Nintendo DS successor to show 3D images without glasses

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Nintendo has announced its next major portable console and successor to the DS: the Nintendo 3DS. The company gave few details in its Japanese press release, but there's just enough information to excite anyone interested in the platform -- and there are plenty of you out there, with 125 million DS units purchased as of last December.

The "Nintendo 3DS" is reportedly just a temporary name, but it accurately depicts what might be the device's biggest feature: it supports 3D effects without the need for any special glasses. Its hardware will be backwards compatible with both the DS and DSi software, which indicates that the 3DS will have two screens, with at least one being touch-sensitive.

Nintendo will offer a closer look at the 3DS at E3 this June, and the handheld should ship before the end of March 2011. Leave your wild conjectures and tender aspirations in the comments below.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/38336-nintendo-ds-successor-to-show-3d-images-without-glasses.html

 

[cyrusjumpjet]

I'll believe it when I see it!

 

[TomSEA]

I have ten bucks that says it will look and play like crap. Any takers?

 

[Recycle]

Twenty bucks for it passing the DS in sales over the same period.

 

[DryIce]

I wonder how they will get the 3D effect without glasses.

 

[elroacho72]

3D without glasses is pretty cool... sounding, Will it be something all monitors can do. Sony is counting on 3D, but are they going to lose the glasses to compete with Nintendo?

 

[Burty117]

TomSEA said:
I have ten bucks that says it will look and play like crap. Any takers?

fifty!

 

[tonylukac]

Some of you are sure skeptical. I hope this lights a fire under those stupid 3d tv sellers which require 10 pound glasses to watch. I already went to high def--my money is spent for 10 years--when they make 3d tv without glasses is when I'll make the jump to 3d tv, and no sooner.

 

[Guest]

If anyone can pull this off, it's Nintendo.
Be interesting to see how this turns out.
If they do pull it off, makes the Psp seem really behind (in terms of innovation).

 

[Clrabbit]

There have been many "Expensive" ways of making True 3D displays over the years, which I would like to see hit mass-market seeing as Stero-optic dose me 100% jack. The focal points in both of my eyes are so beyond the ability to see the same image that there is 100% NO WAY I can ever use Stero-Optic 3d.

If Nintendo actually makes something I can use, It could be actually interesting.

 

[Richy2k9]

hello ...

the size of the monitor, makes it cheaper as a 3D monitor, others are trying for high end TVs, would cost too much, that's why they stick to shutter or blue/red glasses.

i'm no DS fan, so will stick with SONY this time & will get a PC monitor that has high refresh rate, it's just 1 year i bought an HDTV can't invest in that field again

cheers!

 

[HaMsTeYr]

Fifty bucks that Sony will release a ThreePSP or something that will have the 3d functionality, better graphics, probably has tv out, compatibility to link with their 3d PS3 so that you get the 3d out for your PSP screen as well through the bluetooth link....

I don't know, something. Whatever it is, i don't see Nintendo sitting up top with this especially since i see it like another gimmicky thing like their wii.

 

[tipstir]

3D without glasses can be done. If done right!

 

[rufio]

nice!!! i cannot wait to see this. hopefully it doesn't turn out to be a bust like the virtual boy...

 

[Timonius]

...well at the very least maybe a further improvement to other hardware specs?

 

[valiel12]

virtual boy was inept and that was like over 10 years ago? All it was, was two screens for each of the eye with with certain colors giving the "illusion" of a 3-D image.

 

[9Nails]

TomSEA said:
I have ten bucks that says it will look and play like crap. Any takers?

Nintendo needs a breakthrough, especially when iPhone has a pretty good looking game platform (minus the necessary battery life and controls).

Small, portable, underpowered hardware, with no special glasses, trying to bring about a revolutionary 3D display while being backwards compatible? Yeah, I couldn't bet against that. It's a sure loss for me if I was going to try and stand up for Nintendo and say that this product will be the best thing since sliced bread. It's going to be a gimmick at best. Nintendo has not changed the DS model much since it was released 6 years ago. And I just don't think that the next model will be a significant change from what we see today.

 

[Clrabbit]

You know really to compete with the Iphone Nintendo just needs to make a DS-Cell and get it on the market as an Advanced Android phone with a subset/port to run DS games. Then they could also sell GBA/GBC/GB games on the marketplace.

At least I would like a Flip/Clam shell touch screen Phone, with D-Pad and stylist options.

 

[Tekkaraiden]

Lets hope it goes better than their last 3d portable, I can still remember the eye strain.

 

[ET3D]

hamsteyr said:
Fifty bucks that Sony will release a ThreePSP or something that will have the 3d functionality, better graphics, probably has tv out, compatibility to link with their 3d PS3 so that you get the 3d out for your PSP screen as well through the bluetooth link....

You're probably right. And the Nintendo will still sell several times better.

Hopefully the 3D on this new device means it'd have some more processing power, which means it might be the rumoured Tegra device, in which case it could be pretty cool.

It'd be kind of funny, actually, since such a device will have faster CPU and graphics than the Wii.

 

[Sunny87]

ET3D said:

hamsteyr said:
Fifty bucks that Sony will release a ThreePSP or something that will have the 3d functionality, better graphics, probably has tv out, compatibility to link with their 3d PS3 so that you get the 3d out for your PSP screen as well through the bluetooth link....

You're probably right. And the Nintendo will still sell several times better.

Hopefully the 3D on this new device means it'd have some more processing power, which means it might be the rumoured Tegra device, in which case it could be pretty cool.

It'd be kind of funny, actually, since such a device will have faster CPU and graphics than the Wii.

According to some devs who have been given beta dev kits it's got the same power as a Nintendo Gamecube, So for me if true I'll be sold...
For anyone who don't know here are the Gamecube specs...

Processor:128-bit IBM Gekko
CPU Speed:485 MHz
System Memory:40 MB
Main Memory:24 MB 1T S RAM
A- Memory:16 MB DRAM
Internal Cache:L1: Instruction 32KB, Data 32KB (8 way) L2: 256KB (2 way)

System LSI: "Flipper" (Custom ATI/Nintendo)
Manufacture Process: 0.18 microns NEC Embedded DRAM Process
Clock Frequency: 162MHz
Floating Point Ability: 13.0 GFLOPS (Peak) (MPU, Geometry Engine, HW Lighting Total)
Frame Buffer: Approx. 2MB, Sustainable Latency: 6.2ns (1T-SRAM)
Texture Cache: Approx. 1MB Sustainable Latency : 6.2ns (1T-SRAM)
Texture Read Band.: 10.4GB/second (Peak)
Main Mem. Bandwidth: 2.6GB/second (Peak)
Color, Z-Buffer: Each is 24bits

Image Proc. Function:
Fog, Subpixel Anti-aliasing, HW Light x8, Alpha Blending, Virtual Texture Design, Multi-texture Mapping/Bump/Environment Mapping, MIPMAP, Bilinear/Trilinear/Anisotropic Filtering, Real-time Texture Decompression (S3TC), HW 3-line Deflickering filter, etc.

Now obviously they are going to need to shrink the CPU down for a small device so it's possible they will change the NM or do what they did with the DS have a co CPU e.g one operating at 300 Mhz the other at 185 Mhz, but I think they will just shrink the die nm SOI.

 

[pipopaz]

I thought they were going to do motion sensor for their next handheld...though I have to see the 3D capabilities and how it'll be used for games.

 

[StopMakingSense]

Does anyone remember Nintendo's first attempt at a 3D gaming system, the Virtual Boy?

 

[h2kproduction]

I've seen the video, the effect is too impressive. I wonder how it will work with old games.