10 games we want on 3DS

Fear, skepticism and speculation abound for Nintendo’s upcoming 3D-enabled handheld, but for the moment let’s just assume that Nintendo is going to work its magic yet again. Let’s assume that it knows what it’s doing and the 3DS will be awesome. Let’s also assume other rumors are true, and the system will have accelerometers a la the iPhone, an analog stick and graphics similar to the GameCube.

For God’s sake, let’s just assume it’s not another Virtual Boy.

Given those assumptions, here are 10 games that could potentially make good use of 3DS technology.

Picross 3D

As it stands now, Picross 3D is only on the plain vanilla DS, but doesn’t a game that has “3D” right in the title deserve to be, you know, in 3D? This puzzle game could benefit tremendously not only from a 3D display, but also from a tilt sensor.

Picross 3D currently forces you to use the stylus in order to rotate the three-dimensional grid so you can see the oh-so-important numbers plastered on each side, guiding you on how to solve the puzzle. While this works well enough, it would be cool to be able to manipulate the blocky objects in 3D space by tilting the DS.

Professor Layton

A 3D display might open the door for new and interesting puzzle types. Heck, think of those crazy wood or metal brain teasers that you mess around with at those stands in the mall while you wait for your girlfriend to finish buying nail polish. It’s hard to emulate that sort of thing in a videogame because you can’t hold it for yourself. The 3DS wouldn’t exactly change that, but it would get us a little closer.

WarioWare

WarioWare deserves a spot on this list if only because it has been a key factor in ringing in new Nintendo hardware in recent years. Its addictive microgame format showed off a lot of interesting ways to use the original DS’s touch screen, as well as the Wii’s remote. If anyone knows how to make crazy games in crazy ways, it’s Wario.

We’ve already seen some motion-based stuff in Twisted! on the GBA and Smooth Moves on the Wii, so it would be nice to see more stuff that uses 3D exclusively. Based on the history of the series, this could easily mean dodging boogers as they fly out of the screen straight at your face. It might be crazy, but it might be insane enough to work.