Nintendo's 3DS at E3

So having to wake up at 6 yesterday I wasn't able to watch this live, but holy mother of Santa! Nintendo have been giving us fairly poor press conferences for the last 3-4 years, but they've more than made up for it in this one. In addition to a new Zelda, Metroid, Goldeneye, Wii Sports, Golden Sun, Donkey Kong and Kirby, they finally revealed the sucessor to the DS.


Trailer with Iwata, Miyamoto and Reggie:



If anyone still keeps up with the Ninty news you'd remember they first announced this back in March. The top screen has a 3.5 inch 800x240 resolution, and it features an analog stick and extra camera for taking 3D images. But otherwise they've mostly stuck with the DS clamshell design (only for the 5th time after DS DSL DSi and DSiXL). There is a slider on the side which controls the depth of its 3D visuals, and an SD card slot for memory expansion / digital media. It also uses cartridges and is backwards compatible with DS games.

But the main feature is the console's ability to produce 3D effects without the need of stereoscopic glasses. While we're unable to determine how realistic this is from the available media, I've been reading nothing but positive review for those who attended. Here's a Solid Snake preview, you may be able to feel some of the 3Dness:



Nintendo have always been bringing new ideas into the market, by introducing new methods of gaming using existing technology. Some (such as VR, vitality sensor) have failed while others (analog stick, rumble pack, game-eye, motion sensor, etc) each have pushed the gaming industry in new directions and caused its competitors to create their own designs. Depending on how appealing the 3D is, we may likely see other handhelds released in future and perhaps even televisions utilising the tech. Especially when all the current 3D TVs need the nerdy looking special glasses.

While I'll definitely be one of the first to pick one of these up on launch day I must admit there were a couple of things letdowns. Nintendo have a record of changing their handheld designs after 2 improvisations, this was the case for the Game Boy and GBA. but we're still getting mostly the same look only it's now messier with more controls. The two cameras on the top screen are both 0.3MP like the DSi (way to merge new tech with last century's). Also while a shiny black version was available for demo on the E3 show floor there has been no announcements on colours and the press images only show blue and red (aka kiddy and girly) colours. But nothing, NOTHING could stop the orgasms when I saw this:



List of announced 3DS titles:
- Kid Icarus: Uprising
- Steel Diver
- Star Fox 64
- PilotWings Resort
- Paper Mario
- Nintendogs + Cats
- Mario Kart
- Animal Crossing
- Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory
- Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon
- Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition
- Sims 3
- Samurai Warriors 3D
- Ridge Racer
- Resident Evil
- Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracle
- Madden NFL
- Kingdom Hearts
- Hollywood61
- Hideo Kojima Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater 3D
- FIFA Soccer
- DJ Hero 3D
- Dead or Alive 3D
- Chocobo Racing 3D
- Carnival Games
- Battle of Giants Dinosaur Strike