Nintendo 3DS XL First Impressions

   I’m not going to bore you by listing of the specific spec’s of the 3DS XL as they are well known by now and anyone wanting to know these just needs to use a search engine, but I thought as I have recently bought the system I would do an overview and give my initial impressions of it.

   The system comes packaged in a small unassuming box with less fanfare splashed across it than a supermarkets own brand of cheap biscuits, and I was surprised that it didn’t have better design work on it to be honest, but then its what’s inside that really counts. Included in the box with the system is a 4GB SDHC memory card which comes installed in the SD card slot and a pack of AR cards to use with the AR Games software on the system. There were two things however that immediately struck me before I even opened the box. Firstly the notice that the 3DS XL does not come packaged with an AC adapter to power and charge it, as these are sold separately. I have to say this is poor form on Nintendo’s part and is a small blight on what is an amazing system as it should come packaged with a power supply no arguments about it.

   When I was initially looking at buying the system I wasn’t sure if my DS or DSi XL charger would work with it, and its fortunate that I already owned these systems and had chargers for them as I discovered later on that my DS Lite charger should work with the 3DS XL. But at the outset it looked to me as if I would have to spend £169 on the system, plus another £20 for Nintendo’s official cradle and charger kit in one shop I happened to look in, plus extra for any games on top of that. So what initially looked to be a very competitive price point next to Sony’s PS Vita actually turned out to be less competitive than I first thought, even after shopping around a bit, though the PS Vita was always priced higher no matter where I looked, the price gap didn’t seem that huge after all. It was lucky I heard via the grapevine that DS chargers would work with the 3DS XL, though I wasn’t one hundred per cent sure, so I just bought the system and tried my luck. But if I didn’t own a DS/DSi XL, the added cost of a charger, even a cheap third party one would have put me off buying a 3DS XL, as the thought of forking out for a new games system that doesn’t come bundled with a mains AC charger as standard, like it should do, is a hard concept to fathom let alone stomach.

   Next thing that struck me was the information notice on the back about the systems backwards compatibility; it is backwards compatible with DS and DSi software but not GBA (Game Boy Advance) games. Also if like me you own DS imports, then it warns that some imports may not work on the 3DS so don’t get rid of those DS/DSi systems just yet. I tested Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor and Sands of Destruction, both NTSC American games, and both worked no problem. I did have a small problem playing the DS version of Lego Lord of the Rings on the 3DS XL though, as I reached the end of one section the game went to auto save and then froze up. I thought I had lost my progress up until that point as I had to reboot the system, but turns out it did save my progress even though it locked up, so again, I wouldn’t go discarding your DS/DSi just yet as the backwards compatibility might not be perfect for all DS games.

   With all that said and done it’s on to the system itself. The 3DS XL is a really well made high quality handheld gaming device, its not cheap at £169, but rest assured the end result is that its made to a high standard and looks the part rather than feeling cheap and tacky. At the top of the console there are the left and right shoulder buttons, the game card slot, mains adaptor socket and an infrared transceiver bar. On the XL’s left side, just below the left shoulder button is the volume slider, which is a really curious and silly place to put it as on many occasions now i have accidently moved the volume slider while playing a game, and I’m sure I'm not alone in this, it stands to reason that it would have been far better located next to the headphones jack at the bottom left of the console. On the right of the XL is the stylus holder, SD card slot, wireless on/off slider, and at the top outer surface of the clamshell are two (outer) cameras allowing for the capture of 2D/3D photos and videos.

   The two screens on the 3DS XL are not that much different from the ones on the DSi XL, better resolution and more pixels aside of course. The bottom screen is the same size as the DSi XL’s, the top is the same height but width wise is about 2cm longer, so while the DSi XL has two big screens of equal proportions, the 3DS XL only has a wider top screen. I like the fact that the top screen is wider, and although the bottom one is still pretty big in itself as well as being centrally aligned with the above screen, I do personally feel that both on the 3DS console should have been made the same width as each other, preferably that of the wider top screen, as this wouldn’t make the system all that much bigger. The clarity and crispness of both screens however are pin sharp and both deliver much more of a visual punch on everything from the home menu, games, through to video. The top screen is the main viewing screen, all videos will be viewed on it and games will utilise it as standard while the bottom one is used for secondary usage such as options, maps and other stuff. The only things I have found with this system, and this is something I found with the DSi XL as well, is that the screens have a glossy reflective surface, more so with the 3DS XL and this can cause some to get eyestrain much in the same vein as staring at a very reflective glossy computer monitor. The touchscreen will also become very scratched over time as well as becoming plastered in fingerprints, so it’s best to buy a screen protector as soon as possible.

   While on the subject of the 3DS XL screens I guess this is a perfect time to talk about the 3D feature incorporated into the system, something of which was used as a big selling point by Nintendo when the original system first launched. The bottom screen is just a bog standard touchscreen and does not have 3D implemented on it, only the top screen with the 3D adjustment slider next to it delivers the 3D feature. There are some things I would like to make the readers mindful of about the 3D feature. Firstly the 3D can and should be calibrated by using the calibration option in the settings menu; this will help adjust the 3D to a comfortable level that makes it work properly for you. As you calibrate the 3D you will adjust the 3D slider to increase or decrease the strength of the 3D, but this can still be done afterwards during gameplay if you find the strength or depth not to you liking. Lastly the 3DS XL as well as the 3DS for that matter comes with a warning that vision damage may be caused to children using the 3D feature on the system aged six and under, and therefor Nintendo recommends that only children aged over the age of six should use this feature. They also recommend locking this feature out using the parental controls which is a good idea. Once done every video, game and application will ask the user if they want to start it in 2D or 3D, if 3D is selected it will be locked out and a pin code will have to be entered that was set up within parental controls, so in short only a 2D experience will be available.

   This part is purely my opinion of course and my experience of the 3D feature on the system and I’m fully aware as I’m sure a lot of people are that 3D works differently for everyone, as it works for some better than others. I have tried the 3D feature, on the XL and the normal 3DS, and I have tried using it on different types of games as well as using the calibration option and adjusting the 3D slider to various strengths, and for me personally it just doesn’t work. That’s not to say the 3D doesn’t work, it just doesn’t work for me personally. For me the whole 3D thing is and has always been very much a non starter, whether it be 3D films or 3D games, glasses or non silly looking glasses, it just doesn’t work on me as all I get to see is a double blurry image. I have never been fussed about it either as I would much rather see a big push towards holograms and holographic technology as I find it much more of an interesting area of technology not yet fully explored. But I suspect 3D doesn’t work for me however because of two things, one being the fact I am short sighted and wear glasses, the other is that my eyesight is better in one eye than the other. These things are the likely causes why 3D does not work for me, and viewing any kind of 3D media gives me headaches and makes me feel cross-eyed in the extreme, but I have to say I’m not bothered by this fact, nor do I feel like I am missing out by not using the 3D feature. The main selling point of the 3DS is its increased power and graphical capability’s that allows for bigger more expansive and better looking games. The 3D element to the portable console is a cool additional feature that users can make use of, but is in no way part and parcel of the system that has to be used, and is certainly not the main selling point of the 3DS itself, so for me it will remain permanently switched off. 

   The system comes with some pre-installed software to get your hand on, none of which are particularly anything breath-taking, but a nice surprise all the same. The two main games are Face Raiders and AR Games, while the other free software titles are Nintendo Letter Box, Mii Maker, Mii Plaza, Nintendo 3DS Camera, Nintendo 3DS Sound. I also got Super Mario 3D Land for free via a download code via the Nintendo eShop, which I promptly downloaded to the SD Card. I’m not entirely sure whether this is a limited time offer or not, but I was only able to use the download code between the beginning and end of January, outside of this timeframe I would loose the chance of a free game so I didn’t hang about. If it wasn’t for deciding to register the XL with Club Nintendo to see what all that was about I honestly wouldn’t have known about the free game offer, and I only decided to check out Club Nintendo on a whim. To get your free game you have to register your 3DS XL and complete a survey, and then you will be given the option of choosing a game out of a selection of five, Professor Layton and Mario being the most notable of the games on offer. There was absolutely no advertising in the supermarket where I bought my 3DS XL about the free game offer, and I was not told about it by the cashier upon purchase of the system, that’s if he even knew about the offer which I highly doubt. There is also no mention of this offer on the box or in the manual, so I could have completely missed out on this entirely. It would surly be in Nintendo’s best interest to advertise this offer or any other future offer quite vigorously, on the system box, and at point of sale as this would encourage sales if anything, especially over holiday periods, but as it stands customers like myself have been left to stumble across this particular offer for themselves.

   At the moment I only have two games for the system, Super Mario 3D Land and Rayman Origins, but I have downloaded the Resident Evil: Revelations and Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion demos. All demos are limited to a set amount of playthroughs so once your allocation is up for a certain game, then that’s your lot. I cant say what Rayman is like because I haven’t got around to playing it yet, but I have at least tried the first bunch of levels in Super Mario 3D Land, and I have to say that making the games levels truly 3D as opposed to traditional side-scrolling 2D platformer has made the game seem so much more interesting to play as well as making it highly addictive to. Graphics wise there is not much to shout about with Mario and Rayman other than they both look really great, same for Epic Mickey really, which was a game that had such a slow start to it I might add. But Resident Evil: Revelations at least gave me a snapshot of just what to expect out of the 3DS graphics and power wise, and I have to say I was very impressed by just how detailed and pin sharp everything looked. The graphics seemed to me on a par with later PS2 or equivalent, and I was more than pleased as its amazing just how graphically advanced handheld gaming systems such as the 3DS have become these days. The system still has a long life ahead of it so anyone wishing to get one can expect some real treats in the very immediate future. 

   I wanted a 3DS since its release, but not for the 3D feature, but for it being a more powerful system that would have bigger and better games on it, the 3D for me was never a real selling hook that would draw me in, and it shouldn’t be for anyone else. The 3D feature is a nice addition, but that’s all it is, an additional feature, the real draw of the system should be the bigger, better looking games the system will accumulate. The lack of a second analog stick (well its actually an analog slider, or circle pad as Nintendo call it) has been quite a contentious issue for the system since its initial release, and I’ll admit that I to have always thought Nintendo missed a trick and messed up by not adding another to the system. But to be honest, now I have played on one and a bunch of its games, I now think that it’s not really needed, as the 3DS was never to be a system for developers and publishers to clog its library up with FPS games. A second circle pad is not needed, and I can say this after playing on one, and it’s only through playing games on the system will you realise this. Take Resident Evil: Revelations as a perfect example, as some would have you believe its better with the second circle pad peripheral and is a must for the game, but this simply isn’t the case, playing with one circle pad is perfectly fine, perhaps even better as its like the tank controls of the first classic RE game of old.

   I was over the moon when Nintendo released the 3DS XL with its bigger screens as this was a revision I was waiting for, and I'm very pleased with the system overall, and at the moment there has never been a better time to pick one up as it has a lot going for it. There are a few niggles here and there, but certainly no show stoppers. The lack of a charger included with the system is a poor decision as is the lack of promotional advertising making potential customers aware of the free game download. The growth of the 3DS library of games is growing, albeit very slowly, and the release line up seems to be very quiet at the moment, but it should now pick up a bit of pace with the release of the Wii U. Its sad but a true fact that the 3DS library offers more variety and has far more games as well as looking far healthier at the moment than Sony’s PS Vita, good for 3DS owners, not so for PS Vita owners. Hopefully Sony will turn things around soon instead of releasing the system and then letting it die on its arse, but only time will tell.

   It’s a perfect time to get a 3DS or 3DS XL when all is said and done, the future looks bright for the system even with the onslaught of the smartphone gaming market, as some like me still prefer a gaming device to be just that rather than a do everything machine, and the 3DS XL is one hell of a handheld gaming device.

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My Japanese Coach

   Ok so this one isn’t a game, but I thought it would be worth doing a review on it as I know a lot of gamers are interested in all things Japanese as well as leaning the language itself. There’s a huge wealth of Japanese games out there that are just begging to be played, yet while some can be played through without any understanding of the language, others are very text heavy and require a good grounding in Japanese if you have any hope of playing through them. So if you have decided to learn Japanese then I’m sure you will have looked for plenty of learning material, books, websites and of course software, and there is so much out there to choose from these days that will aide your journey. But while the PC has quite variety of Japanese language software packages to choose from, they lack the portability that could make them very useful and handy compared to being chained to a PC chair with eyes glued to a monitor. Well, look no further than My Japanese Coach (MJC,) a handy Japanese language package for those eager to learn the language, and one that’s on the Nintendo DS no less, but is it any good?

   First off its worth noting here that like any language software you may use, don’t expect MJC to be able to teach you how to speak fluent Japanese in a day, let alone a week, been able to be fluent in any language comes from years of hard work and studying. With that said and done, this fantastic DS software is not only a great starter for the budding beginner, but it also manages to be useful to those at an advanced level with the software split into three main sections, learning, games and reference. Learning is where MJC teaches you the language, starting from complete beginner and working up the ladder to higher levels. Games is were you can choose to play many of the different games, some helping you learn by simple repetition, while others test what you have learned, and finally in the Reference section, users can find their status stats, a dictionary, phrasebook and a sketchpad. With this review I’ll go through each section separately just to be thorough and then give my overall verdict on the software.

Learning

   The learning section is exactly that, it’s where the software teaches you a basic understanding of the Japanese language step by step, starting from the very basic and very gradually increasing in complexity as you learn each tiny lesson. The first module consists of 29 (beginner) lessons in total, and there being 6 modules altogether, all of which will have to be unlocked and completed before moving onto the next. The top screen gives you a rank or grade and some stats on how many words you have mastered thus far, along with how many points you need to unlock the next lesson.

   The lessons start off very easy and simple, with the software getting you to start learning single words that are quite commonly used such as Hello, Good, Bad, Thank You and so on, but as you move through the course of the module, these types of lessons will throw more difficult words at you to learn. Some words like days of the week or months of the year are easily picked up and remembered, while I found others quite difficult to remember, just because of the fact that in English we tend to have a lot of words that can mean several things and be used in different contexts. The word ‘They’ is a perfect example, in English this could mean ‘They’ as in two or more people, a mixture of male and female, or one or the other. In Japanese however, you could say ‘Karera’ meaning They (mas,) ‘Kanojotachi’ meaning They (fem,) or ‘Karerais’ which is used for a group of two or more people that includes a male person. Lessons like this might seem easy enough, but when there are several words like this to master within one lesson it can be quite hard to learn them so quickly and easily as others. Later lessons in the first module will start to show you how to connect words together to form simple sentences or questions, this is a very gradual process though, and one that is neatly threaded into certain lessons and will use words you have already mastered. An avatar, Haruka sensei, will guide you through each lesson and explain everything you will need to know as you go along, she acts as your teacher through your leaning experience in MJC.

   The layout of the lesson on the bottom screen is very easy and intuitive especially when being taught words, with the romaji on the left side and its meaning in hiragana and English on the right. The right hand green panels are interactive buttons, first displayed in hiragana, but when tapped with the stylus they will turn to the English meaning, but the words will also be spoken by Haruka for you to understand what they sound like in Japanese. There is also a top interactive panel consisting of three sections, Listen, Speak and Write. Listen, which is highlighted by default and has words voiced by Haruka, while the Speak option allows you to speed up or slow down her voice in case you find a word hard to understand, it also has the addition of letting you record your own voice in order to compare how well you say a word against Haruka sensei. The Write option allows you to practise writing each hiragana character that makes up a word by using the stylus, which might seem good in theory, but the practical truth being that often what you sketch on the DS using the stylus is frequently not picked up by either the handheld or perhaps the software itself, which is very frustrating.

   Overall this section does its job fantastically at building up your vocabulary of Japanese and teaching you the very building blocks of the language, it’s this sections simplicity and easy to learn method of teaching that really makes it work for those who use it. There are a few downsides though, more like little niggles rather than any real complaints about the Learning section of MJC. Firstly, it would have been nice for there to have been simple visual representations for all the words, phrases and sentences as it has been shown that one of the best ways to learn another language is by visually representing (by way of pictures,) what a student is learning. This might have made some of the words, like the different ways of saying ‘They’ in Japanese easier to master when represented visually. One other issue I found was that some lessons do consist of learning hiragana, not a bad thing of course, but these lessons were interspersed with other lessons, making the module feel more random at times rather than focussed. I would have preferred it if MJC had a separate section within the software for specifically learning hiragana, katakana and kanji, with its own tables, lessons and learning games. Sketching each hiragana character out on the DS, whether by freehand or by tracing over a character can also be completely hit and miss and doesn’t really work at all in practice, making progression to the next lesson seem impossible at times.

   At the end of each lesson you will be tested in a variety of games that are aimed at both imprinting the subject matter in your head by simple repetition, or by demonstrating what you have learned. Doing these games accumulates points for each correct answer, which then go towards a target number that when achieved, will unlock the next lesson. The problem with this where learning hiragana and katakana are concerned, is that with the software or DS constantly failing to pick up your writing, you will constantly fail the games and not reach the target number of points needed for the next lesson. I found these lessons a hindrance rather than a help, and I found it much easier and quicker to learn hiragana from a text book and practice on a white board than on MJC, so I would advise doing the same here.

 

Games

   There are numerous different games to choose from to help you along with the learning process, all of which you should be pretty familiar with, at least the ones you have unlocked. You don’t need to accumulate points in order to unlock the games as they are gradually unlocked as you progress through the lessons and modules. Some games are quite frankly rubbish, and don’t do a great job at helping you remember or learn what you have gone through in your lessons. The Memory game for example, has twenty cards face down on the screen, half red with the other half blue, and you have to tap one coloured card to reveal something in Japanese, a word or hiragana character, then the other colour to find the matching meaning. This game might sound ok, but it’s one of the more boring games on offer and does very little in the way of helping you learn the language.

   I haven’t managed to unlock all the games, but there are quite a few that are excellent at helping to learn and progress, and they just happen to be rather fun to. Flash Cards is a great game, perhaps my favourite so far, and it’s a perfect example of learning through repetition. In this game Haruka will say a word or hiragana character in Japanese, and you will have to choose the correct answer from four possible choices in English, it’s simple, yet brilliantly effective. Another game is virtually the same, but with a slightly different layout, where a word or hiragana character is displayed in English on the top screen, and you have to choose the correct answer out of a choice of four that are in Japanese, again very simple, but fun and very affective.

   At the start of each game you’re also given a few choices, whether to play a game using words from a pool of those you have mastered in your lessons, or from the software’s entire library. You can also choose from easy, medium or hard setting, but I found the easy and medium setting pretty pointless as they didn’t offer any kind of real challenge, and at times even hard can seem pretty easy, whether this means I need to move forward more in the lessons or not is debatable, though this would expand on vocabulary I’m not so familiar with.

Reference

   You can find some nifty features in this section, though I’d avoid the sketchpad option as it so often fails its user. In the Player Stats section though, you can find all the useful information on your current progress through MJC such a rank, total number of words mastered, and a breakdown with line graphs on the progress of such accomplishments, it’s a nice handy section, but granted its nothing to get excited about.

   The two sections that really help sell this software are the dictionary and phrasebook sections. In the dictionary you and scan through the entire library of words in the software’s database, and as standard you can do so in English, Japanese or by Hiragana. You can also search for words by typing them in from the onscreen keyboard to make things quicker, and again in either English or Japanese, and there is even the option of searching for words you have only mastered in your lessons. The phrasebook is perhaps the most useful, especially if you plan on visiting Japan, it could prove to be most invaluable at times, as MJC has a wide range of phrases available. You can choose phrases by category, from the database list or by searching using the onscreen keyboard, and you can even build up your own handy list of phrases and store them in the favourites section for easy quick reference. I honestly can’t think of anything greater than My Japanese Coach to take with you on a trip to Japan with the dictionary and phrasebook features, as finding the right words or questions to show someone what you mean or are trying to say, can be done within a few easy clicks. It also makes things easier that all words and phrases in these sections are displayed in English and Japanese, as well as the addition of everything being spoken by the software in the native language, this is a must have for any would be traveller.

 

   On the whole MJC proves to be quite the excellent piece of software rather than some overly expensive piece of slapped together shovelware. It proves that it can be a great counterpart at building up your Japanese vocabulary and helping you understand the building blocks of the language and how it’s structured and formed. With a simple but effective layout, giving you both English and Japanese, romaji and hiragana/kanji, as well as having each word and phrase in its huge database spoken in Japanese for students to hear, simply makes this a must have learning tool. The addition of visual representatives for each word and phrase would have been a big bonus and made the learning process even easier, but you cant have it all I guess, and MJC is already pretty comprehensive and packed out full of features. With the phrasebook and dictionary to boot, and taking into account just how lightweight and small a DS Light is makes this the most essential travel companion when visiting Japan no matter how far advance you are at Japanese.

   MJC will help you along with your journey learning Japanese and represents a cheap comprehensive portable package you can take anywhere, as opposed to rather one that is tied to a PC. Be warned though, this software can vary in price and is really hard to come by in the wild, best place is to search out a copy online, though you should expect to have to pay a fair amount for a pre-owned copy, even one that’s just the cart on its own, but its easily worth any asking price.

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Nintendo Gamer Magazine

   This is the second time I have started writing this, the first time I went off on a complete tangent about how current gen gaming (at least on the Xbox 360,) has lost me, and how I’m looking for my games and gaming experience elsewhere. But I was really going off topic to be honest as all I really want to talk about is Nintendo Gamer Magazine and what’s made me pick this fine issue up.

   Firstly, as you can probably tell from the front cover, it has a great article about the Wii U, a console I'm eagerly awaiting and shall be making my next gen system, so this was the magazines first draw for me. This article is great because it aims at looking through all the speculative and rumour mill bullshit to read between the lines based upon actual fact’s given by either Nintendo themselves, or actual reliable sources that are in the spotlight, as opposed to those that remain hidden in the shadows of secrecy and can offer up any load of old tosh as god given fact. This was a very interesting read, one that laid out the facts, read between the lines, and aimed to keep an open mind at where the Wii U might be in terms of its graphics, power, price and features when  its released.

   The second thing about this magazine that attracted me to it was all the retro goodness within its pages. Now I love the Nintendo of old, the days of the 8-bit and 16-bit Nintendo, those were magical times, and when I was young nobody could seperate me away from my Game Boy or SNES, it just wasn’t going to happen. I can fondly remember taking my Game Boy everywhere with me, no matter where I went, the classic handheld was by my side in an all encompassing carry case. But I have to admit, the newer Nintendo, that from at least the N64 onwards (although I wouldn’t class the N64 as new,) I could never seem to connect with. I gave the Wii a major try when I bought one 6 months after launch, and I'm still impressed with the system, and still think even now that the motion controls have huge potential. But I was waiting for games for what seemed like forever, so I sadly and regrettably sold it, in hindsight, I wish I hadn’t as there are some amazing games on the system now, but hindsight is a wonderful thing.

   Anyway, going way off topic again. But at the back of Nintendo Gamer you will find an epic best of list, each full of a sizable amount of games, with each given a short sentence or two as to why it was chosen. All Nintendo’s main systems are there, from the NES, right the way through to the 3DS, it even gives a best of games list for the Wiiware and Nintendo’s eshop, and for those of you that were wondering, no the Virtual Boy is not listed.

   But for us retro gamers the goodness doesn’t stop there, they have a great many other article’s, reviews and tip-bits on games from the past that graced Nintendo’s many systems. They cover the N64’s Glover, Viewtiful Joe, Freedom Fighters (one of my personal favourites that I loved on the PS2, though not retro, ) Aliens 3, Micro Machines for the NES and much more. One aspect of the retro content in this magazine that I really like is that it starts to creep in from the centre-fold onwards, and instead of being bunched up into its own retro section, it is cleverly mixed together alongside all the modern games.

   I’ll really be looking out for the next issue, and I hope that Nintendo Gamer will continue the great mixture of new and old together that feels quite refreshing. So if you’re a retro gamer like me, and you like Nintendo’s classic systems and games, as well as their modern stuff, Nintendo Gamer is a worthy buy, I gave it a go, and found it to be a surprisingly enjoyable read.

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