Supermallet

It's being prepped for shipping and cannot be canceled. My estimated arrival date is March 30th. I wouldn't mind, except that I'm supposed to review the damn thing for this site, and now I can't until Amazon takes their sweet time getting it to me.

I'd buy one at Gamestop and return the Amazon copy to Gamestop when it arrived, but I'm pretty sure they scan the serial number, so I can't swap it like that.

Liver&Onions

That's a bummer

Nausicaa

Are there midnight releases at Gamestop and such? I might consider it. Kind of want one but still not sure if it's worth the $250 bones.

Supermallet

Several Gamestops are doing midnight releases, yes.

Brent L

I just got the shipping confirmation from Amazon, it'll be here on the 29th.

Deftones

i was at best buy today and i was killing a little time. wanted to check it out but some old guy was messing around with the demo unit. wtf old people!

GreenVulture

Same here. I also pre-ordered Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars earlier this week, so in theory I should be receiving $35 in credit from Amazon ($25 from the 3DS preorder + $10 for the game) in a day or two. Pick up Super Street Fighter IV for $5? Oh yeah!

Supermallet

Damn it, mine still says shipping soon and delivery estimate of the 30th. My one hope is that usually all my Amazon orders come next day even when I select two day shipping, so hopefully that will be the case with this.

darkside

After spending time at the Nintendo preview event at gamestop I had to cancel my preorder. For some weird reason the 3D effect makes me sick within a few minutes of playing. Tried different settings but had the same issue even with it only a quarter on. Really sucks because I love the DS, but can't justify $250 to own a 3DS to play the games in 2D.

Setzer

I had my first hands-on with it yesterday and had a similar experience. Initially I felt sick and had a slight headache but after a few minutes it went away. I had the 3D slider maxed to start with but then adjusted it down to about 1/2 way and I had no problems with it. You had to view it dead center to get the full affect, any slight move away from center and the image distorted quickly. I played Pilotwings and had a blast with it. Still not sold on it, though. I don't like the smaller screens compared to my DSi XL and even smaller screens when playing DS games which I would probably spend most of my time doing. One of the big things for me was being able to use the circle pad for all my old DS games. I just can't see spending $250 for a system just for the circle pad and on top of that have to play the games on a smaller screen. Think I'll wait and maybe they'll have a 3DS XL down the road.

Supermallet

I ordered Nintendogs late last night since Nintendo is being stingy with review copies and within hours got a shipping email for it with a delivery date of 3/29. The system is still "shipping soon."

Gizmo

Yeah, what's up with that? They've had these for well over a week and Amazon couldn't ship these on Friday? My 3DS is still "shipping soon".

Supermallet

I stopped in at the Gamestop by my work and they let me mess around with a 3DS that an employee bought. The AR card stuff was very cool, as expected. For a system like this, you really need to get the hands on experience to see whether it's a good fit for you. I loved it.

NiCK Crush

AR card stuff they demo'd on Jimmy Fallon the other night looked really cool.

NiCK Crush

...

Quack

I had a bit of a headache as well after just playing a demo in Best Buy.

juanmgonzalez

Sam's Club has a bundle of the system, Pilotwings and an accessory starter kit for $299. They had around 6 or so bundles left this morning.

Daryl

So far today, I'm fine while playing a game in 3D (slider at about 80%), but I'm a little out of focus when I put it down and go back to normal vision

Nausicaa

Finally got to try this out at Best Buy this morning. It was a better experience than I had expected. I was quite impressed with the 3D. Like everyone else, I was playing Pilot Wings. The 3D doesn't really affect the game play at all, but the feeling was surprisingly immersive. I thought it would be gimmicky on such a small screen, but it really made a difference versus the 2D. The only real problem was the narrow range in which 3D was visible.

It wasn't the X or Y axis that was the problem so much as the Z. Moving the system closer to or away from your face really obscures the image and the effect. It probably helps when there isn't a heavy cord affixing the system to the display unit. I may have to pick one of these up this week.

I stopped short of buying one on the way out. Mostly because I was still pissed at wasting half an hour standing around as two kids played with the system while their mother was off somewhere. Fucking Best Buy.

Decker

So you Amazon folks get your systems yet? Impressions?

I still have to go see one in stores. Are there demo units in Target or Game Stop? Best Buy is a bit of a drive for me.

UncleGramps

Pretty happy with the system so far. It's not perfect - battery life being the biggest problem - but for the most part, it feels solid and works well. You NEED natural sunlight coming in through the windows for things like taking 3D pictures or using the AR cards. But when it works, it's quite impressive.

As for the games, I have Steel Diver, Pilotwings, and the Ghost Recon game.

Steel Diver is pretty cool so far, but seems a bit thin, content-wise, unless additional levels unlock after the 7 that are initially shown on the menu. Still, it's fun, and the control scheme makes it stand out as something unique.

Pilotwings is a lot of fun, and out of the games I've played so far, it makes the best use of the 3D. Like Steel Diver, I have concerns over the amount of content. After maybe an hour or so of play time, I've already completed three of the five "tiers" of the game.

Ghost Recon is perhaps the biggest surprise so far. It was off my radar until positive reviews came along and pointed out the fact that it's a turn-based strategy game. It doesn't do too much with the 3D, but the gameplay is really solid so far. Characters, dialogue, story, etc. are all cheesy and forgettable, but the actual nuts and bolts of the gameplay mechanics make it quite enjoyable.

fujishig

Amazon shipped mine yesterday, so no console until perhaps Wed. Still, with the $25 credit and some kind of free accessory, can't complain too much.

Doesn't seem to be much of a shortage; went to TRU last night to pick up some games and they had a lot of consoles left over. And this is scalper central.

So is Ghost Recon worth getting because the game is decent overall, or because it's decent as a launch game? I still have a ton of partially played turn based strategy games for the DS and PSP.

I did pick up Pilotwings and one of the Nintendogs releases. I'll pick up Street Fighter with the $25 credit, but not sure what to pick up with the $10 credit...

edited to add: seems like my 3DS from amazon just got delivered...

Michael Corvin

I tried out the demo unit at Target last night. I was pleasantly surprised. Pilotwings seemed to make good use of the 3D.

Still didn't seem worth the $250 though. It's a DSi with a gimmick.

I debated taking part in one of the trade in deals but it all comes down to games and there isn't a single launch game that looks compelling to me. Pilotwings comes closest, but it still boils down to content, and as Gramps said, it doesn't seem like all that deep of a game.

I'm still interested in it for the first party games, but I think the inevitable hardware refresh with a better battery and lower price is more attractive at this point. Plus by then there will be a handful of games worth getting excited about.

UncleGramps

I'm only about five missions in so far, so I can't really give a decisive recommendation. If you enjoy turn-based strategy games and you're in the mood for a new one, it will certainly scratch that itch.

Draven

We are featuring a 3DS on Wednesday for the talk show I produce, so Nintendo just sent me a review unit.

Gotta say it's a little cooler than I thought it was going to be. Just messed around for a bit with the AR stuff, the camera, the Face shooting game and Nintendogs but it actually seems pretty neat. Got a little bit of a headache and it takes me a second to fix my eyes but I don't seem to have problems finding a good spot for the 3D to work.

The AR stuff is the most impressive. There are some things I've seen for the iPad and iPhone that do something similar and it's just a really cool technology and the only real "point" I've ever seen for 3D objects in a 2D world.