Wii follow-up "not likely" to feature 3D

Wed 30 Mar 2011 7:53am GMT / 3:53am EDT / 12:53am PDT
Hardware

Nintendo cool on tech for home console as company sticks to "glasses-free"

Nintendo

nintendo-europe.com

Nintendo appears to have ruled out including 3D technology in the home console follow-up to the Wii, because of the likely need for players to wear glasses to make it work.

The news follows the launch of the 3DS handheld, which Nintendo of America hailed as a record-breaker for day one sales - although reports in other regions seem to indicate a mixed reception, with no official figures having yet been publicly released.

But with one of the main selling points of that device being the "glasses-free" 3D, the company is reluctant to move away from that concept in other new hardware.

"I think at Nintendo, we realise that any sort of goggle-type 3D technology was not going to work," Hideki Konno told CNN. "In order to make 3D technology viable with video games, we thought we needed to have glasses-free 3D."

And Reggie Fils-Aime added: "Glasses-free is a big deal. We've not said publicly what the next thing for us will be in the home console space, but based on what we've learned on 3D, likely, that won't be it."

Part of the problem for Nintendo is that while the company is able to pull together the entire user experience into one device on the 3DS, a home console implies the use of a TV - and while glasses-free 3D televisions are being worked on, they're unlikely to enter the market in an affordable way for some time to come.

8 Comments

Michael Armer
Studying Games Development National Diploma Level 3

Lancaster and Morecambe College

Seems strange to rule it out when the Ps3 can output 3D right now. Nintendo should allow the system to produce 3D for 2 reasons largely. the new 3DS games can be played in 2D so they could just have a 3D system with a 2D option until TV's become more popular. the 2nd is if they get there timing wrong and 3D TV's become more mainstream quickly and the likely hood is that the next Xbox and PlayStation will have 3D they don't want to get left behind. because I don't think there next console will be as radical as the Wii first time around. due to Microsoft having Kinect covering off hands free gaming which would most likely have been Nintendo's next port of call. So they will have to go head to head in the same market as the other consoles next time around. which would prove a massive problem if they don't have 3D at all.

also they are playing there hand early. (or are bluffing) as Sony and Microsoft are silent about there next console.

Posted:2 years ago

#1

Kingman Cheng
Illustrator and Animator

I'm quite happy with this personally. Having seen glasses free 3D tv's before I hope that'll become mainstream and price go down so they can cover it without the console costing a bomb.

Edited 1 times. Last edit by Kingman Cheng on 30th March 2011 1:54pm

Posted:2 years ago

#2

Werner Nemetz
Loc QA Lead

Activision Blizzard Ireland

Thats nothing Nintendo can specificly rule out as long as the hardware is strong enough and has HDMI output developers can make 3D games. The 360 was never constructed with 3D in mind and you can make the games for it.

Posted:2 years ago

#3

Klaus Preisinger
Freelance Writing

The next console will be less defined by its high fidelity input/output features, but by how it manages to get content to the user and to which degree the content delivered covers all the needs of the user.

Look at Apple, they got a lot of music, they got some TV, they got rudimentary games and they have an audience other online platforms can only dream of. Now imagine a Microsoft console streaming 60 of your favorite channels, access to an online library of TV, music and movie content, connecting you to the web with a full explorer experience, and playing games.

No next gen 3D or waggle gimmick can compete with that. The challenge is to to be able to provide such a service in all the markets the pure gaming console would have sold. Give it 10 years and we'll not only have such consoles, but the will have integrated low ping 50mbit LTE internet connections as well.

Posted:2 years ago

#4

Rick Lopez
illustrator, designer, DJ

I agree with micheal on the fact that Nintendo should make a system that gives you the option to play in 3D for when the technology becomes available. They cover more ground and few people are left out.

Me personally i could care less about 3D since I prefer enjoying a movie and game with the best picture quality available. And I feel stupid wearing goggles. I dont care about motion control for the matter. Its too gimmicky for me, since I feel many games that use it dont require it... Such as Zelda... I dreaded playing twilight princess with it. And I dont find the 3DS 3d expirience all that breath taking, it does little for actual gameplay.

3D to me is not much differant then the paper cut outs from a pop up book. There is depth but There is little sense of volume.

I tried 3D Tv's on display, scene movies in 3d, like Tron and Alice in wonderland, and seriously Im not interested. I find TV's that have a high refresh rate like 260hz more pleasing. The picture is so crisp and clear you feel you can stick your hand in there. Its like looking through a window. The same for games. Howeever it makes some movies look like they were shot in a handy cam, I particularly like this because it feels more real. However I know some people who dont like that and prefer a TV with a lower refresh rate like 60Hz. Also a higher refresh rate makes flaws in visual effects more noticable.

Im speaking on my own opinion. Im sure there are many people who love 3D, Im simply not one of them.

Nintendo could also opt for 3D feature to be updated to the game through a download by having a hardware capable of having 3D through a firmware update when glasses free technology becomes available.

Edited 1 times. Last edit by Rick Lopez on 30th March 2011 2:46pm

Posted:2 years ago

#5

LeWayne Jones
freelance journalist

I agree the option should be there, but ultimately. I don't think 3D will be that big of a deal in the next few years. Only because people in the theaters are already weary of 3D as it is. Who really knows if the lifecycle of 3D will expire before it becomes widespread in availability and price.

Personally, though I think the biggest thing Nintendo will be worried about is trying to improve upon things that caused the Wii to fall short. Like providing more Space for game saves and downloadable games, improving the graphical output now that it's affordably feasible to do so, and possibly honing whatever new ideas they have in terms of giving the player new and different ways of playing games. I doubt that hands free will be the option to beat considering Kinect can only do so much without buttons, and as we all know buttons are what make games playable beyond gesture based mechanics.

I do understand that people want more in terms of online content and features, but I think first and foremost they're going to be worried about the games and how they will be played.



Posted:2 years ago

#6

Jamie Watson
Studying Bachelor of Games & Interactive Entertainment

Queensland University of Technology

the option should be there indeed but shouldn't be the forefront of the console instead they should do something innovative like they did with the wii..

Posted:2 years ago

#7

Felix Gladitz

I just came over from a Bluray vs. DVD discussion - and it seems the same applies here:

I believe 3D is a bit ahead of its time right now - but those who implement it, will benefit from it in the long run perhaps.

As technology moves forward and 3DTVs get cheaper - Nintendo will find itself lacking behind.

Microsoft has slept through trends in the past - and is now making a strong push with great risks with its Kinect.

I agree - the option should be there, or the ability to upgrade at a later time.

Posted:2 years ago

#8

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