This information comes from the latest Iwata Asks with Satoru Iwata, Shigesato Itoi, and Shigeru Miyamoto…
Iwata: To go back a little further, the Nintendo GameCube12 system actually had 3D-compatible circuitry built in.
Itoi: Huh?
Iwata: It had the potential for such functions.
Itoi: Nintendo GameCube did? And all the Nintendo GameCubes systems around the world?
WiiWare
Ghost Mania (Legendo, 500pts)
Urbanix (Nordcurrent, 500pts)
WiiWare Demo
Urbanix (Nordcurrent)
Virtual Console
Exed Exes (Virtual Console Arcade, 800pts)
Ghosts ‘n Goblins (Virtual Console Arcade, 800pts)
DSiWare
Cosmo Fighters (Abylight, 500pts)
Super Swap (Teyon, 500pts)
Adventure in Vegas: Slot Machine (Gamelion Studios, 200pts)
The 3DS will be Nintendo’s first portal system ever to feature 3D images. But did you know that this wasn’t the only handheld Nintendo has experimented with in the third dimension? According to Satoru Iwata, the company also tested 3D with the Game Boy Advance. However, the product never saw the light of day due to low resolution of the LCD at the time.
Iwata: For example, a sample screen used in the Nintendo 3DS to illustrate how you can see three-dimensional images without special glasses was functioning on the Game Boy Advance SP system.
Shigesato Itoi: Game Boy Advance SP? That’s the Game Boy Advance system that opens and closes, right? So…even before Nintendo DS?
Iwata: Yes, that’s right. Making three-dimensional images that can be seen by the naked eye requires a special liquid crystal, so we tested it out by putting it in the Game Boy Advance SP. But the resolution of LCD was low then, so it didn’t look that great and it never made it to being a product.
In order to make images look three-dimensional without special glasses, you display the images for the left and right eyes separately, and deliver each one separately. To do that you need high resolution and high-precision technology. We didn’t have that to a sufficient degree back then, so the stereoscopic effect wasn’t very sharp.
Itoi: I see.
Game of the Year: Red Dead Redemption
Best Original Game: Heavy Rain
Best Download: Super Meat Boy
Best Handheld Game: Dragon Quest IX
Biggest Letdown: Crackdown 2
Best Story-telling: Alan Wake
Best Original Artstyle: Limbo
Best Co-op: Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light
LittleBigPlanet 2 – 8.5
Lost in Shadow – 5.5
Gran Turismo 5 – 6.5
Echochrome ii – 8.0
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective – 8.5
Kingdom Hearts Re:coded – 5.0
Hardware
Nintendo DS: 2,963,709 (32,124,298)
PlayStation Portable: 2,890,476 (16,276,931)
Wii: 1,728,293 (11,230,292)
PlayStation 3: 1,558,480 (5,949,887)
Xbox 360: 208,790 (1,406,663)
Software
Pokemon Black & White (Pokemon, DS, 9/18/2010): 4,914,813
Monster Hunter Portable 3rd (Capcom, PSP, 12/1/2010): 3,480,989
New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo, Wii, 12/3/2009): 1,599,845 (4,084,995)
Wii Party (Nintendo, Wii, 7/8/2010): 1,539,228
Dragon Quest VI (Square Enix, DS, 1/28/2010): 1,297,344
Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 2 (Square Enix, DS, 4/28/2010): 1,276,303
Friend Collection (Nintendo, DS, 6/18/2009): 1,196,148 (3,508,096)
Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Nintendo, Wii, 5/27/2010): 900,539
Inazuma Eleven 3 Spark/Bomber (Level-5, DS, 7/1/2010): 890,440
Wii Fit Plus (Nintendo, Wii, 10/1/2009): 849,664 (2,148,197)
Remember the press email Nintendo sent out earlier this week boasting about Wii/DS sales figures for 2010? Well, a quote from Reggie Fils-Aime was buried inside, and may be of interest to Nintendo fans. Nintendo Everything reader Chauncey pointed out the following information to us…
“When we look ahead to 2011, we see new portable technology and more great Wii games that need to be seen to be believed.”
Of course, this quote shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. Nintendo is always creating new titles for their systems. We may know of one project in the works, though. Last June, Shigeru Miyamoto teased that a game featuring a new Nintendo character could be released this year.
