Nintendo introduces portable 3DS

GAMES HARDWARE MAKER Nintendo has ushered its 3D portable games console into the world.

The 3DS, if you hadn't worked it out yet, is a 3D unit that does not need special glasses to play. Unless of course you have some sort of prescription lenses yourself.

If that is not exciting enough the 3DS comes in two colour varieties, Cosmo Black and Aqua Blue.

Pricing has been announced only for the US, where Nintendo said that it will cost $249.99. Since no UK pricing has been announced we can only assume that it will be about £249.99.

"Nintendo 3DS is a category of one - the experience simply doesn't exist anywhere else," said Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime. "You have to see Nintendo 3DS to believe it. And it's like nothing you've ever seen before."

Like other DS units the 3D model has two screens. One, on the bottom, is a touchscreen that uses a stylus or pointy finger for controls, while the top shows the 3D gaming bit. Making a change from other units, the 3DS has a depth slider, meaning that users can set the level of 3D that they like, and a circle pad for 360 degree player rotation. It has also two cameras, one front facing and one at the rear.

Given their popularity Nintendo would have been foolish to ignore motion and gyro sensors, and of course it has not. This means that as well as playing in 3D, spinning round and round like a Tasmanian devil and jabbing at their screen with a stick, users can also flick and sweep the console around the room to create movement. None of which, we suggest, should be carried out in a china shop.

Nintendo said that these features should encourage more developers to work on titles for its portable games console, and whether this happens on not - and we suspect that it will - it already has a number lined up and more than a handful are pre-installed.

Upcoming titles include Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition, a Resident Evil variant, The Mercenaries 3D from Capcom and Madden NFL Football from EA Sports.

Other features include wireless connectivity, which should be helpful for downloading updates and new content, and some augmented reality cards that when used might help you recreate an acid trip while on the bus. µ