As the 3D tsunami washed over Hollywood in 2009, it brought with it a lingering pool of desperation to cash-in.

As time has shown, Nintendo are not above having a stab at new technology if it looks like there is a buck to be made. 64-bit, dual-screens and motion control, to name but a few, have all found success under the watchful eye of the Japanese giant. And who could forget the Virtual Boy?

This time around, Nintendo claim ‘3D without glasses’ as the main selling point for their latest hardware – much like real life provides all around us. While the illusion of a proper 3D tunnel does show on the 3DS, the effect feels forced. When you hold the 3DS at the recommended distance of 200-300mm from your face, perfectly still and at the optimal angle, the 3D effect is quite striking. Character models become solid and well defined, but that’s where the fun stops. If you move the screen away from the optimal spot, things fall away to a headache-inducing blur.

 

Twisting the 3DS away from your face in either direction causes an alarming flicker – enough to make sure you lock your arms in position and stay like that until you’re done. Or the battery runs flat. This is a fundamental limitation of the parallax barrier used to create the stereoscopic images, which requires an extremely narrow field of view to produce realistic 3D depth.

It’s a cause for concern that Nintendo have released this device as a flagship when it has the potential to annoy the end user.

Thankfully not everyone who tries it finds the 3D hard to watch, and admittedly you can use the 3D slider to remove the effect altogether. Although as 3D is a major selling point it might be best for those unsure as to their tolerance levels to ask for a demonstration before investing.

Exploring the dimensions and finish of the new machine, the impression is that Nintendo have created something oddly niche with the 3DS. It’s a good bit thicker than the DSi, and comes in a slick and shiny plastic body. Things are a little wider on the 3DS, including the top screen. At 230 grams, it's also surprisingly hefty and will leave a bruise if you fall asleep playing Kid Icarus and drop the thing on your face.

 

During testing, we also discovered that the volume/wifi switches are positioned in a slightly awkward place. If you have large hands and like to mash, it's likely you will end up messing with the volume or going offline accidentally from time to time.

The controls have had the most serious revamp since the Gameboy Advance became the DS. A responsive analogue stick has been added to the left-hand side of the machine, as well as the addition of a ‘Home’ key, located beneath the touch screen alongside the relocated ‘Start’ and ‘Select’ buttons. The main camera is now located on the upper lip of the lid and has an increased resolution, and shooting 3D photos is now possible with the dual rear cameras. It's a solid, well made device and it features fast and responsive controls, although depending on the size and agility of your hands, the new layout will either delight or frustrate you. Some may find that the position of the D-Pad is too low to be comfortable for playing fighting games, and the analogue stick a little too slow for the precision required.

In addition to messing about with the 3D photo options, the preloaded Face Raiders application is an impressive bit of kit. Simply put, you can take a photo of someone's face, then shoot it down as it appears on-screen in increasingly bizarre ways. The unit will even add new faces from whoever happens to walk past in the background. It's a remarkable inclusion and a good demonstration of augmented reality, made all the more satisfactory by the knowledge that you don't have to pay for it.

Not only that, the 3DS features a messaging service, a Mii Maker application, and an Activity Log that functions as a pedometer and rewards you for exercising with Play Coins. These coins can be used in the StreetPass application to unlock pieces of puzzles based on Nintendo property, or in a mini-game entitled Find Mii. It may seem like light entertainment indeed, but it's all as addictive as you'd expect from Nintendo.

 

For your money, you’re getting the nicest and most advanced handheld device Nintendo has ever developed. Which is what you'd expect, given that the 3DS retails near the NZD $500 mark.

As far as technology is concerned, the dual-core ARM CPU makes light work of pushing portable polygons. The 3DS has a custom graphics processor that outputs to the two screens; the upper 90mm 3D display outputs at 400x240 per eye, and the lower non-3D panel at 320x240, with an additional resistive touch feature.

Super Street Fighter IV looks phenomenal and feels as fluid as it does on the PlayStation 3. All the additional features that come crammed into the console are welcome too, including a dedicated wifi switch and the bundled 2GB SD card.

What is not so welcome is the rather pitiful four to five hour battery life. Playing games in 2D (that is, with the 3D slider down to zero) the battery lasts almost as long as a regular DSi. When that slider is pushed to maximum 3D, things are quite different. It's not immediately obvious as to what causes such an extraordinary drain – things on screen appear to have the same polygon counts and textures whether they are displayed in 3D or not. Perhaps it’s too early in the game to cast judgement on it, and to be fair the battery still lasts long enough for most gaming stints.

With a lack of first-party Nintendo titles available at launch, let's just hope the company can find a balance between compelling game design and useful 3D trickery in the coming months.