Nintendo 3DS Beginners’ Guide
3D camera, high-quality graphics, touch screens, widescreen, HD, StreetPass…oh, and great games.
Experience 3D Without Glasses
What the DS did for touchscreen gaming, the 3DS does for 3D gaming. For the first time, you will be able to see 3D visual effects in a natural way, without the need for glasses. The 3D effects are truly ground breaking but they are just the tip of the ice berg.
Play a Massive Selection of Exclusive 3DS Games
Games developers are so excited about the 3DS that they are working on the largest collection of games be launched with any system in history. There really is something for everyone. There’s Professor Layton for puzzle fans, Spongebob Squarepants for Children, Metal Gear Solid for hardcore gamers, Steel Driver for strategy fans and The Sims for everyone else. That’s just a fraction of the games available for 3DS. To see more watch the video below or take a look at our list of 3DS games.
See Awesome Visual Effects
The screen offers a higher resolution meaning the games you play will appear more defined and crisper. It’s the portable equivalent of upgrading from standard TV to an HDTV.
To see what I mean, compare to the pictures below. You can see the 3DS is a vast improvment over the DS and that’s before you add in the 3D effects.
Animal Crossing - DS
Animal Crossing - 3DS
The 3DS’s larger screens also make it easier to appreciate all these improvements. The visual effects go even further than that though. Improved processing power means characters and game worlds can feature much more detail.
Realistic graphics like this were not possible before 3DS
Take 3D Photos
Not only can you play games on the 3DS, you can also use it to create your own 3D photos. Take pictures with the 3DS and it will be the start of your first 3D photo collection to share with friends and post online.
Interact With Like-Minded People Around You
If you see someone playing a 3DS when you’re out, you can challenge them to a game through the console. Especially intriguing is the idea that even when you’re not aware of it, your 3DS can interact with others while it is turned “off” in your pocket or bag. Your 3DS will communicate with others it passes to exchange game data. When you turn your 3DS back on, you’ll discover new things. You might be able to race against the best lap times of someone you passed while you were shopping or see if your Pokemon won any battles against other people’s. The possibilities for this exciting new feature are still being explored but you can expect many new ways to play. See the video to get a better idea of how this works.
Turn Reality Into a Game
Using the 3D camera, you can make the world around you part of the game. For example, look at a table through the screen of your 3DS and you might see little monsters running around it. This is another technology which is still being experimented with but has many truly exciting possibilities. The video above also includes a look at this technology.
Relive Classic Games
As well as being able to play games from the original DS (meaning their are already 100s of games available), you can download Gameboy classics like Tetris.
Enjoy Motion Control
As with the Nintendo Wii, motion and gyro sensors bring new ways to play. Turn your 3DS to steer around corners or literally shake off the badies.
Watch 3D Films, Listen to Music, Browse the Internet, Download Apps, Stay Fit!
The 3DS is a portable media centre. It is the only way you can watch 3D films without glasses. You can also store and listen to a digital music collection on the system.
You can now do multiple things at once. For example, you can pause a game, take a look at a website and get straight back to the game without interruption. Finally, 3DS can keep track of how much walking you have done to aid you with your fitness. As if this wasn’t enough, you’ll also be able to download apps to do just about anything with your new handheld companion.
When Can I Have One?
They go on sale on 25 March 2011 in Europe and 27 March in North America.
How Much Will it Cost?
Where Can I find Out More?
Here! Come back for news updates every day.
Features List
• 3.5″ 3D Screen with an 800 x 240 pixel resolution. (400 pixels for each eye.) – No 3D Glasses Required!
• 3D Slider – Turn up the level of 3D as easily as you would turn up the volume with an analogue slider. Select your ideal 3D settings for each game you play.
• 3″ Touch Panel Screen – 320 x 240 pixels. Dedicated to the touch interface, this screen leaves your other screen available for 3D without worrying about finger prints or smudges on the new technology.
• 3D Camera – The 3DS actually has three cameras – one on the inside above the 3D screen for taking standard VGA pictures and two on the outside that combine images to create 3D photographs.
• Slide Pad – Precision controls let you move exactly how you want in 360 degrees.
• Pre-Installed Software – The 3DS comes fully loaded with lots of pre-installed software, like 3DS and DS Download Play, camera apps, a messaging system, sound and video recorders, a gaming Activity Log, six ready to use AR games, a unique, user-customisable game called Face Raiders, and Mii support.
• StreetPass and SpotPass – Even when your 3DS is in sleep mode, it can automatically download new stages, quests, ghost data and rankings via SpotPass. StreetPass lets you win trophies, fight matches, simulate battles, and interact with anyone you pass by as long as you’ve got your 3DS with you. StreetPass and SpotPass are free and automatic, although they can be turned off.
• Motion and Gyro Sensors – These allow a full range of dynamic motion control, opening up new and exciting possibilities for mobile gaming.
• Size – 5.3″ wide, 2.9″ long, 0.8″ tall (when closed).
• Weight – 226 grams.
• Storage Media – 3DS and DS game cards, SD cards.
• Inputs and Outputs – 3DS and DS game cards, SD cards, headphone output jack.
• Battery Life – 3-5 hours, depending on settings used, with 3DS games. Up to 8 hours with DS games.
@Baba
A gyro sensor is something that tells if you twist or turn the 3DS (or whatever the gyro sensor is in, it's in the Wii Motion Plus, too). So if you turn it upside down, it can sense it. if you turn it so it looks kind of like a book, it will sense that too. I just noticed something! You know how the iPhone has one in it (that's what makes it sense what direction you're holding it)? Well, what if, for games that you could use the D-pad (the +), you could turn upside down so the D-pad is on top and the Slider Pad is on bottom, and the screen changed automatically?
Oh, and I meant you could turn the 3DS upside down, not turn upside down! XD
I am soooooooo excited about this!
:D
This does look awsome, I just hope I don't have any difficulties with the 3D feature. I have a sight problem that gives me vastly differnt vision in each eye and this is not completely able to be corrected by glasses. I have found this offten interferes with 3D viewing so I am hoping that the screens without the need for 3d glasses that need to be put in frount of my own prescription glasses might fix that.
I know it comes in Blue and Red, and Black, but I saw an image of IGN with a gold one..?
is the 3ds going to be out before this xmas
its great, they are updating my gameboy; but what about my nintendo? handheld gaming devices are fun, but some of us want something for our living rooms. what about FIFA? when can we expect a great soccer game with Nintendo?
@gillian burns
Maybe, but it's extremely unlikely. It's coming out "before March 2010", so there's still a chance (I say extremely unlikely because it's coming out in Japan on February 26th, or something like that).
@Kerilthia
Is it a problem with your vision, or your eye (e.g. "lazy eye")? If it's with your vision, then you probably will be able to.
@BlueDrag
Yeah, at E3, they had a red one, a blue one, a gold one and a purple one. The release day colors will be the blue 3DS and the black one. I wanted red, but now I'll go with blue!
Would The 3DS Be Able To Play Regular DS Games?
I Hope So~!
hi there gyroscop comes with iphones ipads and ipod touch
@BlueDrag
Nintendo are thinking about it they don't particually know
@Hayate
Yes, it does have backward compatibility although you can not play 3DS games on any system older than the actual 3DS, there is going to be a small lip on the 3DS cartridges to ensure that they cannot be accidentally inserted into older DS models
How do you like that for the odds of winning the 3DS: 1/3,432, or, according to Google, 0.000291375291%. . .the probability is probably most comparable to the odds of getting kuru! Kuru is a disease you can only get by going to some certain mountains and start practicing cannibalism, so in other words, almost impossible.
If I won it, I would buy another 3DS and give it to Games for Heroes, it's a group you can donate video games/handhelds to and they send them to troops in Iraq. No, although this sounds like a scammer, it's not, and they were even in an article in Reader's Digest. If a person that is a member of the Nintendo 3DS website is reading this, then here's a question: would it be possible to get the website to donate one to them, if I don't? Man, I just realized how much I sound like a scammer. . .>_< But anyway, just think of the shock a troop would get to see a 3DS sent to them!
One little annoying thing I saw, though, was that Nintendo didn't sponsor them. . .I wonder if that website tried to get Nintendo to sponsor them, because if that was, that was kind of rude! Wow, this comment is long! XD
@Leon (triforceguy1)
What if someone cut the tab off and put it in a DS/DS Lite/DSi/DSi XL? What do you think would happen?
Okay, I'm going to end this comment before it gets to be the biggest comment in history (or so long that I'm going to have to put a credits roll! XD).
must get 3ds!
It's amazin!!!!!!!! I really really want a nintendo 3ds. I cant believe i have to wait till the 31st of march. IT SUCKS TO LIVE IN ENGLAND! YOU GET ALL THE MOVIES GAMES AND CONSOLES LAST!!!!!!!!
@Someone
Then the user will just come to the disappointment of getting an error saying that the software is not compatible with this system on the DS/Lite/DSi/DSi XL
OMG IMAGINE IF THEY PUT THE RED SCREEN OF DEATH FROM THE PLAYSTATION 2 IN THE 3DS! YOU KNOW THE ONE WITH ALL THE RED CUBES AND IT SAYS PLEASE INSERT A PLAYSTATION OR PLAYSTATION 2 GAME THAT IS CREEPY. OMG IMAGINE IT IN 3D THAT WOULD BE THE CREEPIEST THING EVER:(
@Leon (triforceguy1)
That would probably happen to a lot of people hoping to play Resident Evil on their DSi/DS Lite, etc. and were desperate enough to chop it off! XD
yeah you just need to read the it were it says input and output or something it says 3ds game cards ds game cards sd cards headphones and something else @Hayate
one thin i wana know is can you make it 3d out of normal ds games or deos it just have to be 3ds games?
@Hayate
The 3DS is fully backwards compatible with DS game cards, which makes it even BETTER. Yeah, I'm talking to you, PS3.
@Deathangel539
The 3D effect only will work on 3DS-only games, and not DS games.
A gyro sensor is like what the iPhone uses on motion controlled games, e.g. You tilt the device side to side in Mario Kart to steer the kart.
love it
It would be amazing if they gave it a feature to record from the screen onto the SD card so people can make walkthroughs without having to film with a camera
i have a DS (the first one and i think i need a new one. i tink i should get it. i thin it will be exspensive though
but ILOVETHELOOKOFIT
@BS
well isle of man gets everything last
@BlueDrag
That's because Nintendo always show off a few more colours at E3 than ever make it to release because it's cheaper and quicker to concentrate on less variations for mass production. For example when the wii was unveiled, they showed it in black, white, green, red, gold etc
I have looked at this site everyday for two months, eager to find out more about it :l
@Anon
You're setting a good example Anon.
@someeone
Yeah, I am definitely getting it; I now have enough money to get a 3DS and two games!!!
Now comes the easy part: waiting. I was just anxious about getting money that I was kind of being melodramatic. . . . >_<
Can't wait, I've been hearing rumors that you'll be able to take 3D movies as well as pictures
haha, im getting fired tomorrow so i guess i will say whatever i want, i work for nintendo, DS section, and i have been playing the 3DS model at work for a few months now,
it
is
aaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwsssssooommmmeeee
that hub thing you put it on, is that the charger and will it come with the actual unit. also any price points been suggested yet, im hoping for £200 or less. also i think the graphics look amazing.
i cant wait.
which is better the ndsi xl or 3ds
I have a question about that new control on the 3ds, the one that looks like a circle. I think it changes the 3d effect, making it better or worse. If it does do that, my question is that when you make the 3d effect better, does it use more power, and when you make it worse, will it use less power?
If that isn't what the control does, what does it do?
@jenny24
I think the 3ds is better because it has just about everything the dsi xl has: The cameras, sd card, etc. You can also play your old dsi games on it. Plus, better graphics, bigger screens, and don't forget the new 3d effect.
I think the only downside of the 3ds is the price, which is almost $300. And will most likely come out next year.
@Gameinator
well said although u think its bad in usa in the uk it sucks it is £189.99 (pounds) and is out in sometime in march to may
@tom777aawweessoommee
im saving up because i live in the uk
@Scott@nintendo
Prove that you're an official Nintendo customer, or no one will (or should) believe you.
<blockquote cite="#commentbody-3644">
murfy :
that hub thing you put it on, is that the charger and will it come with the actual unit. also any price points been suggested yet, im hoping for £200 or less. also i think the graphics look amazing.
i cant wait.
@murfy
You know that the 3DS has a hole in the back where the AC adapter plugs in? Actually the AC adapter can also plug into the back of the charging cradle.
coooooooooooooooolllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeoooooooooooooooooo.
@Someone
<font color="#0080FF">You call that a long comment? It ain't nuttin'. xDD *banhammer'd*</font>
@Someone
You know this how? The 3D effect is completely backwards compatible with regular DS Games. The console itself does the rendering, not the game.
The price estimate is SUCH a rip off, I mean the DSi was like £50 cheaper on the day of release
@Scott@nintendo
i dont believe you! -.-
the Nintendo Dsi was around £170 pounds at release not £130-140.
Don't confuse me (Someone) with the other person (someeone).
@Tarbit
You obviously don't know how the parallax barrier technology works! It sends two pictures to the top screen, and each picture has a different angle, something that the DS games don't have, and then the barrier sends a picture to each eye, just like how our eyes work in real life, thus making 3D with DS games impossible without a remake specifically for the 3DS. That is how I know. For more information, see this link:
http://blogs.howstuffworks.com/2010/06/28/good-qu…
Peter D., do you know what "Banhammered" means? It means getting banned from something! Did you really ban me? Those questions aside, that was a long comment for me, I should say! This is another long comment, in my opinion (I wrote the comment, then went back and wrote this)!
JAVEEH, good for not believing him, since he's probably just a liar who wants attention. After this comment, I'm not going to take notice of him again.
That video was literaly tempting me to buy that 3DS
im going to save money for the 3DS! i KNOW i will earn money enough for it BEFORE it comes
cant wait till 3ds comes out hopefully it wiil have donkey kong and super mario
Eek, estimated to be £189! More than we paid for our Nintendo Wii
better start saving lol, Hopefully, the estimated price is wrong, I would hope Nintendo wouldn't charge more for a hand held console than a home console. But I suppose this 3D technology without the glasses is expensive to make, so I mean Nintendo has to make a profit also. It's useless complaining though, I know I will end up buying it no matter what the price is lol
It seems expensive. it is becuase the JPY is strong now. Hope it calms down and settled around 150. But XL was in that range, so realisticaly it will be about or over175.
im getting it for my b-day so i dont reely need 2 save money.
Anthony, at least you could save up half of the price and give it to the people that you are getting it from; it's going to be REALLY expensive!
I'm actually quite glad it comes out around March, as no Council Tax or Water Rates to pay in beginning of Feb and March (that gives me £216 without doing any actual saving).
this is soooooooooooooooooooo cool! i am like so gna trade my dsi 4 this!!!!! i live in england and i thougth tht the pice was gna be £400! my bff has got the offical nintendo mag and it had a section dedicated to the 3ds! i never knew tht it had movies on it! so sick:-O OMG! i hv to get this! obbesion on this starts NNNOOOWWW!!
omg tht is soo coool i didnt know u cud watch movies on it im so gna get it, trade my dsi for it. how much is $189.99 in pounds? i wanna now!!! aarrrgggghhhh let me know!
hey guys it is me serpent from the 3ds forums the 3ds is coming out on March 15th and i know one of the major games will be a Madden game dont believe me? if you live in the good ol' US go on gamestop.com and up in the search box, type "3ds"
Holy wow (sound of jaw hitting floor)
sssiiiiccckkk I want a 3DS! but my dad says its too pricey
I want one! But my dad says its too pricey! It really isn't though right?
(250$-0.01$)+tax+gamestop=Nintendo 3DS
which means it costs 249.99$
if your in europe its around 200-270 (i dont know how to do the euro sign i live in the states.)
I don't think the 3DS willl have 13 hours battery life. Read this: http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?…
And Nintendo says the normal DS has 6-10 hours battery life.
I read somewere it had 3-4 hours of battery life.
is it me or does it sound as if apart from the 3d gimmic no technological advancement has been made. and with the ds being 5 years old, is this a good thing?
Well, don't higher resolution graphics and widescreen (400 x 240 top, 320 x 240 bottom compared to 256 x 192 px both screens), graphics that surpass gamecube's, and get close to Wii's (concidering that with 3D, it have to render each frame twice)
Tag mode can exchange data to all games that you have played, as long as it supports it, compared to DS/lite/i where you have to put each indiviual game in tag mode, during which you can't play.
It will also feature a probably improoved online store, with a gameboy/advance virtual console.
It hase a slide pad.
And it has a simple multi-tasking, which means you don't have to shut the system of whenever you whant to swich activity on the system.
Though, I pearsonally think it should have had higher resolution. I personally don't understand why DSi XL is so popular. Dhe DS have horribly low resolution as it is. Especially when you switch between iPhone 4 and DS.
Secondly I really hope that the online store is vastly improved. 'cus whether Nintendo likes it or not, iPhone and android is eating up the handheld market, especially for simple games you can play when you just have short periods to play at a time. a 3G service ould be usefull too.
I think i read it but just to confirm – are normal ds games playable on the 3ds,
yes
All I know is 3Ds has made deals with Disney, Warner Bros etc for movies also the GPS that it will have a so it will have Internet and a Wii looking menu. It will also let you take 3D and 2D photos also it will have a 3Ds shop like Wii/ DSi it will also use DS games too so thats all I know but theres more. Also you can pre order them in January but if you want tell March then thats you.
I'm glad to see there's more grass on AC 3DS, the charectors are taller too!!!
i dont really think its that expensive for what it is, its more the games im worried about in terms of pricing
Just the fact that I can play 3D movies alone makes me wanna get it. To be able to play games, and multitask At the same time will be an awesome feature as well. We also mostly likely will see a Netflix app on this system, and if it does all that it says it does, then it’s like my iPhone, except I pay a contract fee for my phone to have service and mobile Internet, other than that this thing may be better for everything. Maybe we can even expect a Skype app but this is just an accusation of mine who knows. Can’t wait for more updates and leaks of info on the 3DS…
3ds is the best gadget that nintendo has made hav u seen the promo trailer its sick
I wanna get this soooo badly but it’s really expensive!
CAN THE 3DS DOWNLOADS FLIPNOTE STUDIOS???
Please can you tell me if the new 3DS has new dowloadable games like flipnote studio ?
hi there you are right you can download a 3d flip note
This is probably the coolest launch lineup i've ever seen!! I still want to hear more about the psp2 before i decide to buy but damn If they don't have anything amazing up there sleeves i don't think i'll wait. This is one pretty piece of hardware
so i hope more third party developers are going to take advantage of it i hope we'll be seeing more real games. not this let's cook eggs with motion control gimmicky crap we've been seeing on the wii. But so far this nerd is pretty impressed
I’m buying it watever the price is. It would be better if it wasn’t so expensive. Just cant wait until the release date. When I find it out I’m going to start a countdown… I’m such a nerd.
I’m worried that I won’t get one the day it comes out
the toys' r us guy told me the 3ds comes out march 21 2011
I heard the 3DS is going to be $250 is the US. I can’t wait! I’m getting a job to save money. I knew since September this was coming out but I suck at saving money so i’m starting now. I have to have the 3DS on the FIRST day it comes out!
it sound so cool and how much apps can you get on it
You guys really need to update this page!!!
aqua blue all the way. i already preordered cant wait till march 27.
I want one so bad I think I’m going to explode!!!
I’m getting black though. I g
Had a black ds lite, a black dsi and soon a 3DS black.
Is the 3ds 3G? I heard it somewhere…
NO
Does it still have the flipnotes, like the dsi?
3ds can use DSI Ware
flipnote is awesome
i want to have ……. good times with my nintendo 3ds~!
hm pretty intresting i have to say nintendo has finally made a good game sytem before ith the normal nintendo it looked like a babys toy but now they have reached to my exspectations now and i have to say well done nintendo
I heard that at gamestop you could trade your dsi xl for a 3ds and all you have to buy it for is around 150.00 but thats just a rumor. Could someone tell me if its true or not.
@People
ya thats true
This is probably the coolest launch lineup i've ever seen!! I still want to hear more about the psp2 before i decide to buy but damn If they don't have anything amazing up there sleeves i don't think i'll wait. This is one pretty piece of hardware so i hope more third party developers are going to take advantage of it i hope we'll be seeing more real games. not this let's cook eggs with motion control gimmicky crap we've been seeing on the wii. But so far this nerd is pretty impressed
How can I get a discount on it? I need it REALLY bad
you cant
I think…
i wish it came in lime green ( my favrote couler )
@People
It’s true, but you’ll needvto check the price on the website because I think it’s about £170
@cool girl
yer its £219.99
it comes out on the 25th march
i will do anything 4 a 3ds
i am desperate for the 3ds my dad said i am definitely getting a 3ds so i am jumping in my seat
about 4 more weeks then that beauty is mine woohoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
@Maremare429
It will have a browser, but I think like the 3DS shop it won’t be available until May with a system update. Not a long wait though, considering they could be sold out and you may not get a 3DS until well after then
Oh, forget that comment I left. It was answered ages ago, I was looking at page 1, lol the comment was left like a month ago.
lol