14 DAY TRIAL // There is no question about Nintendo’s having surprised the market when it revealed its plans to launch the 3DS, a handheld gaming device capable of Stereoscopic 3D experiences without any auxiliary devices such as special glasses. Pulling off such a feat would definitely draw some more attention to its already-famous line of small form-factor gaming devices. On the other hand, such a development wouldn't be the best of news for Sony, whose PSP had finally begun to catch up. Naturally, end-users would think that Sony would decide on something similar in order to match Nintendo's offer, but it seems this is not the case.
In answer to some questions posed by the IGN website, Sony stated that it had no plans to implement 3D on its portable gaming PSP platform. In fact, the company doesn't believe the 3DS will become popular, even though it will most likely be able to play the games designed for the Nintendo DS.
Sold copies of these games already amount to 125 million, but, even so, Sony says that it's a stretch to think 3D will become popular with eight- and nine-year-old kids. For now, the company is only working on implementing Stereoscopic 3D on its PS3, with the first working model expected to debut later this year.
“Our focus on 3D right now is on the console. There is a tremendous amount of opportunity on PlayStation 3 with 3D. The amount of interest in 3D from the retail side and game publishers is off the charts. We know we have a hit with 3D on PS3 and we are going to concentrate our efforts there,” John Koller, director of hardware and marketing at Sony Computer Entertainment America, said. “I think it remains to be seen where Nintendo goes with 3D on a portable. Having been in the portable space for quite awhile, I think it's an interesting move but one I'd like to see where they go from a demographic standpoint. 8 and 9 year-olds playing 3D is a little bit of a stretch given where some of our research is right now.”