Nintendo 3DS to be Released in One Year
At the end of last month, Nintendo finally revealed information on their rumored next-gen handheld system- the Nintendo 3DS. & while there's still not a lot we know about the 3DS, some news & rumors have trickled through the grape vines. First, let's take a look at the original "press release" (if you can call it that) where Nintendo first announced it at the end of March:
March 23, 2010
To Whom It May Concern:
Re: Launch of New Portable Game Machine
Nintendo Co., Ltd. (Minami-ward of Kyoto-city, President Satoru Iwata) will launch “Nintendo 3DS”(temp) during the fiscal year ending March 2011, on which games can be enjoyed with 3D effects without the need for any special glasses.
“Nintendo 3DS”(temp) is going to be the new portable game machine to succeed “Nintendo DS series”, whose cumulative consolidated sales from Nintendo amounted to 125million units as of the end of December 2009, and will include backward compatibility so that the software for Nintendo DS series, including the ones for Nintendo DSi, can also be enjoyed.
So somehow the big N is promising 3D gaming without the need of glasses. While we wonder how they could accomplish this, there's actually already a hidden pictures game for the DSi already in the works that kinda does this. Though whatever method they're using for the 3DS will probably be cooler & more advanced. The rumor is that the screens will be based on autosteroscopic imagery generated by LCDs with parallax barrier technology. In fact Sharp Corporation just announced on April 2 that they were developing a new 3.4-inch autostereoscopic touchscreen. Even before that it was already rumored that the autostereoscopic 3D LCD panels were to be handled by Sharp, so this is looking pretty solid.
While Nintendo hasn't officially said anything else about the new handheld yet, one Japanese news report out of Japan alleges the 3DS will include an analog stick, an accelerometer, rumble support, & more. The screen is expected to be no larger than 4 inches (slightly smaller than the DSi XL). Other things we do know are true is that it will be fully backwards compatible with DS & DSi games, which leads one to think it will have two cameras on it as well. It would kinda have to if it were to play all the DSi games. We wont have any hard evidence on more info until E3 occurs this summer, where Nintendo promises to have the actual device on held & ready to play with.
The vague & short press release has been attributed to Nintendo attempting to beat out the rush of leaked info on the handheld, which they believed to be imminent. Otherwise, it seems doubtful the company would purposely announce a new handheld just days before the DSi XL launched in North America.