Nintendo announces 3DS -- the glasses-free 3D successor to the DS
By Vlad Savov 
posted March 23rd 2010 3:44AM
posted March 23rd 2010 3:44AM
Whoa, now this is a whopper coming (almost) out of nowhere. Nintendo has just slipped out a press release in Japan informing the world that all-new 3D-capable portable hardware is coming, with a full unveiling set for E3 2010 this June. Tentatively titled the 3DS, this glasses-free 3D wonder is pitched as the successor to both the DS and DSi, and will use a "compatible cart" that should ensure backwards compatibility with your vast library of favorites from the older consoles. Nintendo expects to launch the 3DS into retail "during the fiscal year ending March 2011."Update: Unofficial reports from Japan suggest the 3DS will have a parallax barrier 3D LCD from Sharp, a vibration function, and a "3D control stick." Read about it all here.
DDDS?
@Alexicov
I hope it won't give you headaches a'la the virtual boy
It should be easy to get a good 3d image without glasses on such a small screen with a single viewer at a consistent viewing angle. Autostereoscopic viewing is much more complicated with a full size TV and multiple viewers, but up to laptop sized screens with a single user is no problem!
@Alexicov
sorry to spam top post, but i have a mild form of strabismus that makes me incapable of seeing 3d as most would. i still do but i cant see half the effects in theaters. i am very upset.
@mogulust
Absolutely right. I was going to write summat similar until I saw that you had beaten me to it.
The key is the single user and small (narrow in two dimensions) and the relatively fixed (arm length) distance between the screen and the viewers eyes.
@Alexicov my god. I did not expect Nintendo would ride the wave with 3d, let alone make it glasses-free.
Nice job Nintendo, Let's see if Apple decides to bring the same thing to the iphone/ipod this year since they will be announced in june too.
That sure came out of nowhere! Wonder how big the screen will be...
@Alexicov
Leave it to Nintendo to turn a childs game perverted.
(and Disney)
@mogulust I'm pretty sure it'll just use some form of head-tracking with the camera, to make it seem 3D going down into the DS - rather than sticking out of it.
If it doesn't give me headaches or temporary blindness or looks like an oversized pair of binoculars strapped onto my face, BRING IT ON
@mogulust Yeah, I've seen some of the latest glasses-free 3D monitors and they're pretty impressive (although the resolution seems to take a hit, but that's Nintendo for ya, amirite?).
Considering that they only work within a certain view angle it makes perfect sense to put one on a handheld console like the DS.
And considering how Nintendo cycles through their devices (DS being an homage to the Game&Watch) we should have seen this homage to the VirtuaBoy coming... RIGHT AT YOU!!
@Ridgecity:
I wouldn't be waiting for Apple to do it
@Alexicov Triple D's :drool:
@Alexicov
Mmmm... I love me some triple Ds.
@leemahi
So some one told you to cross your eyes and you did and then someone smacked you in the head huh...
I KNEW THAT WOULD WORK!!
@Ridgecity
Apple... really?
@Alexicov That's 1 more D than double D's!
@aubreyq They will probably use the DSi XL as a stepping off point for screen size.
@leemahi - Have you have your strabismus treated? They've made great strides in treatment and I was just reading that age shouldn't be a factor. Good luck.
@Alexicov It may be too early to get excited now, but the video impressions for the firmware of this device is really astounding. Opinions: http://bit.ly/nintendo-3ds-impressions
tegra 2? PLZ!
@Chuuchdizzle OVERKILL, and unlikely from nintendo. I'd expect tegra2 from the PSP2.
This will probably have the tegra classic in it.
@Broderbund Didn't Nvidia say they were working with Nintendo already months ago?
And the PSP will not get Nvidia chips in it, It will carry Sony own stuff probably really tiny PS3-like specs.
@Ridgecity You're contradicting yourself, as the RSX in the PS3 is a Nvidia chip based on the 7900
@Chuuchdizzle
DS will have Tegra 2
PSP2 will have something 4 times more powerful than what's in the iPhone 3GS
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-ds2-vs-psp2-article
@Broderbund
If they are selling their product on the backs of it being a 3D device, they are obviously focusing on graphics. So, I wouldn't discount the possibility of high-end (for portable) graphics including the Tegra 2. Not to mention, you need more power to render stereoscopic imagery (renders same view twice).
D^3S
@dolan
All I could think of was this:
http://i.imgur.com/P1BDA.jpg
Really cool. But I wanna watch 3d tv and movies without the glasses
@Bigjerms Then go buy one of the 3D TVs that don't need glasses.
3D tvs?
@Bigjerms
You can get it now for $9000
http://www.focusedtechnology.com/philips-423d6w0200.html
However it predates 3d 1.4 hdmi, but has a "3d data interface".
I ♥ 3D
Looking forward to this!
@Davimation This'll probably be my first DS. Never been interested, but gaming in 3D is the only way to game. Well, I need some hands-on from at least a proper publication to be sure, but I'm looking forward to more.
so dual screens and 3D that probably give you a headache. Sound familiar.
@Wehoo I'd prefer 1 3D screen to 2 2D screens. And somethings are worth a headache, for instance, alcohol. :)
@Wehoo
Don't hate on the Virtual Boy! I don't think the 3DS will have Red and Black screens or require a stand ;)
@juanvaldez
too true, too true.
@Wehoo the Virtual Boy was too weird for it's time. The technology wasn't small enough of advanced enough to be practical and portable. Nintendo learned it's lesson never to remove portability from a portable game console.
This is pretty obvious if you think about it.
Sure looks like an advance to me.
@bighap
Uh... I'll just let you think about that one for a while. Feel free to rejoin the discussion when you've figured it out.
this.. could be interesting, i just wan't to see how it plays out first before i make a proper comment..
This really did come out of nowhere, I was not expecting anything like this at all!!!
@Khalid Shahin
I wasn't expecting so many exclamation marks.
Your move Sony
@Smigit They already released the PSPGo a couple months ago. The Playstation phone is said to be coming before 2012.
@Ridgecity Yeah but the PSPgo wasn't really a new console or anything and in many regards has been seen as a flop or let down. Certainly wasn't the sort of device that looked like it was going to tide them over for the next few years anyway (even before it arrived really).
@Smigit that's what we say, but Sony thinks otherwise, They are planning a PSPGo relaunch this next E3. It was already looking like the DS XL was Nintendo's way of killing the PSP brand but this looks like a 1-2 punch.
I'm sure tomorrow will be a very tough day in SCEJ.
@Ridgecity
I don't think SCEJ has anything to be worried about. I don't know if you follow the charts but PSP has had been outselling Wii and DSi for the last few weeks. Actually, just last week it outsold the combined DS platform (DS Lite, DSi, DSi LL). The PSP is hardly a dying platform here.
Sony has a habit of copying whatever Nintendo does. You can be sure the PSP2 will be 3D-capable, but in a sort of half-assed, tacked-on manner.