Yes, but Sharp likes money

Stop being defensive.

OT:

Well... errr.... everyone copies Nintendo! *nerd rage*

Does it always have to be in relation to their handhelds? They do still sell Macbooks and iMacs, don't they?

I think Nintendo knows this, and will have hardware redesigns planned to allow more functions, larger/better display tech, lower price point etc... What Nintendo have as an advantage is software and a more dedicated experience i.e. the 3DS has buttons.

They're also looking to expand the uses of the 3D screen with 3D pictures, 3D video capture (in the future), 3D movies and 3D shorts (in the future) and so they have Apple covered a little bit in terms of the multimedia aspect. It means that Apple's product won't have the wow factor that they might have had if they had been first in providing portable 3D media. 

Meanwhile, the 3DS is not launching with an online marketplace. 

Most of your post here does nothing to support your argument though. Nobody is disputing that Nintendo is staying very focused on gaming instead of going the convergence route like Apple. The primary purpose of an idevice can be a number of things, including gaming. I think your assumption is that people buying iPods/iPhones aren't really interested in (quality) games, and that those who are will continue to buy Nintendo handhelds. 

Sure in the broadest sense, but even then there are people who are okay will less gaming functionality than what the 3DS offers. Why buy a dedicated game machine when something broader and more appealing in other ways might be just as useful? Nintendo is going to continue to push down the lifestyle path with features and software that are only loosely connected to gaming. Going down the lifestyle path is not a 'blue ocean' and it will not carve out a previously untapped market. 

Pachter's wrong on two counts here.

First, Apple's 3D patent would be completely impossible to implement in a portable device. It relies on head tracking, projectors, and a specially curved reflective screen. I don't think people will line up to buy an iPad 3D with iProjectorHat.

Second, touchscreens don't play nice with 3D displays. You're touching something that visually has three dimensions, but only has two tactile dimensions. It's jarring and incongruous. Apple's not the type to create a lousy experience just so they can check off a box on a feature list. Nor will they get rid of multitouch before a better interface is ready to replace it.

If Apple does take the lead from Nintendo, it will because of convergence and a killer digital content distribution market, not 3D.

It seems that my post supported my argument well enough. You understood my core point. Not that I am arguing about quality games. I have played games on the iPod Touch. N.O.V.A. and Hero of Sparta, though they are rip offs of note worthy console titles (Halo and God of War), were really well done, with clean visuals and intuitive controls (for a touch-screen-only interface). There is no denying the achievement of putting Unreal Engine 3 on such a compact and seemingly low powered device (compared to the platforms that currently run UE3). The fact is, the quality is there. However, the consumer interest most likely is not there. For instance, as often as Angry Birds is touted as this massive success, hardly anyone mentions that most of the downloads have been the demo of the ad-supported version (in other words, the game has been given away for free, in most cases). Mobile phone and social gaming is pretty much like Twitter. It is popular, but not effectively monetized. It is like people forgot about the dot com crash of the late 90s/early 00s.

I hope you understand that Sony is working on larger glassless 3D screens and presented a series of prototype models at CES 2011. And the change in display technology - glass vs glassless - is completely orthogonal to BluRay players or consoles  feeding the 3D signal to the TV, thus the transition from glass to glassless 3D will be a completely transparent and entirely tech/market driven process.

Right now it is not -yet- commercially viable having a big glassless display, because of the cost and the usability problem of the hotspot/viewing angle. When the tech will improve enough and costs will go down, it will be panel makers like Sharp and integrators like Sony to lead the transition for the big TV segment. Apple and Nintendo will have nothing to do with that.

Devices with glassless 3D screens (smartphones, handhelds etc) can't impact the market of big TV screens at the center of a hometheater because they can't fulfill the same function. They will cut into the market of dedicated portable videoplayers, from cheap portable dvd readers to more expensive iPod touch-like devices.

I really wish that the meme I see going around that "Nintendo's glassless 3D will disrupt Sony's glass-based efforts" - not sure if you subscribe to it, Raze - would be put under some logical scrutiny. All marketers of 3D TVs, including Sony, are ready to jump on the market of glassless 3D as soon as it makes sense and I'm sure they'll be happy to serve the tiered market with premiuim - read expensive - models as soon as the tech is even remotely viable.

That isn't really true. Any frequent I-Phone gamer would tell you that the market place is a massive haven for quality games. Angry Birds, Infinity Blade, Game Dev Story, Chaos Rings, Mirrors Edge, Spider-Man:Total Mayhem, Firemint Real Racing, Cut the Rope, Fruit Ninja, Archetype and Necromancer Rising are just a few of the quality games that can be found on the platform and if your willing to look through the library, I'm sure you'll find hundreds more.

The I-phone gets the same amount of lame ports as the Wii and DS does, so bringing that into the discussion is kind of odd. 

They also already have their Pokemon, NSMB and Nintendogs. They're called Angry Birds, Cut the Rope, Doodle Jump and Tap Tap Revenge. 

The I-Phone has become just as much as gaming platform as the DS or the PSP, I would have laughed at that statement a year ago, but after spending sometime with the platform and Android phones, I've realised how stupid I was. I-Phone gaming is huge, it's been getting just as much support as the other portable gaming devices and it's also selling games like crazy, no matter how niche they are. I can't really say the same for the DS and PSP, which only seem to be selling well known Ip's.

Elite Beat Agents is probably one of the greatest games ever created and I only wish it could have been released on the I-Phone, because it's almost guaranteed that it would have become a much bigger success.

I'll end my rant now.

On Topic: The I-Phone doesn't need to copy the 3DS, we have yet to see if it's going to be a massive success or if the hardware is going to be any good and even if it was, Apple are raking in money by just adding trivial additions to their platforms, so I doubt they think they'll need 3D.

iPod Touch didn't impact the DS market, I doubt it will suddenly much more greatly impact the 3DS market.