Thoughts on the Nintendo 3DS

The Nintendo 3DS is coming. It's a portable gaming system like the DS, but it features a 3D camera and an autostereoscopic screen. (meaning you can see 3D without needing special glasses)

I think the surprise hit for the 3DS is going to be the ability to take (and view) 3D pictures. It'll basically be like a viewmaster that can take photos. A gimmick? Totally. But if Nintendo makes it dead-easy to share and view 3D pictures, I think the device will develop a long-term cult following, if not spread like wildfire (Considering that at launch this is probably cheapest way create and view 3d content by at least $1000). I wouldn't be surprised if it spawned a trend of cheap 3d cameras and screens. 

IIRC the stereoscopic screen is not a touch screen, and if that's the case I think the oddest thing about the 3DS is that it goes against Nintendo's pioneering trend of Direct Manipulation in the console world. Direct Manipulation meaning "to interact with something, touch it" which is a property of the DS's touchscreen and the Wii's mouse-like control system. To interact with the stereo screen you'll need to use the 2d screen as a proxy, or the thumbstick. In fact I'm pretty sure the lack of touch on the stereo screen is the exact reason Nintendo added the thumbstick, actually.

Thumbsticks are notorious for being a buzzkill for the casual-gaming* market, which is something Nintendo has worked hard at capturing. So I think it will be interesting to see how 3d games incorporate touch and the thumb pad. This is no-doubt something Nintendo has been experimenting with and trying to overcome.

Personally I'll get one just for the stereo camera, regardless of what games are available for it.

* I hate the term casual gaming, but used it for lack of a better term. Thumbsticks for controlling pointers and characters have a learning curve associated with them that frustrates a lot of otherwise-would-be gamers.  Direct Manipulation UIs have zero learning curve for the controls, which reduces frustration and barrier-to-entry. It has little to do with how simple or complex the games themselves might be; meaning the games don't have to be "casual" to engage a much wider audience. 

This post was originally a reply to a comment made on a video game forum.

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