Nintendo has dominated the hand-held gaming market for over 20 years: The 1990s belonged to the Game Boy, and in 2004 the Nintendo DS entered the market, dominating the past decade and eclipsing the Game Boy in sales. Nintendo is seeking to maintain its supremacy with its latest hand-held, the Nintendo 3DS. There is no doubt the new system will sell big — it already sold out its initial run of about 400,000 units when released in Japan. With the 3DS set to debut in the U.S. on March 27, the system will likely be in short supply for those who haven’t preordered it. The big question, then: Is a 3DS worth a college student’s $250?

Several key factors come into play when deciding whether or not Nintendo deserves your dollars. The first is in the system’s title: the glasses-free 3-D. All reports claim that the glasses-free effect works, and having had an opportunity to play the system, I can corroborate that the 3-D works well. The system uses the graphics as better 3-D films have employed them — not for gimmicks, but to enhance the appearance of depth on the screen. In a demo of “Resident Evil: The Mercenaries,” the screen impressively separated my character from the 2-D plane of the screen and depict enemies in front of the wooden shacks and shrubbery populating the demo level. Combined with the 3DS’ improved graphical power, games look beautiful for a hand-held, and developers will still have years to unlock the full potential of Nintendo’s latest.

The system itself keeps the DS control scheme relatively intact, with all the same buttons, but adds the “Circle Pad,” which provides analog stick control akin to a home console’s controller. Two cameras have also been included on the front of the system, in addition to a single camera facing the player, allowing players to take 3-D images.

The controls’ familiarity will allow seasoned veterans to easily adapt to the 3DS. It also provides the system with backward compatibility, offering gamers the chance to play the countless gems in the DS’s vast catalogue. 3DS original games, however, are the biggest draw.

But to be honest, to a fervent gamer, the launch lineup is less than stellar. “Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition” is said to be impressive. But “Pilotwings Resort” has, unfortunately, been made to resemble games in the Wii Sports franchise. The rest of the lineup is either too obscure or too familiar. Launch games are usually not a system’s best, however, and time will help to flesh out the 3DS library.

I personally won’t be picking up the system at launch time. Nintendo is known to update its hand-helds several times over their life cycles — the DS lineup has seen the original DS, the DS Lite, the DSi, and the DSi XL — and another update to the system will likely be released by the end of 2012.

If you do not own a previous DS system and plan on purchasing one soon, however, a 3DS is a must as the older models are now obsolete. GameStops, Best Buys and Targets throughout the country will most likely have demo systems once they are released, so everyone will have the opportunity to try for themselves in a few weeks. For DS owners, stick with your trusty system for at least the next few months until the system has been tested by the market.