I was glad that I got to see the Nintendo 3D handheld at E3, and came away with mixed feelings about 3D on the unit.
I was actually surprised that 3D looked as well as it did on the unit -- and without needing glasses no less (or the need to buy a brand new, 3D TV like with Sony's offering). The 3D image was very sharp, even though I had to move my head or re-focus my eyes occasionally to bring out the 3D image. There was some depth to the image as well a little pop off the screen. I got to see a number of demos using the feature, and the most impressive was the Metal Gear Solid demo riffing off of Snake Eater. I didn't get to see the Star Fox 64 demo, which featured gameplay, unfortunately, as I heard a bunch of people raving about it.
Here's the thing, though: while 3D on the unit is a nice effect, it's just that -- something that looks cool but won't really change the way I play games. I saw the Paper Mario demo, and while it look really good, there was no doubt that Mario was hopping along in 2D like he always does. It's like when parallax scrolling came out: 3D gets us one step closer to the appearance of reality, but we're still a thousand steps away. And I'd say the same about Sony's Move controller. Sure, it can be better than using a traditional controller, but it's not like I actually think I'm holding a gun or whatever.
The thing that impressed me most about the handheld was just how great the top screen really was without 3D. The Metal Gear Solid demo looked every bit as good as Snake Eater on the PS2. In fact, there were times when I'd move the 3D slider down to 2D and while I'd lose the 3D effect, the image on the screen was pretty sweet and crisp. Maybe you'll get a 3DS because you're excited about 3D and what it can do for your gaming. And I hope the unit makes use of the feature in some awesome ways. But after the novelty wears off, you'll be thankful that the power of the top screen and the graphics it can deliver is what's at the heart of the handheld.