Nintendo 3DS to have 3D off switch

By Kyle Orland Published 8 May, 2010

Protection from potential health effects?

Nintendo President Satoru Iwata has revealed that the 3D function on the upcoming Nintendo 3DS handheld will be easy to turn off.

The revelation, which came via a Forbes interview with Iwata (thanks GoNintendo), was offered in response to concerns that 3D games might have possible health effects on children's eyesight, Iwata said.

Nintendo has had direct experience with the potential health effects of 3D gaming - the company's 3D Virtual Boy was reported to cause headaches for many players after prolonged play.

The announcement of the 3D off switch gives some credence to rumours that the 3DS will utilise Sharp's parallax barrier technology to achieve its glasses-free 3D effect. That technology allows for quick switching from 2D to 3D display via a simple cutoff to the electrical current going to the parallax barrier above the LCD screen.

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Comments (36) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • KillerMonkey #1 2 years ago

    Well, that's definitely gonna cut into their profits..

  • Poorandugly #2 2 years ago

    @KillerMonkey How do you figure that?

  • wizlon #3 2 years ago

    Excellent idea, it actually seems like they are thinking this through.

  • KillerMonkey #4 2 years ago

    @Poorandugly: Well, that one extra button is gonna cost them extra in production and design.

  • Poorandugly #5 2 years ago

    @KillerMonkey

    You're not serious I suppose? I'm willing to bet they will sell a few more units to anxious moms and 3D-sceptics because this option exists for them.

  • KillerMonkey #6 2 years ago

    @Poorandugly: Good point. And no, I wasn't serious.

  • vizzini #7 2 years ago

    If you can turn off the differentiating feature, does that mean the hardware will have to be as capable as rival portable platforms in that generation? Or will it still feel like old hat tech rebadged? like all their previous portable efforts.

  • Gambit1977 #8 2 years ago

    Extremely well thought out. Considering sceptics thought this was a rushed band wagon jumping strategy.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #9 2 years ago

    I also agree that this is a good decision, especially because that glasses free 3D tech is supposed to require a very specific angle at which you have to look at the screen. I often play DS games before going to sleep and I'm not sure if it's going to be very comfortable or even possible to lie in bed and holding the DS in such a way that the 3D effect will even work.

    That was by far my biggest concern and I'm really glad that there will be an option to turn it off.
    Edited by 1 at 08/05/10 @ 12:20

  • Rack #10 2 years ago

    The 3DS isn't going to be cutting edge technology, but it could still be more powerful than the PSP. I don't really see how any more than that could really make a difference to a handheld. If it's doing games of the level of MGS3, Resi 4 and Splinter Cell does it really matter if it can't quite handle Bayonetta or Dead Rising? As it stands I only care about an upgrade to the DS because developers insist on trying to do 3D gaming on it.

  • AphoticCosmos #11 2 years ago

    3D makes you sterile!

  • jonsaan #12 2 years ago

    Sounds like a smart move.

  • Nuada #13 2 years ago

    Well I'm definately getting one of these now if only because it has a part called a Parallax Barrier. You gotta love tech with cool names and that is fucking cool. Second only to a Flux Capacitor :)

  • Incarta #14 2 years ago

    After all these years, I discovered a small crack in the hinge of my DS lite! Hopefully it'll hold out till the 3DS launch.

    They said the 3DS was going to be a proper successor and little things like this suggest they're putting the right amount of effort in. Good stuff.

  • Eraysor #15 2 years ago

    From the name and the fact you can turn off the 3D capability I am expecting backward compatibility with DS titles, which will be excellent.

  • dirtysteve #16 2 years ago

    Guess I'll be using that switch to wring more battery life out of it too:)

  • malexous #17 2 years ago

    @Eraysor

    Backwards compatability with the DS and DSi (camera in 3DS?) was confirmed when the 3DS was first announced.
    Edited by 1 at 08/05/10 @ 13:58

  • IneptPercy #18 2 years ago

    If there is a Phoenix Wright game where the "Objection' points out of the screen then I am sold.

    As for the switch, its makes sense I suppose.

  • alcides #19 2 years ago

    @KillerMonkey: That was SOOOoo cute looool

    Er, back to seriousness. What happens when you get a SWITCH that tampers with the visuals? A video game.
    This 3D off button could mean gameplay mechanics if useable ingame!

    I guess it would also save some battery life?
    Edited by 1 at 08/05/10 @ 15:56

  • ArcMonkey #20 2 years ago

    @AphoticCosmos 3D makes you sterile!

    On the contrary:
    [link url=http://www.popjolly.com/woma n-says-she-became-pregnant-after-watching-porn-in-3d-365
    ]http://ww w.popjolly.com/woman-says-she-b...[/link]

  • penhalion #21 2 years ago

    The 3d effect is purely visual and can't be used for anything else no matter what the game is or what console it's on. Some of you here seem to be thinking it behaves like that wii-mote 3d demo by Johnny Chung Lee or the 3d camera trick used in that dsi-ware game.

    It does none of those things. It simply gives the image more depth and zero adjustable perspective!

  • CaoSlayer #22 2 years ago

    You know that some people just can't see 3D images no matter how hard they try?

    I guess Nintendo is thinking about those people and want them to enjoy their games... or to avoid being lawsuit by them.

  • Genji #23 2 years ago

    Good idea. But I take it that there won't be any games that rely on the 3-D effect to be playable. Otherwise, turning it off would break them?

    If that's the case, though, it seems a bit useless to call it the '3DS', if the 3-D isn't all that important anyway.

  • Stuz359 #24 2 years ago

    Nintendo in 'making kids blind' shocker!

  • Lusterpurge #25 2 years ago

    Nintendo is being awfully nice to all those Pirates that steal their software and hardware. I mean, they are allowing the pirates to play their new 3D system even if though they only have one eye and an eyepatch. Talk about nice chaps!

  • Beano #26 2 years ago

    A switch? Amazing - what will they think up next?

  • alcides #27 2 years ago

    @penhalion

    1) your remark is pointed but irrelevant to my line of thought. I know what you mean, I just don't mean that.
    2) I hate to be a dick, but for honesty's sake we don't know that 3D has no gameplay potential of its own. Again, that's not what I'm implying.

    Switching between the 2, however uninteresting it may sound, is not the same as implying 3D could be used for gameplay. For example you could get dizzy in a Metroid Prime and have to press the button to recover your sight or whatever.

    What the hell, of COURSE it could be used for gameplay! take whatever flat plane you want consisting of 3 pannels, two in the back and one in the front. You wouldn't distinguish them in 2D, but a 3D induced perspective would reveal a space between them. DF saw that with LBP 3D on PS3.

    What does 3D bring other that a new appreciation of space? If Nintendo doesn't use it for gameplay, then it's not Nintendo anymore.

  • Sunyavadin #28 2 years ago

    THIS is what I like to see. Making it an OPTION but not forcing it on us. It's how 3D tech SHOULD be introduced.


    Also - glasses free 3D FTW. Polarised glasses mess with my head.

  • Grayvern #29 2 years ago

    It is a good idea, but mainly because it sounds as if the 3d technology will be kinda rubbish.

    @ Sunyavadin,wider 3d is going to be glasses but it won't be polarised they will be the lcd shutterglasses that flick alternately on and off for each eye, which is the best system

  • alcides #30 2 years ago

    feedback on sharp's screen never state such thing as 'it's rubbish'.

    If anyone holds their DS at such an akward angle that this kind of 3D won't work for them, I recommend parents to return the twat and get a refund. It takes a WIDE angle to discriminate both images completely, as shown in the instances where those are used as double feed displays, the image depending on the point of view. (in a car... there's a video on youtube it has a very wide dead angle where both feeds overlap)

    Also, 3D is compatible while holding the console vertically OR horizontally, so, YES, WHY NOT, an accelerometer could well work together with the 3D capabilities to make such demos as that DSiWare one actually WORK.

    Plus, what's with all the whyning about 3D? Its great, but it's not life changing, I mean I don't see it as a life changer, and certainly not even a mild inconvenience either. What gives?

    There will come a time when it's affordable to have a giant 3D screen home and frustrated kids will stop being so LOUD about not caring (! It's a fad I tell you!)

  • mcmothercruncher #31 2 years ago

    It's going to have a 3D off switch?

    Or, in other words...

    a switch?

  • smelly #32 2 years ago

    quote : "2) I hate to be a dick, but for honesty's sake we don't know that 3D has no gameplay potential of its own."


    Neither does having nicer graphics.. but yet 99% of the people who post on these forums moan about them anyhow.

    How many posts do you see on here about the wii being "Crap" for not having hd.. Now the same people are moaning about how 3d "isnt neeeded" as it wont improve the gameplay...

    duh!

  • smelly #33 2 years ago

    If it is succesful, and does sell lots of units..

    How long before all the naysayers on this forum are going on about how great the new psp2 is as it comes with 3d...

  • altitude2k #34 2 years ago

    The problem I've got with this is that now the 3D can't be intrinsically designed into the gameplay. That's very disappointing to know that it's just there to look pretty when they could have had something really good to add to gaming.

  • abigsmurf #35 2 years ago

    @altitude2k

    There isn't actually any way to make gameplay reliant on 3D. It's possible (but unlikely) they'd make some games rely on depth perception (say to help aim a gun or throw a grenade) but you're still able to get a decent approximation from a 2D image.

    The interesting thing is what would happen to the image in 2D mode. Parallax barrier tech relies on showing 2 images side by side (alternating between images every horizontal pixel). Would they increase the effective horizontal resolution of the screen? That would likely result in lower frame rates as you'd need to render everything with twice as many pixels (whereas in 3D mode they can take some shortcuts for distant objects that would appear identical to both eyes). Would they use rectangular pixels? That could produce weird, ugly results (the 3D mode would have square pixels.

    I'd like to see Digital Foundry comment on this (I'd imagine they will after E3).

  • TonyHarrison #36 2 years ago

    The simple fact is that this is most likely down to them wanting it to be DS backwards compatible than anything else. It does not say anything about the effectiveness of the 3D tech, unless you choose to interpret it that way.

    We don't even know what the thing will look like, what it will be capable of, or what games we will be able to buy. Personally, I'm waiting until we do know all that before I judge either way. Crazy I know...