Last week I began to learn the joys of 3DS ownership. In my Skyward Sword induced frenzy, the sight of the Ocarina of Time 3DS bundle pushed me over the edge and I splurged. I mean look at this thing:

I was powerless, I had to buy it. I still regret not getting the Zelda DS lite bundle.

It helped that there are now enough games for the system to make owning not a waste of time and money. The 3DS actually had a pretty decent launch line-up, with several good games if no great ones. Since then the trickle of games, the worthwhile ones at least, released have almost exclusively come from Nintendo themselves. Which is not unusual for a Nintendo system. Right now Mario Kart 7 and Super Mario Land 3D lead my list, with Pilot Wings Resort and Star Fox 64 3D just behind. Plus, there are several worthwhile downloadable games between DSiWare and 3DSWare. And the addition of Gameboy Virtual Console, which I’ve already bought Link’s Awakening DX from. Last but not least, my DS backlog can transfer right over.

Honestly, while the 3D effect is truly awesome, I can’t really play with it on for more than about 45 min. It isn’t really a strain, but it is a bit disconcerting. So far I’ve been using to regulate my playtime on Ocarina, keeping me from plowing through the game in one sitting.

I’ve also tried it out for playing DS games. It isn’t perfect. You can either stretch the game to fit the screen, or shrink it to it’s natural resolution. Neither option is as good as playing it on a regular DS, but it is definitely playable. Some of the games actually look pretty good.

There are certainly flaws that will become apparent to me with time, but right now, flush with new ownership, I am very pleased with this machine.