Nintendo 3DS handheld video-game player, boosted by the device’s high-definition graphics and titles that showcase its features.
The 3DS uses three cameras and a motion sensor to create the 3-D effect, which is adjustable by the user. More than 30 games will be available by early June, many of them in 3-D, Nintendo said.
The device will attract consumers ages “9 to 95,” Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo of America Inc., said in a Dec. 23 interview. Games will cost about $40 each, he said.
Nintendo has been predicting its lowest annual profit in six years for the period ending in March, following sales declines for the DS and the Wii.
Demand for the Wii, introduced in late 2006, outstripped supply for several years. The console broadened the game market to casual players with a controller that used hand motions to operate game characters. Nintendo sold 75.9 million Wiis through September 2010, according to company figures.
The 3DS is likely to lift Nintendo’s operating profit by 150 billion yen ($1.8 billion) or more a year, if the player can capture as many casual users as its predecessor and also appeal to core gamers, Yuki Nakayasu, an analyst at UBS Securities in Japan, said this week in a research note. Nakayasu, who recommends buying Nintendo, estimates profit of 190 billion yen this year.
Nintendo said in December that children younger than age 6 may experience eye problems when playing the 3DS. The company uses a technology that allows each eye to see a slightly different image, creating a sense of depth and the 3-D effect.
“There will be not only our own software, but also third- party titles, which have the photo-realism that will satisfy Western gamers,” Satoru Iwata said in a recent interview. “We expect the 3DS to get off to a rocket start, like the Wii’s debut.”
The 3DS will sell for $250 and make its U.S. debut March 27, Kyoto, Japan-based Nintendo said yesterday in a statement. Sales in Europe are scheduled to begin March 25, Eileen Tanner, a spokeswoman, said. Japanese sales will begin Feb. 26.
Source: Bloomberg.
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