Nintendo on Tuesday formally unveiled its highly-discussed 3DS game console and revealed some of the details about the first portable game system with stereo-3D screen. The company yet has to reveal technical specs of the console, its launch date as well as pricing. What impresses at the moment is a rather unprecedented support for 3DS by game developers.

“The additional dimension of depth in 3D makes it easier for players to judge distances while giving developers a new tool to create games and experiences that play with both height and depth,” said Nintendo video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto.

Nintendo 3DS comes with a 3.53” top screen and a 3.02” bottom touch screen. It has three cameras – one inner and two outer – to deliver the stereo-3D effect and take stereo-3D pictures. It includes a motion sensor, a gyro sensor, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n controller, a Slide Pad that allows 360-degree analog input and so on. The device also has a special slider that can increase, decrease or disable stereoscopic 3D (S3D) effect. The 3DS comes in form-factor that is similar to the predecessors and is fully compatible with Nintendo DS titles.

Based on the screenshots that Nintendo showcased at the E3 trade-show, the 3DS does have a very powerful graphics processing core, with high probability that it is actually more capable than that of Nintendo Wii.

One of the interesting features that 3DS has – in addition to the ability of taking stereo-3D pictures – is capability to communicate with other game consoles or the Internet seamlessly to end-users in order to download new content or get certain additional information.

Quite naturally, Nintendo 3DS will be able to playback music as well as movies; furthermore, Hollywood studios may even offer stereo-3D movies for the 3DS, which should be a rather interesting experience.

Based on the form-factor and the lack of cellular wireless connectivity, it does not look like Nintendo 3DS will actually compete against mobile phones, mobile Internet devices or slates. The device will still compete fiercely against platforms like Apple iPhone, Google Android and others, which are becoming more and more popular among gamers. With around 130 million DS-series consoles shipped worldwide, Nintendo plans to use S3D technology as one of the ways to attract both new and old customers to the forthcoming 3DS platform.

At the E3 Nintendo showed attendees a range of games and applications for Nintendo 3DS that reinvent some of the industry’s most beloved franchises, including eight titles from the company itself. Nintendo 3DS also comes to market with the strongest third-party support of any video game system in Nintendo history. Games on display at the Nintendo booth at the E3 Expo included eleven titles from third-party developers. There are at least ten more game titles planed by large creators and many more by others, according to Nintendo.

Tags: Nintendo, 3DS, Stereo 3D