Nintendo to launch 3D portable game console

Gaming giant Nintendo Co. Ltd. of Japan is set to launch the "Nintendo 3DS", a portable gaming console with three-dimensional graphics, within the current fiscal year. No special glasses needed In a press release dated March 23 on the Nintendo website, the company announced that it is working on what promises to be a revolutionary portable gaming console on which "games can be enjoyed with 3D effects without the need for special glasses." In contrast, currently available 3D technologies used in movie theaters rely on the use of special glasses. 3D is the 'in' thing in Hollywood The use of 3D graphics and visual effects is gaining popularity in the US entertainment industry, with a growing number of movies being produced in 3D. The industry is taking its cues from James Cameron's 3D blockbuster, Avatar, which won three out of nine Academy Award nominations this year, notably Best Visual Effects, Best Cinematography, and Best Art Direction. Successor to the DS and DSi The press release added that the Nintendo 3DS will succeed the company's popular Nintendo DS series of game consoles, the collective sales of which reached 125 million units in 2009. Nintendo was quick to assure its customers that that the Nintendo 3DS will be backwards-compatible with games designed for the Nintendo DS as well as the Nintendo DSi. Flashback to the '9os: the Nintendo Virtual Boy This is not the first time that Ninendo has experimented with launching a portable gaming console with 3D graphics. In 1995, the company launched the Virtual Boy, which used head-mounted goggles to display monochromatic 3D images. However, Nintendo only shipped 800,000 units worldwide. Nintendo said it plans to announce more details on the Nintendo 3DS at the upcoming E3 consumer electronics show to be held in Los Angeles in the US on June 15 this year. - TJD, GMANews.TV