced that it will be teaming up with movie studios to bring 3D movie trailers to the console, and if you like they’ll even be downloaded over SpotPass – only with your permission however. There is also a ton of 2D video content coming to the 3DS with Netflix announcing a service for the system. Nintendo will also have its own video service which will deliver videos they approve. So far Nintendo has promised such things as comedies from this service. In Europe, Nintendo has partnered with Aardman to bring original Shaun the Sheep videos to the console.

No plans have been announced for any of these for Australia, however we’d have to say it’ll probably happen, one day.

What other applications are on the Nintendo 3DS?The Nintendo 3DS is absolutely chock-full with programs and games, some of which we’ve covered above but there are also a few nice little things to check out;

• Activity Log: Check out what you’ve played, how long you’ve played and who you’ve played with. It also records the amount of steps you have taken while the 3DS is in sleep mode.
• Notepad: Located in the home menu and is always accessible from the home menu, even when in a game.
• Web Browser: Will be enabled in a later update and is always accessible from the home menu, even when in a game.
• AR Games: See it’s own section
• Mii Maker: Create Mii’s with the inbuilt camera or manually
• StreetPass Mii Plaza: See which Mii’s you’ve picked up on your journies and play games with them
• Face Raiders: Camera based game which uses the Gyroscope.
• Nintendo 3DS Sound: Inbuilt music player which plays both AAC and MP3’s, allows for fun distortions, edits and visualizers for music.
• Nintendo 3DS Camera: The 3D (and 2D camera) – Allows for taking photos, editing them on the fly, comparing people and creating merges of peoples faces.

The menu system looks nice, is it customisable?

To an extent is is, you can change how the icons are positioned on the Home Menu. You can go classic DSi menu style with all the icons in a row or even shrink them down to tiny icons and have them in a grid. The choice is yours. The Nintendo 3DS sound application, however, does allow you to edit which colour you have its interface as.

What is the eShop?

The Nintendo 3DS eShop (which launches in May) will be your one stop shopping and information hub for all things Nintendo 3DS-related. It’s actually a mash-up of sorts of the Nintendo Channel and the Shopping Channel. The eShop will allow you to download retro handheld games, Nintendo 3DS Ware, DSiWare and 3D Classics.

There’s also the other side to the eShop and that is a resource hub of what (retail) games are coming out and information about them. Nintendo also says they’ll be pushing this kind of information to you via SpotPass if you want it too.

Check out more about the eShop in this article here.

3D Classics, Virtual Console, 3DS Ware? What are these things?!

– Virtual Console: Like on the Wii, the Virtual Console will allow the (paid) downloads and playing of classic video games from handhelds of yesteryear. The first consoles that will have games available to download on it will be the Gameboy, Gameboy Color, Game Gear and the Turbografx-16. Nintendo has announced that the service will use real currency for transaction rather than the points system seen on the DSiWare Shop and Wii Shopping Channel, kind of like the way you buy PlayStation Network or Steam games.

– 3DS Ware: Like DSiWare before it, 3DS Ware will be original downloadable games for the system. These won’t be old games but entirely new games from mostly smaller and independent developers. If you’re not sure what DSiWare is (and really we wouldn’t blame you) you might have heard of WiiWare or even the Xbox Live Arcade.

– 3D Classics: These are retro games WITH added 3D effects. So far only Xevious from Namco Bandai has been revealed but games like Yoshi’s Island were demoed originally at E3 in 2010. Details on these games are still forthcoming.

Can I transfer DSiWare games to the Nintendo 3DS?

You sure can! Not till May though! While the 3DS menu has the option in there, you can’t actually do this yet. Exact details on how this will work haven’t been revealed as of yet.

Can I play Nintendo DS games on the Nintendo 3DS?

Yes! In fact nearly every single Nintendo DS game will run on the Nintendo 3DS. There are exceptions however, with games that use the Gameboy Advance slot not working. The games will obviously only be in 2D as well.

Nintendo DS games on the 3DS can either be played in stretched mode to fit the new higher resolution screens or kept 1:1 by holding Start and Select when booting into a Nintendo DS game.

Play Coins? I’m inserting 20c into my 3DS to play a game?!

No no no! Plus, arcade games have been 20c since the 1980s, you dinosaur! No, Play Coins are collected by walking. It’s that simple! All you have to do is put your system in sleep mode and for every 100 steps you take you’ll earn 10 coins (max 300). These coins can be used in games to get extra content. Super Street Fighter IV 3D is one of the first games to use these coins but also the AR Games use them as well.

How do games save on the system?

Games can be saved in the on-board memory or on the included 2GB SD card that comes with every console.

What does the back of the console, the game cards and the stylus look like. Do you have a picture with all of them in it?

Why youre in luck, we do! The Nintendo 3DS cards exactly the same as DS games – except for a little notch on the top. Thats so people dont go sticking them in Nintendo DS consoles and wonder why they dont work.

Is there any form of achievements on the Nintendo 3DS?

No there isn’t, Nintendo have said that they prefer to make their games so that when you play them you feel like you’ve actually accomplished something anyway.

The cases Nintendo 3DS games come in, what do they look like?

They’re the same shape as a Nintendo DS game box however ever so slightly thinner this time around. Let’s take a look;

Region locking? Tell me it isn’t true…

Sadly, it is. All Nintendo 3DS consoles are region locked for Nintendo 3DS games. That means a Japanese 3DS game will not run on an Australian console and a Australian 3DS game won’t run on a Japanese console, for example. It really does suck and we’d wish Nintendo had thought about not doing it, as it’s a portable game console after all.

Nintendo DSi enhanced games will also remain region locked, however, every other Nintendo DS game on the market will remain region free from now until the end of time.

Any questions? Anything we missed? Let us know in the forums!