Put a video game on the Nintendo 3DS and weird things can happen, including random pirate battles.
With Game Developers Conference ramping up around me in downtown San Francisco today, I walked into a hotel and briefly tried Lego Pirates of the Caribbean 3DS. Sure, there are game developers to talk to around here, but there are also games to check out and the irresistible allure of seeing what people are doing with Nintendoâs new handheld.
For experienced eyes like mine, Lego Pirates of the Caribbeanâs glasses-free 3D was a familiar feat. Iâve seen a couple dozen 3DS games in the last year for Nintendoâs new handheld. The 3D in this game is subtler than most, designed not to tire young eyes by putting the focal point of the 3D on the playerâs character. The background pops or recedes around him; collected Lego studs shoot toward the player in 3D.
Thatâs well done but unsurprising.
The 3DS has other tricks, though, and the 3DS version of Lego Pirates, a port of the standard DS game with better lighting and character models pulled from the Wii version, uses the systemâs quirkier features.
It uses Play Coins, the currency 3DS owners earn for taking steps in real life while they carry the system. You walk with the 3DS, you gain coins. As in Segaâs Super Monkey Ball 3D, you can use them to unlock some of the gameâs characters.
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A player has some control of how their pirate will fare during these accidental encounters. They can set up three attack moves and three defense moves, all affected by a rock-paper-scissors dynamic. Two pirates battling through Street Pass will essentially have their ownersâ pre-set moves matched against each other and the systems will sort out who wins. When those 3DS owners check their system with a copy of the game in it, they will be able to see how their pirate did and be able to watch a replay of the conflict. For any victories, they will earn coins that can be spent unlocking other characters.
Itâs not a game-selling feature, but the Street Pass is a nice perk, one that seems popular with 3DS game makers. I expect to see much more of it, given the early enthusiasm creators seem to have for it.
(Note: I donât have 3DS screenshots to show you, so youâre getting Lego Pirates concept art up top instead. The 3DS game looks nicer than a DS game but certainly not the caliber of the Xbox 360 version that I also glimpsed today.)
