DS games on 3DS

As we get closer to the 3DS release, my enthusiasm for it is waning a bit.

The launch games lineup is not that strong. Currently I have 2 day-one game purchases in mind: Ridge Racer 3D and Pilot Wings Resort. I love the first Ridge Racer on the PSP. And Pilot Wings Resort looks very "Wii-ish" in a good way... that and I'm *itching* for a good flying game.... but I have to admit that neither game looks groundbreaking; Ridge Racer is one of the most conservative franchises out there-- it barely changes anything from game to game... I didn't even buy Ridge Racer 2 because it looked like the exact same game as the first one. I've never played a Pilot Wings game but from what little I've seen of Pilot Wings Resort-- which is VERY LITTLE-- it also looks a bit light in content. Plus I'm not sure either of these games are for sure available at launch.

Then the browser & online 3DS game shop aren't coming until May I think?

So I'm thinking that I'll be playing a lot of DS games on the 3DS for the first few months. But a couple of disturbing details are creeping out about that too.

Gamespot reports that DS games take a bit longer to load on the 3DS. According to their charts, it's about 5-7 seconds longer, which doesn't seem like much but I'm wondering if there are going to be other inconsistencies with DS software.

A more disturbing observation was made by Joystiq that DS games on the 3DS are upscaled and fuzzy. So they don't look as good as they would played on a DS Lite.



I don't really see it on the video myself. But I credit it to the poor quality of the video, the guy didn't even turn off the 3D-- the slider is still on full. Sheesh. But seen in real life it may be more noticeable.


This is somewhat understandable given the higher resolution of the 3DS screens.

I play Gameboy Advance games on my HTC Legend smartphone, and the games are upscaled to fit the screen for it.... and I have to say, they look GREAT. Some look better than others, but in general I'm quite happy with how they look on my phone. How they PLAY, using onscreen controls, is another matter...

So if DS games look as good as GBA games look on my phone, I'd be ok with it. But my HTC Legend has an AMOLED screen which looks really good. I even prefer the screen quality of it over my PSPgo for watching videos, it's just brighter & crisper... I don't know.

Another thing I'm excited about is that we can use the 3DS analog nub to play DS games! I am looking forward to playing my fave DS game MechAssault: Phantom War using the analog nub! But I'm trying not to get my hopes up, I know that it won't offer levels of sensitivity normally characteristic of an analog nub, it will simply operate the same as the D-pad.


later
don