Nintendo 3DS To Be Released In February/March 131
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
Re:Not first. (Score:3, Interesting)
I dunno. The VB was hard to use even if you were sitting still. The little stand thing on it was a horrible idea. I'd have rather it just strapped to my head even if it needed a counter balance. I have my doubts about the 3DS. For $300 you can get an iTouch which has apps that are overall on par, or better, than most DS games, are far cheaper, and you get a lot more functionality. I'm not sure a lot of people are itching for 3D. I'm barely interested in 3D HDTV and for mobile gaming I'm not sure it even rates a curiosity - but maybe other people are different.
I think Nintendo would be better off focusing on making their consoles and games cheaper and playing to their strength with casual and active games. A Nintendo branded Android device that had access to Nintendo's existing library of games would be interesting if it was affordable enough, gave Android a Nintendoish makeover, and was otherwise non-suck.
Re:3DS screen on cell phone? (Score:4, Interesting)
As someone who played quite some time with the 3DS last june, I can say that I started to despise the now obsolete 2D display on my phone. And that, without taking the 3D camera into account.
The 3D effect is almost flawless. The "3D slider" which helps you adjust the degree of the effect, makes it perfectly usable for just about anyone.
I think it's pretty safe to say we're going to see news of a phone with 3D display soon after the 3DS launch.
Re:Not first. (Score:3, Interesting)
I hate to say this, because Nintendo is awesome even if I am getting mildly annoyed at all their gimmicky stuff that is popular with the kiddies. (must be a sign of getting old)
I think Sony would be better off adopting Android than Nintendo.
Hear me out of course:
Sony tries to appeal to adults more than Nintendo does, even though Nintendo captures both and Sony is sort of floundering at the moment. I just see the whole Android interface working better for Sony, especially after using both a DSi and a PSP. Sony already makes phones through their formerly Ericson division, with Android phones available. Sony is better equipped to make a PSP/Phone hybrid than Nintendo is.
On that note I have said on more than one occasion Nintendo is stupid for not
1. Making their own phone/console hybrid
or
2. Licensing out their GBA/DS tech to phone manufactures.
Seriously, I could see HTC turning out an awesome DS Slider phone complete with a cartridge port, standard Micro SD slot, android OS merged with DSi functions. (controls and touchscreen always showing, speaker in the middle of the ABXY buttons, mic next to +, top screen slides out)
Of course Nintendo wont do that for piracy/hacking reasons, not like they aren't happening on the native platform as is, but dilution is an issue.
Sony on the other hand has nothing to lose. The PSP-3000 already has most of the requirements to meet the phone challenge, you can already make Skype calls directly on that thing, no extras needed. Make it a little more portable - it is rather large to be a mobile phone, distribute games on Pro-Duo cards (which I hate BTW), so they can work with ALL PSPS models instead of pulling a download only setup. Obviously we don't want a UMD drive on this
Of course for that to work, Sony would have to wear pants [cad-comic.com].