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Rumor pegs Nintendo 3DS for November 11th in Japan
Remember when Nintendo said it'd release its release date for the 3DS autostereoscopic portable game system on the 29th of this month? We may already have the magic number -- depending on how you interpret a few Japanese words. You see, a supposed video game accessory designer by the handle "nocchisan" recently tweeted that eleven Nintendo 3DS accessories will be released on November 11th, and asked his or her followers to kindly buy them up... while purportedly remarking that the 3DS itself will arrive at the same time. While the tweets in question can certainly be read that way, and it makes a certain amount of sense for accessories to appear at launch, our admittedly limited grasp of Japanese suggests an alternative translation: that it's the accessories themselves (and not the 3DS) that will all arrive at the same time. There's also the little matter of nocchisan himself, whose Twitter account has already disappeared -- we have nothing actually connecting him to the accessory company except a link in his tweet.
Nielsen study: People don't like 3D glasses
A study by the Nielsen Company found that the glasses required for the 3D television experience -- which includes 3D gaming -- appear to be the tech's greatest hurdle. About half of those surveyed said the glasses were uncomfortable or a hassle, while 89 percent said the specs made it harder to do other things while watching TV (we assume the inability to multitask is less of a problem when playing 3D games). There's also the issue of no standardization -- your Sony glasses wouldn't work on your friend's Samsung TV, for instance. The study noted that "active TV shoppers" who were considering a 3D TV purchase dropped from 25 percent to 12 percent after trying out the tech and considering the higher cost and limited available content. Still, half of the respondents were impressed by the 3D picture quality. Nintendo's glasses-free 3DS tech could be a potential option for consumers wanting a 3D experience, albeit on a much smaller screen. Speaking of Nintendo's portable marvel, we're expecting the release date and pricing on September 29. [Image Credit: Frank Reese]
Marvell says Armada chips will power new game platform
Marvell's been teasing potent little processors for over a year now, but we've yet to see the firm's Armada appear in anything we'd actually want... but co-founder Sehat Sutardja just let slip that Marvell silicon will power a genuine game console of some sort. "Approximately 15% of the sequential increase [in quarterly sales] was due to the initial production revenue from our ARMADA application processors, primarily as a result of a major customer preparing to launch a new gaming platform," he told investors in a conference call last week, which roughly translates to "We just sold a load of processors for a new game console, yo" if our business-speak is correct. While there's absolutely nothing connecting this transaction to Nintendo's 3DS (which was confirmed to have a Pica200 GPU), we honestly can't think of a single other game platform slated to launch anytime soon -- so don't be surprised if there's a quad-core Armada 600 under that variably-stereoscopic hood. [Thanks, Roxanne]
X-Com: UFO Defense developer working on 3DS launch game
The internet is so cool, you guys. Check this out: Gamasutra recently did a feature on the XCOM first-person shooter reboot that's currently in development at 2K Marin. Julian Gollop, creator of the original X-Com: UFO Defense just happened to pop into the comments of said article to give his opinion on the current sorry state of the turn-based strategy genre, and revealing he's "now working on a turn-based tactical RPG which will be a 3DS launch title." Thanks, the internet! You're just full of surprises. According to some investigation from TinyCartridge, Gollop's LinkedIn profile states he's been at Ubisoft Bulgaria/Sofia the past three years -- and Ubisoft has a turn-based strategy game titled Ghost Recon: Lead The Ghosts in the works for Nintendo's three-dimensional handheld. We've contacted Ubisoft to see if this cyclically-titled Clancy jam is indeed Gollop's next opus.
Ophthalmologist says 3D 'not likely' to do long-term damage to your eyes
Good news, fans of ... things popping out of your television screen and totally flying at your face! L.A. ophthalmologist Dr. Mark Borchert, member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, recently told Gamasutra that prolonged exposure to 3D displays is "not likely to cause any permanent harm to vision." Unless, of course, you're watching on Bravia's controversial new set, the Eye-Poker 3D 5000. Borchert explained that 3D displays aren't completely without risks, stating "there are people who get uncomfortable with it, and get eye strain or headaches, or on much rarer occasions, a sense of imbalance or nausea, but there's no evidence it can cause permanent harm to your vision or use of both eyes together or anything like that." So, there you go. It probably won't make you blind, but it may make you feel like vomiting every time you use it. Man, the future's gonna be awesome.
The 3DS's glasses-free 3D explained
If you're mystified by how the Nintendo 3DS could display two images, one for each eyeball, simultaneously, without relying on glasses to divide them up, you're not alone. But you will be alone after everyone else has watched this video by Kombo's Jeff Grubb, which explains not only the 3DS's parallax barrier system, and its effective range, but other stereoscopic 3D displays as well. You'll also get to see a bit of off-screen 3DS footage, though looking at the 3D effect through a regular camera's view of the system just results in a kind of blurry image. And as a bonus, try to spot our own Ludwig Kietzmann! Surely you recognize the back of his head?
Capcom not planning to launch 3DS games in this fiscal year
Capcom's investor Q&A for the last fiscal quarter doesn't just look back on the company's recent stumbles -- it also includes some info about the publisher's plans for the rest of the year and beyond. For example, the launch of its two announced 3DS games, Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition and Resident Evil: Revelations, belong in the "beyond" category. "We broke the news at E3 2010 that development is underway for Resident Evil: Revelations (tentative title) and Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition," the publisher said in the Q&A, "but we do not expect these titles to be ready for release this fiscal year." Capcom added that we "we haven't set any specific dates at this time." The current fiscal year ends in March 2011. That means that Capcom is likely to miss the 3DS launch window by at least a little, though these two major franchises are still likely to excite audiences a few months into the system's lifespan.
Sakurai on how he's preventing Kid Icarus: Uprising from causing eye strain
In a GamesMaster interview (the same one during which he revealed tentative plans for online play), Kid Icarus: Uprising producer Masahiro Sakurai discussed strategies for preventing 3DS users from ruining their eyes. "In my experience of development and actually using it," he said, "when you have a lot of objects flying towards the user I find that it's more likely to cause eye strain so during development I'm using objects moving away from the user which doesn't have that effect." It sounds like the 3D effects will be most notable for Pit's arrows and projectiles, then, rather than things being flung at the winged hero. The path of those projectiles is also noteworthy, according to Sakurai: "In standard shooters or FPS games you see the bullet travel to its destination and it's just a dot because it travels in a straight line," Sakurai explained. "But because of 3D technology you can use arcing shots and get a sense of a bullet travelling with real depth." Sakurai also mentioned that he had an indirect role in the system's development. "Early on, Nintendo were soliciting lots of feedback from within the company and from me. And I had very specific requests from Mr. Iwata in regard to what my ideal picture of the device was, etc." He didn't say what his specific recommendations were, but he did subsequently call the combination of the touch screen and the Slide Panel "very important" for 3D games.%Gallery-95653%
Nintendo quarterly earnings down; 3DS launch date to be announced Sept. 29
Nintendo has announced it financial earnings for the second quarter in its Fiscal 2011, running from April 1, 2010 through June 30, 2010. Net sales, operating income and net income all saw declines compared to the same time last year. Net sales were down to 188 billion yen ($2.16 billion) from 253 billion yen ($2.9 billion), while operating income and net income saw less dramatic shifts, down to 23 billion yen ($264 million) and 25 billion yen ($287 million) from 40 billion yen ($460 million) and 42 billion yen ($483 million) last year, respectively. Nintendo attributes these losses to the appreciation of the yen and a lower DS price point. 3.15 million DS units and 22.42 million units of DS software were sold worldwide during this quarter. On the Wii side, Super Mario Galaxy 2 managed to be the big performer, selling 4.09 million units worldwide since its launch in late May. 3.04 million Wii consoles were sold, backed by 28.17 million units of Wii software worldwide. As far as forecasted earnings go, Nintendo anticipates net sales of 550 billion yen ($6.3 billion) by the end of September 2010 and 1.4 trillion yen ($16 billion) by the end of its Fiscal 2011, March 2011. It'll be interesting to see how those earnings are affected by Nintendo's upcoming 3DS hardware launch. The company has revealed (via Bloomberg) that it'll finally announce the launch date and price for its latest piece of tech in Japan on September 29.
Nintendo issues a 3DS release date date
Find the headline confusing? Well, the explanation won't help to assuage the muddle much. A Nintendo spokesman told Bloomberg Japan that Ninty plans to announce the Nintendo 3DS price and release date on September 29th. Thus far, we've only seen speculation about pricing (between $249 and $299) and release dates (between October and March, 2011). So yeah, we still don't know when or for how much but at least we know when we'll find out when and for how much. Make sense?
Ono: Super Street Fighter IV for 3DS won't alter gameplay
According to producer Yoshinori Ono, Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition on the Nintendo 3DS won't offer radically different gameplay. In a Famitsu interview summarized by Andriasang, Ono assured fans that, among other things, the 3D visuals won't lead to 3D gameplay (turn to Tekken X Street Fighter for that.) "The gameplay will be the same as Super Street Fighter IV," he said. There might be some additional control options, however. The article states that the team is considering mapping special attacks to the slide pad or touch screen. He also suggested that Capcom wants to use the system's wireless connectivity for both communication and gameplay, though he didn't specify whether he meant online or local wireless. According to Famitsu, the game will have all 35 Super Street Fighter IV characters, and is currently 10 percent complete. %Gallery-95709%
Nintendo trademarks suggest new names for 3DS features
Look, considering Nintendo drew just about every one of its big guns from their respective holsters when it revealed the 3DS lineup during an E3 press conference last month, we don't blame you if this story doesn't thrill you to your core. The company recently filed a set of trademarks relating to software for the three-dimensional device, including "CrossPass," "CrossPass Network," "CrossPass Connection" and "CrossPass Mode." It seems the handheld's always-on Tag mode has been given a much more Google-able moniker. Nintendo also filed trademarks for "3D Paddleball," "3D Hopper," "Target Shooting" and "3D Challenge" -- all of which were available in tech demo form at E3. Does this mean they could see the light of day when the 3DS gets released next spring? We're not sure, but we wouldn't mind sinking a few more hours mastering the subtleties of Hallway Pong.
Japanese devs sound off about 3DS
Famitsu recently rounded up some high-profile Japanese developers to gauge their reactions to Nintendo's 3DS hardware. According to a translation by Andriasang, the responses ran from business-minded declarations of intent to somewhat philosophical thinking-out-loud. Street Fighter IV producer Yoshinori Ono seemed to be most able to keep his excitement in check. He was collected and business-minded when he said, "We'd like to put in some ideas that make effective use of the portability." Hideo Kojima was happy that he wouldn't have to change glasses to use 3DS and mused about the implementation of CO-OPs, the multiuplayer mode featured in Peace Walker, "and other things -- elements fitting of a 3D and portable game machine." Super Monkey Ball (and Yakuza) creator Toshihiro Nagoshi, already working on a 3DS Monkey Ball game, said that he would "like to make a variety of proposals" for games that use the Wi-Fi and 3D aspects of the system. Shinji Mikami and Tomonobu Itagaki were on their way to a meeting in which they planned to talk about the system (and eat yakiniku). Others developers got more ... philosophical. Suda 51, for example, wants to make "The Next Game," in the same sense that he sees 3DS as "The Next Hardware." Bayonetta producer Hideki Kamiya hopes to make "a 3D game where you can enjoy the feeling of existence given by portable 3D." Kamiya's Platinum Games partner Atsushi Inaba, "experienced a strong jolt of the feeling 'I want to make something.'" He added, "Since the start of the game industry, there's never been a system that better fit the words 'dream' and 'next generation.'"
Project Sora 'testing' online multiplayer for Kid Icarus: Uprising
According to a GamesMaster interview with Project Sora head Masahiro Sakurai (excerpted by ONM) 3DS flagship title Kid Icarus: Uprising might feature Kids Icarus, plural. "The online capabilities are currently being tested," Sakurai said. "There could be some versus play but we can't go into any detail. There are a lot of capabilities that expand on what was in the DS that people are taking advantage of." If anyone's going to make a 3DS online game happen, it's Sakurai, one of the few Nintendo developers to make an online game (Super Smash Bros. Brawl). But how would a versus mode work in an on-rails shooter -- score competitions? %Gallery-95653%
3DS producer explains new Tag Mode, confirms final hardware shape
While that big 3D screen is the most noticeable new feature of the Nintendo 3DS, the company has some other ideas for extending the boundaries of gameplay past the flat screen -- like Tag Mode, a passive wireless communication feature that allows DS systems to talk to each other and beam game data back and forth. Speaking to Wired, platform producer Hideki Konno offered additional details about the hardware's expanded implementation of Tag Mode. "In the hardware," Konno said, "we have the capability that when you first play a game that supports Tag Mode, it will save to a Tag Mode data slot in the hardware system. We are planning to support multiple games at the same time: Mario Kart, Nintendogs, Animal Crossing, etc." The current DS system allows Tag Mode-enabled games to communicate only when that game is running, with data saved to the cartridge. Konno said that Nintendo was planning a "Tag Mode Viewer" that would allow users to manage the data received in this way. He hopes the use of Tag Mode will "bring consumers a sense of wanting to play a game again, after they get new data from games that they'd forgotten about." At the end of the interview, Konno said about the design of the 3DS shown at E3, "You can take this as the final shape." Nintendo has previously said (and is still saying on its E3 site) that the design was "TBA." %Gallery-95697%
Nintendo unlikely to significantly alter 3DS design before release
In an interview from this year's E3 that's only just been published, Nintendo 3DS platform producer Hideo Konno says that the upcoming handheld is in its "final shape." Reggie Fils-Aime, the company's leading North American voice, has more recently told us that, au contraire, the E3 consoles are not the final design, though parsing the two into one coherent message would suggest that Nintendo's just leaving itself room to make small changes if the need arises. Konno's chat with Wired also touches on the 3DS' screen size, with him suggesting the glasses-free stereoscopic effect could be taken all the way to the size of a TV but requires the user to be in a very precise position, which is what makes it unfeasible. Teased about potentially making a 3DS XL, the veteran game guru says Nintendo's sticking with the current form factor for portability's sake, but he clearly isn't closing the door on the idea if and when 3DS sales begin to wane. There's a lot more here, including discussion of the new handheld's analog nub and MotionPlus-like gyro and accelerator combo, so why not show the source link some love?
THQ executive impressed by 3DS piracy protection
In a recent interview with CVG, Ian Curran, THQ's executive VP of global publishing, touted his favorite new feature the 3DS will bring to the portable market. No, not its titular three-dimensional display tech. No, not all of those rebooted classic franchises. "What excites me even more," Curran explained, "is that there's technology built in that device to really combat piracy." Curran added, "they combated the piracy on DSi, which they don't believe is cracked yet - but they know they've been hurt across the world and they believe the 3DS has got technology that can stop that." That's a nice sentiment, but considering how resourceful the modding community has proven itself over the years, we're pretty sure the only thing that could stop them from pirating 3DS games is some sort of self-destruct mechanism. We sincerely doubt Nintendo could get something like that past the FCC.
Miyamoto on Miis migrating to 3DS, evolving network play on the handheld
Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aime may be committed to improving the online experience on the Big N's platforms, but legendary designer and Guy Who Makes Things Happen™ at the company, Shigeru Miyamoto, doesn't seem inclined to exactly reinvent network play with 3DS. "We look at [online] more in terms of what can we do to provide that Nintendo flavor or magic to that community or connection experience," he told IGN Australia in an E3 interview the site just now found behind its virtual sofa cushions. "One of the ways that we're looking at doing that, is the idea of really strengthening the tag mode functionality," he explained, referring to an "always on" data-sharing feature most famously employed by Dragon Quest IX on DS. "We think that there will be some unique ideas that come out of that, and that it will have a very unique Nintendo flavor to it." So, not voice chat or friend code-free multiplayer then? Speaking of exchanging things with other 3DS owners: what of Miis? Already transferable from Wii to current DS titles such as Tomodachi Collection and Personal Trainer: Walking, Miyamoto commented that the pint-sized avatars moving to-and-fro between future platforms is "something that we're definitely giving consideration to," and that there's a desire to "continue to try to allow people to use their Miis on different Nintendo systems going forward." We can certainly get down with the idea of 3D Miis -- or, as we call them, "3Miis."
Nintendo's Miyamoto says Miis could make the jump to the 3DS
Nintendo already dropped a hint that Miis could be heading to the 3DS by including some Mii-like characters in the Pilotwings demo at E3 last month, and Shigeru Miyamoto himself has now offered some further confirmation that Nintendo is at least looking at the possibility. Speaking with IGN this week, he says that it is "something that we're definitely giving consideration to," and that Nintendo wants to "continue to try to allow people to use their Miis on different Nintendo systems going forward." While that's not quite a complete confirmation, it definitely sounds like your Mii could be with you for a long time to come.
Kojima on Metal Gear Solid 3DS's clandestine origins and bright future
We were all surprised to see a Metal Gear Solid demo for 3DS. Probably not as surprised, however, as the Kojima Productions staff who didn't know it was being developed. In a Famitsu interview (translated by Andriasang), Hideo Kojima described how, after the completion of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, he secretly assigned a small number of staffers to the project on a different floor of the Kojima Productions office -- causing other Kojipro staff to believe the others were on vacation. Kojima seems confident that the demo will evolve into a full game, which will probably still be a remake of Metal Gear Solid 3 -- after Peace Walker, he wanted to tell the story of The Boss again. "MGS3's story can't change, so we're thinking of Co-ops, 3D and portable-like elements," Kojima said. The final game may actually look better than the demo, as well. "The high level models are about the same quality as the stuff we made on the PlayStation 3," Kojima said, "although it's tough to see this. If we'd had a bit more time, we could have made something better." %Gallery-95662%
