New 3D Nintendo portable announced: Nintendo 3DS
polycounter lvl 14
Doesn't need glasses...kinda strange as I was just talking to someone last night on the topic of 3D movies without the need for them. Didn't really think it would happen this soon though.
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2010/100323e.pdf
Some rumors I remember reading last year claimed the nVidia Tegra would power their next handheld...should be an interesting e3.
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2010/100323e.pdf
March 23, 2010
To Whom It May Concern:
Re: Launch of New Portable Game Machine
Nintendo Co., Ltd. (Minami-ward of Kyoto-city, President Satoru Iwata) will launch "Nintendo 3DS"(temp) during the fiscal year ending March 2011, on which games can be enjoyed with 3D effects without the need for any special glasses.
"Nintendo 3DS"(temp) is going to be the new portable game machine to succeed "Nintendo DS series", whose cumulative consolidated sales from Nintendo amounted to 125million units as of the end of December 2009, and will include backward compatibility so that the software for Nintendo DS series, including the ones for Nintendo DSi, can also be enjoyed.
We are planning to announce additional details at E3 show, which is scheduled to be held from June 15, 2010 at Los Angeles in the U.S.
Some rumors I remember reading last year claimed the nVidia Tegra would power their next handheld...should be an interesting e3.
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[ame]
Where did you get that info? Everywhere else is leaking info on it left right and center as it being more akin to the power of the old GameCube, which makes much more sense. For Nintendo to do another simple revision of hardware alone when the above is already possible on any DSi game would be pretty much pointless.
None of it matters anyway, I'm still miffed that there wasnt a single 2D DS Metroid game even though the system would be a perfect fit for it. Hopwfully this will open up some amazing ideas with the backgrounds on a new 2D Metroid game, though. It would be pretty damn cool to be honest.
http://kotaku.com/5500136/a-3d-portable-gaming-system-what-could-possibly-go-wrong
Yes, Its a more powerful (gamecube'ish level) DSi with a mandated tracking/view-angle based 3d effect. Obviously its not a revision else it wouldnt have to be 'backwords compatible' with DS games, but that doesnt change the fact that what we know so far doesnt paint is as being anything amazing. Rumor has it that it might also have a joystick and tilt sensor, but they're just that, rumors atp.
@flaagan
In the video, it seems like you have to tilt the DS to be able to get the 3d-effect. So I suppose the camera in the game is affected by a motion sensor in the DS/cartrige. Is that right?
In the video posted above I think they use the camera on the front and back of the DSi to track motion and adjust the in-game camera like so. it's so cool!
Unless I'm missing the point you just described pretty much ever system released to date except for the Nintendo Wii.
The 3DS is a DSi, with a fuck ton more power, its backwards compatible, its "3d", whatever that means, be it like the camera/motion thing or an actual 3d screen, its... Well thats it, as far as we know. But as long as its multi-touch and has a lot more power, I could't care less to be frank.
But saying its nothing amazing makes it sound like your shocked... The DS is a HUGE thing, of course they were going to just make an enhanced, more powerful and refined one, its business 101.
I'm quite happy they didn't do soem daft new idea just yet myself, simply because now it means that stuff like ReBirth (Resi 1), Zelda TP/WW, Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime and/or Metroid 2d etc, they should al be possible on this system with no major changes.
Like I said above earlier, but think about a 3dish Metroid 2 game, thats like SupeR Metroid in view, but with some amazing particle effects, fully modelled, but with the 3d style tech above. That, coupled with a map screen that I can take notes on, would be a killer app for me.
Is it possible on the DS/DSi? Yeah, of course... But maybe THATS why we havent seen it on the DS/DSi before, because they knew just how damn perfect it would be for this... You may not be excited, but Nintendo + Handhelds ALWAYS gets my juices flowing in the right ways
It takes no extra render power to do this, only some for calculating the right angle from the camera.
example:
[ame]
Call me when technology reaches holograms!!
[ame]
Very likely the 3ds tech
I think that the new DS 3DS will be like 2-4x faster that current DS and will use opengl es1.x/es2 effects. Hopefully it will be as powerfull as a iPhone 3GS (with dual views).
Actually I'm not shocked at all, I was expecting them to use this tech for the next handheld ever sense about 2 years ago when first saw the video eld just posted. I felt this was a predictable move. But that's not to say its a bad one, in fact I'm sure it'll do great when its released. But to be honest all I want is a joystick on their next handheld and I'll be happy
Also, Im a little surprised to how few people understand how that japanese game works in the commentssection of game sites. People are hailing this as magic and are baffled!
I HOPE this is the 3d technology they are talking about though, you cant get more 3D than that if you ask me(avatar in 3d is still fake compared to this trick).
Just saw Mezz's post.
http://www.tat.se/site/showroom/latest_design.html
By Hologram, I didn't mean an image that seems to leap out of the screen.. I'm talking totally sci-fi, where there IS no screen.. you know, like in the Jettson's or something? Where all there is is a semi-transparent image floating in front of you? And it comes from a piece of technology, but not off of a screen, however you make the trick?
Which is why my post was mostly joking... however, with the way techonology is going, I DO somewhat expect that this lifetime :P
I think the Star Trek Holodeck is the ultimate end-goal yes.
Today Nintendo announced the launch day for the 3DS in Europe and North America. (March 25th in Europe, March 27th in North America) In the U.S. the 3DS is going to retail for $250.
Anyone still going to pick one up at launch now that the price is set in stone?
Black: [ame]http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002I096AA/ref=oss_product[/ame]
Blue: [ame]http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002I090AG/ref=oss_product[/ame]
Yeah, sorry about that, eld. Europe and/or Australia always seem to get the shaft on game pricing. Granted, Japan is also getting a price point that is the equivalent of $50 higher than the North America price.
If anyone here is good with economics, could you explain why the game prices for the North American market always seem to be lower. With the dollar currently being so weak against the yen, I would have thought they would have hiked the price to compensate. I honestly thought the 3DS was going to land for $300.
Edit: Still, I'll apply that as homebrew-tax, because I'm going to rip that 3ds right open and use it as my multi-tasking music/sketching/interneting at the same time device.
Word on the street is the PSP2 is gonna be outed next week though, so my shopping list might change.
Oh yea, this game looks promising!
http://majescoentertainment.com/news/display_news.php?id=485
Damn... Monies burning a hole
I have to agree that the launch line-up is looking pretty underwhelming. It isn't a positive trend when one of the most hotly anticipated titles for your new handheld is a remake of an N64 title. I know this isn't exactly unusual. They only announced the thing last year, and the specs for the system will require that developers spend considerably more time and money on their titles than they did for the DS.
The 3DS will probably ride high in its first year thanks to the novelty and the legacy of the original DS. But I'm not certain it will have staying power. The DS got so much developer support because it was cheap and easy to develop for, and the graphical expectations on it were so low. Developers could make inexpensive games for it and still appeal to a wide audience with unique touch-screen controls. Thanks to the iPhone, touchscreen controls have become almost commonplace. The 3DS is going to have to rely on its 3D aspects for sales. And adding more complexity to your device isn't going to sit well with developers.
I don't think the 3DS is going to bomb, or even struggle as the PSP has. But I definitely don't think it is going to live up to the success of its predecessor. I suppose this is understandable.
Awesome hardware, 3d camera, way better online, multitasking, backwards compatibility.
I think it's quite the opposite, it will probably hit quite big.
I agree that the only reason the DS took off so much is because the games were so much easier/cheaper to make, but then it also made sure the system was full of shovel ware, and anything that gets rid of that is a bonus in my eyes. But then you don't HAVE to make a "next gen" handheld game, you can still do simple stuff like before...
Regardless, it will take off... Its got "DS" in the title, it will print money, and even at the utterly retarded UK price point of £230, I'm eyeing mine up... Just as soon as Zelda hits. But theres no point otherwise, as the Resident Evil game just isn't doing it for me atm.
All good features, to be sure. And I imagine dedicated entertainment enthusiasts will be quite pleased with everything that the 3DS brings to the table. But those features aren't what made the original DS such a huge success.
The DS was in a neck-and-neck arms race with the PSP for its first year. It wasn't until after Nintendogs and Brain Training that the DS really started to take off. And it continued to snowball thanks to developers dawning realization that they stood to make a much better profit off of inexpensive DS development. (as opposed to the more costly PSP) And let's not forget how Nintendo's strategy for releasing inexpensive handheld hardware paid off. The 3DS will be sold for the same original price as the PSP.
This might be an instance where adding so many new features might impede the potential success of the platform. A lot of what made its predecessor so appealing and unique could be lost.
I suppose a lot of this will be affected by what the PSP2 ends up being. Sony only had one major competitor with the original PSP. Now the playing field is a LOT more crowded.
The titles will decide the winner.
I'll wait til they fix the short battery life problem. ...and when I can get one in red. >.>
They say your not suppose to play the 3DS for more then a few hours anyway. So its kinda works out.
Nintendo said this about the DSi (9-14 hours). It depends on screen brightness, probably 3d effect maxed out, etc. I'm not super worried about this. My DSi seemed to run for closer to 14 hours if not more. Plus 4 straight hours of looking at 3d and you're eyes fall out I read.
As far as the red they're Nintendo so they'll wait till a slight dip in sales then paint it a new color and BAM! Sales increase, yeah!
Very true, but the DS was basically fixed at the DSL revision (minuse the hinge snap), it never got any better from that, there was only a the DSi and DSXL after that, and those didn't add anything to the degree that DS->DSL did.
So looking at it now the 3ds on the outside looks solid, they'll probably improve batterylife in a future (1-2 years) revision, but they won't do much to design I think.
Yeah, the DSL was the biggest difference. It just seemed when they came out with the DSi, and then the DSi XL, and then soon after announced a whole new DS, that there are lots of newer DS versions always coming out. I suppose that the DSi and XL were closer to the end of its life, anyway.
So yeah... I realize it'll be about a couple years til we see an improved version of this. I want to try to make it to that... unless the game selection becomes too tempting before then. Although, I know as soon as I buy one, they'll then come out with the damn colour I want!
Nintendo is just doing what they did with the photosenstive nonsense which only effects a very few people(tiny tiny tiny proportion) and they would already likely be aware through other means.
Its just trying to avoid them being sued and appearing to look all responsible and such.