Hands-on with the LG Optimus 3D

We keep being told 3D is the future, but if that's true then the Optimus 3D has slipped through a temporal wormhole and arrived, blinking, into the present day.

'Blinking' is the key word there, as that's what I found myself doing for the first few seconds with the device to make sure it really was the right mode.

The only clue to the true capabilities of the bright, 4.3-inch screen is a collection of special '3D' applications and the guide plainly stating 'it's 3D without glasses' before disappearing into the crowd.

Turn the phone around, though, and the familiar telltale sign of a 3D device rears its head: two cameras placed side-by-side, ready to record up to 720p in full stereoscopic 3D (1080 in 2D).

3D aside, the LG Optimus 3D is one heck of a powerful machine in its own right, packing in a dual-core processor and coming preloaded with Android Gingerbread - an extremely slick (2D) UI.

The screen uses the same technique of projecting two images to each eye as the Nintendo 3DS, which means you only get the full (as in 'non blurry') effect when you stare directly at the display.

I was pointed in the direction of a stored 3D movie first of all, showing what looked to be a grand opera or ballet in full flow.

The sense of depth in the screen was good, but oddly flat at the same time, as if the director had separated out the various lines of dancers in post production. It worked, but I felt like I was watching cardboard figures scoot around on three separate rails.

But we're Pocket Gamer, not Ballet Weekly, so when the guide wasn't looking I switched over to Gameloft's example titles.

First pick was the iOS FPS classic N.O.V.A., which should in theory be the best possible candidate given the first-person perspective.

Sadly, it looked like Gameloft may not have had enough time to properly optimise the game. The menus and HUD looked good - sticking slightly up from the background image - but everything else was either surprisingly flat or just a bit ill-defined.

After a minute or two of blurring my way round the familiar corridors of level two, I'd had enough.

If you wanted to know why even the most 3D-loving member of Pocket Gamer towers is fearful of racing games on the format, Asphalt 6 is the reason.

Again, still images, or lightly animated parts such as the menu screens, looked ace, but once the racing itself started everything went downhill.

The problem wasn't just the difficulty of seeing the rapidly moving images (on anything other than the lowest intensity setting) - it was also hard to control thanks to the removal of the accelerometer steering to compensate for the limited viewing angle.

By the halfway point through lap one my eyes were starting to roll back inside my head, so I decided to move on.

It was with a heavy heart that I started playing Let's Golf! 2, fully aware that my eyes still hurt from Asphalt 6.

But it was instantly apparent that this was by far going to be the best of the bunch, with a wonderfully layered loading image setting the scene for what was to come.

Rolling fairways sneaking away back 'beyond' the device, a character that stood 'in front' of the screen, and shot comments ('Par!) floating in space above everything else - it was an apt demonstration of how the tech can work well with games.

It didn't help my putting much, but the slow pace of the animations and bright graphics really helped the immersion

The Optimus 3D is unlikely to convert those who dislike the format into a raving acolyte of all things three-dimensional, but likewise it doesn't force 3D down your throat - ignoring the massive strip on the back, that is.

But while 3D videos look great and the idea of taking images of your loved ones in three dimensions is appealing, for gamers looking to get in on the third dimension the outlook is less obviously positive.

If more games are designed from the ground-up to support the display we'll see something really great, but for now only the slow-paced titles appear to really make the best of LG's ground-breaking handset.