This just uses Johnny Lee’s WiiMote headtracking idea to present a pseudo-3d environment. (Which is totally awesome, of course.)

The Nintendo 3DS will be showing a different image to each eye which produces a realistic 3D effect with real depth. I don’t know -how- they’re going to do it, but at this point I assume it’ll require that you have the 3DS at a 90 degree angle to your face to get the proper 3D effect. If you move left or right, the effect will stop working. Again, that’s my assumption from what I know of current 3D technologies. If they somehow manage to implement reliable headtracking as well, the effect would be way, way cooler.

I am going to assume that the lighting issues would be addressed in the real 3DS version (as handheld consoles tend to do with updated versions).

The use of the camera to determine the location of your head is neat, but it needs good lighting conditions. That’s not so hard, though.

But even with really good lighting, it’s still a little iffy on controlling it.

Don’t get me wrong, it was tons of fun and WELL worth the 500 yen for the game itself. It just isn’t perfect.

Sadly, there are no plans to bring this to the US yet. I keep hoping they’ll hear the buzz on it and realize they can make a ton of money on it here. It would be really, really easy to localize.

I’m very much looking forward to the release of the 3DS, too, though.

As for the benefits of video games, have you read Steven Johnson’s Everything Bad is Good for You? It’s become my mantra, especially when I find myself still playing at 11 at night!