Alright. The utterly strange Nintendo 3DS reveal has cooled a bit these past few days, but in that sentence lies the rub: Strange.
It’s completely, mind-bogglingly strange that Nintendo, known for Apple-like secrecy—especially concerning hardware—would just casually drop what is arguably the biggest advancement in their portable line since the boxy gray DS was revealed six years ago. In their latest newsletter, industry rag GamesIndustry.biz pics up on this:
Bombshell dropped, Nintendo proceeded to airily imply that we can find out more at E3 if we’re bothered, and wandered off nonchalantly, leaving the Internet and the mainstream press alike to implode under the weight of speculation, claim and counter-claim.
And the announcement was indeed a bombshell. Three-dimensional gaming is in its infancy, and yet here it is, the apparent cornerstone of Nintendo’s next disruptive strategy (hell, some, like myself, are critical that it will ever truly take off in the near term, as motion controls have).
But maybe we should focus on “apparent cornerstone” for a moment too. The mysterious, uncharacteristically early reveal lacked the one thing that’s differentiated Nintendo from its two main competitors: Pics or hands-on with the hardware. Indeed, while Sony and Microsoft have been content to stroke the traditional year-long hype cycle for their new devices, which includes showing off a prototype without much consumer hands-on until right before launch, Nintendo has always managed to have both hardware and software available from the get-go—again a la Apple—so that the most important people to their business, the gamers, could test out and decide for themselves whether that plastic and silicon was worth their money.
The one exception is the controversial Vitality Sensor, but even though it lacked software of any kind (wait til E3, 2010, cough, they say), the device was at least shown in mock-up format as Iwata detailed the intricacies of this new accessory on stage at E3 2009.
And then there’s the strange 3D “parallax barrier” tech rumored to be at the heart of the handheld. Again, picked up on GI.biz:
[T]o be blunt, parallax barrier doesn’t feel like a Nintendo technology. This is the company that shoved two low-resolution screens and ancient resistive touch technology into a cheap plastic case and created the best-selling handheld console of the decade, thrashing competition which invested vast sums of R&D in building a full home console experience into a sleek, compact handheld. It’s the company that boosted the processor speed of its ageing GameCube system, threw in a DVD drive and some fairly old-school position sensing technology for the controller, and wiped the floor with the world’s technology giants who had invested in new processing technology, vastly advanced graphics chipsets and cutting edge storage systems.
Note that GI is not criticizing Nintendo here at all. The company has wiped the floor with Sony and Microsoft, and will continue to do so for the remainder of this year, at the very least, but the peculiar use of such untested high concept tech at Nintendo is, as I keep saying, completely strange and even a bit out of character.
The conspiracy theorist in me thinks, half in jest, that the release was a feint. Nintendo has so utterly dominated, so utterly confused, and so out profited its rivals this generation that it’s gotten bored. The result is the teasing 3DS pseudo-reveal. It’s batting rivals about like a cat with a ball of string. I kid, of course. I think. Also, note that I’m not saying Nintendo is faking having 3D. This isn’t some game to them, and 3D will be in the handheld. It’s just that, I think there’s more to it than that.
Or maybe all these Apple comparisons are starting to seep into Kyoto as a negative thing. The iPad hype is undeniable. Something like 50% of first gen iPad software will be games-related. iPhone/iPad games now account for 20% of the overall games development pie. Could the 3DS teaser simply be Nintendo getting jittery? Public comments from the Nintendo big players—Iwata, Fils-Aime, etc—indicate Nintendo doesn’t care, but if that 20% becomes 25%, or even 30%, and as the PSP continues its non-competitive slide into obscurity, it’s going to get harder and harder to believe them.
That said, the 3DS, whatever it ends up being, was in development long before Steve Jobs got up on stage in January to reveal the iPad, or when Sony got on its soap box to crow that the PS3 was the way of the 3D future. I’d even argue that the device probably existed in prototype form(s) before Natal and Sony Move were making their first heavily scripted steps on stage last year. So I guess that leaves me right back where I started: Utterly confused and intrigued by Nintendo’s un-Nintendo behavior.
Like I said. It’s all just kind of…strange. And fascinating. I can’t wait for E3, in any event. Thoughts?
Maybe it was an attempt to control the release of information about the 3DS and forestall any leaks. Nintendo must be revealing more details to certain game developers so that they have something to show at E3. They may be worried about leaks, so they want to get ahead of them.
It is a lot harder to control leaks than it used to. People went to all sort of sources to get early info about the iPad: purchase orders, job postings. Imagine if somebody noticed Nintendo putting in a large order for a 3D chip, or one a known DS developer put had a job posting for some programmer with skills in portable gaming and 3D technology.
@Relden: Another good point, although why has no one published the leaks now that Nintendo openly acknowledged the new portable? Seems that'd be guaranteed traffic if they did.
I'm with you on this one Jack. 3D will not be the only (or even the primary) innovation in this new handheld. It's almost like the reveal of project Revolution's real name: "Wii" a few weeks before E3 IIRC. It got the buzz going, and then they hit us with all the full details.
Better touchscreen control, accelerometer, close-to-PSP graphics or I eat my hat. And who knows what else?
That's why I initially thought this was an elaborate April Fool's joke when I first heard about it. It really is quite baffling.
Nintendo made this cryptic reveal precisesly to curtail MOVE hype. No one is talking about MOVE anymore. We know what it is. We've seen it in action. It is a known quantity. 3DS is the new hype and speculation, and the internet LOVES hype and speculation. A brilliant move by Nintendo, who have become masters at controlling the mindshare of this industry, despite being a gimmick, for kids and old people, and having no good games.
3D, like HD for their next console, is just a starting point. I expect the 3DS to be about much more than just 3D gaming, just as the Wii is about so much more than motion-controls (a fact Sony and MS are going to realize much too late). Nintendo is not showing all their cards yet. The 3D hint is just a taste to tease the gamersphere, like a single drop of blood into a piranha tank. Many are going to PAX East this weekend, and while they wait in line to play with MOVE, they are going to be talking to each other about 3DS.
I haven't been this excited for new hardware since the Wii was announced. To be fair, both Wii and 3DS were teaser announcements, light on details, which adds to the excitement. But still…
Good article Jack I agree the 3D wont be the main function of the new DS. But one reason Nintendo probably leaked it out is competition. Microsoft and Sony are getting there motion games ready for release so Nintendo is pulling out there big guns(mario,zelda metriod) to compete and take the buzz off of the competing products. So leaking info on the new DS right around the PS3 move being annouced is a big deal. Me personally I just think its all market strategy. This is the most competitive year so far this generation in gaming with tons of good games coming out and Sony and Microsoft prepping there motion games. I also personally think this is Nintendo last year of domination in which they have been doing the last 4 years. I pretty much think the and DS sales will finally hit there limit by the end of next year. I know E3 is around the corner and Im hopeing Nintendo can raise the bar again. Hardware wise I think they have pretty much reached there limit on the current mediums.
@Blake: Stinks that it's a year out though, although E3 should be heavy on details and hands-on, I would imagine (hope). I may spring for a plane ticket since I already have press creds…I'll just sleep in the gutter. Or not sleep.
I have to agree that this is very odd… But very cool! Something tells me that Nintendo will also be announcing their next console soon…
Don´d obsess over “parallax barrier†tech. It´s more than 10 years old. I´ve seen it at CeBit. Was very expensive back then and there never was content targeted at the consumer (was intended for medical research IIRC). So this is neither cutting edge or untested. Relax, all is well.
Taulmarill beat me to it, but basically, yeah parallax barrier tech is old. It's just never really been used to much effect. Kinda like the motion controls really.
It also has problems that makes it very difficult to use in anything other than a handheld device, and up until recently there hasn't really been the processing power to support that. So it's really just an idea whose time has come.
Love this! although microsoft and sony may be one step ahead in terms of hardware power, Nintendo always in one step ahead with innovative ideas. Next, Microsoft and Sony will copy 3D gaming like with motion. However, Nintendo will be getting rid of this and moving on to their next idea leaving them behind to copy yet again lol…
I'm glad you put this into writing, Jack. It's something a lot of us were thinking — "*This* isn't Nintendo's marketing modus operandi…" — but I think much of the interested world was too dumbstruck by the *content* of the message to talk about the *meta*, the timing & the vagueness of the announcement.
I'm with you on the thought that Nintendo has been working on this longer than most know. I think this has been in the works for a year or two now, at least.
I think they were afraid 3DS was going to get leaked and wanted to be the ones to at least admit it exists. We'll get the details at E3, and I'm sure they will be huge.
After the announcement, it was reported that their stock prices increased. I think that explains it all. Announce good shit, make shareholders happy, profit.