The Nintendo 3DS launches. IN 3D!

Today is a momentous day for Nintendo fans because a new handheld has arrived in North America. That hanhdeld? The Nintendo 3DS. It’s like a DS, but in 3D. So it’s the Nintendo 3 Dual Screen. Wait.

This thing costs $250, but it is the bee’s knees. It comes with a charging dock that is a bee’s shoulder, and the AR games are the bee’s heads. You may have heard complaints about the system’s battery life, and though I haven’t run down my system yet I couldn’t argue against the reported 3-5 hour battery life. It’s a weak battery and, being such a weak battery is a huge mistake in the system’s construction. However, the overall package more than makes up for it.

So far I’ve forced a mii to don my face, battled a dragon on my coffee table, crashed an airplane into the side of a mountain (and watched my mii parachute to safety), ridged around a racer (in 3D!), and took 3D pictures of mice at the pet store.

I’ve utilized the single friends list that shows what games your friends are playing and whether or not they’re online. I’ve played games in 2D so people could lean over my shoulder and enjoy the nice screen and sharp colors. I’ve seen the WORLD. Before this I felt like Bilbo; like too little butter scraped over too much bread. But now I see mountains, Gandalf. Mountains!

I’ve noticed a lot of people who were previously excited about the system run over to a Best Buy and try out a demo unit only to leave disappointed and cancel their pre-orders. Don’t be so hasty! I have investigated these demo units. These are beasts that are bolted to a counter, a LOW counter. They’re designed so that kids can run up to them and take a look. Adults have to crane their neck awkwardly to try and see the 3D because the system isn’t set up in such a way that it will hit their eye line perfectly. It’s all different when you have the system well in hand, I assure you. And trust me, tweaking the 3D slider on the system is pretty important.

I’ve noticed that while playing Pilotwings I was having a bit of trouble with my left eye. You see, I’m left eye dominate and so while viewing the game in 3D my left eye was trying to overpower my right eye and force me to look at the left side of my airplane. Adjusting the 3D slider lower solved this problem, but still let me see quite a lot of 3D. Don’t think of the slider as a means of eliminating 3D, think of it as a means of finding your 3D. Everyone’s eyes are different and you’re going to have to find what works for you.

I’m currently in love with the system. Hopefully we’ll get some more in depth impressions up about specific games (or even that original DS game backwards compatibility we’ve been hearing is such a disaster) later. Or maybe we won’t. We’re Nintendorks and we’ve got video games to play.