Nintendo 3DS full of upgrades, but not all of them useful

Nintendo’s new handheld, the 3DS, hit store shelves Sunday, and, as the name implies, it features a 3D screen for games, video and pictures.

At $250, it costs almost twice as much as it slightly smaller predecessor, the DSi. Is 3D worth the cash?

For traditional gamers, it's a mixed bag. To “see” the 3D effect properly, the player must keep the screen positioned just right, which is difficult to do with some of the more frenetic games, such as "Super Street Fighter IV." But at least you don’t have to wear dorky 3D glasses.

Overall, the 3DS, after a week of testing, rates as a very solid piece of equipment with loads of non-essential but cool features. Unfortunately, many of the 18 launch titles do not take good advantage of all the added technological goodness.

Here’s what’s new:

• A wicked-cool 3.5-inch 3D screen with a variable "depth" slider. 3D games freak the eyes out at first, but once the brain gets used to the concept it makes tracking the on-screen action a bit easier. Some games, like "Ridge Racer 3D" and "Lego Star Wars III," make you never want to go back to 2D, but if you do you the aforementioned slider makes it a snap. All 3D games can be played in 2D. The unit's lower screen is not in 3D, but remains a touchscreen used for navigation.
• 3 cameras. One faces the player and can be used for video chatting with friends. The other two face away from the player and can be used to take interesting 3D photos. But there's no simple way to share the photos with friends that don't own a 3DS.
• An analog "nub" controller similar to that on the Sony PlayStation Portable. Useful for action games, like "Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D."
• A motion sensor similar to most smartphones that can be used to control games. For example, "Steel Diver," a tricky submarine simulation, requires the player to sit in a swivel chair and rotate like a real periscope operator.
• An SD memory card can be used to save games and store videos and pictures. A 2 gigabyte card is included.
• The 3DS has lots of built-in software that can be entertaining, including messaging with friends, Mii creation, music and video players. Odd, but very neat, is an "augmented reality" curio. A player can aim the 3D cameras at a Nintendo-supplied card and something fantastic will happen on-screen. For example, an elaborate Chinese dragon will emanate from the card, or a cool hologram of Mario and some of his cohorts. Six cards are supplied. A web browser will be offered in a future firmware update. This summer, a Netflix app will allegedly be made available, which should make it easy to watch 3D movies on the portable.
• Parents will like the "Activity Log" which tracks how much time a child is spending playing each game or piece of software. All earlier DS titles work on the new machine.

Negatives: