It's been a busy week in the 3DS rumour department, with a series of high-profile revelations seemingly showing the path Nintendo is looking to take with the new bursting-out-of-the-screen 3D handheld.
Following on from the recent news that the 3D effect can be easily disabled on the new console, is the news that 3DS may not be the machine's final name. In a transcript of an investor briefing, translated by andriasang, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata has confirmed that 3DS is not the "formal name" of the machine, although an "
announcement of the formal name will not be too far off." We're presuming he's talking about the trade expo E3, which is just around the corner now, at the beginning of June.
And whilst we've previously expressed concern about quite how 3D is going to fit in with Nintendo's new ethos of making gaming accessible for everyone, it seems Nintendo share our concerns, and have something special ready to announce at E3. When confronted with the same concerns at the investor briefing, Iwata responded
"We definitely do not feel that 3D targets heavy users. However, we have a feeling that, until you've seen something that makes you say 'Of course, when used like that, it's clearly a 3D game that anyone can play,' you can't be convinced, so we hope that you'll make the decision in the future when you've seen something solid."
And he's certainly right. We've said since the start that the 3DS (or whatever it eventually ends up being known as)
will need a true "killer app" for the current DS market - a game that's so good, it'll bring most of the current DS users over to the new system. Brain Training 3D, anyone? Roll on E3...
In the final piece of news for this round-up, a picture has been "leaked" onto the internet of what pertains to be a 3DS "development kit" - in other words, a special piece of hardware, that gets sent out to developers, in order for them to test their games on a device that resembles the 3DS' hardware - at least in performance and capabilities, if not in shape.
The picture appears to show a 3D capable, widescreen top screen for the handheld, along with a normal sized, 4:3 touch screen. Of course, we could just be viewing this the wrong way up, but for some reason, we think it would make sense to have the wide screen on top.
Thankfully, however, we won't have long to wait until Nintendo lifts the lid on the 3DS, as they've promised to come clean at the E3 Expo, which takes place from June 15th-17th. We're counting down the days.
