Sony, Nintendo going 3D — in very different ways

Three-dimensional (3D) entertainment has already taken over the big screen, but Nintendo and Sony are vowing to make it just as powerful on the small screen, too.

Nintendo is going very small with its 3D solution, actually, though the effect is quite massive.

I’m referring to the Nintendo 3DS, a 3D-enabled portable game system due out by March of next year (no price announced). While resembling the current clamshell Nintendo DS/DSi handheld system, the 3DS lets you see gaming content in 3D – without requiring any special glasses. You can adjust the effect with a small slider on the right side of the unit, or turn off 3D altogether (not everyone likes the 3D effect).

The 3DS, which will support 3D movies, too, also features two cameras pointing outwards to take three-dimensional photographs, one camera that points towards the gamer and an analog stick to better control the action.

I got my hands on the Nintendo 3DS at three seperate occasions here in L.A. and I’m quite blown away at the effect. Really, it works, and no glasses are required. Some games looked better than others — such as an impressive demo of Metal Gear Solid over a Resident Evil demo — but the effect really does work, and well at that. In the Metal Gear Solid demo, the protagonist Snake runs across a rickety wooden bridge and the camera follows closely behind. You really do get a sense of depth here. A giant insect then swarmed around Snake’s head and it looked as if the creature was levitating above the Nintendo 3DS.

Here’s a picture of me with the one-and-only Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo’s superstar who is responsible for some of our most beloved game franchises, including Mario, Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, Star Fox, Nintendogs, Pikmin, F-Zero and Animal Crossing. Miyamoto was showing me Nintendogs 3D, which looked cute as the dog runs up to the screen and hangs its paws “outside” of it, as if it was a window sill.

Sony, on the other hand, touted the PlayStation 3 as the only 3D-ready gaming console (via a free software download). At one point in the Sony conference, attendees were instructed to don a pair of 3D glasses to view the real-time demo of Sony’s sci-fi shooter, Killzone 3, which looked impressive as you peer down the barrel of these over-the-top weapons, fly through obstacles in an attack helicopter and see enormous explosions.

After the press conference, I spent time at Sony’s E3 booth trying out 3D-enabled games such as the awesome Gran Turismo 5 (out November 2). Seeing high-definition 1080p content in true 3D was pretty wild. The glasses were small, lightweight and comfortable. But because you need a 3DTV to see the effect, it’ll likely take some time for these 3D games to catch on. Sony says the Blu-ray Disc format has enough storage to put both the 2D and 3D games on one disc.