Newsy: Nintendo Playing With 3D

Nintendo announced a new 3DS, without glasses, will be released sometime in the next year. The announcement collides with their new DSi XL hitting the shelves.

"3-D is all the rage right now with 3-D movies dominating the box office and 3-D TVs hitting retail shelves and Nintendo has been taking notice of all this. Take a look, the video game company, announcing plans to sell a 3-D version of its popular handheld Nintendo DS within a year." (CNBC)

Not much is know about Nintendo's new hand-held 3DS -- except that clunky glasses won't be needed to get the effect. Nintendo says it will unveil the latest gaming system at the Electronics Entertainment Expo in June -- and release it within a year.

Tech Blog G4 points out that the announcement could hurt sales of their DSi XL, which is going on sale soon: "Just a few days before the DSi XL arrives in stores, Nintendo has to go and announce the 3DS. Sure, it's not coming out until sometime early next year, but it seems to make a DSi XL purchase a moot point now." 

Nintendo isn't the first video game company to explore 3-D. Its competition, Sony, announced it will also unveil 3-D technology for PS3 users later this year. PCWorld says if the 3DS doesn't have more perks than just 3-D, it won't sell: "They've built their reputation on game play first...and visual trickery last."

Sony Director of Hardware and Marketing John Koller says his company is not bringing 3-D technology to their handheld gaming system, the PSP. But Tech blogJoystiq doesn't buy it and notes the groundbreaking effect Nintendo products tend to have: "Of course, having been in the portable space for quite awhile, Koller must have some suspicion that a new DS could be a massive hit...and create a market for 3-D handhelds."

But CNET wonders if the new dimension will really have an impact on a handheld device's appeal: "But the DS is so small, is 3-D really a big deal on such a small screen? I'll have to see it to make a judgment call."

So would you pay for a 3-D gaming device? Or is Nintendo just riding the 3-D wave?

Writer: Erika Roberts

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