Dual screen practicality?

[Joker99352]

I haven't used a 3DS (except the store demo) yet, but the dual screen on my DS slim seemed a bit hit and miss. Does anyone else thing the dual screen is unnecessary for some games? I know in some games it's almost essential, but in others it just seems like an unnecessary feature. In Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, for example, there were some features that made sense for the second screen. But half of the "apps" seemed completely unnecessary, and I think the developers got a little carried away with the new two-screen functionality. What do you guys think?

 

[BanjoKazooie]

I haven't seen a game on the 3DS that makes the dual screen absolutely necessary. Most games either use it for a map, inventory, screen declutterer, or some other minor role that increases the fidelity of the game. I agree that the DS developers did get carried away at times with the dual screen. And diamond and pearl is a great example. I think the 3DS is a massive improvement over the DS and has the perfect power for a handheld. I think it is one of my favorite Ninty systems honestly.

 

[Professor E. Gadd]

I think the second screen is just as useful on 3DS as it was on the DS, i.e. perfect for maps and inventory screens.

I enjoyed the touch features in the Phantom Hourglass, and I'm sure it made the Ocarina of Time remake a lot more playable, since you could swap items on the fly now.

 

[Joker99352]

I really liked my DS, but I thought it didn't utilize the dual screens in a way I would have liked. I ended up selling my DS a while back (before the 3DS come out), but not because I had a problem with it necessarily. I did like being able to use the second screen when chatting with friends or whatever, but with all the new smart phones (and apps and whatnot), and the fact that the DS had a limited range of connectivity, it's sort of obsolete now.

 

[BanjoKazooie]

The 3DS is an amazing system, and with games like a link between worlds and pokemon X Y coming; and fire emblem and animal crossing mario 3Dland and Mario kart 8 and NSMB2 and ocarina of time and DKC3D and all the Eshop games already out it is a must own system. The screen is utilize perfectly in most games.

 

[Joker99352]

I don't know about the 3DS, but I wouldn't say so for the original DS. It's one of those things that probably seemed like a good idea at the time but its appeal dwindled over time. To me, at least, the dual screen is just something that's "there," and definitely not a specific reason for playing those games to begin with. I always preferred Nintendo's handhelds to any others, but nowadays I'm as likely to buy a PS Vita as a 3DS, if at all.

 

[Sandara]

The Dual screen would be very confusing for me to look at.. Games that uses the Dual Screen is just asking for trouble I would say. With the bulky hing in the middle makes it very difficult! Though some games use the bottom screen for the start menu and little games. The top screen is always the gameplay or real graphics.

 

[Esperahol]

Hm? I never had an issue with the dual screen and most of the games I played/play use the two screens very well. I guess this is something in the vein of the backscreen on the Vita. People seem to think it's pretty worthless, but it can and has been put to good use. It's not much of a negative and is generally a positive I my opinion.

 

[Joker99352]

It depends on the game, for sure. But it does make the DS/3DS roughly twice as big as it would be otherwise. It's not that it's too big, necessarily, but at a certain point it loses its charm as a handheld console, so to speak.

 

[Medza]

I agree that the two screens are a bit odd. At the time they wanted to make a successor to the gameboy and touchscreen technology was becoming a lot better at the time so it's not that surprising that they decided to add one. I think that the games that use it well are the ones that use it to show the UI. For example on the Mario games the actual action takes place on the top screen but you keep track of your progress on the bottom screen which is very useful.

 

[noname]

In my opinion, I dissagree that the dual screens are odd.Then again,like Joker99352 said,it depends on the game.

 

[OniBlackMage]

Naturally, the dual screen usage varies title to title. I can say for certain that shooters on the dual screen are fantastic when they use the lower screen as the main screen. The stylus as the mouse makes the few FPS games surprisingly well done, accurate, and responsive. That happened more on the DS, but on the 3DS it won't since the 3D is on the top screen.

 

[Damien Lee]

It really depends on the developer and the type of game. It was the same situation with the DS, very few games made good use of the dual screens. Generally, I found adventure / visual novel type games to work the best with dual screens while most action games didn't really benefit. That's understandable as it's not easy to focus on two screens simultaneously, when one is dealing with a fast-paced action or shooting game.