Nintendo announces portable 3D device, gamers gripe like its 2006 all over again

Q: When does a gaming company know it’s onto something good?

A: When you can hear the whine of the “hardcore” echo throughout the Internet.

Former 1-Up staffer and open Wii-detractor James Mielke was among the earliest to offer opinion, resnarking, “Breaking news: Yet another Nintendo console that’s impossible for anyone other than Nintendo to make money on.”  Then came the prophet Pachter, who stops short of flat-out ridiculing the mystery technology simply on the grounds that Apple didn’t put it out first:

My guess is that Nintendo has figured something out that is either very cool and advanced, or is a gimmick, and until I see it, I really won’t know. What’s interesting to me is that Nintendo is so bold. It seems that if 3D on portable devices was easy, Apple would have beat them to it.”

- Michael Pachter, 3DS will need more than just 3D (Computer and Video Games)

Funny to pump up Apple’s dedication to innovation the same day it photocopied a page from Nintendo’s 2008 WiiWare playbook by adding a “gifting” option for aps and games.

But I digress.

The effect here is not unlike the knee-jerk outcry over the Wii which lead to GameSpot’s gem of an “april fools” joke.  Or the countless declarations of the original DS being DOA next to Sony’s PSP back in 2004.

Nintendo, it seems, is once again on to something.

That something is the 3DS, announced via press release this morning.  And it’s exactly what you secretly hoped the name implied – a 3D portable gaming console.  Even more interesting: the device won’t require 3D glasses or a bulky red visor.  (Shout out Virtual Boy, I see you!)

Details on the inner-workings of this modern marvel are slim-to-none, so I won’t bore you here with uneducated and baseless conjecture (for the curious, please see every other ’core-service blog on the web).  Worth mentioning however, is that the 3DS will be backwards-compatible with all previous DS and DSi software.

Now, given that the rest of the 3DS knowledge pool is quite shallow at the moment, just why is it that industry professionals and faux-analysts have been so quick to dismiss the device?

Guys, as irritating as all the rhetoric is about making players “smile” and games being about “fun” (sacrilege – I know), there’s little to deny it’s validity.  What makes an interactive interesting is not how many polygons its parent machine can push, or the crispness of Kratos’ kilt.  Instead, consumers have always been swayed by that simple, but oh-so-elusive, “wow” factor.

That sense of wonder which accompanied millions the first time they swung a TV-style remote and saw the little guy on screen do the same thing.  Or the first time a virtual dog came running to them after “hearing” their actual name spoken aloud.

Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo Co., Ltd. and one of the original minds behind lovable cream puff Kirby, has continued to stress the importance of being able to consistently impress “surprise” upon players.  With each major new step since his installation as president in 2002, Nintendo has sought to make good on that commitment to its consumers.

The 3DS points to a continuation of this ideology.  Furthermore, the portable’s launch date is so far off that today’s announcement can only objectively be seen as preemptive, much like the early unveil of Wii MotionPlus a year before release and E3 2009’s peek at the Wii Vitality Sensor.

So guys, try and lighten up.  At the very least, you won’t have to eat crow if this whole 3D thing turns out to be the next big thing in portable gaming – much like the simple touch screen interface of nearly 6 years ago.

Images Courtesy of Flickr (faseextra and shadows44)