Nintendo hires PS3 engineer, researches head tracking systems

The Kyoto Report revealed today that Nintendo has one of the PlayStation 3’s head engineers working for them, and is researching tracking systems and head-mounted 3D displays. If it’s true, it seems Nintendo is truly keen on making 3D gaming a mainstream thing. Here’s what they said:

It looks like Nintendo Technology Development, the Seattle based hardware group under Howard Cheng, has been quite busy researching and developing several of the technologies being used in Project Cafe. One of the more interesting features is their work on tracking systems and head-mounted stereoscopic displays along with CPU and GPU research and evaluation.

“Tracking systems” may be referring to Kinect-like camera technology that tracks your bodily movements, but the mention of 3D displays in the context of a home console is definitely eye-catching, particularly after we were told that 3D wouldn’t be a focus in the Wii 2. However, don’t get your hopes up just yet – just because Nintendo is looking into a technology (or five) doesn’t mean they’re planning to do anything with it any time soon, if ever. For all we know, this could be research into an add-on for the Wii 2 further down the line, or even the Wii 2’s successor.

One thing’s for sure: Nintendo are doing all they can to ensure that Project Café, whatever it is, remains a secret until they’re ready to reveal it to us. April 26th just can’t come soon enough!