3DS, Nintendo's next handheld revolution

Seems I was caught by surprise with this announcement, I literally thought it was an early April Fools joke. Nintendo has announced details on its next generation handheld system, and it will be 3D.

3D? not unlike the virtual boy?

More accurately the system will feature 3D effects but will not require special glasses be worn by the user. One report is that the 3D effect will be visible to the user but not necessarily visible to people watching the other screen. Supposedly the methods used can only be focused on a single individual which of course isn't a problem for a handheld device as handhelds are much more personal then TV based devices.

Because of these reports most people believe that the most likely method for accomplishing the 3D on the 3DS is head tracking. Head tracking is a method used to accomplish the illusion of 3D by constantly adjusting the image perspective to match that of the viewer using the screen. It was first demoed by a homebrew developer who wore a Wiimote as a hat to track were he was looking. Since then it has been adjusted into something simple enough that even the DSi's webcam can do it.



Of course it's also rumored that the system could use a form of layered LCD technology in order to generate the 3D effect as well. This rumor mainly comes as the layered technology is being put into use by some of the companies that presently manufacture Nintendo's screens. Layered technology works pretty much like it sounds, two LCD screens are placed ontop of each other with a thin layer separating them and the images are displayed on both with the gap between them used to simulate depth.

Since the 3DS won't be seen until E3 it's quite possible the system could use both (though head tracking would be most likely).

Other rumors about the system involve the possible inclusion of a 3D joystick of some sort which fits in line with Nintendo introducing new control technology with every system (though it could just be a new way of introducing analog to a portable as opposed to Sony's nub). Also the possiblity of it including rumble has been thrown around (not surprising as Nintendo as dabbled with rumble in many of it's other handhelds but has not yet offered it as a default option). In an interview earlier this year Iwata did mention the possibility of the system including gyro but we'll have to wait to see if anything else comes of it.

The greatest rumor is that the system likely uses Nvidia's Tegra chip, this would be great news as the Tegra does in most incarnations support high definition graphics. It's hard to say how things will go with the Tegra as Nintendo has traditionally turned to AMD for it's graphics needs and has apparantly met with both companies about graphical solutions.

Overall this news is great as it gives people like me new hardware to look for on the horizon (the DS has been growing stale with quite a few consumers). It also shows that despite its claims with the Wii Nintendo is still keeping an eye on the graphical horizon and making sure their systems remain visualy impressive. The 3D addition shows Nintendo is taking into account that as more companies entering the handheld market with hybrid devices, consumers will need greater reason to buy a gaming only device.
The last known detail on the device of course is it will retain backwards compatibility with the DS as well as likely having access to the DSi's online store. To be honest that information isn't nearly as useful as anything else.

It does make me think though, with all the people demanding the DSi provide downloadable Gameboy games, wouldn't the 3DS be able to offer downloadable virutal boy games? Of course this doesn't mean much as the virtual boy barely lasted on market for a year and most of its games were duds. However two games stood out as gems, Mario Clash and Virtual WarioLand and both of these I'd like to see get remakes (Mario Clash would be awesome as a downloadible!).

Mario Clash looks better in 3D