E3 2010 - Nintendo's 3DS
posted Tuesday Jun 15, 2010 by Scott Ertz
This year at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles, it has been a year of 3s. We have seen Gears of War3, Fable 3, the third installment of the Assassin's Creed family and The Sims 3 coming to the console. Nintendo took this a step farther and announced the Nintendo 3DS.
The 3DS is different from previous DS family changes because this is the first time Nintendo has done a real upgrade on the hardware. In the past, we went from the original DS to the DS Lite, which just made the handheld lighter and smaller. The DSi made the screens a little bigger and added the extra camera. The DSi XL gave us even bigger screens, but the hardware was still the same as the original. That is not the case this time.
Hit the break for all the changes on the Nintendo 3DS.
We'll begin with the less-than-obvious changes. First, we finally get the addition of an analog stick! The basic arrow controls have been moved down to make room for a completely normal analog stick for making navigation easier. Second, Nintendo has essentially shoved a Wiimote inside, giving us an accelerometer and motion control. Now we can play more Wii-style games on the go.
The biggest change, however, is in the graphics. They have actually increased the capabilities of the DS graphics engine, giving us closer to PSP-level imagery. The most obvious graphics change, though, is the addition of 3D rendering. The top screen is fully 3D capable and it requires no special glasses. 3D is capable without carrying anything extra around with you.
To prepare for the 3D, the top screen has been expanded to a full 3.5" widescreen display. On the right is a 3D slider, allowing you to control the level of 3D being displayed. Some people won't want to use it all the time, or in certain circumstances it might not look right, so you can tone it down or turn it off all together.
The outside camera has been upgraded as well to include dual lenses so that pictures can be taken in 3D as well, allowing your photos to look more real on the handheld. You can also watch any 3D Hollywood film on the handheld, again without the need for glasses. Why isn't Sony doing this on their TVs?!?!
So, are you going to rush out and get the new 3DS or do you just not care? Let us know in the comments section!
Also, don't forget to check out PLuGHiTz Live! Radio Thursday night @ 9PM Eastern for our Nintendo and Konami recap show!
