There are a few things we do know now for sure.  The 3DS still has the touch screen, at a 3:4 ratio and 3.02″ on the bottom, but the 3d screen is a widescreen format at 3.53″ on the diagonal and sporting a 800×240 pixel resolution.  It seems like Nintendo is planning on pushing mobile 3d Movies, but we’re unclear on how they plan on delivery.  We find it unlikely they’ll go with a movie cartridge delivery like PSP’s now defunct UMD.  Although it will feature improved wireless.  Digital delivery on the DSi’s current flakey connection would be questionable.

The wireless now supports WPA/WPA2 encryption which people have been demanding for awhile.  Supposedly the 3DS will also update software automatically and make available downloadable content, as well as communicate with other 3DS’s without any user interaction.  Nintendo were vague on the details or the particular usefulness of this feature. There is some speculation that it ties into their anti piracy measures for the 3DS but no details can be known for sure until developers start playing around with it after launch.

Prominent on the 3DS are two camera lenses running at an underwhelming .3 mega pixels but why two?  Surprise!  Your 3DS is also a 3d photographing gadget.  We’ll be excited to play around with that feature upon release.  As with the DSi there is also a front facing camera that can be used for head tracking if a game developer chooses to implement that particular feature.

In terms of gaming, all reports have declared the device impressive and revolutionary.  There is a depth slider on the right side of the top lid where you can dynamically adjust the 3d depth effect as per your personal preference.  The 3DS also sports an analog thumbpad called the “slide pad” that is sized considerably larger then the PSP version.  Below is a confirmed launch list of games for the Nintendo 3DS:

Kid Icarus: Uprising

Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D- The Naked Sample

StarFox 64 3D

Battle of Giants: Dinosaur Strike

Nintendogs + cats

Resident Evil: Revelations

Mario Kart 3D

Paper Mario

Animal Crossing

Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracles

And a host of others that have yet to be finalized…

Nintendo is keeping schedule with their past upgrade cycle with a new DS coming out every two years since their first DS in November of 2004 (the DSi XL being an offshoot niche product).  It’s still to be seen how developers will take advantage of the innovative 3D, but we don’t actually have to wait and wonder!  Below is a video showing off the new possibilities of 3D gameplay using face tracking via the DSi camera in this DsiWare game Rittai Kakushi e Attakoreda below:

Observe how the user finds an “A” only after tilting the screen at a precise angle.  The screen technology is not confirmed, but likely uses parallax barrier technology to create the autostereoscopic effect.  Something almost unheard of, but definitely more appropriate  in a handheld device.  We’d like to see a full GUI based on the capabilities of 3D, and we’re excited to see how this well get capitalized.

Although a release date is not confirmed Nintendo will be showing off their new 3DS at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo E3 coming up in June.  Release is rumored to be in March of 2011 but the Christmas season is typical for releases to occur.

For those of you worried about backwards compatibility, it will be fully compatible with any NDS game cartridge, although it’s impossible to tell how it will work with flash cards as of yet.  It’s still a ways off yet, and there should be plenty of time to keep enjoying the use of your current Nintendo DS.  Feel free to visit our shop below for cards like the new iEdge: www.dscardworld.com

Play on,

The DSCardWorld Team