Nintendo – ‘Never say never’ to 3D on home consoles
In an interview with the German magazine Spiegel (translation after the break), Miyamoto was thought to have confirmed that 3D is too small a niche for it to be incorporated into the Wii’s successor. However, some recent comments from Nintendo UK’s Head of Communications, Rob Saunders, bring the possibility back to light. In an interview with GamingBolt, he had the following the say following a question about whether Nintendo was planning to support 3D in the Wii 2 following the critical acclaim of the 3DS.
It’s a good question. The honest answer is that if I told you I’d have to kill you. We’ve had 3D running on past consoles for a number of years and we have had 3D running on the original DS, the Gamecube and the Wii. That’s no secret, we said that at E3 last year, but now it feels like the right time to bring 3D to the market. So “never say never”; we’re always working on new consoles and new applications, things like that. I can’t give you a world exclusive I’m afraid!
Take this with a grain of salt, however, as he admits that he doesn’t know anything about the Wii 2 in this next quote from the interview:
We’re always very keen at Nintendo, we always start work on the next home console as soon as the previous one’s released. So we are working on something and we’re always looking at new ideas and new developments, so that work is underway. As to what it pertains to and what it is… Even I don’t know!
Source: GamingBolt, via GoNintendo
As promised, here’s my translation of Miyamoto’s quote from Spiegel’s interview. No Google Translate here; I’ve been speaking German longer than English.
I don’t think that [3D] is going to be our next step. One of the main reasons the Wii is so successful is because many people don’t have HDTV sets yet, and can appreciate what the Wii does offer. The Nintendo 3DS is possible because it’s a portable console, and because 3D visuals on it work without glasses. In the living room, one would need a 3D TV; and it’ll be a while before enough households have those for 3D to become important in gaming.
The rest of the interview was actually fairly interesting, too, as old as it may be. Anyone want a full translation of the whole thing?
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He’s mistaking himself for a magician when he says “if I told you I’d have to kill you.”
I’m wondering if there’s no way to have 3D without 3D televisions. Glasses always sound lame, but don’t you think the experience is worth looking like a mutant fruit fly?