Nintendo's president shrugged off the just unveiled iPad tablet computer from Apple as delivering "no surprises," and displayed as little enthusiasm for 3-D technology and high-definition upgrades for games.

"It was a bigger iPod Touch," Satoru Iwata said of the much anticipated device shown Wednesday by Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs.

Iwata denied speculation in Japanese media that what Nintendo Co. has in the works in new gadgets may be a DS equipped with a motion-sensor similar to the wand for Nintendo's hit Wii home console, or a Wii upgraded for high-definition TVs.

"I question whether those features would be enough to get people to buy new machines," he said of the DS. Nintendo engineers are developing new machines, he said, without giving details.

Iwata also doesn't expect 3D video-gaming to catch on, although he welcomed 3D movies at theaters like James Cameron's hit "Avatar."

"I have doubts whether people will be wearing glasses to play games at home. How is that going to look to other people?" he said at a Tokyo hotel.

Sony Corp. and other technology companies are making big investments in 3-D TVs, expecting it will boost sales growth in the next few years.

Kyoto-based Nintendo, the maker of Pokemon and Super Mario games, would also have to look into the possible health effects of longtime 3-D game playing, which is likely to last longer than a two-hour film, Iwata said.

Nintendo has scored success by making games easier to play for the elderly, women and newcomers. Iwata reiterated his company will continue on that track as potential for sales growth remains in Japan, the U.S. and Europe.

He made no pretense to hide he was totally unimpressed with the iPad.

"There were no surprises for me," said Iwata.

Apple says the iPad is a new kind of mobile device that is more intimate than a laptop but is packed with more functions than a mobile phone.

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Oh my, Iwata. I like it when you get forthright like this.

So... what he does is innovation, but what everyone else does is apparently stupid. It might be his opinion, but it's still an arrogant one.

Was somebody impressed with that expensive and horrid thing? Oh yes, these guys:

You think the iPad or 3D gaming is innovation?

You make a fair point.

After all, he did say, "I Iwata, O lord over all Innovation, decree that all your ideas are moronic and stupid."

I believe he really went too far there.

Well, I also believe the iPad is a super sized itouch x)

The Internet as a whole is altogether unimpressed with the iPad. I have tons of Applebrain friends that own every generation of iPod, an iPhone, and a Macbook, and even they're all thoroughly unimpressed with the iPad.

The iPad is, after all, quite literally an oversized iTouch. This isn't a matter of opinion. This is factual based on the technical description of the iPad.

As a result, it may have been a bit forthright, but arrogant? No. It really is ridiculous, overpriced, and overall unimpressive.

@Fragile

I'm just saying that considering how well the DS and Wii did by bringing a new idea to the mainstream audience, he shouldn't be so conservative in what 3D or the I-Pad could bring to the table in coming year's. He has an opinion and I have an opinion about his opinion.

Except the iPad was neither innovated nor new. Even for an Over-sized iPod Touch it looked like a ten inch android tablet by MSI shown earlier in the month to much less fan fare. It offers less functionality than other similar and cheaper tablets and way less functionality then a net book that cost less at the same time it lacks the simplicity of a true E-reader. 10 hour battery life is nothing. The whole time during the presentation I kept thinking Joojoo tablet oh but what that was even faster then this.

The A4 chip is nothing more then Tegra 2 without that Nvida graphics it should be similar in performance to Tegra 2 but that isn't groundbreaking or new.

More exciting tablets

The Dell Mini 5 it can do phone calls 3g/ 1 ghz Snapdragon lighter and skinnier then the Iphone. Open Source OS.

The HP Slate Runs a full OS lets you use real programs, true multitouch

The fabled MS Courier, Seriously that thing looks revolutionary.

But marketing goes a long way and Apple is the king of selling other peoples ideas as fresh an innovative. Just ask Xerox/Creative/Enterbrain/LG/Nokia/Oracle/Fujitsu and half a dozen linux guys.

I love my iTouch, but the iPad is just useless IMO. Now, if what I've seen of Microsoft's Courier is true, then that's exactly what I want. That would be incredibly useful to me in business meetings and such.