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[cory]

This is a lenticular poster I have in my dorm:

 

[BlackNMild2k1]

I was talking about this one

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/parallax-dreams-article

Isn't that article very wrong about one thing?

Already, two distinct camps are emerging regarding the technological details of Nintendo's plans. Japanese newspapers have pointed at display technology created by Sharp called Parallax Barrier, which uses an additional layer of LCD on the display to filter light to the left and right eyes of the viewer, thus creating the illusion of 3D.

It's only suitable for small displays and requires the viewer to be positioned pretty much at 90 degrees to the screen - useless for televisions, then, but not such a bad plan for a handheld console.

Others, meanwhile, have noted the existence of a game on the DSiWare shop in Japan which tracks the position of the user's eyes using the camera in the DSi, then changes the perspective on the screen accordingly. When it works well, this technique is uncanny - it effectively allows you to tilt your head to the side in order to peer in a different direction, giving the impression that the screen is a window onto a different world.

It's not stereoscopic 3D, of course, but it could be even more useful from a game design perspective. Moreover, it won't give anyone headaches and could be accomplished using a combination of cameras and motion-sensing technology - a field in which Nintendo is now extremely accomplished.

It's worth noting at this juncture that whatever Nintendo is doing, it can't be both things. They're mutually exclusive, since one relies on the user's head staying quite still in front of the screen, and the other is based on the idea of moving the eyes relative to the screen.

There was a that video from CEBIT (linked to about a dozen times) that showed the 3DTV that did both, and that was exactly what I was hoping Nintendo was using for the 3DS.

A 3D screen that not only shows depth, but has a layer that seemingly pops off the screen, and the angle of viewability of which can be manipulated by tracking your face using the camera at the same time (points to 3D hidden Image and the floating anime girl videos)

Does that not seem realistic?

Can we also mix all that with the ability to do this too:
cyber maid augmented reality

 

[RagnarokX]

Yeah, the box was something like that. The head shifts and bursts through the logo depending on the position you see it.

Serious, nobody else here owns this movie on VHS!?

Yeah, I own it and the holographic dino thing that came with it... might still be around here somewhere.

 

[Medalion]

Until they make replacement eyes.

 

[Why would you do that?]

Then you never will actually be able to see 3D of any kind.

Headtracking technically isn't 3D in the sense that it offers depth perception, so that'd work for someone with one working eye.

 

[Deku]

Isn't that article very wrong about one thing?



There was a that video from CEBIT (linked to about a dozen times) that showed the 3DTV that did both, and that was exactly what I was hoping Nintendo was using for the 3DS.

A 3D screen that not only shows depth, but has a layer that seemingly pops off the screen, and the angle of viewability of which can be manipulated by tracking your face using the camera at the same time (points to 3D hidden Image and the floating anime girl videos)

Does that not seem realistic?

Can we also mix all that with the ability to do this too:
cyber maid augmented reality

Article is wrong on many levels and not just on its technical equivocation or intentional misrepresentation between Nintendo's mention of 3D /no glasses and the headtracking meme that seems to get associated with the announcement. I was just pointing out people are still writing tripe based on their initial impressions of the missive

 

[HAL_Laboratory]

Article is wrong on many levels and not just on its technical equivocation or intentional misrepresentation between Nintendo's mention of 3D /no glasses and the headtracking meme that seems to get associated with the announcement. I was just pointing out people are still writing tripe based on their initial impressions of the missive

Yeah, if there's one thing this announcement has made very clear, it's that the majority of the public have no fucking clue when it comes to 3D. Some of the expectations I'm seeing are just completely irrational and absurd. Holographic shit? C'mon. It's going to be a real brain-bender for the average Joe.

edit: my favorite response to 3D by far is when someone says "but games are already in 3D". :lol

 

[Skiesofwonder]

I got a feeling that a lot of people are going to be disappointed when E3 comes around....

 

[rollingstart]

This is a lenticular poster I have in my dorm:

oh how I've missed prison style dorm room walls

 

[Father_Brain]

Another point Eurogamer got wrong: It may be rare for Nintendo to tease an E3 unveiling with a tersely worded press release, but it's by no means unprecedented. In fact, that's exactly how they announced the original DS in January 2004.

 

[Gospel]

Eagerly awaiting E3. This could go either way and my expectations are already a bit too high.

 

[HAL_Laboratory]

Safest expectation anyone in this thread can have is that 3DS will be in, you got it, true 3D.

It will be 3D.

Not camera tricks, but real fucking 3D. It says so plain as day in the press release. There's no way they would have released that shit if it wasn't going to be true 3D. Look at the public's reaction -- the news touched every media outlet in the world. Nintendo has enough experience with this shit to know what was going to happen. They are coming out with a real 3D console. Any other assumption is based purely on negativity or denial.

 

[curls]

Yeah, if there's one thing this announcement has made very clear, it's that the majority of the public has no fucking clue when it comes to 3D. Some of the expectations I'm seeing are just completely irrational and absurd. Holographic shit? C'mon. It's going to be a real brain-bender for the average Joe.

edit: my favorite response to 3D by FAR is when someone says "but games are already in 3D". :lol

Are people really expecting holograms, the technology is far from mature and requires large and bulky hardware.

For example some cool early concepts:

A more 360 degree sci-fi style hologram effect

An effect with tactile feedback

 

[yankee666]

I was just thinking about a cuople of games i love to see on this new console.

- Luigi Mansion 3D
- Pikmin 3-D
- Wave Race 3D
- Rouge Scuadron 3D
- Pilotwings 3D (its been a long time since the last one)

Edit; How could i forgot about this \

- Paper Mario 1000 year door 3D (this game in 3D would be a blast)

 

[Doorman]

edit: my favorite response to 3D by far is when someone says "but games are already in 3D". :lol

Which is why we'll have to develop some sort of terminology to differentiate the "3-D" that we've been enjoying since the Playstation and N64, and the "into and/or out of the screen" 3-D that the 3DS is supposed to employ. I don't know how to go about doing that though. :lol

Semi-edit: I'd keep expectations tempered for now, HAL. Remember, this is the same Nintendo that let people speculate about 1:1 swordfighting controls for the original Wii Remote and promised that "you will say wow" to the graphics. Well...people did say wow, but not in the way they expected. I too think that we're going to see something impressive here, but I'm remaining tentative until E3.

 

[WillyFive]

I got a feeling that a lot of people are going to be disappointed when E3 comes around....

The other two times Nintendo has done something like this have ended up with their greatest E3's on record, E3 2004 and E3 2006.

 

[Deku]

Which is why we'll have to develop some sort of terminology to differentiate the "3-D" that we've been enjoying since the Playstation and N64, and the "into and/or out of the screen" 3-D that the 3DS is supposed to employ. I don't know how to go about doing that though. :lol

Semi-edit: I'd keep expectations tempered for now, HAL. Remember, this is the same Nintendo that let people speculate about 1:1 swordfighting controls for the original Wii Remote and promised that "you will say wow" to the graphics. Well...people did say wow, but not in the way they expected. I too think that we're going to see something impressive here, but I'm remaining tentative until E3.

stereo 3D?

Also, that CEBIT video is interesting. didn't occur to me that having a player facing camera could allow for them to adjust the 3D displayers, or infrared tech to mimmich touch displays without having to touch the screens physically.

 

[Dedication Through Light]

Yeah, if there's one thing this announcement has made very clear, it's that the majority of the public have no fucking clue when it comes to 3D. Some of the expectations I'm seeing are just completely irrational and absurd. Holographic shit? C'mon. It's going to be a real brain-bender for the average Joe.

edit: my favorite response to 3D by far is when someone says "but games are already in 3D". :lol

I think mine was when I told people that a company was looking into making prescription 3D glasses, lol.

Ultimately no matter what this system has in 3D I will be as unimpressed as I was with Avatar, I guess I like the super gimmicky 3D where the stuff actually pops out in the screen t my face making me feel like I can touch whats there, the type of 3D at Universal Studios.

 

[upandaway]

I was just thinking about a cuople of games i love to see on this new console.

- Luigi Mansion 3D
- Pikmin 3-D
- Wave Race 3D
- Rouge Scuadron 3D
- Pilotwings 3D (its been a long time since the last one)

Their chances of appearing are that low that you should simply wish for their return on any console, and even then, you'll still be asking for too much.

 

[HAL_Laboratory]

Which is why we'll have to develop some sort of terminology to differentiate the "3-D" that we've been enjoying since the Playstation and N64, and the "into and/or out of the screen" 3-D that the 3DS is supposed to employ. I don't know how to go about doing that though. :lol

Semi-edit: I'd keep expectations tempered for now, HAL. Remember, this is the same Nintendo that let people speculate about 1:1 swordfighting controls for the original Wii Remote and promised that "you will say wow" to the graphics. Well...people did say wow, but not in the way they expected. I too think that we're going to see something impressive here, but I'm remaining tentative until E3.

You're right, expectations should be kept to a reasonable level. But to be fair, they did say the emphasis (regarding Wii) was not purely on graphics this time around but that we would say "wow". So they downplayed it slightly. They never issued a press release saying "1:1 swordfighting" either.

This press release, on the other hand, says "3D effects without the need for special glasses". Pretty obvious what to expect, fundamentally. It also says this hardware is a successor to the DS, not a machine that does what DSi can already do with camera tricks.

I think it's fully reasonable to expect a true 3D console.

 

[Psy-Phi]

Yeah, the box was something like that. The head shifts and bursts through the logo depending on the position you see it.

Serious, nobody else here owns this movie on VHS!?

This image is much cooler.

Stare at that for a few seconds, better 3d than I've seen with glasses on.

 

[Deku]

You're right, expectations should be kept to a reasonable level. But to be fair, they did say the emphasis (regarding Wii) was not purely on graphics this time around but that we would say "wow". So they downplayed it slightly. They never issued a press release saying "1:1 swordfighting" either.

This press release, on the other hand, says "3D effects without the need for special glasses". Pretty obvious what to expect, fundamentally. It also says this hardware is a successor to the DS, not a machine that does what DSi can already do with camera tricks.

I think it's fully reasonable to expect a true 3D console.

I'm interested in a 3DS because it's going to be a DS and it has BC and its new hardware. 3D stuff is interesting, but without details, its hazy.

I can see applications for it on 2-D games and the Ice Climber mockup still get me. I like the concept of a 2-D like that, it finally makes the fugly plastic rendered 2-D games like NSMB fill out with volume.

As for straight 3D games, well, i'm not a graphics whore so I really have no expectations. I'm sure there will be interesting applications of it when SE makes RPGs for it, like FFVr with Leviathan flying at you or the meteor in the opening exploding out of the screen, or something.

 

[Somnid]

For some reason when new hardware is known people's natural brain inhibitions come unhinged and people will start thinking of the stupidest shit as a possibility that they normally wouldn't. Remember the $300 PS3 rumors? Yeah that's how fucking dumb people become without total information.

Also when it comes to Nintendo I find it hilarious when people even give a notion of credit to anything coming from western developers. The reality is that not a single one knew the 3DS had a 3D screen until they saw the exact same press release we did. And of course they wouldn't, Nintendo doesn't release information to anybody early. This is why I firmly believe all the GDC rumors are bullshit. These guys have nothing close to a dev kit and Nintendo has not talked directly to a damn one of them. They are working on internal rumors of what they think the next DS is supposed to be.

 

[Deku]

For some reason when new hardware is known people's natural brain inhibitions come unhinged and people will start thinking of the stupidest shit as a possibility that they normally wouldn't. Remember the $300 PS3 rumors? Yeah that's how fucking dumb people become without total information.

Also when it comes to Nintendo I find it hilarious when people even give a notion of credit to anything coming from western developers. The reality is that not a single one knew the 3DS had a 3D screen until they saw the exact same press release we did. And of course they wouldn't, Nintendo doesn't release information to anybody early. This is why I firmly believe all the GDC rumors are bullshit. These guys have nothing close to a dev kit and Nintendo has not talked directly to a damn one of them. They are working on internal rumors of what they think the next DS is supposed to be.

I'm sure EA know and Nintendo told other key developers at GDC.

 

[EatChildren]

Question for you smart cunts; this parallax barrier screen stuff, how is the effect comparable to stereoscopic cinema with glasses?

 

[Majine]

This image is much cooler.

Stare at that for a few seconds, better 3d than I've seen with glasses on.

So all the 3DS games will have that twitching movements? :lol

 

[Haunted]

Well, judging from the all-around cluelessness about Stereo 3D gaming displayed in this thread, it really looks like Nintendo will have a hell of a time to explain this tech to the average guy.

 

[Cygnus X-1]

Safest expectation anyone in this thread can have is that 3DS will be in, you got it, true 3D.

It will be 3D.

Not camera tricks, but real fucking 3D. It says so plain as day in the press release. There's no way they would have released that shit if it wasn't going to be true 3D. Look at the public's reaction -- the news touched every media outlet in the world. Nintendo has enough experience with this shit to know what was going to happen. They are coming out with a real 3D console. Any other assumption is based purely on negativity or denial.

Yeah, I second that. I doubt they would make such an announcement with a misleading content. It would be the death of the system even before its release.

 

[M3d10n]

Why only one analog stick?

I don't understand why everyone wants a 2nd stick. It has a very specific usage that is almost entirely limited to the kind of games that have no place in a handheld.

 

[Father_Brain]

Also when it comes to Nintendo I find it hilarious when people even give a notion of credit to anything coming from western developers. The reality is that not a single one knew the 3DS had a 3D screen until they saw the exact same press release we did. And of course they wouldn't, Nintendo doesn't release information to anybody early. This is why I firmly believe all the GDC rumors are bullshit. These guys have nothing close to a dev kit and Nintendo has not talked directly to a damn one of them. They are working on internal rumors of what they think the next DS is supposed to be.

Considering that the system is launching in less than a year at the latest, the idea that no Western devs had dev kits as of GDC is pretty absurd.

However, I have no trouble believing that they weren't aware of the 3D display prior to last Tuesday.

 

[Somnid]

I'm sure EA know and Nintendo told other key developers at GDC.

They whole point of the press release was to say, hey we are doing a new system that's 3D contact us for info. I know it makes intuitive sense to you to think they would but it really doesn't work that way. No non-Nintendo employee knew about motion plus until the press release went out. Sakurai didn't know Smash Bros was in development until Iwata announced it at E3 2005. Some Japanese devs might actually have some ties to get access to this but even EA doesn't have that leverage. I'd bet even NOA's knowledge is pretty need-to-know based. We've seen so many examples of this in the past.

Considering that the system is launching in less than a year at the latest, the idea that no Western devs had dev kits as of GDC is pretty absurd.

I think Ubisoft got Wii dev kits sometime in late Spring. Most launch titles don't go through more than about 6 months of development in reality which is why they tend to suck.

 

[raviolico]

This image is much cooler.

Stare at that for a few seconds, better 3d than I've seen with glasses on.

i have to agree.

 

[Epiphyte]

Well, judging from the all-around cluelessness about Stereo 3D gaming displayed in this thread, it really looks like Nintendo will have a hell of a time to explain this tech to the average guy.

Why do they have to explain it?

Does the average consumer give a damn about the technical way in which the Wii works and the difference between the accelerometers and the sensor bar?

Just say "It's the DS, IN 3D!!!!!!!" and that's all

 

[Doorman]

Well, judging from the all-around cluelessness about Stereo 3D gaming displayed in this thread, it really looks like Nintendo will have a hell of a time to explain this tech to the average guy.

Nintendo doesn't have to try and explain to the average guy how the technology works. Their job is just to find ways to show it off to those people and get them interested in the effect of it. I'm sure a ton of people who own Wiis don't know anything about accelerometers or infrared signals, they just know that there's a sensor bar next to their TV and they can bowl with their remote. The only people that really care HOW it works are already the people speculating here.

EDIT: and beaten to the punch by a matter of seconds.

 

[M3d10n]

Well, judging from the all-around cluelessness about Stereo 3D gaming displayed in this thread, it really looks like Nintendo will have a hell of a time to explain this tech to the average guy.

That's the thing, they don't need to explain. It's even better if they don't even try: just have people see it working at kiosks and have their brain melt at trying to understand glass-free 3D, right before they proceed to buy three units each.

- EDIT: ow, beaten twice over.

 

[Haunted]

:lol point taken, guys. You're right.


Here's hoping they'll explain it anyway so at least our curiosity is satisfied. Looking behind the tech is always super interesting and helpful to estimate its potential and possibilities etc.

 

[Doorman]

Well, I doubt that Nintendo themselves will ever stand up and personally explain how the technology works, but I'm betting that once E3 rolls around and they actually reveal the whole thing and some of the software they have in the pipeline, Nintendo's various hardware supply partners will probably start leaking the details on the guts of the thing. Isn't that how we learned about what processors powered their other systems, and the like? It won't be hard to deconstruct the technology for the people that care to learn about it, but there's no need to put the guts to the forefront. It's not like Nintendo's going to be using some sort of mystical future-technology for this.

...Or at least, that's my assumption. With all their R&D spending they may well have found out how to pull technology out of the future to use.

 

[HAL_Laboratory]

I don't understand why everyone wants a 2nd stick. It has a very specific usage that is almost entirely limited to the kind of games that have no place in a handheld.

Yeah 2nd analog stick is just not going to happen.

 

[Azerach]

Why do they have to explain it?

"Sometimes the image just seems to twitch and gets all blurry, give me a new working 3DS damn it!"

 

[Pimpbaa]

I don't understand why everyone wants a 2nd stick. It has a very specific usage that is almost entirely limited to the kind of games that have no place in a handheld.

Why would any type of games have no place on a handheld?

 

[Eteric Rice]

I don't understand why everyone wants a 2nd stick. It has a very specific usage that is almost entirely limited to the kind of games that have no place in a handheld.

Games like Monster Hunter would benefit from it, actually.

 

[Xater]

I can#t believe this thread got this big. E3 is going to kill GAF...

Spoiler

again

 

[jump_button]

Cant wait for April 1st and they say April fools the form would have a meltdown

 

[HAL_Laboratory]

3D games like Monster Hunter would work fine with one analog stick. You don't need two. One analog stick and the stylus would suffice. I hope no one here is honestly expecting this thing to have two analog sticks because it just isn't going to happen. It's going to be at LEAST as intuitive and easy-to-use as the regular DS line. How else are they going to retain all those new casuals? Adding buttons/sticks would have the exact opposite effect.

I can#t believe this thread got this big.

It's 3D, what do you expect?

 

[Pimpbaa]

I can#t believe this thread got this big. E3 is going to kill GAF...

Spoiler

again

You didn't expect a thread announcing new hardware to be this big? These type of threads will always be huge.

 

[EatChildren]

The DS isnt a system that is simply trying to replicate a console as a portable, and the 3DS wont be any different. Two screens, touch screen, one analogue stick. Not two because its not trying to be a portable GameCube.

 

[RagnarokX]

The marketing problem with 3D is that you can't really advertise the actual effects on most televisions and monitors. It sounds like Nintendo has been toying with this idea for a while, and the recent popularity of movies like Avatar in 3D is a good foot in the door for them. Maybe Nintendo will buy advertising time for the 3DS during the previews at blockbuster 3D movies.

 

[Emitan]

3D games like Monster Hunter would work fine with one analog stick. You don't need two. One analog stick and the stylus would suffice.

I can't imagine that working very well.

Nintendo handhelds have symmetrical designs. If there's room for a stick on one side, there should be room for a second on the other. And it doesn't have to be used! But it should still be there so developers aren't limited.

 

[WillyFive]

I can#t believe this thread got this big. E3 is going to kill GAF...

Spoiler

again

A major game company announced a new system. Did you expect anything else? Things like this happens very few times in a decade.

 

[Pimpbaa]

The DS isnt a system that is simply trying to replicate a console as a portable, and the 3DS wont be any different. Two screens, touch screen, one analogue stick. Not two because its not trying to be a portable GameCube.

The DS maybe (some 3rd parties did try to replicate console games). But with the 3DS and it's supposed gamecube level graphics and 3D on top of that, you are going to see a lot more interest from western developers and they are going to want to bring their franchises to it. Hell I'm hoping for the rockstar to maybe make a proper GTA for it (San Andreas Stories!)