3D a 'minor element' for future Nintendo

[Reality]

http://www.joystiq.com/2012/07/12/iw...minor-element/

Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata revealed one way Nintendo is working to stop selling the 3DS at a loss, which it has since last year's price drop. "First of all to the 3DS XL, we will not be selling this at a loss," Iwata told the Independent. "We don't have a huge profit margin on it, we intend to sell it at a profit." He wasn't as forthcoming about the Wii U's pricing, of course. "As for Wii U we haven't even announced price so it's too early to comment."

He also had some thoughts on the future prospects of 3D. Though "3D is the normal state for human beings, it's how we see our environment," Iwata doesn't believe 3D television will really take off until it can work glasses-free. The 3DS was able to include 3D, he said, "because there are various circumstances on a handheld machine which make it possible. You have the screen and the console being one, normally you have almost constant distance between [the user] and the screen, so with the currently available technology it is possible to provide a high quality 3D experience without glasses. "

That said, 3D in video games had a "surprise effect" that Iwata admits is wearing off. "But I think it's an important element, it makes graphics more impactful, it proves a sense of immersion that 2D doesn't have, so I would say generally that 3D is better than 2D," he said. "It's nice to have good graphics but not necessarily on their own, so I don't think we'll present [3D graphics] as one of the key features of our consoles but will probably stick with 3D as one of the minor elements of our consoles in the future. "

With Sony pushing almost nothing on 3D this year at E3, and their Ps3 branded 3D Tv being clearanced out, maybe its a sign that we spend more money on ore features instead of asprins.

[KingOfSentinels]

Yeah I enjoy 3D but not in heavy doses. I go around to a friend's house and play Crysis 2 in 3D for like an hour and don't come home and miss the 3D, it's just a cool thing to experience. Nice to see the industry is starting to back away from it. Concentrate on 60FPS in all games! I recall Nintendo saying if the 3DS didn't have the 3D it could have done that. Not a worthy trade-off.

[Nem]

3D is an interesting feature. Its not the make all and end all. I dont have it on in my 3DS all the time. I just turn it on when i want to see some 3D cause im in the mood for it.

It just gives the 3DS something special you cant have anywhere else. And that is something that every system needs to have.

[Escaflowne2001]

They've tried 3D features quite a few different times over the decades but it never really takes off. Obviously as tech gets better improvements are made but it still isn't really very good at the moment IMO.