Nintendo is looking to compete in the world of mobile gaming more intensely than it has perhaps at any other time in the gaming giant’s long, storied history.
As confirmed by the Wall Street Journal, the “headline feature” of Nintendo’s soon-to-be launched 3DS portable videogame system is “the ability to play 3-D games without the need for eyewear.”
Possibly even more interesting, however, is the gaming platforms’s ability “to locate other players.”
Nintendo says one of the new communication tools, StreetPass, finds and connects to a nearby 3DS machine even if the other party is a total stranger. The person doesn’t need to be using the 3DS at the time in order to wirelessly link up and share data with another 3DS machine in the vicinity using a Wi-Fi connection.
Fusing mobile gaming with mobile social networking is an entirely fresh concept for Nintendo and one they are banking on with the release of this new device, which will launch February 26th in Japan and globally the following month.
The expected retail price in the US will be approximately $300.
Recently, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata stated publicly that the groundbreaking features “encourage people to make it a habit to carry around the Nintendo 3DS devices wherever they go.”
