Developer and all-around Nintendo guru, Shigeru Miyamoto, has said that not every single situation calls for 3D when dealing with the Nintendo 3DS. In a roundtable interview, Miyamoto stated, “There are times when people are going to want to play in 2D anyway. I think it’s fair for people to say, ‘Oh yeah, for this section of the game, I’m just going to turn the 3D depth slider off.’ And, in other parts of the game, they may want to turn it on. I think that’s a perfectly acceptable way to play the games.”
It comes as a bit of a blow to the console, considering that having 3D technology without glasses is the focal point of even owning a 3DS, otherwise it’s basically a glorified DS Lite.
Since the 3D effect requires the hand-held console to be straight in front of your eyes, many people have been sliding the bar and turning the 3D off, as many games have tilt-based controls which require you to move the console around.
Ocarina of Time 3D contains optional gyroscopic controls and Miyamoto is aware of the complications that can arise,
“There are some sections of some games where you might find it easier or more compelling to play it in 3D. For a game like Ocarina of Time, in particular, if you know a cinema scene is coming up, please, definitely pop that thumb up there and quickly slide that 3D depth slider to max. It will look great.”
Miyamoto also hinted that Nintendo is working on widening the 3D viewing angle which would make the 3D affects more visible while moving the 3DS around, which in turn makes it easier on the player’s eyes, “On the programming side with the gyro controls, we are providing some assistance to make sure that the 3D visuals stay in focus as much as possible.”
I’d say that without the 3D effect, the 3DS is more of a “glorified DSi”, not DS Lite.
I went from a Lite to a 3DS and there were a number of improvements that made the upgrade worth it. These include the DSiWare stuff and WPA support, which were in the DSi if I understand correctly.
I know it’s in the name, but I don’t get why everybody insists that the 3DS is pointless without the 3D effect. There’s an eShop, AR games (which are fun, even without 3D), system-specific friend code (instead of per game), and all around better specs which provide better graphics.
Well, if the Developers made a game without 3D (on the 3DS), it would have way better graphics.
I like my 3DS. I just leave the 3d turned off is all.
Still betting that the 3DS will drop immeidatly in price once the PSV comes out, it almost has to in order to stay competitive.