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Cellphones Displays Graphics Nintendo Games

Video Games Expected To Drive 3D Mobile Phone Sales 39

An anonymous reader writes with this excerpt from Forbes: "Nintendo started the mainstream push into glasses free (autostereoscopic) 3D gaming with its Nintendo 3DS system earlier this year. While sales were decent for the device, the price point, hardcore focus and lack of killer app games have failed to replicate the mainstream success of Nintendo DSi. But a strong E3 with top-tier 3D games ... should help attract a broader audience to the device, especially once Nintendo offers a price cut. While some have called 3D phones gimmicky, these devices are already commonplace in Asia. And with an influx of new 3D phones entering the market this year, coupled with the Nintendo 3DS, Jim Cameron recently [said] he sees these glasses-free devices as being key for the adoption of 3D TVs in the homes. He said autostereoscopic 3D games will be the entry level for most people to 3D. While the technology for big screen glasses free 3D is still further away, small devices like 3D phones and Nintendo 3DS will show off the technology."
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Video Games Expected To Drive 3D Mobile Phone Sales

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  • Even a quality gaming system that is part of a phone needs to have a good phone experience as well. Crappy phone + good gaming = mediocrity. Also, am I the only one who thinks this whole 3D push is just more marketing crap? Is the experience unique enough and good enough to make it work it?
    • One of my co-workers just bought a phone with 3D. His take, and I have to share his opinion, is that "3D is a neat feature to goof off with when you first get it, but after a while you just really want it to go away."

      Honestly, it just seems like a way for the big consumer tech companies to milk money out of people who have no sense.

      • That's not the point. This is a bit like mp3 ringtones - completely pointless from a practical point of view (pure beeps are much more audible) but in a world where phones are status symbols they helped sell an awful lot of new phones.

        • I have a very practical use for per-contact Mp3 ringtones: I can decide without opening my eyes whether to wake up and answer it.

          (My girlfriend fell off the wake-up list as of last night, when she called at 1AM to bitch about her cat's bladder infection...)

    • Don't be hating. NGage 4 lyfe! [sidetalkin.com]

      Oh, wait. You mentioned "good gaming", didn't you...
    • 2003 called and they want their N-Gage [wikipedia.org] back.

    • Even a quality gaming system that is part of a phone needs to have a good phone experience as well. Crappy phone + good gaming = mediocrity.

      Awww, is somebody on your lawn?

      • Awww, is somebody on your lawn?

        Yes, but they aren't there to deliver a quality product, so they need to find somewhere else to hock their wares.

      • That doesn't even make sense, if you want a 3D gaming device buy a DS but even the most hardcore gamer needs to send a text, write an email, or make a call every now and then, e.g. phone functionality is a must.
        • if you want a 3D gaming device buy a DS but even the most hardcore gamer needs to send a text, write an email, or make a call every now and then, e.g. phone functionality is a must.

          The fact remains that it's cheaper to carry two devices: one feature phone and one not-a-phone. This is because service for feature phones in the United States is still far cheaper than service for smartphones.

          • That's what you get when you have deregulated telecommunications. Here in Australia we don't have that problem, a mobile phone is a mobile phone, service & price is the same across the board per provider. It's up to the provider to set the charges, but they can't charge more because one phone is a 'feature phone' and one is a 'smartphone'. That's called profiteering when both use the same services.

            Enjoy your small government and lack regulation.

            • by tepples ( 727027 )

              It's up to the provider to set the charges, but they can't charge more because one phone is a 'feature phone' and one is a 'smartphone'.

              Of course they can't. But they can charge $5 per month for a "phone that doesn't use a data plan" and $60 per month for a "phone that uses a data plan".

            • I really have to laugh when you try to put positive spin on Australia's Telecom industry. Hell, Blizzard wont even park a server on your island because of your retarded Telecoms.
    • by Dvija ( 2300256 )
      In my experience seeing Avatar in 3d was neat, but home theater experiences have been crappy. So many companies are pushing 3D, but its seems like a gimicky oddity\curiosity at best, not a key feature. I cant imaging it will be any better on a tiny screen without those ridiculous glasses.
    • by LibRT ( 1966204 )
      That can work both ways: great phone + crappy games = mediocrity (see blackberry).

      As an aside, I have a 3DS and I think the 3D is fantastic, and more than a novelty, but quickly grew bored of the games (Pilotwings and the horrible Pirates of the Caribbean 3D). Crappy game + cool 3D = mediocrity too.
  • by Anonymous Coward

    "While the technology for big screen glasses free 3D is still further away..."

    I was at a manufacturer show A YEAR AGO in Montreal and some of them already had 40 inches autostereoscopic displays.

  • MiniDisc players are still fairly common in Japan. Popularity in Asia is a very different thing than popularity here.

  • Let's get this straight:

    The lackluster acceptance of one of Nintendo's weaker offerings in the mobile arena, where it traditionally excels, along with the fact that any use that isn't a complete gimmick will restrict the 3D game to a very limited selection of devices(and we all know how developers love cutting into their potential install base), and the assertion that the feature is big in Asia, a market well known for normally not embracing gimmicks and for accurately forecasting the development of the
  • by RoverDaddy ( 869116 ) on Monday June 27, 2011 @04:39PM (#36589572) Homepage
    I'm wondering how the technology behind the 3DS will work on a screen you can rotate? Will you get 3D in both orientations? How much will the picture quality (in either orientation) be affected while 3D is off?
    • You mean like the new Evo 3D? The answer is "no", it only works 3D in landscape with this technology.

      And when the 3D is "off", it doesn't affect the screen/display quality at all (resolution, brightness, clarity, etc). 3D is only used for media or certain games. It is not part of the UI (thankfully).

      I am not that impressed with the technology. It works, but it hurts my eyes and the angle of effect is very low.

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • I think the 3DS's launch lineup is its big problem, more so than the 3D gimmick. I got one a week ahead of the release of Ocarina of Time 3D, and went looking for a game to get to play on it after discovering that the included "games" are really kind of stupid. (And, in the case of AR Games, impossible to play with the 3D on. But I think enough people can explain that.) I wound up buying Link's Awakening DX off the virtual console. Probably the best game available for the 3DS at the time, if you exclude exi

  • Having made a lot of 3D content for youtube, I'm quite interested to see youtube update their app for this.
  • How is this news? Name one application for 3D other than gaming. And no, video doesn't count until there's a decent number of movies available for the platform (DRM optional).

  • I'm not interested in a 3D phone, for the same reasons i'm not interested in 3D TVs, 3D movies, or 3D games consoles; It's not 3D, it's stereoscopy. Yes, the effect is impressive for 3 or 4 minutes. The headache after 20 is less so.

    Good for you if you don't get headaches from moving stereoscopic imaging, but saying that it's going to be powering 3D phone sales sounds like a bad business strategy.

    Wait a sec... Who the hell else will buy a 3D phone?!
    • Lame... I was hoping this article was about phones getting better EGL or WebGL support for Video Games.

      I remember one time when I was testing a "3D" (stereoscopic) device, and it seemed like the coolest thing ever--I felt I really noticed the 3d effect, and it seemed "awesome".

      Turns out, the left eye of the glasses wasn't working, and I guess the 3D effect was my own brain inferring the depth the whole time. I'd suggest trying this out if you're ever testing a "3D" technology: cover/close your left (or righ

      • by ace123 ( 758107 )

        My title was misleading, sorry. I don't mean to say there is no value in stereo video. Just as stereo and 5.1 audio improve the experience, stereo video has the ability to improve the experience. But I'm tired of the media treating this as though it's a whole new paradigm. (Ever been to an IMAX movie and watched the beginning where they show off the 10 speaker surround sound system? My reaction usually is "That's really cool. But start the movie already")

        Personally, I'd rather they spent their efforts on ad

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