Nintendo's newly announced 3DS handheld promises 3D imagery without the need for goggles. At CES press had a chance to play with the device behind closed doors. Nintendo asked the press not to take pictures of the screen turned on because of the near-impossibility of accurately depicting moving 3D images with 2D still photography.

At Electronic Entertainment Expo (better known as E3) it was reported that: “like multiple layers of action are happening beneath the surface of the screen.” And the 3D display used in the 3DS is to be based on the parallax barrier LCD from Sharp.

We know of similar work being carried out by Apple and other manufacturers to produce glassless game display. However, Nintendo is the first that is out with the device. In the next two months there are 8 launch games confirmed for Japanese launch of 3DS

With 3D versions of large franchises such as Capcom’s Super Street Fighter IV, Namco’s Ridge Racer 3D, and Level 5’s Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracle. As well as the Japanese version of Pro Evolution Soccer - Winning Eleven; another portable outing for the most marmite of action games, Samurai Warriors: Chronicle; and the inevitable appearance of Puzzle Bobble 3D.

The first Videos of the game in action has appreared The official Nintendo 3DS youtube account has uploaded their line up video and in that video contains footage from Kingdom Hearts 3D! The footage is only seconds long but it’s definitely worth the look!

The big win for Nintendo for this unit is the fact that there are no need for 3D glasses that seems to be a big issue for any device that is coming out using it.

Recently there has been a large effort by both Pro gramme providers like Sky as well as TV manufactures like Sony, Toshiba, Panasonic to push the 3D HDTVs. The main obstetrical has been that the 3D glasses are expensive. They have their own power source which means if they are left on accidentally, by the next day the battery is drained. With most 3D glasses using standard small batteries rather than re-chargeable batteries, this can be expensive. Sharp's 3D LCD uses what the company calls a "parallax barrier" system which is implemented by using both a conventional TFT LCD display and a specially developed "switching liquid crystal."

According to information distributed by Sharp, "The distance between the human eyes is about 65 mm, and the images seen by the right and left eyes are always slightly different (binocular parallax.) The human brain processes the slightly different images from the two eyes to create a sense of depth. The directions in which light leaves the display are controlled so that the left and right eyes see different images. This makes it possible for the image on the screen to appear in three dimensions without the user having to wear special goggles."

Mashable article has some close up shots and reports:
“The device is also enhanced by its StreetPass and SpotPass features. StreetPass lets 3DS devices communicate and share information without the need to even open up your device, while SpotPass helps update your system and send you new stuff while it’s connected to Wi-Fi.
We couldn’t get pricing info or a list of launch titles yet, but a lot of that information will be coming at a press conference in New York on January 19. We’ll be there to cover it all.”

If you speak Japanise then see Stage Show | Mii Studio and Augmented Reality for Nintendo 3DS at Nintendo World 2011

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