J.P.'s recent eye surgery had an unexpected benefit.
I was very excited to get my 3DS, having pre-ordered the system months ahead of time and braved the cold while unable to walk, still recovering from a broken ankle, to attend a midnight launch event. Even before playing it, though, I knew there was a good chance I wouldn’t be able to see the 3D effect. My eyes have trouble focusing, and often don’t point in the right direction consistently, and I figured that might screw with the effect. I was right.
Even though I couldn’t see the effect, I really enjoyed the system. I own more 3DS games than any sane person should at this point in its life, with 10 retail releases and a whole lot of download titles. It didn’t upset me that I couldn’t see the 3D, as it was never what attracted me to the system and I knew going in that it was likely I couldn’t.
My eye troubles have gotten worse over time, to the point that my doctor suggested surgery to adjust the muscles in my right eye. Last Wednesday I went in and had it performed; everything went well and the doctor seemed very happy with how it went. The next morning, when I removed the eye patch and began to see out of the eye again, I noticed that my depth perception seemed significantly better than before.
Being the gamer I am, it didn’t take long for me to think of the 3DS. If my depth perception in real life was improved, I thought, maybe I could also see depth better in that way. Sure enough, I opened my 3DS, turned on Ocarina of Time 3D and pushed the 3D slider up for the first time since launch, and I could see it.
Not having anything to compare it to, it seems like I may not see the effect as well as some people, but I can definitely see it. It’s subtle, at least to me, but it’s pretty cool. I still haven’t gone back and tried it out with some of my other games (I really need to pop in Pilotwings), but I like what I’ve seen so far. I don’t know if I’ll play with it on all the time, but I’ll definitely make sure to at least try it with everything I buy. I was really enjoying my 3DS already, happy with my purchase even before the awesome Ambassador Program announcement, and this just makes it even better.
