There’s no denying that the Nintendo 3DS is one innovative piece of gaming hardware. Glasses-free 3D for the masses? That’s pretty cool. Unfortunately, at $250, it was just too expensive. Nintendo has now recognized that and they’re cutting the MSRP down to a more affordable $169.99. That’s better, but is it good enough?

The new price is set to take effect on August 12, but where does that leave the people who already bought the system? They’ll feel ripped off, right? Maybe not. Nintendo is offering 20 free downloadable games from the Nintendo eShop, so long as they log into the eShop once before midnight eastern time on August 11. That consists of 10 GBA and 10 NES Virtual Console titles. It’s up to you to decide whether those 20 games are worth $80 to you.

I’ve wanted a Nintendo 3DS  since I’ve always been a Nintendo fanboy, but I’m having a harder time justifying the purchase. That said, I spotted the 3DS on sale for $200 in the Best Buy flyer. So, if I pick that up today, I can still get those 20 “free” games for an effective price of $30. I’d want to know what games they were before taking the plunge, though, since the NES and GBA are filled with both gems and bombs.

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The smartphone was originally announced back in March and while it doesn’t look terribly different than other Android smartphones from HTC, it boasts that same kind of glasses-free 3D viewing that you’d find on LG Optimus 3D and, more recently, the Brando Gadmei P83. It just doesn’t make sense to have some clunky 3D glasses in tow when you want to watch videos and view photos on your cell phone, right?

As far as the specs go, you get a dual-lens camera on the back for shooting 3D content (up to 2MP stills and 720p 30fps HD video), 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon dual-core processor, 1GB RAM, Android 2.3 Gingerbread, and a 4.3-inch qHD display. The camera has a tilt-shift feature as well. The 3D-ness extends beyond photos and videos too, as they’ve refreshed HTC Sense UI to include 3D menus, an active lockscreen, and a 3D weather app with 3D animations.

Sprint has the exclusive on the HTC EVO 3D in the United States and that version boasts WiMAX connectivity. Expect it to sell for $199 on a two-year contract. Over on the other side of the pond, Vodafone UK has confirmed it’ll nab the EVO 3D, but other European carriers will likely get it too. In lieu of WiMAX, Euro folk will get the usual combo of Wi-Fi and 3G.

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And that’s kind of where we leave ourselves with today’s announcement from Nintendo. The 3DS is set to hit American shores this weekend, introducing glasses-free 3D to the portable gaming market. The trouble is that not everyone can see the 3D-ness, forcing them to put that slider all the way down to 2D for the games to make any sense.

So, what does Nintendo do? Hideki Konno, the Nintendo 3DS producer, says that they are “moving away from any stance that says if you don’t see the 3-D functionality, you can’t play the game.” What this means is that the 3D is even more of an aesthtetic gimmick, rather than an integral part of the game. You don’t need 3D to solve the in-game puzzles, because the games don’t rely on that perspective.

I guess this is both good and bad. In my brief experience with a 3DS demo, I started to suffer eye strain and a mild headache after only a few minutes of Pilotwings Resort. If I needed the 3D to be on all the time to play the game at all, I don’t think I could ever really play a 3DS… but that’s like buying the Wii just so you can play Mario Kart with a GameCube controller.

[Ars via Wired]

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While we suspected the video of French director François Vogel having eyelid spasms while testing out a glasses-free 3D technology was a hoax, I asked an optometrist to tell me how much legitimacy the video had and here is what Jean-Marie Hanssens, who uses 3D to test binocular vision, had to say; “Blinking as fast as in the web video can generate various eye problems such as dry eye, corneal and lid irritations, lid spasms.”

Before even knowing how ridiculous and harmful this technology could be, I emailed the address at the mysterious Jonathan Post website that contained little more than the video.  Almost a month after I sent the email I received a reply from Luis Carone with a link to a new video for the “making of” the glasses-free 3D video.

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s an absolute fake. The hoax was conducted by Luis Carone and managed by Daniel Dias. Jonathan Post is a small post production company based in São Paulo. Carone and Dias persuaded Francois Vogel to act as the test subject, because of his “accent and scientist face.”

The original internet hoax that we reported on back in January has reached over 5 million views on YouTube in such a short time.

In the making of video, Carone said his company envisioned a device that simulated 3D shutter glasses. The only problem was they didn’t know how to create that device. So his team put together some electrodes and created a 3D face using image photometry software. They tracked Vogel’s face movements and projected the film onto his face and it gave a steady image. This was followed by digital compositing to give the effect of Vogel’s crazed eye blinking.

Watch the making of video where Carone explains, “For everyone who said it was fake, it was only a joke.”

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The promotional video is relatively short at just 23 seconds, but it pretty much confirms the design for the LG Optimus 3D that we saw last week. One difference, and it could be just because of the renders and lighting, is that there might be a chrome bezel around the front that isn’t quite so obvious in the earlier leaked photo.

In line with all the previous rumors, you get a glasses-free 3D display and a couple of cameras in the back to shoot pictures and videos in 3D too. The overall design isn’t a huge departure from the other Optimus phones, so we’re not expecting much in terms of surprises.

I’m not completely on board with this idea just yet, but maybe they’ll convince me when they do the official unveiling at MWC later this month.

[PocketLint]

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In the video, Vogel attaches electrodes to his head, one on each temple, and then synchs each electrode with a remote control. Once he starts the program his eyelids blink constantly until he shuts off the system. It appears that the electrodes on Vogel’s head replace the function of active shutter glasses by simulating a similar effect.

The way 3D works is the brain combines two separate images, one meant to be seen by the right eye and one to be seen by the left eye.  Active shutter glasses sync with the TV (120Hz in this case) and darken the eye that is not meant to see the image. According to Jean-Marie Hanssens, an optometrist who teaches at the University of Montréal, this happens about 64 times per second. After viewing Post’s video, Hanssens informed us that it is possible.  “I think this could be possible because electrodes can make eyelids blink but I don’t think that the frequency is fast enough to get the same quality as active shutter glasses.” Hanssens said our eye muscles wouldn’t be up for it. “Blinking as fast as in the web video can generate various eye problems such as dry eye, corneal and lid irritations, lid spasms,” Hanssens said.

In his research, Hanssens uses 3D to test binocular vision. He also studies the impact of 3D vision on posture and subjective discomfort by using 3D glasses and a Full Immersive Virtual Environment, a big room where the walls and ground are the screens. Hanssens said that 3D movies are not harmful to our eyes, but some short-term effects can include headaches, visual fatigue, nausea, dizziness and blurred vision. The effects can last a few hours, but so far researchers haven’t found any long-term effects.

Nintendo is releasing their glasses-free 3DS on March 27th. Nintendo released a warning that children under six shouldn’t play the 3DS in 3D mode, and it will have a parental control that can lock the device in 2D mode. According to Nintendo, the 3D could have a potential impact on the growth of children’s eyes.

However, the American Optometric Association suggests that 3D viewing may help uncover subtle eye disorders that if left uncorrected, can lead to learning difficulties. 3D viewing requires coordinated eye muscles that maintain alignment of both eyes, and the brain must be able to focus where the eyes are aimed. Slight problems with these skills can lead to an inability to view 3D, but can also affect reading comprehension.

“In real life, eyes are adjusting their focus to different objects depending on the distance, this is called accommodation,” Hanssens said. “In 3D screens, objects appear on the same plane (the screen) which can disturb the relation between accomodation and fusion of right and left images. People who have a lazy eye due to different conditions may not have stereovision.”

So while there is no medical evidence that 3D can damage eyes, it could work to uncover eye issues that haven’t presented themselves yet. Hanssens said that people with these issues are unable to view 3D properly, but see it as a 2D movie with fewer contrasts. Hanssens recommends these people, especially kids, should consult an optometrist and get an eye exam. But Hanssens cautions that 3D shouldn’t be used as a screening tool.

“The problem is that a child who never experiences 3D vision in his life will not be aware that he is not able to see 3D effects,” Hanssens said. “He will only report that ‘a 3D movie is not a big deal.’”

Toshiba displayed glasses-free 3D TVs at CES 2011. Toshiba’s 3D TV is built with a thin sheet of small lenses in front of the display, which splits light from the screen and sends it to nine points in front of the TV. Viewers will have to sit in the exact spot of one of these nine areas to be able to experience the 3D.  Toshiba claims the TVs will be available in North America by April.

As for Post’s prototype, we have yet to see if it’s a hoax or not. Jonathan Post did not respond for comment.

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