Tom Mc Shea, Associate Editor

I was one Negative Nancy when Nintendo first announced the 3DS earlier this year. "3D is a gimmick!" I exclaimed. Now that I've gotten a chance to play a few games and see some Maplestory2 Mesos real-time demos, I am blown away by this technology. It may not improve the actual gameplay, but it looks incredible and makes old experiences like Star Fox 64 feel new again. The games on display in Nintendo's booth make really smart use of this extra dimension. For instance, in the new Mario Kart game, the racers aren't given the 3D treatment, but the weapons are, so it gives those special items a bit more impact. But you're never distracted when just trying to nail a hairpin turn. The flying parts of Kid Icarus also look sweet. I could see this system revitalizing the stagnant rail shooter genre. Give me a new Panzer Dragoon, please!

I would love to toss in some negative note here, a warning sign for the future, but I don't see a downside to this system. If the 3D gets in the way, an easy-to-access slider lets you turn it off in a flash, and the extra horsepower (Animal Crossing looks a lot better than the Wii version), and smooth slide pad makes it seem like this would work great for a huge variety of game types. Now they just have to release the darn thing.