I’ve been using Google+ for a few weeks now and I gotta say, I really like it. It combines most of the good things about Twitter and Facebook without a lot of the bullshit that comes along with either. You have the “follow” system of Twitter combined with the comment system of Facebook, and no one’s mom is on it yet!

With yet ANOTHER social media outlet in my utility belt (that I use to keep from having to ever ACTUALLY socialize) I had to think about how I would use Google+. I use Twitter for my random thoughts and to follow people I think are interesting. Facebook is how I keep in contact with friends and family that are scattered all over the place. I decided that I’d use Google+ would be something I’d use as a way to keep in contact with you guys more.

Yes, I know we already have a message board for that. Shhhhhhh.

Anyway, it has a lot of cool features that I’d like to try out, like the Hangout feature, which is essentially a webcam (or text if you don’t have a camera) chat room with multiple people at once. I think hosting a Hangout every once in a while would be pretty cool, assuming you guys don’t mind seeing the grim mask that I call a face.

I also really like how you can hold “public” conversations that anyone can join in if you prefer. I’m keeping my account pretty open (and keeping my personal information off of it) so all my stuff is public. Right now Matt and I are talking about the fanfilm. HE HAS THE FILES.

I plan on being much more “social” with it than with Twitter or Facebook. I’ve actually talked to a guy who used to write for Bits n Bytes before I did quite a bit and he’s a cool dude. Without Google+, how would I have known that? HOW WILL I KNOW YOU ARE COOL WITHOUT GOOGLE+?

Since it’s invite only, I’ll send anyone who’s interested in checking it out an invite. Just email me (Joe AT pkbloggin DOT net) and I’ll get you in.

The long wait is over and the 3DS has finally arrived at the PK Bloggin’! tower (and by that, I mean Christina and I went and bought them yesterday). We got some brief hands-on time with the handheld a few weeks ago at PAX East, but now we’ve been able to put it through its paces and really see what it can do.

This will be a review of the machine itself as it is right out of the box; game reviews will follow later (and we picked up five of the 18 launch games).

The system comes with a charge cable (the same as is used with the DSi and DSiXL), the charging dock, manuals and a pack of six augmented reality cards. I was surprised at how thick the manual was; judging by its size, you’d think it was the owner’s manual for a car. It does contain the same thing three times (it’s in English, French and Spanish), though.

The charging dock is actually a really cool feature. Whenever I’m done playing, I just set my system down on the dock and bam, it’s charging for next time. It’s much easier than fussing around with wires all the time, and since we already have DSis, I can keep one cable in my messenger bag for charging while I’m out and use the dock while I’m at home.

The system itself feels really good to hold, something we couldn’t really determine while it was held by clamps and wires at PAX East. It’s roughly the same size as the DSi but slightly heavier, but in a good way. It’s got some heft to it and it gives you the impression that you’re holding something expensive. The “layer cake” design is actually really nice as well; the old DS was by no stretch of the imagination hard to open, but the reverse taper on the top layer makes opening the 3DS (wait for it…) a piece of cake.

As for Nintendo’s claim that the 3DS had an “anti-fingerprint coating”… it’s utter hogwash. We have both colors (Christina opted for Aqua Blue while I chose Cosmo Black) and both of them are fingerprint and dust magnets. The system wipes clean easier than the black DS Lite, but don’t expect it to look pristine.

The inside of the machine is the same story… the bottom half, with the d-pad, circle pad, buttons and touch screen is fine, but the top half with the 3D screen has a glossy coating that fingerprints and dust seem to be drawn to. I don’t even remember TOUCHING the top half, but the fingerprints get there. Again, it wipes away easy (make sure you keep a microfiber cloth handy!) but it’s worth noting that keeping it looking nice is going to require a little maintenance.

So how’s the 3D effect now that we’re in the comfort of our own home and not in a bright, crowded expo hall? It’s just as impressive as before. The depth that the top screen provides is nothing short of remarkable. It makes you feel like you’re holding a window into these virtual worlds and even if it doesn’t add anything to the gameplay in some cases, it’s an incredible effect that adds a character to the software that cannot be recreated by anything else.

As I mentioned in the PAX East hands-on article, both Christina and I are nearsighted so we wear glasses, but only when we’re watching TV or looking at something far away. We are both able to see the 3D without any issues. According to my Activity Log on my 3DS, I played for five hours and some change yesterday, with breaks here and there, and I didn’t experience any headaches, dizziness or nausea. Christina claimed to have slight difficulty maintaining the 3D, but she chalked it up to the fact that she’s a very fidgety player and moves around when she plays intense games. She spent most of the day on hack-and-slash game Samurai Warriors Chronicles, which requires a lot of button mashing. I had very slight issues with both Super Monkey Ball 3D and Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition, but both were due to the way I was playing and isn’t indicative of issues other players will have.

The fact is, the 3D works and it’s really going to change how we play handheld games. You can listen to all of the internet haters who decided to hate the 3DS long before it came out, or listen to people like me who just genuinely enjoy games.

The built-on software is all impressive as well. While the Nintendo eShop and internet browser aren’t yet available (both will be activated via a firmware update in May), what’s on board is still substantial. There’s a notepad feature, the sound recorder which is more or less carried over from the DSi, a 3D camera program, two different augmented reality games, the Mii Maker, Mii Plaza, an Activity Log and a Friends List.

The 3D camera is pretty fun to play with. The pictures are a pretty low resolution (just like on the DSi) but the 3D effect still make them impressive. Christina took a picture of me giving a thumbs up and it really looked like my hand was popping out of the screen. Some games allow you to take in-game pictures (like Nintendogs) which you can then view in the 3D camera program.

One of the things I was most looking forward to was the Mii Maker, which creates a Mii based on your picture. You take a picture with the 3DS’ inner camera and the program designs a Mii from your photo. Sadly, it just doesn’t really work. The thing that makes Miis so fun is that they’re caricatures; they exaggerate features to create a cartoon representation of someone. The Mii Maker tries to just replicate your photo, which just comes out looking odd and off-putting. Eyes are too small and mouths look weird. You can tweak your Mii manually after the Mii Maker spits it out, but it might be easier to start from scratch. The Mii Maker does boast more customization options than on the Wii.

One neat feature is the ability to share Miis via QR codes. If you scan these with your 3DS, you’ll get mine and Christina’s Miis!

Mii Plaza is where Miis you meet utilizing the StreetPass feature (used to automatically swap different game data when two systems in sleep mode pass each other) will wind up. There’s two games here, an RPG type game and a puzzle game, but I wasn’t able to try either as I’ve only done StreetPass with my wife. You need a few Miis before you can actually play the games, but you can use Play Coins (earned by walking around with the system in sleep mode, using the system as a pedometer) to “hire” Miis for the games.
The Activity Log is similar to the daily gaming report you get on Wii, but greatly expanded. It keeps track of your game time as well as how many steps you’ve taken and even breaks data down on a game-by-game basis, ranking your played games by amount of time played, times played and average playtime per session. It’s a neat way to see which games you play the most and which the longest.

The Friends List is very bare-bones. You only need one Friend Code per system now rather than an individual code per game, but once someone is on your friends list you can’t really do anything other than see their favorite game (you decide this yourself, it’s not determined by your Activity Log data) and know when they’re online. Hopefully future updates will allow some kind of messaging system, but as it is right now it’s like It’s a Wonderful Life: you can see the people you care about, but you can’t do anything to let them know you’re there.

The real star of the show, though, are the augmented reality games. There’s two on board: AR Cards and Face Raiders. Face Raiders is kind of reminiscent of Photo Dojo on the DSi, as both rely on photos of the player for game graphics. You take a picture of your face (or anyone’s face, really) and Face Raiders then uses that photo to populate the environment around you with heads strapped to propeller caps which try to attack you. It’s a bit creepy, too; the photos of your face will distort to simulate expressions like joy and anger. You move your 3DS around, using the top screen as a window into your living room to blast the faces away and dodge incoming attacks. Again, like Photo Dojo, it’s simple fun, but it’s a very real fun that you don’t see a lot in games these days. The experience of shooting your own face while it’s wearing a giant spiked pink helmet, only to have that helmet break way and expose a giant afro on top of your head is something that you MUST try at least once.

The AR cards are fun as well. There’s Archery, which you’ve no doubt been told about before. There’s also a fishing game that causes whatever surface your AR card is on to start to ripple like water (which is impressive in ways I can’t even describe), and you need to move your 3DS around to reel in the big one. Also fun is the Star Cards, which places Mario, Link, Kirby, Samus and the Pikmin in your home, allowing you to pose them in any way you wish and take 3D photos.

I tried playing Pokémon White, an original DS game, after hearing reports that the emulator on the 3DS made original DS games look bad, and boy do they. The 3DS’ screens are of a higher resolution than the DS, and as a result the 3DS makes DS games look like horribly compressed GIF files. They’re blurry, grainy and washed out. However, holding Start and Select on the 3DS menu while selecting the DS game card will display it in its native resolution. It doesn’t take up the whole screen but it looks sharp as a tack. As someone who did a good majority of his Game Boy Advance gaming on a Game Boy Micro, the smaller screen size doesn’t bother me. If it sounds like an issue for you, don’t go trading in your DS Lites or DSis just yet. I don’t trade my systems in anyway, but I’ll probably still be using my DSi for original DS games.

All in all, the 3DS is an impressive and very fun machine even before you try out any of the launch games. It still gives off that Nintendo “vibe” that us Nintendo fans have appreciated for so long, that charm, that air of fun and lightheartedness. Simply put, it provides a gaming experience you literally can’t get anywhere else, and when you combine that with the types of games that come out of Nintendo’s studios (as well as what we will no doubt see from other top-tier developers) it becomes a no-brainer. You want a Nintendo 3DS. Go get one now!

Why is it that in video games, eating a turkey will completely refill your energy, but in real life eating a turkey makes you sluggish and tired?

I hope everyone has a great day today, eating too much and hanging out with your loved ones. Enjoy today, it’s the last day of sanity before everyone starts going buck wild for Christmas!

Does anyone have ANY idea what could be causing it? The Wii is unplayable as it is.

I’m going to talk mainly about video games. Sometimes I’m going to talk about movies and music. Sometimes I’m going to talk about commercials I think are funny. I’m going to talk about whatever I feel like. My writing is the result of what many would call a wasted youth, but I prefer to think of it as preparation for greatness.