First Wave of 3DS Reviews Is Live

In case you haven't noticed already, we posted our first wave of reviews for 3DS launch games today. Of the 16 launch titles (17 if you include Europe's Splinter Cell 3D), we've managed to get eight of them reviewed this side of the weekend. Ghost Recon is under embargo until Sunday morning, and the rest will follow next week. We'd have loved to get all of the launch titles reviewed ahead of the system's North American launch, but with access to only two 3DS consoles on this side of the pond, our core reviews team simply wasn't able to devote as much time to 3DS reviews as we would have liked. Big thanks to our colleagues in the UK for helping out where they could. Here are the 3DS reviews you can check out on GameSpot right now:

Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars (Video Review)
Nintendogs + Cats: Toy Poodle & New Friends (Video Review)
Pilotwings Resort (Video Review)
Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D
Steel Diver (Video Review)
Super Monkey Ball 3D (Video Review)
Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition (Video Review)
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell 3D

Capturing footage was especially fun; currently, we have no way of capturing direct feed from 3DS games, so our crew chief Frank "MacGyver" Adams whipped up what I affectionately call THE CHAIR. This ingenious (torture) device requires us to play the 3DS (which is fixed onto a near-vertical surface) more or less at arm's length, with both the top screen and our heads tilted back. To say that I was skeptical (and terrified) as I sat in it for the first time would be an understatement, but Frank did a great job, and we're all really pleased with the gameplay videos and video reviews that we were able to produce as a result of his efforts.

Tom McShea gets comfortable in THE CHAIR.

As of right now, I think it's fair to say that while we're feeling good about Nintendo's new system, we're pretty underwhelmed by the 3DS launch lineup. I believe I'm right in saying that I'm the only member of the reviews team who has preordered a system. I also preordered just one game, which, at the risk of hinting at how our review is going to look when it posts on Sunday morning, is Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars. Anyhow, it's Friday night and about time that I got my weekend started. Have fun playing with your new 3DS systems, those of you who are picking one up, and be sure to put your Mii Maker to good use by scanning in this QR Code of everyone's favorite Nintendo character.