Nintendo ‘always wanted’ a 3D console

3DS is not Nintendo’s first, second or even third attempt at creating a 3D games console.

In a discussion between Nintendo president Satoru Iwataand Shigeru Miyamoto on Nintendo.com, the pair said they have tried for years to fix the problems it encountered with the Virtual Boy – the ill-fated home console launched in 1995.

"We tried making 3D with the Virtual Boy. We also tried it several other times but it didn’t work," said Iwata.

"Every time we’ve released a new hardware system we’ve tried something with 3D."

Miyamoto added: "We always doubted if people would buy it, would it only work on certain people’s TVs? We always had these doubts."

"Once the Mario games moved into 3D it became a lot more difficult because you couldn’t tell what was near or what was far. It was hard when jumping and judging height differences. One of the hardest things to do in a Mario game is jumping on a tree stump or hitting a question mark block."

The platform holder said that it was these doubts that made them explore alternative screens.

"When we started looking with LCD devices that displayed 3D, the response was ‘this is better than we expected," added Miyamoto.