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Nintendo 3DS To Be Released In February/March

Posted by Soulskill on from the now-with-more-dimensions dept.

angry tapir writes "Nintendo's 3DS, the first portable game device with 3D graphic technology, will go on sale in Japan on Feb. 26 next year. The 3DS will cost ¥25,000 (US$298), Satoru Iwata, Nintendo's president, told a packed news conference in Chiba, Japan. It will launch in Europe, Australia and the US in March." Nintendo also detailed a number of games that will launch at or near the same time, and they said the online shop would get some improvements

4 of 131 comments (clear)

  1. Not first. by pecosdave · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The Virtual Boy was portable.

    Also a friend of mine had a game that looked like a pair of binoculars far older than the Virtual Boy. It had a passive back light, meaning it was best played outside or under a lamp. It was from the late 70's or early 80's, it was akin to an LCD game though it was 3D.

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  2. Re:3DS screen on cell phone? by sqrt(2) · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Other than being cool what does it add? What advantage does it provide over the 2D screen? Is it really just more pleasurable to use and that's it? I guess that's as good of a reason as any to want it but I have a hard time believing it's going to be all that impressive.

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  3. Re:3DS screen on cell phone? by DrXym · · Score: 2, Insightful
    I expect it will not be long before smart phones get 3D displays. Sharp has been touting them recently at smaller sizes which suggests they're after that market. I have no issue with the concept of a 3D display as long as it toggles back to a decent 2D display and doesn't affect the screen in high sunlight and so on. A phone which expects users to exactly hold it in the horizontal at a fixed distance to see the effect is going to suck unless it has a decent display for the 99% of other times when 3D is not required.

    3D is still a gimmick. I expect sooner or later someone will produce a decent 3D display that works from a wide viewing angle from any orientation. Until that time, devices that hype 3D should really be treated with a grain of salt.

  4. re: Gimmick by Rydia · · Score: 2, Insightful

    In response to the multitude of comments referring to 3D as a gimmick, maybe you should take a step back and realize that pretty much everything about a video game is a "gimmick." Nothing about a video game serves a useful purpose. 3D presentation? gimmick, 2D worked fine. HD graphics? Gimmick, plenty of game showed that SD could give us pretty games.

    Everything about video games is a gimmick. I think what you're aiming for is "I'm not interested in this." That's fine, but not a basis for a value judgment.