What we know about the Nintendo 3DS

So, Nintendo’s going 3D. Proper 3D. None of this “ooh look, Mario’s skipping about in a meadow in 3D” nonsense - this isn’t 1996, you know.

The 3DS will be Nintendo’s first attempt to crack 3D imagery since the ill-fated Virtual Boy back in 1995 - though that barely warranted the term ‘portable’. Based on what we know so far, they needn’t worry about facing a similar flop with the 3DS.

Which is quite a bold claim considering we haven’t seen the handset or any games yet. Here’s why we’re fairly confident it won’t be another white (or red) elephant for Nintendo.

Forget those silly blue and red glasses that permit a limited sense of depth for the price of a muddy pallet and a whopping headache. Forget ill-advised virtual headsets that would get you killed if you ever tried to use one on the move.

The 3DS will feature full 3D, without the need for any kind of visual peripheral (peripheral vision?). How does such hocus pocus work, exactly?

Well, the first thing to note is that this technology is nothing new. The technology that’s making its way into the first generation of 3D TVs works on a similar principle.

Indeed, the rumour is that TV manufacturer extraordinaire Sharp is in line to produce the 3D screens for Nintendo. The company's 'Parallax barrier LCD' technology has been in development for twenty-odd years now, and it works by beaming separate images to each eye.

According to Blitz’s Andrew Oliver, there’ll be no worries over limited viewing angles either:

“It doesn’t matter about how the screen is tilted as the zone is horizontal only, and can be viewed very well for all vertical angles,” he says.

Another interesting feature of Sharp’s tech is that it can be readily switched to output a regular 2D image, which ties in with what we know about the following point.

[Develop, Asahi]

There are over 125 million DS and DSi units out there. Even if each owner only had two games each, that’s an awful lot of software lying around. Nintendo would be crazy to abandon such an enormous customer base, and Nintendo is nothing if not a very canny operator.

Hence it’s really no surprise to hear from Nintendo that the 3DS, “will include backward compatibility so that the software for Nintendo DS series, including the ones for Nintendo DSi, can also be enjoyed.”

With rumours that the screens will sit somewhere between the DSi and DSi XL in terms of size, you can be certain that your 2D gaming will be relatively unaffected by an upgrade to Nintendo’s new wonder-toy. Although, as the following point suggests, you may have an extra control or two to work around.

We’re firmly into the realm of rumour now, but reports have it that the 3DS will feature a '3D control stick' and rumble technology. We’re not exactly sure what a 3D control Stick looks like, but we’d hazard a guess that they mean an analogue stick of some kind.

That’s not all for possible hardware improvements, either. Japanese newspaper Nikkei claims that the 3DS will feature improved battery life and a speedier wi-fi connection.

It was exciting enough to learn from Nintendo through its official statement that it would be announcing “additional details at E3 show” on June 15th. Since then, however, chief spokesman Ken Toyoda has revealed that this will include hands on time with the device itself.

"We wanted to give the gaming industry a heads up about what to expect from Nintendo at E3” said Toyada. “We'll invite people to play with the new device then."

As for the actual release of the 3DS, all Nintendo has revealed is that it will be with us “during the fiscal year ending March 2011.” Japanese newspaper Nikkei has ventured a little closer, predicting that it will be with us in the second half of 2010.

[New York Times]

Early reaction to the 3GS has been largely positive, but one high profile developer in particular has been outspoken in its condemnation of Nintendo’s 3D plans. James Mielke, producer with Q Games (they of Lumines And Rez fame) doesn’t think much of it at all.

“Breaking news” started Mielke’s rather sarcy Twitter post, “Yet another Nintendo console that’s impossible for anyone other than Nintendo to make money on.”

Mielke pointed to the confirmation of backwards compatibility as meaning the 3DS will continue to run on costly 'RAM-based media,' summing the problem up by saying 'have fun making those big game experiences for little profit dev/publishers!'

That’s a shame - a portable, fully 3D Rez would be top of my must have list.

It’s an accepted fact that where Nintendo goes, its competitors often follow. From analogue control sticks and rumble technology to motion controllers (have you seen Playstation Move?), the Kyoto giant continues to be fiercely influential.

While it may be in the process of rippi… I mean being subtly influenced by the Wii controller, though, Sony has no intention of aping Nintendo’s 3DS concept.

"Our focus on 3D right now is on the console," said SCEA's director of hardware and marketing John Koller. "We know we have a hit with 3D on PS3 and we're going to concentrate our efforts there."

No PSP 3D, then. Representing one of Nintendo’s major rivals, Koller seemed unable to leave without taking a snipe at the 3DS announcement.

"Having been in the portable space for quite awhile,” he said, like someone who’s forgotten that his rivals have been in the same business for over 20 years. “I think it's an interesting move but one I'd like to see where they go from a demographic standpoint. 8 and 9 year-olds playing 3D is a little bit of a stretch given where some of our research is right now."

If that’s the same research that told him to release a handheld with half the functionality of its predecessor for twice the price, we know who our money’s on.

[IGN]

Of course, Nintendo hasn’t had it all its own way in recent times, and the past year or so has seen DS sales slowing and Apple’s iPhone chomping into Nintendo’s market share (although it’s still some way off toppling the Japanese giant).

Still, it was clearly a worry, and many analysts see the 3DS as being the perfect solution to Nintendo’s problems. "With a differentiated 3D display, high quality games, and profitable business model for publishers, we believe the 3DS could help reduce the competitive threat from smartphones", said analyst Colin Sebastian.

"Any new hardware, especially ones designed by Nintendo, will instantly get the third-party community excited about development," said analyst Jesse Divnich, who clearly isn’t much of a Q Entertainment fan.

While Divnich thinks that there is “some inherent risk with going 3D,” he sees it as a key move in Nintendo’s continual attempts to differentiate themselves from rivals such as Apple.

Piers Harding-Rolls of Screen Digest agrees: "I think Nintendo is right to keep innovating to protect its market share," he said. "There has been increasing pressure from the smartphone market, but generally Nintendo targets consumers that are commonly younger or older than both smartphone or PSP users… I believe it will keep on targeting these types of consumers and looking to differentiate itself in the market."

Not all of the analysts are so positive, however. Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan is surprised at the timing of the 3DS announcement:

“I found it incredibly surprising that Nintendo would announce the successor to the DS the week prior to the launch of the DSi XL,” he said. “They have essentially said to consumers "we have a new model of the DS coming out this week, and oh, by the way, it will be obsolete within a year." I can't remember seeing a company do something like this since Osborne Computer did so in 1982.”

As computing historians will know, Osborn declared bankruptcy the following year after sales plummeted. Pachter also doesn’t buy the assertion that the 3DS will put clear daylight between Nintendo and Apple:

"It seems that if 3D on portable devices was easy," he says, "Apple would have beat them to it. If they truly pioneer a technology, my guess is that Apple will mimic the technology."

[IndustryGamers, CVG, Joystiq and Eurogamer]