The E3 Convention began on Tuesday with Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo all showing off their newest and coolest: Microsoft’s new Kinect motion-sensing device, and Playstation’s Move surely drew some large crowds.  But the biggest news from the event was Nintendo’s new 3D system called the 3DS.  3-D is clearly the next big thing and Nintendo, being ahead of the curve as usual, has developed a portable system which focuses on where the video game market is headed, as opposed to where it is now.

The line to play this new system wrapped out the door, around the corner, and into Sony’s territory.  People waited a about an hour in line to play.  The system looks pretty similar to the mock-up that’s been making the rounds. It has a 3.5” 3D display up top, and a touch screen below. No glasses are needed for the 3D and you can control how much of a 3D effect you want (or even turn it off completely). Graphics are improved over the DS graphics, it has a Slide Pad (which seems to be a kind of analog controller), motion sensor and gyroscope sensor. It was two outward facing 3D camera lenses, and photo basic editing software.  It can even play 3D movies from Warner Brothers, Disney, and more.

In addition to games, Nintendo will offer 3D movies that you can watch on the 3DS. The 3DS also has a kind of passive multiplayer system built in.

Finally some 3DS-specific games were mentioned. The return of Kid Icarus in Kid Icarus: Uprising is sure to get old-school Nintendo fans excited. Also Miyamoto is working on a 3D version of Nintendogs...& Cats. Virtual pets are in this year, it seems.

All in all, the 3DS sounds very impressive on paper, but the only bad news is that we didn’t get a price or a launch date for the Nintendo 3DS, although rumor has it, it will be ready in time for the 2010 holiday season.

Nintendo also had plenty of new Wii games to show off: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword for the Wii (and using the Wii Motion Plus & Nunchuk to control sword and shield)., Mario Sports Mix, Wii Party, Just Dance 2, (more family-friendly titles) a new Goldeneye 007 game for the Wii (about time, and not so family-friendly), Kirby’s Epic Yarn, a textile-themed game featuring characters and levels that all seemed to be constructed out of yarn and fabric, and Donkey Kong Country Returns (Wii, coming this holiday season).

All in all it was a great press conference for Nintendo, they were clearly the big winners at this year’s E3.

Posted by admin on 06/17 at 07:37 AM
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