The lights are on
When the Wii was first being developed, HDTVs didn’t have a market penetration rate high enough for Nintendo to justify supporting them. Now the company is saying something similar regarding 3D TVs, however, the Wii U will indeed play 3D games. But that doesn’t mean Nintendo will be the one focusing on making them.
"If you are going to connect Wii U with a home TV capable of displaying 3D images, technologically, yes, it is going to be possible, but that's not the area we are focusing on," Iwata tells Mercury News.
"When it comes to 3D, we already have the 3DS, and each owner of the Nintendo 3DS is capable of viewing 3D images,” he continues. “However, when it comes to the home console, it depends upon the availability of 3D TV sets at home, which, unfortunately, is not expanding enough. And rather than pouring a lot of energy into that kind of area, with the Wii U we'd like to focus more on each Wii U owner being able to have an equal opportunity to enjoy it."
Based off our time playing with the Wii U, it’s obvious that Nintendo has some risky ideas for the future of video games. However, supporting third-party developers, HD, and 3D TVs isn’t risky – it’s just smart.
[Via Joystick]
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I guess that's cool to have, supposing I ever get a 3D TV. It doesn't hurt to include support for the format, even if Nintendo themselves never make a game using it.
im gettin a 3d tv in september so i might have to rethink my stance on wii u oh wait my ps3 already does that
This just made this thing better :)
It's smart for Nintendo to include the capability, but at the same time I'm thrilled to hear that they are not focusing on it when it comes to my console gaming. HD is really a necessity now, but 3D isn't.
I hope nintendo can pull the wii u off
Finally nintendo has said something really convenient!!! thank you!
Well, at least 3rd party can put it in if they wish. Don't don't see the point till they're readily available, like LCD HD's are now.
I have to agree with nintendon on this point, 3-D has been around for decades, and they are just now making it more widely available as a medium. Nintendo allowing the console to display 3-D, even though not making it a priority for in-house development, is right on par with what sony has been doing. Just because something CAN do something, doesn't mean it SHOULD. Waiting on the hdtv to saturate the market more, wasn't a very smart move in my opinion, given that they could have easily made it HD complient, and just didn't due to lack of "interest" at the time. Giving the ability to broadcast 3-D to the tv, and using it themselves shouldn't be seen as a non risky move, it should be aplauded that they are learning from past mistakes, without making new mistakes.
Well at least it's not bad news, but 3d tv's are not the most popular, abundant, or cheap prouducts.