At this year's E3, Nintendo revealed a lot of amazing games at their press conference, but the best was saved for the grand finale: the unveiling of the Nintendo 3DS, the first portable device with full 3D graphics.
It seems that this time around Nintendo's potable device will also serve as a media player in addition to playing games. At the E3 press conference Nintendo President/CEO Satoru Iwata announced that the 3DS has to capability to play high end 3D movies. While not stating any specifics, trailers were set to display in 3D from film production companies Disney, Warner Bros, and Dreamworks.
While the 3DS has all the capabilities of the DSi, it obviously has the core feature of 3D technology. In order to provide 3D visual gaming without the need for glasses, the 3Ds utilizes a dual mesh layer under the top screen that angles each pixel to the right and to the left rather than straight ahead like other devices.
The 3DS also automatically updates itself and its games, meaning that upon returning to your system, you may find new stages, updates, and rankings have been downloaded. The updates happen regardless of what game you are playing. Even if your are not currently near a Wi-Fi access point, you may still receive the updates because of the 3DS's ability to communicate with other 3DS devices. Take a look at the system's full specs, straight from Nintendo.
New Features:
- Full 3D graphics without the need for glasses
- Analog Stick
- 3 Cameras, one inside, two outside
- Ability to take 3D photos
- 3D gameplay
- Micro SD card slot
- Slider to adjust (or remove) level of 3D effect
- Backwards compatibility with DS games
- Ability to display 3D movies
- Much higher resolution graphics
- Ability to automatically exchange/update game data with other 3DS systems
- 2GB gamecards (at launch)
- Motion sensor
- Gyro sensor
Dimensions
- Weight : Approximately 8 ounces
- Size(when closed): 5.3 inches wide, 2.9 inches long, 0.8 inches tall
- Top Screen: 3.53-inch widescreen LCD display with 800 x 240 pixel resolution (400 pixels are allocated for each eye to enable 3D viewing).
- Touch Screen: 3.02-inch LCD with 320 x 240 pixel resolution with a touch screen.
While specs are nice, games are the driving point for any console. Nintendo has made up for last year's E3, when they catered largely to the casual games crowd, by showing loyalty to it's legions of hardcore fans and providing us with 3D versions of our favorite games such as Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Starfox 64, and Mario Kart. Besides classic N64 games that are sure to cause the nostalgia effect, the 3DS has an impressive game lineup in development that is sure to be worth while.
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
By far the most amazing display of the 3DS's graphical power so far has to be the reveal of the Kid Icarus: Uprising trailer. Seeing the return of Pit engaged in aerial and ground combat is great, but what is even more amazing is seeing the processing power and the graphical capabilities of this system in action. Unlike most handheld titles, this seems like a full fledged gaming experience that could be on a console rather than a portable device. See for yourself.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7detDcmMKY
With the unveiling of the 3Ds, Nintendo has shown why they are the kings of the portable gaming. Now that Nintendo has shown the "Ace" up their sleeve, it's going to be interesting to see what future products Sony and Apple will come up with in an effort to catch up to Nintendo's amazing lead in the portable gaming market.
The Nintendo 3DS is planned to launch in March of 2011. No price has been announced.
So, what do you guys think of the Nintendo 3Ds ?