Nintendo 3D home console could follow Nintendo 3DS
Nintendo will make a 3D home gaming console to compliment the forthcoming Nintendo 3DS – just don't expect it anytime soon. That's the news from the folks over at CVG, who report that Nintendo could at some point begin to produce a full-featured 3D video game system.
Still, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata says a 3D Nintendo Wii won't be built until more consumers express interest in 3D TV sets.
"Considering the current penetration rate of 3D television sets in ordinary households, we don't think that there's much reality in creating a new hardware system that would support 3D visuals as a home console," Mr. Iwata reportedly said to investors last week. But like director James Cameron, who has also worried that 3D technology is outpacing demand and content, Iwata said that Nintendo wouldn't hesitate to dive into the 3D fray when the timing was right.
"At some point in the future, when the installed base for 3D televisions is such that it's no longer a rarity for people to have one, then certainly, when that point in time comes, whichever console Nintendo would release at that point would most likely take advantage of 3D technology," Iwata said.
Last week, Nintendo took the wraps off its Nintendo 3DS handheld system. The 3DS will ship with two screens – one a touch screen and the other a widescreen display capable of transmitting glasses-free 3D imagery. Nintendo is expected to put a good deal of marketing muscle behind the 3DS, which is seen as a next-generation replacement for the aging DS handheld.
In related news, Kotaku says Nintendo isn't satisfied with the company's online presence. Last week at E3, Iwata apparently acknowledged to investors that he had heard complaints about "online functionality," and particularly the lack of online play in the new Super Mario Brothers game.
"And I can say that we are not currently satisfied with the online efforts that we have made so far, and we are working at ways to improve those," Iwata said. "On the other hand, I do not think that online functionality is something that we should be devoting resources to for every single product."
