Nintendo Moves the Gaming World Into Another Dimension
The concept of stereoscopic images dates back to the nineteenth century, and use of the parallax barrier to create glasses-less (autostereoscopic) 3D screens was first pioneered by
Sharp in 2003. But it took Nintendo to create the first viable mass market glasses free 3D technology. And they did so on their own and after a decade of serious development.
Nintendo and 3D - A History
Nintendo first flirted, and failed, with 3D gaming with the 1988 Japan-only release 3D Hot Rally. They tried again, and failed again, in 1995 with the Virtual Boy console. When Nintendo released the Game Cube in 2001 they again tried to implement 3D technology by creating a special 3D version of Luigi's Mansion and running the game through an LCD screen with 3D capability. While the GameCube's processor was up to the task of providing true glasses-free 3D it would have required consumers to purchases a special screen to take advantage of the 3D elements. The concept was scrapped.
When Nintendo began to develop the GameBoy Advance hand held system they tried yet again. While they could produce parallax barrier enabled screens for the hand held, thus circumventing the problems with the GameCube 3D function, they found the resolution and low processing power did not produce an appealing 3D aspect.
By the time Nintendo began developing the DS Handheld and Wii console they weren't even thinking about 3D. The innovations, including the dual screen, wireless motion sensor controls and other technical aspects dominated their research and development pushing 3D out of the picture.
3DS Did not Initially Have 3D
Even when Nintendo began development with the hand held device which would become the 3DS they weren't considering 3D as a key feature. But in 2008 when Nintendo legends Shigeru Miyamoto (Super Mario Bros., Legend of Zelda) and Satoru Iwata (CEO) tapped game designer Hideki Konno (Super Mario Kart, Luigi's Mansion) to oversee the hardware development of the project that all changed. Konno had worked for 25 years on the software side of Nintendo and so when he took over hardware development it was from a game designer's perspective. For the first time the primary element in 3D gaming development was game play. And it worked to the tune of 3.6 million 3DS units shipped in the first months of release.
For Konno a number of things came together to help bring the first naked eye 3D device to the mass market. Developments in processing capability and screen resolution piggybacked on the success of films like Avatar which changed the public perspective on 3D entertainment. The technology was ready and the public was ready.
Konno had Nintendo developers design a special 3D version of Mario Kart Wii to be played on a 3D enabled LCD screen as a proof of concept. However the results were not the same for all the test users. Konno had developers introduce the 3D slider, which allowed each user to change the depth of the 3D effect to taste. With this addition Nintendo realized that finally the time had come to embrace 3D gaming and thus became the first to introduce glasses-free 3D technology.
Nintendo's move toward 3D technology came after years of trial and error and rigorous development. In the end they simply had to wait until the technology caught up with their vision.
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