The Nintendo 3DS Overview

Most of us have heard of the company Nintendo and some of there products. The newest one coming out this Sunday (March 27, 2011) is the Nintendo 3DS. The 3DS is part of a series of handheld gaming devices that revolutionized the gaming industry. In this article, you will learn about the history of Nintendo, how the 3D system works, and all of the new features of the Nintendo 3DS.

What is Nintendo?
Nintendo is a very popular electronic game company. In the beginning of the company, it only sold card games. Now, they have the most popular handheld game system and a very popular game console. The handheld game system called the Nintendo DS/DSi started out as what was known as a GameBoy. The GameBoy had many games for it and was the basic starting of handheld game systems. The DSi though, has a built in camera and microphone with a small editing software pre-installed. The newest version which hasn't been released but almost is, is the Nintendo 3DS.

How does the 3D work?
The 3DS will be the first of its kind with the technology it uses. However, many companies are already taking advantage of the technology that Nintendo has presented. The technology I'm talking about is the one that allows users to view the game or pictures in 3D. It LCD screen is known as a parallax LCD which is what allows the 3D to work. The parallax LCD works by controlling what light is leaving the screen and what direction it is going. In other words, one eye sees one part and the other sees a different part. When this happens your brain puts them together and sees a 3-dimentional image. So in basically, the device tricks your brain into thinking it's seeing a 3d image when really it's just seeing two different images.

The Features

The 3D Switch
The 3-Dimentional Switch is located on the bottom right of the top screen. The switch enables the user to decide the depth of the 3D or to just turn it off overall. This is a good feature because it isn't good for young children to look at the 3D and anyone else shouldn't for over 30 minutes at a time.

The Cameras
There are two cameras located on the back of the bottom screen and one on the front of the top screen. The reason for having two cameras on the back is so that you can take 3D images. 3D images are produced by two cameras close to each other so your brain can put them together to get 3D. For example, your eyes work the same way, they are near each other and work like cameras so when your brain puts them together, you get a third dimension. The screen in the front is there so you can see yourself and take easy pictures of yourself.

The Buttons
The Buttons are located on the left and right sides of the bottom screen. There is a "+ Control-Pad" which are the arrow buttons and there are the normal A, B, X, and Y buttons. However, a new addition is the analog circle which can rotate in any direction much like on a Playstation or Xbox controller. In each game or application, every button will perform a certain function.

The Screens
On the 3DS and the other DS systems, there are two screens. Each screen makes up about half of the device. The top screen will be the only one with the ability to show in 3D but the bottom screen is the only one that is a touchscreen. The top screen is also about 10% larger than the original DS. The two work together to do different things in almost every game.

The Insides
In the inside of the device, there will be two new features. These are the gyroscope and the accelerometer. The accelerometer can detect motion and tilt. The gyroscope can detect which way you are facing even when the device is vertical to the floor.

The Notification Light
The notification light is located at the top right of the bottom screen. The code goes as follows:

Green- Street Pass Notification: This tells you that while your 3DS was in sleep mode, you passed another in sleep mode and the two exchanged some information

Blue-Spot Pass Notification: This tells you there is a local hotspot for wifi

Orange-Friend Online: This is pretty self-explanatory. It means one or more of your friends are online at that moment.

Red- Your battery is low

The Stylus
The stylus included is now able to extend so it's about double its normal length. This helps if you want to write on the touchscreen like you would a pencil.

The Charging Dock
A nice new feature to the pack is the charging dock. This will allow a user to just set the 3DS on the station instead of finding the charger and plugging it in. Also it will be harder to lose than a charger because it is usually stationary and it is larger.

The SD Slot
People have been looking for Nintendo to add this for a while now. The SD card slot will allow a person to put photos on or take them out of the 3DS system. The package will include a 2GB card but you can upgrade with a different car.

Overall, I like the new idea for the Nintendo 3DS system and I can't wait to get my hands on one to try it. The new features are great and will enhance gaming on a portable system. The virtual communication (street pass) will add to the excitement of users because they won't know what they'll see when they get home. And for the biggest feature, the 3D, it will be a great addition to a great handheld game system. So go out, try one, and see if it's for you.