It’s not just TV makers who are looking to 3-D for a shot of adrenaline. Video-game console makers are also hurriedly going dimensional to boost or maintain market shares for their systems.
But Nintendo raised some eyebrows Tuesday with an announcement of a 3-D version of the top-selling DS, the handheld game player that evolved from the company’s market-building Game Boy. Tentatively labeled the 3-DS, the device would not require 3-D glasses.
Debut at E3
The company released few details about the new product but said it would be available by the end of its fiscal year, with previews at the gaming industry’s E3 Expo June 15-17 in Los Angeles.
“We wanted to give the gaming industry a heads-up about what to expect from Nintendo at E3,” said Ken Toyoda, chief spokesperson for Nintendo. “We’ll invite people to play with the new device then.”
The Kyoto, Japan-based company recently released figures that show a 9.4 percent drop in revenue in its third quarter ending in December, compared to a year ago. While its Wii video-game console is still the top-selling platform, the company lowered the price.
With global sales of the DS slowing, having the first 3-D portable could provide an important boost, and Nintendo has a proven record of innovation.
“I haven’t seen Nintendo’s solution yet, but the latest glasses-free 3-D TV sets I saw at CES were underwhelming,” said consumer-devices analyst Avi Greengart of Current Analysis. “However, Nintendo does have a history in this space, and I would never underestimate them when it comes to adding gaming features. They proved skeptics dead wrong with the Wii’s motion controllers.”
Nintendo’s announcement earned a predictably skeptical response from archrival Sony. In an interview with the gaming blog IGN, the company’s director of hardware marketing, John Koller, said his team is focused on a 3-D PlayStation console rather…