Travicity
01-09-2011, 02:58 AM
The Nintendo 3DS is set for release in the U.S. in March, but according to Nintendo's latest installment of Iwata Asks, they've been experimenting with similar technology for quite some time -- including an attachable 3D screen for the Game Boy Advance SP and plans to add 3D to the GameCube, both of which were eventually scrapped.
"For example, a sample screen used in the Nintendo 3DS to illustrate how you can see three-dimensional images without special glasses was functioning on the Game Boy Advance SP system," said Nintendo president Satoru Iwata when speaking about 3D experiments that never came to fruition. "Making three-dimensional images that can be seen by the naked eye requires a special liquid crystal, so we tested it out by putting it in the Game Boy Advance SP. But the resolution of LCD was low then, so it didn't look that great and it never made it to being a product."
And that's not all -- Iwata also revealed that even the GameCube had "3D-compatible circuitry built in," and launch game Luigi's Mansion was actually designed to use the feature. "Simply put, Nintendo GameCube could display 3D images if you attached a special LCD, but that special liquid crystal was really expensive back then," Iwata said. "Even without special glasses, the 3D looked pretty good. But we considered how much the liquid crystal would cost, and it was just too expensive. We figured the market just wasn't there for it."
Of course Nintendo did bring one big 3D experiment to market with the Virtual Boy, and Shigeru Miyamoto got at the heart of what eventually made it unsuccessful. He explained it was originally designed for most games to use wire-frame 3D models, but instead most games used the stereoscopic 3D effect to separate 2D planes -- and in the end, neither option ended up being very appealing.
"If nothing but wire-frame fighter craft had appeared and Mario and other beloved characters had never shown up, that would be a little sad. But if you only changed the depth of a 2D image of Mario, it wouldn't bring out the real appeal of the Virtual Boy," Miyamoto said. "So the Virtual Boy system was a complicated affair."
Miyamoto also admitted Nintendo's own marketing of the device was part of the problem. "Our sales department treated the Virtual Boy as an extension of our licensing business. In other words, we sold it as something like the Famicom [NES] system," he explained. "But if you think of it as just a fun toy, it's a big success if you break just 50,000 [in sales]. If sales generated some buzz, and crossed 100,000, then 200,000, then 500,000 -- quite a good pattern. Viewed like that, Virtual Boy was, I think, quite an appealing toy.
"When you think of it as a gaming platform, it becomes a failure," he concluded.
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"For example, a sample screen used in the Nintendo 3DS to illustrate how you can see three-dimensional images without special glasses was functioning on the Game Boy Advance SP system," said Nintendo president Satoru Iwata when speaking about 3D experiments that never came to fruition. "Making three-dimensional images that can be seen by the naked eye requires a special liquid crystal, so we tested it out by putting it in the Game Boy Advance SP. But the resolution of LCD was low then, so it didn't look that great and it never made it to being a product."
And that's not all -- Iwata also revealed that even the GameCube had "3D-compatible circuitry built in," and launch game Luigi's Mansion was actually designed to use the feature. "Simply put, Nintendo GameCube could display 3D images if you attached a special LCD, but that special liquid crystal was really expensive back then," Iwata said. "Even without special glasses, the 3D looked pretty good. But we considered how much the liquid crystal would cost, and it was just too expensive. We figured the market just wasn't there for it."
Of course Nintendo did bring one big 3D experiment to market with the Virtual Boy, and Shigeru Miyamoto got at the heart of what eventually made it unsuccessful. He explained it was originally designed for most games to use wire-frame 3D models, but instead most games used the stereoscopic 3D effect to separate 2D planes -- and in the end, neither option ended up being very appealing.
"If nothing but wire-frame fighter craft had appeared and Mario and other beloved characters had never shown up, that would be a little sad. But if you only changed the depth of a 2D image of Mario, it wouldn't bring out the real appeal of the Virtual Boy," Miyamoto said. "So the Virtual Boy system was a complicated affair."
Miyamoto also admitted Nintendo's own marketing of the device was part of the problem. "Our sales department treated the Virtual Boy as an extension of our licensing business. In other words, we sold it as something like the Famicom [NES] system," he explained. "But if you think of it as just a fun toy, it's a big success if you break just 50,000 [in sales]. If sales generated some buzz, and crossed 100,000, then 200,000, then 500,000 -- quite a good pattern. Viewed like that, Virtual Boy was, I think, quite an appealing toy.
"When you think of it as a gaming platform, it becomes a failure," he concluded.
1Up