E310: Nintendo 3DS

Nintendo has just announced the Nintendo 3DS. Physically, it looks much like the DS Lite, but it has a larger widescreen for the top screen. It still maintains the touch screen for the lower screen, and the upper screen is the only one that is in 3D. The 3D does not require any sort of glasses, but Nintendo has not revealed exactly how that works. The 3DS also incorporates motion sensor, a gyroscope, and touch slider, which looks like a mouse touchpad.

The 3DS also features ‘graphics improvements’, although no specifications have been given. The new system also incorporates cameras like in the DSi, but the outside camera is actually a 3d camera, so you can take 3d pictures. They are also announcing Hollywood movies in 3D visible on the 3DS screen.

Connectivity is important in a mobile gaming device, and Nintendo has seemingly solved that problem. The 3DS connects wirelessly with wifi hotspots and other 3DS units without any action necessary by the user. This service is used to download updates to games, rankings, and new content. Interesting to see a peer-to-peer system being used to distribute updates, but seems to be an ingenious idea.

All in all, a very impressive piece of hardware. Nintendo is making sure that everyone knows that they are still the king of handheld gaming.