Nintendo Announces New Handheld, Nintendo 3DS

Nintendo has announced a new handheld known as the Nintendo 3DS, which will go on sale sometime before March 2011. As the name implies, the system will be capable of handling 3D gaming. However, Nintendo is saying that 3D glasses will not be required to enjoy the experience.

This would not be the first time that Nintendo has dabbed into 3D gaming. The Virtual Boy launched in 1995 and quickly disappeared from store shelves as sales dwindled. A chief complaint from gamers at the time was that the system gave them headaches.

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A decade and a half later, the Nintendo 3DS will undoubtedly benefit from advances in 3D technology. As the Chicago Tribune points out, 3D technology, “especially glasses-free, [is] still very much in its infancy, Nintendo will have to pull off some magic. Some exhibitors at the Consumer Electronics Show in January showed picture-frame-size video screens that projected 3-D images without needing glasses. They weren’t impressive.”

For those of you wondering, the Nintendo 3DS is the successor in the DS line of handhelds, not a remodel like the DS Lite or DSi. This is Nintendo’s next-generation handheld system. The good news: it will be fully backwards compatible with Nintendo DS games. No price has been announced. Further details will be unveiled at E3 in June.

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