任天堂即将发售的3DS便携游戏平台的主要功能是允许玩家在不使用3D护目镜的情况下进行3D游戏，然而该掌机的另一项功能可能也有助于该掌机的畅销。

Nintendo-3DS

自从2004年发售以来，DS掌机一直是任天堂公司的主打产品，而新款的3DS将在在玩家分享讯息和与网络联机游戏方面有所改进。

据任天堂资料显示，最近几点年客户对DS掌机的热情骤减。今年4月到9月的DS销量销量下降了43%，仅出售670万台。另外，DS掌机软件和游戏的销量也下降了23%。

由于受到海外销量下降和日元贬值的影响，日本任天堂公司经历了7年以来的第一次短期净损失。今年前半年的收入下降了34%，公司总收入3631亿6000万日元（折合44.4亿美元）。

Nintendo

目前，任天堂公司预计明年2月26日率先在日本地区发售3DS，之后3月份开始全球贩售。这是任天堂公司应对近来在iPhone或Android手机平台大受欢迎的低价社交游戏的策略之一。尽管这类在Facebook社交网站或iPhone等平台运行的社交游戏操作比较简单，但它们能令玩家与来自各地的朋友们一起游戏的社交性能受到可众多玩家的热烈欢迎。

对此，任天堂公司表示3DS掌机也融入了新的交流工具StreetPass，该功能可以发现和连接附近的3DS掌机。在布有Wi-Fi网络的地点，3DS能够直接无线连接其他3DS掌机。

这一功能其实并不新颖。现有DS平台上也有几款游戏采用了类似功能，称之为“Tag Mode”。该功能也同样允许玩家分享地图或游戏角色等数据。但是这要求玩家在联机的情况下同时进行一同一款游戏。而新功能StreetPass则提供更广泛的社交互动。例如，任天堂展示了一款类似于社交网站的应用程序StreetPass Plaza，在将来的某一天，一位3DS玩家可以在不知不觉间与其他3DS玩家不期而遇。而游戏虚拟世界中也将上演同样的偶遇，每个玩家将化身为虚拟人物，仅显示游戏姓名和玩过的游戏等最简单的信息。每次“偶遇”时，系统还会显示之前两人“偶遇”的次数。

在用户隐私处理上，任天堂表示用户可以自行选择取消这种无线功能。

任天堂公司总裁Satoru Iwata在上个月一次访问中提出，新功能“鼓励玩家随身携带3DS掌机”。目前，任天堂公司预计在明年2月26日到3月31日期间销售3DS掌机400万，每台售价为25，000yen（折合360美元）。

然而现在的问题是，任天堂公司的这款新交流功能是否能在不支持3G无线网络的前提下受到欢迎。迄今为止，任天堂一直不肯引用3G，不希望3DS玩家每个月为移动联网缴纳费用。从一开始，任天堂就计划在3DS上采用Wi-Fi hotspots。如此一来，即便没有启动程序，3DS也会自动搜索更新排行榜等其他讯息。

东京MF Global FXA Securities的资产调查总监Jay Defibaugh认为，任天堂目前采用Wi-Fi hotspots和掌机互联功能在普及率低的美国和欧洲并不盛行。他说，“我不认为任天堂在海外能像在日本一样受欢迎，最终的解决办法可能是在3DS上采用类似手机的联网方式。”
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另外，任天堂还公布了3DS的另一款功能SpotPass，它能通过Wi-Fi连接3DS和互联网，从而允许玩家与朋友一起进行网络游戏。一旦联网，任天堂还会自动升级软件，更新排行榜的个别游戏信息。

打斗游戏《超级街头霸王4：3D版》的开发者表示，通过SpotPass功能，玩家不仅可以和异地玩家进行肉搏，还可以旁观其他玩家的打斗，学习新的招数。另外SpotPass还可以降低玩家隐私外泄的机率，提高D软件的销量。同时，它将随时对3DC系统进行更新，防范盗版软件。（本文由游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译）

The headline feature of Nintendo Co.’s forthcoming 3DS portable videogame system is the ability to play 3-D games without the need for eyewear, but it is the device’s ability to locate other players that may prove critical to its success.

The 3DS is the first major overhaul of Nintendo’s hand-held game system since it launched the popular Nintendo DS in 2004. With the 3DS Nintendo will upgrade how gamers can share information and play wirelessly with friends online.

Consumers are growing tired of the current DS hand-held. On Thursday, Nintendo said sales of DS machines fell 43% to 6.7 million units in the April-September period from a year earlier. Sales of DS software titles dropped 23%.

The Japanese company also reported its first interim net loss in seven years, hurt by weakening overseas sales and the strength of the yen. First-half revenue fell 34% to 363.16 billion yen ($4.44 billion) from a year ago.

For Nintendo, which plans to release the 3DS Feb. 26 in Japan before a global launch in March, it is part of an effort to curb the threat from inexpensive social games played on Apple Inc.’s iPhone and cellphones running on Google Inc.’s Android operating system.

While the games on social-network site Facebook or Apple’s iTunes store tend to be less sophisticated than those played on a Nintendo hand-held, they allow users to play against friends or challenge strangers from across the world more seamlessly.

Nintendo says one of the new communication tools, StreetPass, finds and connects to a nearby 3DS machine even if the other party is a total stranger. The person doesn’t need to be using the 3DS at the time in order to wirelessly link up and share data with another 3DS machine in the vicinity using a Wi-Fi connection.

The idea isn’t entirely new. Certain games available on the current Nintendo DS offer a similar function called “Tag Mode” that lets players share game data, such as maps or character information. However, both parties need to be playing the game at the time in order to connect wirelessly from DS to DS. Nintendo said StreetPass offers broader potential for social interaction.
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For example, Nintendo has showed a social network-like application called the StreetPass Plaza. On any given day, a 3DS owner may unknowingly cross paths with many other 3DS users. The virtual playpen displays a day’s encounters, each as an avatar with some basic but not too revealing information: the person’s screen name, the last game they played, when the “pass” took place and how many times the two have come across one another.

In a nod to privacy concerns, Nintendo says users will be able to disable these wireless features if they choose.

At a media event last month, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata said the new features “encourage people to make it a habit to carry around the Nintendo 3DS devices wherever they go.” Nintendo has forecast that it will sell about four million 3DS hand-helds from Feb. 26 to March 31. The expected price is 25,000 yen ($306).

Akira Uchida, who produces games, said he may incorporate StreetPass into a 3DS version of his popular Japanese dating simulation game LovePlus, for a Konami Corp. unit.

The question remains whether Nintendo can popularize the new communication features without adding a 3G wireless connection to the device. So far, it has resisted committing to 3G, saying it doesn’t want 3DS owners to have to pay a monthly fee for mobile connectivity. For the time being, its plan is to add more Wi-Fi hotspots where the 3DS can access the Web for updates, ranking and other information even if the system is dormant.

Jay Defibaugh, equities research director at MF Global FXA Securities in Tokyo, said Nintendo’s current solution of Wi-Fi hotspots and machine-to-machine connections don’t work as well in the U.S. and Europe, where the population density is lower and public transportation is less frequently used.

“I don’t think Nintendo gets the opportunities to catch people congregating in large crowds overseas like they do in Japan. The ultimate solution lies in some form of cellphone connectivity for 3DS,” said Mr. Defibaugh.

Nintendo said a second feature called SpotPass connects the 3DS to the Internet via a Wi-Fi connection and then allows the user to play videogames with other people online. Once online, Nintendo can also automatically push new software or provide data such as rankings for specific games.

A developer for head-to-head fighting game “Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition” from Capcom Co., said SpotPass would allow people to fight other users from across the world, while it may also allow users to observe other people fight online to learn new moves or techniques. But an important secondary impact from SpotPass is that it could help Nintendo to slow the piracy problems that have plagued DS software sales. SpotPass will automatically send out 3DS system updates, allowing Nintendo to constantly tweak its system to prevent it from running copied software. （Source：WSJ）