Nintendo 3DS 'Announced'

Post by trog @ 09:46pm 23/03/10 | 43 Comments

There's a very brief press release on the Nintendo website which purports to announce the Nintendo 3DS (which sounds like a working title):

Nintendo Co., Ltd. (...) 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.

More details will be announced at E3, but it's clear that this will be the next in Nintendo's world-dominating series of portable gaming consoles.

Hopefully we'll have some more information soon; the promise of magical 3D is certainly intriguing.

nintendo nintendo 3ds

Latest Comments

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darkjedi
Posted 09:54pm 23/3/10

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ViscoS
Posted 10:02pm 23/3/10

Why not 3D on a screen size where it matters?

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Mantorok
Posted 10:37pm 23/3/10

IIRC, Nintendo was researching holographic displays and storage a while back. Wonder if that has anything to do with this?

Why not 3D on a screen size where it matters?

With a handheld, you're buying the display as part of the hardware. If this requires a proprietary display to work, they can't exactly use it in a console unless they start making Nintendo TVs as well.

last edited by Mantorok at 22:37:52 23/Mar/10

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3dee
Posted 10:21pm 23/3/10

Does it connect to your brain via your Ear Port?

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trog
Posted 10:26pm 23/3/10

IIRC, Nintendo was researching holographic displays and storage a while back. Wonder if that has anything to do with this?

yeh I'm super-intrigued as to the display mechanism. 3d without glasses options I would have thought were limited to the stereogram (like Magic Eye stuff) or holographic stuff. If they are using holographic laser beam stuff this might be the first Nintendo product I buy!

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Tremble
Posted 10:31pm 23/3/10

There are currently 3d displays, but they only really work from one angle. This isn't really a problem with a handheld so it will probably work well.

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Chuckeh
Posted 10:33pm 23/3/10

is there something wrong with me if i don't give a s*** about 3D?

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Tollaz0r!
Posted 10:40pm 23/3/10

Yes there is, go see your GP.

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iFraktuRe
Posted 10:43pm 23/3/10

is there something wrong with me if i don't give a s*** about 3D?

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neffo
Posted 10:47pm 23/3/10

The cool dual view dash that is in the land rover discovery/rangie vogue might use the same tech.

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Plasma
Posted 12:05am 24/3/10

I predict it has motion sensors and when you tilt the console itself; it re-draws the game scene taking into account your tilt action.

IE its still flat, it just changes what you see based on your tilt motion.

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Tremble
Posted 12:09am 24/3/10

I predict it has motion sensors and when you tilt the console itself; it re-draws the game scene taking into account your tilt action.

IE its still flat, it just changes what you see based on your tilt motion.

That would be a disspointment seeing as it isn't 3D at all. It would be pretty cool in conjunction with actual 3d though.

I'm guessing it will be something like this.

Hitachi 3D Mobile

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Midda
Posted 12:21am 24/3/10

I predict it has motion sensors and when you tilt the console itself; it re-draws the game scene taking into account your tilt action.

IE its still flat, it just changes what you see based on your tilt motion.

That's already being done with the DSi, so I would hope that they're making an actual 3D display.

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trog
Posted 12:22am 24/3/10

Tremble, cool ; the video in that link doesn't work for me but yeh that sounds like a pretty reasonable guess. Haven't heard of that sort of tech before, interested to see how it looks IRL.

... I'm also completely uninterested in 3d stuff as well

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Carson
Posted 12:23am 24/3/10

Didn't they just release a new DS in Japan? Have Nintendo adopted the apple release cycle? Update the DS each year!?

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Bah
Posted 12:26am 24/3/10

It will be an lcd sandwich, like a hologram except using lcd panels.
Theres already screens in development by manufacturers like sony.

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Hogfather
Posted 12:30am 24/3/10

I'm also completely uninterested in 3d stuff as well

Really? Did you like James Cameron's Avatar? That had some 3D too.

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Viper
Posted 12:48am 24/3/10

I agree, 3D could have some cool ideas but I don't think they will really be utilised for awhile now, I'm more interested in 3d interaction, basically like a natal 3d except not crap.

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skythra
Posted 12:55am 24/3/10

I think three dee will be best achieved when we have glasses with tiny high res monitors. We can just get stereo video by sending different images entirely to each eye. That will cause less eye strain and I wouldn't be adverse to wearing gaming glasses on a bus while i'm holding some kind of wireless controller.

Of course right now that would probably be both very bulky and underpowered.. but you know, whatever :)

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partyhat
Posted 01:52am 24/3/10

from the GAF thread

Wow, surprised they went ahead and announced it.

But, yeah... it's true. This was floating around GDC as being confirmed by people working on the hardware.

What I've heard is...

1) Two screens, with virtually no seam between them when open
2) Screens are higher resolution, but exact resolution is unknown
3) Powered by nVidia Tegra
4) Roughly as powerful as a Gamecube, and apparently similar to program for
5) Uses carts - believed to be same size as DS/DSi carts, only with different guts
6) Due out in 2010 in at least one territory

Looking forward to seeing it.

s*** just got real.

how does nintendo keep creating these devices that print money?

last edited by partyhat at 01:46:49 24/Mar/10

last edited by partyhat at 01:52:49 24/Mar/10

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CHUB
Posted 01:56am 24/3/10

F*** this crap, I want AR projected onto a laser force type landscape so I can play FPS and physically run around.

F*** that would rock for L4D :D

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simul
Posted 09:38am 24/3/10

I think three dee will be best achieved when we have glasses with tiny high res monitors. We can just get stereo video by sending different images entirely to each eye. That will cause less eye strain and I wouldn't be adverse to wearing gaming glasses on a bus while i'm holding some kind of wireless controller.

One of the research projects I was working on a few years ago did this. We had a pair of LCD mounted glasses (with head tracking tied into the mouse for looking around) working in HL2 engine. 3D was awesome, but still the same issue, headaches after 20 minutes, lack of peripheral vision was partly the problem (ie tech limitation), but I would guess the bigger issue is lack of depth, ie: everything being in the forefront, so an issue with the equilibrium of the situation.

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trog
Posted 09:51am 24/3/10

I think three dee will be best achieved when we have glasses with tiny high res monitors. We can just get stereo video by sending different images entirely to each eye. That will cause less eye strain and I wouldn't be adverse to wearing gaming glasses on a bus while i'm holding some kind of wireless controller.

They already make those: http://www.vuzix.com

I check them out every year at GDC to how good they are / if they've changed. They haven't changed that much in 3 years. They're still really impressive at first glance - the 3d effect is really good and the picture quality is pretty good. But the screen resolution is only 640x480 and while they claim this gives a picture equivalent to a massive screen it doesnt really take into account the overall res.

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Pinky
Posted 09:54am 24/3/10

I reckon the Nintendo 3DS is a football.

@trog: someone was working on 1024x768 LCD specs which promised to be a huge improvement. I'm waiting for this tech - I think it has a huge potential.

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glynd
Posted 09:55am 24/3/10

3D without the stupid glasses has me interested...

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FocaL
Posted 12:28pm 24/3/10

This dude did it in 2007 at home.

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Tremble
Posted 12:34pm 24/3/10

Except that it isn't 3D at all, just a flat image that responds to movement.

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Midda
Posted 12:49pm 24/3/10

This dude did it in 2007 at home.

Yeah, but that isn't 3D, and it's the exact same effect as what's being used in the video I posted above.

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fpot
Posted 02:27pm 24/3/10

April fools.

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E.T.
Posted 05:56pm 24/3/10

Except that it isn't 3D at all, just a flat image that responds to movement.

Trembles version of 3D must invoke a physical space and objects or something. Otherwise, aren't all 3D technologies just a mind trick via the eyes?

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Tremble
Posted 06:18pm 24/3/10

By 3D I mean an actual perception of depth instead of a flat image.

Rumours are that they might be using a parallax barrier LCD.

last edited by Tremble at 18:18:20 24/Mar/10

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BillyHardball
Posted 06:35pm 24/3/10

Pretty sure that most of the technology that you guys are talking about will require that you view the device from a precise angle and distance for the effect to really work.

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Thundercracker
Posted 06:55pm 24/3/10

That's how I imagined it could only work. The only thing to differentiate each eye is the angle at which they see the screen. Display two different images from two different angles, so yeah you would need to be viewing it straight on for it to work.

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E.T.
Posted 07:18pm 24/3/10

Did you two guys watch the vids posted?

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BillyHardball
Posted 07:27pm 24/3/10

No.

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E.T.
Posted 08:10pm 24/3/10

Perhaps you should.

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simul
Posted 09:11pm 24/3/10

This dude did it in 2007 at home.

It was done a long time before that, it just wasn't done 'cheaply'.

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Thundercracker
Posted 09:13pm 24/3/10

Yes.

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BillyHardball
Posted 09:49pm 24/3/10

Perhaps you should.

Why? I'm fairly sure I'm right, and if I'm not, wouldn't it make more sense for someone to explain it in a post so people don't have to load/watch a vid? :p

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Midda
Posted 12:52am 25/3/10

Viewing from a specific angle isn't that big of an issue with a handheld. Distance could be a problem though.

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eightyeight
Posted 05:37am 25/3/10

imo 3d is just a novelty. If it somehow becomes the standard one day i would possibly take it up.

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RockitMan
Posted 09:31am 25/3/10

Did anyone catch that story on today tonight a few months back touting full size LCD's that were apparently 3D without glasses? From some shonky no name brand.

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Midda
Posted 11:18am 25/3/10

There are a lot of manufacturers that have been developing glasses-free 3D screens. I remember seeing videos from CES like 2 years ago that showed them.

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