The Nintendo 3DS is a powerful multitasking beast, besting the efforts of many handhelds and consoles before it. If you don't want to quit out of your game, you can use one of the four highlighted icons to perform additional tasks on top of your game after pressing the Home button.
For example, want to jot down some important notes during a game? Don't ruin the last few pages of your instruction booklet. Instead, tap the pencil icon to access Game Memo, an app that lets you draw and write anything you want. (It looks a lot like Pictochat.) Once you're done, you can save your image to the SD card.
Is your system notification LED flashing orange? That means one of your Wi-Fi connected friends is online. Tap the smiley face button to see what your friends are playing. The speech bubble icon will give you insight into all of your Spot Pass and Street Pass activity, letting you know when you've downloaded something new. Finally, the internet browser (available via firmware update) should let you research some GameFAQs and read some Joystiq while you take a break from raiding some faces.
Reader Comments (57)
Posted: Jan 28th 2011 8:05PM A Burger said
Meh, not impressed.
Posted: Jan 28th 2011 8:18PM Dopple Boppler said
@A Burger How would one even begin to go about impressing a burger
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Posted: Jan 28th 2011 8:10PM BigD145 said
"Is your system notification LED flashing orange? That means one of your Wi-Fi connected friends is online."
There had better be a hard button I can press to turn that crap on or off.
There had better be a hard button I can press to turn that crap on or off.
Posted: Jan 29th 2011 5:34PM LittleMofreaky said
@BigD145 Are... are orange lights really that annoying to you?
Reply
Posted: Jan 28th 2011 8:15PM tendoboy1984 said
PSP2 is WAY more powerful than 3DS... But 3DS will have games that are more suited for portability (pick-up-and-play, quick gameplay sessions).
Sony is using the exact same strategy that they had with the first PSP... replicate home console experiences in a handheld.
Sony is using the exact same strategy that they had with the first PSP... replicate home console experiences in a handheld.
Posted: Jan 28th 2011 8:25PM JasonGW said
@tendoboy1984 Without question, PSP2 is more powerful than 3DS. Unfortunately, that's a guarantor of exactly nothing, as Sony should have learned by now.
What they need to do now is deliver PSP2 at a competitive price to 3DS. If they can't get within $50 of 3DS, they might as well not even launch the thing, because the audience for a $350-400 portable is slim to none. Even 3DS is overpriced.
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What they need to do now is deliver PSP2 at a competitive price to 3DS. If they can't get within $50 of 3DS, they might as well not even launch the thing, because the audience for a $350-400 portable is slim to none. Even 3DS is overpriced.
Posted: Jan 28th 2011 8:41PM Vidikron said
@tendoboy1984
You're making the assumption the NGP won't have those games too. They started the whole "minis' thing for the PSP a while back, many of which are exactly those types of games. What really hurt the PSP in terms of casual games was the lack of a touch screen. Many casual games (e.g. Bejeweled, Sudoku, Picross, Jewel Quests, etc, etc....) simply work better on a touch screen. The NGP won't have this problem.
And both systems now face stiff competition in the causal market from iOS and Android. They have those types of games in spades.
Reply
You're making the assumption the NGP won't have those games too. They started the whole "minis' thing for the PSP a while back, many of which are exactly those types of games. What really hurt the PSP in terms of casual games was the lack of a touch screen. Many casual games (e.g. Bejeweled, Sudoku, Picross, Jewel Quests, etc, etc....) simply work better on a touch screen. The NGP won't have this problem.
And both systems now face stiff competition in the causal market from iOS and Android. They have those types of games in spades.
Posted: Jan 28th 2011 8:45PM tendoboy1984 said
@SoCoolCurt
The very first sentence of the article:
"3DS is a powerful, multitasking beast"
I'm just pointing out that the PSP2/NGP is even MORE powerful.
Reply
The very first sentence of the article:
"3DS is a powerful, multitasking beast"
I'm just pointing out that the PSP2/NGP is even MORE powerful.
Posted: Jan 28th 2011 9:16PM religiousjedi said
@tendoboy1984 Cool story bro, but...what does it have to do with this story?
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Posted: Jan 28th 2011 9:39PM LittleMofreaky said
@tendoboy1984 What does the PSP NGP have to do with this article at all? Why did you have to shit on this really cool news? I want an NGP too, but get over yourself.
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Posted: Jan 29th 2011 4:53AM AngelWingedBrawler said
@Vidikron
What really did it for DS was its casual friendly games, and brand recognition. NGP will not have the brand recognition, especially with PS3 placed 3rd, and we know you can't out casual Nintendo these days
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What really did it for DS was its casual friendly games, and brand recognition. NGP will not have the brand recognition, especially with PS3 placed 3rd, and we know you can't out casual Nintendo these days
Posted: Jan 28th 2011 8:17PM mguniverse said
Haha DS browser, good one. I can totally read a Joystiq post on there! /sarcasm
Posted: Jan 28th 2011 8:23PM A Sandwich said
@mguniverse
The ironic thing is that soon no one will be able to read your comment.
Reply
The ironic thing is that soon no one will be able to read your comment.
Posted: Jan 28th 2011 8:39PM tendoboy1984 said
@mguniverse
You can enlarge the page on the DSi browser, and the Wii browser (pressing the 2 button puts you in a "single column" mode, where you can't zoom).
Reply
You can enlarge the page on the DSi browser, and the Wii browser (pressing the 2 button puts you in a "single column" mode, where you can't zoom).
Posted: Jan 29th 2011 4:55AM AngelWingedBrawler said
@mguniverse
Dude i read articles on my DSi all the time. just go to joystiq mobile.
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Dude i read articles on my DSi all the time. just go to joystiq mobile.
Posted: Jan 28th 2011 8:21PM SoCoolCurt said
kind of like the notepad and browser thing in-game. i always have my phone with me though which can do all that stuff anyway but nice features none the less.
Posted: Jan 28th 2011 8:28PM mrmobius said
Nice to see Nintendo are taking a page out of Steam's book (and even if they're not, there are similarities, and it's great) as the in-game Steam options are really useful.
Posted: Jan 29th 2011 1:47PM Arcangel000 said
@jph89 The ps3 is getting steam support, I dont understand why you got downvoted. People dont like the idea of steam on ps3?
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Posted: Jan 29th 2011 5:46PM Arcangel000 said
@Anticrawl True, but it is relevant to what he replied too. I'm somewhat new to this so I dont know what the rules in the joystiq community are for downvoting.
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Posted: Jan 28th 2011 8:48PM tendoboy1984 said
The only thing I don't like about the 3DS is the small size of the screens. The top screen has too much empty space around it, and the bottom screen is smaller than the DSi's.
Posted: Jan 28th 2011 9:10PM The Only Girl said
This is amazing for Legend of Zelda players. :U
Posted: Jan 28th 2011 9:12PM Chichok said
Please no friend codes....PLEASE
Posted: Jan 28th 2011 9:24PM religiousjedi said
Posted: Jan 28th 2011 9:21PM Vidikron said
@A Burger
Food fight!!!
Food fight!!!
Posted: Jan 28th 2011 10:12PM Xupmatoih said
So.. Only one(seriously..ONE?!?!) FriendCode??
A Button to show your friendlist and who's Playing What??
NintenDoLive, anyone??
A Button to show your friendlist and who's Playing What??
NintenDoLive, anyone??
Posted: Jan 28th 2011 10:21PM Enosoma said
Ruin the instruction booklet? I remember there being pages left blank specifically so I could ruin them. I mean, jot down notes.
Posted: Jan 28th 2011 10:26PM eliteghost said
@kgoo867
3DS > You
3DS > You
Posted: Jan 28th 2011 10:51PM Raffi256 said
Wow this is so many firsts for Nintendo








