Nintendo 3DS Screenshots: Unboxing and First Impressions

Today my 3DS arrived. I pre-ordered it on Amazon the day they announced the pricing and it could first be pre-ordered. I did not really care about getting a good deal in terms of extras with the system, as I had over $100 in Amazon gift cards to help pay for it. I was pleasantly surprised that in the end I also got a $25 off a 3DS game and a free 3DS accessory credits. I did not plan on getting any of the current games, as none totally appealed to me, but with $25 off it was worthwhile to yesterday order Super Monkey Ball 3D, especailly since I also had $10 from pre-ordering Pokemon Black earlier this month.



I expected my 3DS to arrive tomorrow, so it was a pleasant surprise to see two Amazon boxes (my bro pre-ordered the black one) with today's mail this morning. I quickly opened up my Aqua Blue Nintendo 3DS and got to setting it up. The set up process is easy, although it always takes a few extra minutes to add a long wireless network password.



The longest part of the set up process seemed to be finding the stylus. I am so used to it being on the side that it took me a while to think that it could come out of the top. It is right next to the cartridge slot, which is a placement I do not like. It is much more convenient on the side. However, I do like that it is short and it expands out easily. Not useful to me short, but just kind of fun to slide it to be bigger, although I wonder about the durability of this feature.

The 3D aspect is apparent from the start as even the set up and menu utilizes it. It is pretty cool, especially since you do not need glasses for it.



The charging station it comes with it totally awesome.  I love just plopping the 3DS in it and it charges.  So easy and efficient.  You can still charge with the cord, which is good for portability sake and travel, but for day to day use the charging station is perfect, especially since it encourages you to leave your 3DS in sleep mode to take with you and record your daily activity with the pedometer and utilize StreetPass.



Not sure if I will use it, but the game note feature sounds interesting. You can access it for games that allow suspended mode.

When I heard the 3DS was going to have a joystick I was kind of leary of the idea. I am not a big fan of joystick controls. However, I have found that I like the style of it on the 3DS, which I think is similar to the PSP, but it seems much bigger. It seems quite seemless to operate, but I still am unsure of if I will like it when playing actual games.

Overall I love my Nintendo 3DS and I do not even have any of the 3DS cartridge games, yet. I am, however, slightly disappointed in the Aqua Blue color. It is a little greener and more teal/turquoise than I expected. Still prefer it to the black, though, so my bro and I can easily tell our's apart. The stylus location is also something I need to get used to.

My first impressions are continued in parts focusing on some of the built in titles/features:

• Nintendo 3DS Camera
• Nintendo 3DS Sound
• Mii Maker
• StreetPass Mii Plaza
• AR Games
• Face Raiders
• Activity Log

Click thumbnails below for some more photos/screenshots of my unboxing and setting up my Nintendo 3DS.

iPhone Game Screenshots: Pocket Frogs

Pocket Frogs is a sort of breeding and collect them all type game. It seemed interesting at first, but it is just too involved of a game to try to collect all the different breeds without actually really do anything interesting as you do that. It is line with the Fishville type games to waste time, but not as interesting. The fly catching part is at least something active you do, but overall the amount of variations to try and collect was too overwhelming to get me sucked in to playing as it seemed too impossible while not being very fun to play without a potentially obtainable goal.

Click the thumbnails below to see a larger version of the screenshots.

iPhone Game Screenshots: Movie Quizzle

Movie Quizzle is a fun quick trivia game app. There is a decent variety of trivia questions that make the replay value good. It is fun to keep playing and earning points to unlock the prizes, but it is mostly entertaining in short sessions of play.

Click the thumbnails below to see a larger version of the screenshots.

Nintendo Wii Screenshots: PokePark Wii Pikachu's Adventure

PokePark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure sure is not the normal Pokemon game, but rather it is along the lines of Hey, You Pikachu! for Nintendo 64 and Pokemon Channel for Gamecube. This line of Pokemon games have always been among my least favorite, but I still find them fun to at least play through a little. PokePark actually was better than I expected, as it is kind of fun when you get to be Pikachu and make other Pokemon friends.

The best part is you actually get to control Pikachu and do battles where you can dodge and stuff in real time. The battles are very short and not the best, but certainly something that is long overdue to be in a Pokemon game.

Overall PokePark Wii can be fun, but it does not have much depth, especially since it lacks multiplayer for the mini games. It also is likely to be too cutesy or not enough action for many traditional Pokemon fans. However, there is certainly a niche of Pokemon fans that can appreciate this game, especially if they liked the previous similar games of Hey, You Pikachu! and/or Pokemon Channel.

Click on the thumbnails below to see a larger version of the screenshots.

Nintendo DS Screenshots: The Sorcerer's Apprentice

The Sorcerer's Apprentice is supposedly based on the movie, but from the start it seemed so much different that made it entirely lose its appeal. Games based on movies tend to not be that great anyways. While I understand they cannot always exactly follow the movie, I do not get entirely changing the plot and it just totally ruins any potential the game has.

Click on the thumbnails below to see a larger version of the screenshots.

Nintendo DS SCreenshots: Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure

The title of Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure made me think it was a puzzle game. Well, it sort of is, but it is mostly an adventure style game with little puzzle parts you play every once in a while as part of making it through the levels. The puzzle aspect is lame and certainly does not make it fun for me being a puzzle game lover. I feel like the puzzle aspect will also annoy those who like adventure games. Perhaps, there is a small margin of those that like puzzle and adventure games that will like that this includes both, but I doubt it is very many as the puzzle part stinks.

Click the thumbnails below for a larger version of the screenshots.