There are a lot of (rather gimmicky) never-before-seen software features too, but we’re mainly going to look at the hardware upgrades and meaty internal specifications.

Completely overhauled graphics

Some of the pre-release images of the 3DS depicting a three-dimensional Mario dancing on the lower screen is sure to have made some people believe (or hope) that it would feature holographic 3D graphics projected in the space in front of the screen. Said people would probably have been disappointed at the “stereoscopic 3D” graphics that merely adds a sense of depth to a flat screen, but it’s still impressive considering you don’t need to wear any blue/red, flickering or polarized glasses to see the effect.

In addition to the autostereoscopic graphics, you might also notice that the overall resolution is higher – 400×240 pixels versus the DSi’s 256×192 pixels to be exact. What you probably won’t notice however is the increase in color depth from 18 bits-per-pixel to 24 bits-per-pixel.

A beefier computer inside

To handle the stereoscopic 3D graphics, the greater number of pixels and the greater number of colors per pixel, the 3DS needed a complete overhaul in processing power – and an overhaul did it get.

First the graphics processing unit has been upgraded from a Nintendo-built chip to a PICA200 chip, which is much more powerful. RAM has octupled from a puny 16mb to a full 128mb, and internal flash storage has also increased by the same proportion from 256mb to 2gb. There are no official details on the main processing units apart from the fact that it’s still two Nintendo-built ARM processors, but there are rumors that they are both 266MHz in comparison to the DSi’s 133MHz and 33MHz processors.

Improved connectivity

WiFi on the DSi was only a step up from poorly-implemented version on the DS – support for the secure WPA/WPA2 protocol was flaky. Thankfully on the 3DS its compatibility is almost as good as any WiFi chipset on the average notebook computer, though DS games will still have to use the less-secure WEP potocol. An interesting feature that has returned from the old Game Boy Color is infrared, though whether it will actually be useful remains to be seen.

Input on steroids

Even on pocket gaming devices, a couple of buttons and a D-pad don’t cut it anymore. An analog-input “circle pad”, which is basically a flat button that moves in all directions like a joystick, allows for precise input for games that support it (which is probably nearly all games, except for some of the free Nintendo 3DS games that the company offered as they are older GB Advance or NES games).

The accelerometer and gyroscope, as their names imply, measure the rate of acceleration of the unit in a given direction and the direction of gravity respectively. The ways in which these can be utilized by games is limitless; however gamers have run into problems with viewing angles when trying to play with stereoscopic 3D vision turned on and waving the the device around at the same time.

The new Nintendo 3DS isn’t just a DSi with autostereoscopic 3D – there are lots of other new features too. Some of these features won’t be compatible with the free 3DS games that were offered to people who bought the system before its first price drop, as they could only choose from classic Nintendo Entertainment System and Game Boy Advance games (the 3DS contains an emulator for older Nintendo platforms called the “virtual console”).

Ability to create Mii avatars

Mii’s, which are comic-character-like avatars of yourself, were first introduced with the Wii. Once you create one (you can create up to 100) it can be used in games that support it.  The most common use being your Mii becoming the main character of the game.

Once created using a Wii, a Mii can be transferred to and used with a Nintendo DSi. The 3DS on the other hand, contains a built-in Mii creator that’s actually more sophisticated than the one on a Wii in that the camera on the 3DS (which a Wii doesn’t have) allows you to take a picture of yourself and automate the creation of a similar-looking avatar.

Just passing by.. for a quick fight

When bluetooth technology first came out the concept of pocket devices “discovering” each other was born – and hackers quickly took advantage by hacking into passer-by’s who happened to have bluetooth enabled. Nintendo was creative enough to find a benevolent and entertaining use for close-range wireless communications between pocket devices – gaming with strangers without you even knowing it.

Even with the 3DS closed (in sleep mode) and in your pocket, it silently scans for others of its kind in its vicinity. When it detects one, it (depending on how you configured it) automatically swaps data, executes flash duels between your character and the strangers’ and more depending on the games installed. The exciting thing is that you will pass right by the stranger that you interacted with through StreetPass (this is what it’s called) without knowing it – for all you know you could have played a round of Street Fighter with a serial killer who happens to have a penchant for pocket gaming.

Not your average phone-camera

Close the 3DS and you’ll notice that it has not one, but two cameras on the cover spaced an inch apart. Most people are familiar with cell phones that have two cameras, but they’re placed on the front and the back with outwards-facing one being for taking photos and the one facing you being for video conferencing.

The dual pinhole cameras placed next to each other on the lid of the 3DS on the other hand are for taking stereoscopic 3D photos. The two cameras take a picture of the same scene from slightly different perspectives to create a picture with depth, much like how our eyes work to help us perceive distance.

Improve your health and get paid for it..

..not in cash, but in “Play Coins”. The 3DS contains a built-in pedometer which, while easily fooled (drive your car over some bumpy terrain and watch the pedometer climb), actually serves another purpose – earning Play Coins. You get a single coin for every 100 “steps” you take, though you’re limited to 1000 steps per day for the purposes of earning Play Coins. Uses vary wildly depending on the game, and future titles (possibly even free Nintendo 3DS games) will probably be able to come up with some creative ways to spend them.

My all-time favorite Nintendo DS title is Mario 64 DS.  Playing that game again, years later, on a handheld device and reliving the experience was incredible.  I had forgotten how many great things the game did, how many cool locations there were that I used to love, and how much fun I’d had with the game.

With the 3DS, Nintendo is taking a similar approach of trying to hook gamers by letting them replay an old classic that will undoubtedly bring back great memories.  It may seem weak that the system’s “killer app” is a simple port of a 10+ year old game, but it worked with Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time is one of the few games that can stand up to that one.  Given how much I loved the Mario 64 port and given that Ocarina of Time was one of my favorite games growing up, it goes without saying that I was very excited about the idea of playing Ocarina of Time 3DS, and I was not disappointed.

When I said OoT3DS was a “port”, I probably wasn’t doing it justice.  It’s not so much a port as it is a re-make.  While the gameplay still feels the same, and there’s not really much in the way of new content, the graphics have been completely rebuilt.  Yes, it’s true, the handheld version of the game actually looks significantly better than the old console version of the game you probably played on the Nintendo 64.  The devs said that their goal was to make OoT3DS looks like the OoT concept art that they were initially working with on the n64 version, but were limited in creating due to the limitations of the console.  I would say that they’ve done a remarkable job in meeting that goal, minus a few face palm inducing moments where things were clearly overlooked that shouldn’t have been (stairs still look like ramps with lines on them, for instance).

Upgraded graphics probably aren’t the reason that you’re interested in the game.  You’re here to find out how the 3D effect in the game works, and I’m here to tell you that it works very good.  Like most successful 3D media, OoT3DS works well because it doesn’t throw the 3D effect in your face every five seconds.  They didn’t alter the game to have spiders jumping out at your face or anything like that.  Rather, the 3D effect supplements the rest of the game, and it does it quite nicely.  My only complaint with the use of 3D in the game is that they didn’t really plan out a way to use it when you use the gyroscope to aim your projectile weapons (slingshot, bow and arrow, grappling hook, etc).  In order to use the gyroscope you have to move your 3DS around, and that breaks the 3D effect since you are no longer in the “sweet spot” for the effect to work properly.  Still though, the gyroscope aiming can be disabled, and other than that the game looks very, very good.

Story-wise, the game is exactly the same as it was before.  Nothing has been changed with the story or the plot or the items or anything like that.  The only new additions are a throwaway mode called gauntlet mode, which lets you repeatedly battle the games bosses and try to beat your time.  Master Mode returns from the original, allowing you to play through a slightly tweaked, more difficult version of the game.  It’s definitely worth a playthrough for any Zelda purist that has to experience all things Zelda.

All in all, Ocarina of Time 3DS is the best game out on the 3DS so far, which should surprise no one.  Nintendo has struggled to get good software out alongside the system but it’s a good thing they planned on following the success of the Mario 64 remake, because this game makes the system worth owning all on its lonesome.

The price cut down to $179.99 is nearly a 30% price cut, which is extremely aggressive for such a new device.  It was almost certainly done in response to slumping sales by the 3DS out of the gate, at least by Nintendo’s standards.  Nintendo has claimed repeatedly that the slow sale are due to a lack of software, but this price cut certainly implies that they also realized that the high price of entry was a major factor as well.  When Sony announced that the far more technically advanced PSVita would be launcing at $250 as well, that was really the death punch in Nintendo trying to defend that price point.  The 3DS just can’t be priced the same as the Vita with it being so much cheaper to produce.  Sony is likely taking a huge loss on the sale of each PSV console at that price point though, so at least Nintendo has that going for them.  Even at $179.99, the 3ds likely turns a profit on every sale, something that Nintendo has mastered while all the other game companies take a loss on their hardware sales within the first few months of release.

Things aren’t all grim for Nintendo though.  What many people forget is that the original DS struggled with slow sales early on as well.  While it didn’t see a price drop quite this fast, it did see one within the first eight months.  However, that price drop was much smaller ($150 to $130) than the current one, and after that price drop it held at the $150 price for the remainder of its life until the 3DS Lite launched, which then also launched at that same price.  I’m sure Nintendo would be ecstatic if they could hold on to the same price point for the next five years like they did after the first DS price drop.

There is a loophole in the current 3ds price drop roll out.  The price drop begins next week, and anyone who purchased their console before the price drop gets the free 20 games via the ambassador program.  However, Wal-mart dropped the price of the 3ds today, a week ahead of time.  That means that even if you don’t have one yet, you can pick one up at Wal-Mart right now for the lower price and still get the 20 free games via the ambassador program, essentially allowing you to double dip on the reduced price and the free games at the same time.