ShareThis
One of the less-touted features of the 3DS, 
the thing that many seem to be glossing over is that Nintendo announced it was in the works of getting deals in place with studios to bring 3D movies to 3DS. In fact, a couple of movie trailers were shown on 3DS, including Disney’s Tangled and Dreamworks’ How To Train Your Dragon. I have to say that they looked awesome.
I actually went to see How To Train Your Dragon in 3D when it came out, and thoroughly enjoyed it. So I was a little worried that there was no way 3DS could compare. I’m glad to say I was wrong. The only differences between the movie in theaters and on the DS were screen size and glasses. The 3DS is just that good.
So, why is this such a big deal, I mean, technically portable game systems have been playing movies since the GBA days, if you count the GBA Video line. PSP owners have been able to take movies with them since the system launched thanks to UMD Movies. So announcing movies for 3DS isn’t some major innovation.
Except… it kind of is. No one currently makes a portable movie player that will showcase movies in 3D. Seriously, would you want to sit in a train or on a plane wearing goofy polarizing glasses? Nintendo is set to release 3DS some time within the next year, and when it does, the 3DS is set to be the only portable 3D movie player on the market. Oh, and it also plays games. Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t the PS2’s DVD playback feature one of the main selling points when it was released?
If Nintendo is smart, it will capitalize on the fact that 3DS plays 3D movies. By the end of its life cycle, this will be nothing special, but in the beginning it represents a paradigm shift. Now Nintendo just needs to announce a decently sized amount of onboard storage.
I really don’t see what the fascination with our handhelds playing films is. Ok, the technology is pretty cool that it can support that, but how realistic is it? As a small example, I had a psp 2000 & then got a psp 3000 & I have never once watched a film on it. Same goes for my iPods of various types. I have listened to music, stored contacts, but never watched a film… do people really watch films ‘on the go?’ Playing a video game on a handheld anywhere, I can see the appeal to that, but I just don’t see an appeal to watching Terminator in a park on a sunny day when you could complete an entire chapter of FF: Tactics.
What is the appeal of gaming systems becoming film systems? I don’t know -_-
Here’s the appeal of movies as a PSP user. I can add my own content. So, I’ve used it for getting through various anime series and sometimes to catch a movie that may have just left theaters and is not yet on DVD. *cough* It’s also a lot easier to hook a PSP 3000 up to the TV than it is to hook up an iPod Touch. I usually use it to catch up on episodes or watch through anime on a lunch break. I’ve been stuck in traffic or in a waiting room and decided to catch up on an episode of The Office or Bones. It’s really a shame that there isn’t Netflix on PSP. If you have a PS3 you can stream your Netflix stream via Remote Play to the PSP. So, if I have to get up from the TV. I hit Remote Play and take it with me.
The first time I saw Burn After Reading, it was on my lunch break on the PSP. The PSP bookmarks where you are in the movie. (Which is nice.) 3DS movies? As long as I can also put my own 2D Content to view.
It’s also pretty cool for just handing it off to a kid so they can watch Toy Story or something. The 3D movies on 3DS are just a sweet idea and I can’t wait to see some of those 3D movies properly. Gimme Coraline (which made excellent use of 3D) and How To Train Your Dragon and it’s good. Also, that planned 3D mix of Finding Nemo would be great too.
You have valid points of course, though even as a psp user, I still don’t really see the appeal. If I want to watch a film, it’s in the cinema or at home O_o. Handhelds are game machines. Ah well :) To each their own I suppose!
Oh, the PSP allows you to rent movies and episodes from the PSN store.
I also own a half dozen of those GBA Videos. Including the first Shrek movie.
Here are some old commercials!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBwH_o9eY1k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyDIIKEkQWo
Yup!
I got my iPod for 1 reason and 1 reason only: to take movies with me on the go. Everthing else I needed, games, music, notes, internet, my DSi already did. Or I had my phone. Now, of course, I now use all it’s other features and apps too, but the selling point for me was the movies. And let’s not forget the PS3 a couple years ago, the phase repeated over and over was “It’s still the cheapest Blu-ray player.” Yha
NeTFLiC oN tHe 3Ds, I BeT cHa iT wiLL HaVe tHat.