Nintendo has announced that its next generation of handheld gaming devices will take gamers into the third dimension.
The video game giant announced yesterday that its new DS handheld video game console would come with a 3-D display and go on sale within a year.
The new system, called the Nintendo 3-DS, will not require special glasses for users to see the 3-D images, according to the New York Times. Nintendo plans to unveil the new 3-DS at E3 video game trade show in June.
Now, manufacturers like Samsung, Panasonic and Sony are racing to bring 3-D technology into the living room. The 3-D LCD televisions come with more advanced “active shutter” glasses, which darken and lighten in sync with the TV to help create the illusion of three dimensions. Sony has also said that games for its PlayStation 3 consoles will be available in 3-D.
Samsung of South Korea started selling 3-D-enabled televisions last month, with prices starting at about $1700. The Japanese electronics makers Panasonic and Sony have promised their own versions this year.
Hitachi, another Japanese manufacturer, released a cellphone last year that has a 3-D display that does not require glasses. Hitachi, together with Sharp, supplies LCD screens to Nintendo.
Nintendo would not say what kind of technology its new 3-D handheld employs or how much it would cost. The new console will be compatible with games for Nintendo’s older DS and DSi handheld models, the company said.
The Nintendo 3-DS will go on sale in the company’s next fiscal year, which runs from April 1, 2010, to March 31, 2011.
“We wanted to give the gaming industry a head’s up about what to expect from Nintendo at E3,” said Ken Toyoda, chief spokesman at Nintendo. “We’ll invite people to play with the new device then.”
The DS console from Nintendo — the company behind Super Mario and Pokemon games — has been a hit, selling 125 million units since it was introduced in 2004. The DS has outsold a rival handheld game machine from Sony, the PlayStation Portable, by a factor of two to one.
Hope this doesn’t become another Virtual Boy
This might be a result of some demos someone did using the DSi camera and eye/head tracking to simulate 3D. Check it out, it’s actually pretty cool
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ds/dsiware/krgj/index.html
The rumors that I have been hearing here in Japan is that the 3D will not be based on the camera traking the user moving their head, but from an actual 3d display technology used by Hitachi on one of the mobile phone units they make. Here’s a YouTube video I found displaying the 3D display on the Hitachi unit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrILiX3z4Lc
(the video is in Japanese, but around 4:00 they show the 3D display)
There’s also a button on the mobile unit that allows the user to switch between 2D and 3D display.
Im sorry but this has all gotten way out of hand. i mean seriously 3D portable gaming systems? For al that is holy and good. You want 3D movies? go watch a Stage Show! you want 3D games GO PLAY OUTSIDE!!!!