Its been speculated on for months now, including a few accidental comments from Nintendo top brass, but the company has officially unveiled the next iteration of the DS, the temporarily titled Nintendo 3DS. That’s right, Nintendo’s going back into portable 3D, though with a glasses-free technology that in now way resembles the failed Virtual Boy.
Not much is known at this point, other than that the 3DS will be fully compatible with existing DS and DSi titles, while offering new titles that play in 3D, without having to wear glasses. This kind of technology represents the holy grail, for if 3D is to succeed in the long run, people will only tolerate wearing any form of glasses for only a little while longer.
1Up has a tech demo video of 3D on the DSi, utilizing the camera, that could give insight into what the 3DS might offer in terms of gameplay, but it may not be related at all, and doesn’t really give an idea of what kind of gaming we could expect from the 3DS. 3D in the movie theatre for something like Avatar is one thing, where you can be drawn into the spectacle, but 3D in the palm of your hand, with a limited number of pixels may be a novelty that lacks staying power. It’s going to be up to Nintendo to lead developers in creating games that aren’t just gimmicks, but make 3D an integral and welcome part of the gaming process.
For some perspective on what this new classes-free 3DS could be, both in terms of strengths and limitations, we turn to Tom Zerega, CEO and founder of glasses-free 3D solutions company Magnetic 3D:
“It will be interesting to see the price point of the 3DS, as glasses-free 3D display technologies often feature additional filters or lenses to create the 3D effect, as well as additional processing powering and robust graphics engines to render glasses-free 3D media. In addition to a potentially higher price tag due to elevated hardware costs on the handheld itself, there are also special considerations with respect to the production costs of developing glasses-free 3D games. Whether new titles are created from the ground up entirely in 3D or older titles are retooled to fit the new format, there will undoubtedly be additional production costs such as those typical in producing 3D films. Similar to the dilemma the movie studios are facing with a lack of 3D capable cinemas, there will need to be enough 3D-enabled handheld devices in the market to justify the added production costs of developing 3D games, but before that can happen, Nintendo will need to ensure that their handheld solution provides the quality 3D experience that players will expect from Nintendo at a price point that encourages adoption.”
Safe to say the 3DS will be a big topic of conversation in the coming months, and we’ll look forward to more news and information (and hopefully a hands-on) at E3.
