I want to be shown something new when I play a fresh gaming system, something that wouldn't be possible on the hardware I already have in my home. The first time I was able to go hands-on with the 3DS and experience a working 3D technology that didn't require glasses, I knew that Nintendo was onto something big.

During that initial presentation, Nintendo mocked 3D televisions and movies that required bulky, uncomfortable glasses, and they were right to do so: a good, mass-market technology for delivering 3D in the home just doesn't seem to exist yet... at least outside of portable gaming devices. At $250, the 3DS isn't cheap, but Nintendo has to be tired of seeing its systems sell out and the gray market take advantage of the mark-ups. This time the company seems comfortable going for a higher price out of the gate.

We've had a long time to play with the 3DS and with a number of the system's launch games. It has problems, some of which are pretty large, but I never lost the feeling of magic from that first demo, flying around in Pilotwings Resort in full 3D, taking in the scenery. That's what Nintendo is delivering, and that's why this system is going to be a hit. Eventually.

What you get in the box

$250 is expensive for a portable gaming-only system these days, but Nintendo did a good job of filling the box with a good variety of items. Here's what your money buys you:

The system

2GB SD card

6 AR cards

Charging cradle

Power supply

The stylus

The device comes in two colors at launch: black and aquamarine. After seeing both units, I personally prefer the look of the black unit, as the aquamarine hardware looks much more like a gaudy toy than a serious gaming device (if that's not an oxymoron). The system itself is slightly thicker than previous DS systems, but it looks very similar to past Nintendo hardware, especially when closed. Were it not for the two cameras on the case, you would be forgiven for thinking this was a new DSi color at first glance.

The hardware

Nintendo isn't exactly tripping over itself to share the exact tech specs of the Nintendo 3DS, although some information may have leaked out. While other companies trumpet the amount of RAM in their hardware or the power of their CPU, Nintendo is keeping the details of what's in the 3DS under wraps. I contacted people who have taken the system apart, I contacted Nintendo, I poured over press materials, I talked to other writers... the best we have are the unconfirmed reports out of Japan. Here's are the rumored tech specs:

Two 266MHz ARM11 CPUs

A 133MHz GPU (DMP's PICA200)

4MB of dedicated VRAM,

64MBs of RAM

1.5GB of flash storage

This is according to an unnamed source from IGN, so take it with a grain of salt. We spoke with iFixit, who told us that the Toshiba THGBM2G3P1FBAI8 NAND Flash chip is 2GB. Throughout the past week I've been in contact with iFixit, and they've been in contact with Chipworks, and no one can answer with any authority the question of how much RAM is in the system, or how the CPU is clocked. They're working on it, but the information is proving to be oddly mysterious.

On the system's face there are two screens. The bottom touchscreen is 3.02 inches, running at 320 by 240, a slight upgrade from the DS Lite's 3 inch 256 by 192 screen. The top screen is 3.53 inches, in the odd 5:3 aspect ratio, running at 800 by 240, although the horizontal resolution is split between your two eyes in order to create the illusion of depth, so the effective resolution is 400 by 240.

Keep in mind that when you're playing a DS game on your 3DS, the image is stretched for the larger screen. If you'd like to play the game in the original resolution, be sure to hold the Start and Select buttons when launching the game from the home screen. Destructoid has some before and after images that show the difference, and it's rather noticeable.