Nintendo To Launch 3D Version of DS Handheld
The Kyoto-based company is all set to launch its 3D version of its best-selling Nintendo DS handheld video game console. Nintendo 3-DS does not require you to wear special glasses to view images in 3-D.
In a press release, Nintendo made it clear that the new product will be on display in June during the E3 video game trade show.
Its special technology that doesn’t require viewers to wear polarized glasses to watch images in 3D makes it a class part from others of its category. The company is tight-lipped so far on the cost of its 3D console and the technology involved in it. The new console is expected to flood markets in April 2010.
Ken Toyoda, chief spokesman, Nintendo, said: “We wanted to give the gaming industry a head’s up about what to expect from Nintendo at E3. We’ll invite people to play with the new device then.”
The company has declared that the new device is said to be compatible with games for Nintendo’s older DS and DSi handheld models. Its DS console has been a hit with consumers. It has already sold 125 million DS console units since its launch in 2004.
Its Wii home video game device has been another success to the credit of Nintendo, which has been especially famous among casual game players. About 67.5 million units of the Wii have been sold since its launch in 2006.
With the competition getting tougher, Nintendo will have to introduce a new game system, as Apple iPhone and iPod Touch are giving it great competition in the market.
To achieve a 3D effect, a filter must be directly placed in front of the display panel consisting of several small lenses. Viewers get the 3D illusion when lenses focus each image on a fixed point in space. Though its advantage is that it does not require glasses, yet the disadvantage is that it limits the viewing angle, thereby meaning that the 3D effect can be viewed by only one person.
To many, the announcement has come as a surprise, as it has been made a few days before it would have launched the larger DS in the United States, where it is known as the DSi XL, which was launched in Europe recently.
Nintendo has been vulnerable to foreign exchange fluctuations. More than 85 percent of its revenue comes from outside Japan.
