Nintendo is known for its innovations this gen, and it's one of the if not the biggest reason why they are the current market leader in both console and handheld gaming. With their recent release of their nexgen handheld the "3DS" nintendo expects to continue it's market dominance, BUT there's an issue..
With the DS nintendo introduced both 3D graphics for a video game handheld(true 3D graphics comparable to N64 games) and a dual screen device that offers a touch screen and a stylus to interact with games. In 2004(when the DS launched) touchscreen devices were rare and only common in high tech smart phones which operated with a stylus, this was all before the iphone came out and changed everything.
With the wii nintendo introduced motion gaming, something that has been seen before in video games(through 3rd party controllers, and even the eye toy on the PS2) but never used as a platform for gaming, or with/had enough precision to operate functionally in gameplay. Wii changed that, and to the casual consumer who has never really seen motion tech in a video game system or in an entertainment system of any kind, it was futuristic technology which caused them to go nuts for the thing, and launching at a much cheaper price than the higher tech rivals 360 and PS3 made it even easier for consumers to pick.
Now as the next handheld generation nears nintendo comes out early with the "3DS", but what does it do? Well it offers a VGA camera that could deliever alternate reality simulations, combined with the 3D functionality in the top screen, it could truely deliever a jaw dropping experience, this all sounds/looks amazing on paper.. and new and innovative but.. when you play it.. for some reason it's not as good looking as the paper claims.
The issue is, there are smartphones that can offer alternate reality simulations through apps, so that alternate reality feature isn't that new, and if we look only into the core video game market, the XBOX 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 both offer games that can emulate alternate reality with the PS EYE/Move and Kinect. So the question is, does the 3DS really bring anything new to the table?
Well the 3D without glasses is intriging, but the issue is.. it's not comparable to 3D in cinema, or even the 3D in currently released higher end 3D tv models(that require glasses).. and to make it even worse for nintendo, the screen is pretty small, and coming from a movie theatre to a 3DS causes a huge huge disparity reducing the experience dramaticly.
Now the problem coming, isn't any of that, even though they seem to be pretty big issues, the real problem will be when SONY/TOSHIBA/SAMSUNG/PANASONIC/VIZIO/LG.. etc.. decide to release their first glassless 3D tv's, the PS3 can do 3D, and sadly some games on the PS3 that do 3D easily surpass anything the 3DS has put out to date in 3D, but you need glasses at the moment, but what if you could play those 3D PS3 games on glassless 3D tv's? What would happen to the 3DS?
As for the NGP, price is what'll hurt it, but as the mobile market continues to rapidly expand, chances are smart phones right now are already easily more powerful than the 3DS, and by next year may eclipse the 3DS in power, (and you can bet apple/other smart phone companies are ganna come out with 3D smart phones, ATT announced an LG? Smart phone with glassless 3D capablities coming out this summer), and potentially match the NGP in power.
So not only does nintendo have a problem but so does sony, they release handhelds every 4-5 years, while cell phone companies release cell phones every 6-8 months, and each as much as twice more powerful than the other..
