Nintendo’s plan to create a new DS capable of 3D has one advocate of the technology excited, and that advocate is developer Blitz Games, whose Invincible Tiger game was shown to us at GDC last year.
According to chief technical officer Andrew Oliver, Nintendo could be using ‘parallax barrier’ screens in the new DS which is currently seen in cameras and laptops.
“I’m fairly sure it would be based on the parallax barrier method, which is better than lenticular screens and has seen some great advancements recently,” Oliver told GI.biz. “It can also be turned off to give a perfect 2D screen as well. This screen already exists in the Fuju 3D camera and I have a 3D laptop from Sharp with this technology and it works very well for one viewer within a reasonable viewing area for a handheld.
“As a massive advocate of 3D, I’m definitely hoping that it will accelerate 3D adoption within other gaming systems. When done properly 3D really adds a huge level of immersion to games.
“One of the problems facing its adoption is that some people are jaded about 3D, because it has had a history of being done badly. But when people see new carefully crafted 3D games, they will be convinced it’s no fad – it’s a fantastic jump into a new dimension.
“I believe consumers want radical change. Technology is always getting better and consumers are always demanding more.
“The current DS has had an incredibly good run and there are too many classic games to name. But after seven years since its launch I think its time for a radical upgrade. Touch screens were radical and new when the DS was launched, and are now mainstream. It looks like Nintendo could be ahead of the game again.
“3D will literally add a new dimension to the DS. New movies such as Avatar have shown that 3D is very popular with consumers. The question is: will the new 3DS have new hardware to support the extra level of graphics that will be required to create good 3D visuals?
“If this is a whole new console, then it should be very exciting for publishers and developers,” he added.
Nintendo plans to show the new 3DS at E3 in June, and formally announced its development today with a release slated for March 2011.
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