The Nintendo 3DS: when will Android and iOS catch up?

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Friday, 11 February 2011 13:01

Your IT - Entertainment

Nintendo has taken to the third dimension to get the upper hand over Apple, Google and Sony, with Apple having had incredible success turning iOS into an iMazing gaming platform, Android quickly catching up and Sony soon to release a touch-enabled PSP2 - but with Nintendo the biggest player in 3D.

Although LG is due to release a 3D-enabled Android handset, and we are sure to see more and more 3D enabled gadgetry from the world's major mobile device manufacturers, Nintendo's heritage as a premier games developer and gaming hardware maker puts it in pole position to best take advantage of that mystical and magical third dimension.

Just as Nintendo was the true first mover in the world of motion controlled gaming, with Sony and Microsoft having taken quite some time to catch up, and even Apple taking some time to go from an app-free iPhone to apps becoming the norm, so too is Nintendo the first true mover in the modern world of 3D portable gaming experiences.

3D games have been around for quite some time on the PC platform - NVIDIA has made 3D capable graphics cards for some time, using special glasses to deliver a 3D experience, and all this happened long before the current 3DTV manufacturer mania, even if consumers are still somewhat sceptical about 3D given the relative dearth of 3D content.

However Nintendo is a universe unto itself, is already highly popular, and has delivered a glasses-free 3D experience, en masse, first.

Apple, Google, Moto, LG, Samsung, Sony and others will clearly bring 3D screens to their mobile devices, and some will do so this year, with LG already having flagged its tri-dimensional intentions, but Nintendo will have that 'first mover advantage' that will help the company reel in the sales and continue funding its future, with a next-gen successor to the Wii highly anticipated but as yet completely unseen.

Perhaps it won't just be an HD-equipped successor, but one offering 3D, too, although until large-screen 3DTVs are available in a glasses-free configuration, Nintendo won't be able to pull the same glasses-free-3D trick with any Wii successor as it has been able to do with the Nintendo 3DS.

So'¦ the question remains as to just how much of a headstart Nintendo really has. If Apple was to release a 3D capable iPhone 5 later this year, Nintendo's headstart would be very short and Nintendo would probably find a 3D iPhone quickly outselling the Nintendo 3DS.

Venture forth further into the 3rd dimension... please read on to page two!