Today I had the privilege of getting my grubby mitts on all sorts of 3DS gameplay and video demos, everything from the Star Fox 64 remake to taking a 3D picture with the system. When all was said and done, this added up to contact with probably a dozen different units. Across the board, there were two things that each station had in common. First of all, they were all amazing. Second of all, each 3DS was mysteriously missing its stylus. Curious much? I think so, and it doesn’t exactly stop there.
Most of the demos didn’t require a stylus. For the few that did, I watched each presenter pull one out from under the counter and hand it to me. Now sure, I understand that they may have been removed to keep people from walking away with a free souvenir, but that doesn’t explain the additional fact that I was always given a third-party stylus. You would think that the removed pieces would be on hand, and surely free to use… unless of course they were all in the same place, either partying like only styli know how or hidden intentionally from the masses of E3 2010. I’m leaning toward the latter.
This gives a hair more credibility to the report that popped up earlier outlining a Nintendo patent for a rumble-enabled stylus. At the time, I thought it was just the Big N covering all their bases, but now it seems to be a greater possibility. Granted, the absence of such a crucial part of any DS handheld could be due to other unknown reasons, maybe even cooler than rumble (if that’s even possible). My guess? Star Fox 64 3D will be ushering in an era of rumble styli just as the original game brought feedback to the Nintendo 64. That’s just too good to pass up, right?
