Game Boy 3DS XL £179.50, nintendo.co.uk ★★★★★

Someone has finally nailed how 3D should actually work.

But in a bitter irony (that won’t be lost on anyone who wasted thousands on a 3D television) the gadget that has pulled off the feat is a toy for children.

It isn’t any old toy, of course – it’s the great-great-great-grandchild of the Game Boy, a console whose signature game, Tetris, was said to be so addictive pundits coined the term, ‘Pharmatronic’ to capture the drug-like grip with which the Russian puzzle game squeezed the decadent West.

This is the third update for Nintendo’s 3DS, and it’s rather like an upgrade to a much-loved car marque. They’re not adding any wheels here, but there is a second analogue stick, and a slightly improved brain

The 3DS XL comes at the end of three solid decades in which the Japanese company has ruled the minds of under-12s, like a Far Eastern Pied Piper.

The new gimmick is a clever one, but not one that’s going to show up in the back of televisions any time soon.

A little computer watches your eyeballs as you look at the screen, and tunes the 3D so it’s focused on where you’re actually looking.

While tech companies have tried to pull this off with TVs, it tends to merely cause a vague feeling of unease on a big screen.

There are occasional hiccups if you use it wearing glasses, but it’s mostly a solid, beguiling little gimmick, making the worlds of games such as Monster Hunter 4 even more seductive, even (ahem) for people old enough to know better. Crucially, the 3D is also something that iPad will never, ever do.

For parents, the 3DS has several cardinal virtues, including bulletproof parental controls to ensure youngsters don’t blow our savings on magic crystals in Candy Crush, or wander off into the wilder reaches of the internet

This is the third update for Nintendo’s 3DS, and it’s rather like an upgrade to a much-loved car marque.

They’re not adding any wheels here, but there is a second analogue stick (for action games), and a slightly improved brain for dealing with 3D games.

Nintendo has already shifted 50 million 3DS and 2DS units worldwide, so it’s not like the company’s got any worries.

And for parents, the 3DS has several cardinal virtues, including bulletproof parental controls to ensure youngsters don’t blow our savings on magic crystals in Candy Crush, or wander off into the wilder reaches of the internet.

Nintendo games are still pricey – but family-friendly titles such as The Legend Of Zelda: Majora’s Mask are the sort of thing you can happily leave a child with for hours without peeking over their shoulders to check what’s happening.

And as any parent will tell you, that sort of entertainment is beyond price.

GAMES

MONSTER HUNTER 4

£40, NINTENDO 3DS

For everyone who’s unashamed of their place in the food chain, Monster Hunter 4 is a hoot, with a distinctly surreal Japanese feel, and a very large number of talking cats

This game is not recommended for vegans. From level one, you are hunting dinosaurs, then roasting them over a portable spit timing it so your steaks come out medium rare. For everyone who’s unashamed of their place in the food chain, it’s a hoot, with a distinctly surreal Japanese feel, and a very large number of talking cats. ★★★★★