Though the tech may be interesting, and one day, someone will make a playable ghost-hunting game (with a PK Meter!), I'm not convinced that a great game will ever be born from it.

Plus the Eyetoy-type application seems really cheesy, where you stare at your own goony, mirrored face as you make hamburgers, and shit. I could conceivably get into that style of game if you could put the camera behind you, but how many great games are played in Second-Person? It's so weird.

I'm not sure how far the term "Augmented Reality" goes, though. Does it cover, like, RTS games made from Google maps? I'm mostly talking about camera-based stuff. I remain unconvinced.

(Also, I've had ideas for AR games for years, and I'm pissed that everyone's 'stealing' them now! Ooo, I just had another. What if there was a dating game based on facial recognition? Like, you'd have to smile at appropriate moments and look sad at appropriate moments, and appear interested as your virtual date blathered on and on about her problems.)

Anyway, what do you peeps think about AR? The future? The wrong tree?

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There are two significant differences with augmented reality in the 3DS that changed my mind about it.

Firstly, it's in 3D. On paper, that doesn't seem that significant. But let me tell you, in person, it makes all the difference in the world. The augmentation actually looks like it's 'really' affecting your real world. Before, it didn't make sense to try and augment a 3-dimensional world on a 2D plane. It just makes it look fake and unbelievable. But in 3D, you can actually maintain that suspension of disbelief, and that makes it immersive and engaging.

Secondly, the 3D camera can judge distance in a 3D space. It can tell how far apart you are from the object, and can detect your orientation and angle with respect to the object. This information allows you to interact with the augmentation in the most believable way.

Because of these advancements, I feel that AR has finally been solidified as a true evolution in virtual entertainment, and it's all in the palm of my hand.

Yeah, I guess the 3D would enhance the effect. It would be a bit difficult to maintain the effect when you're moving to and fro, though. We all need a Pandareus head dolly.

I hadn't seen that video. I guess my info was wrong on the Nintendog running around your room thing. Looks like he just stays on that card, maybe? I dunno. Even having a shrunken puppy in your hand is pretty fucking powerful, though.

Pokemon is a must, in some form. God damn, that could be huge. How do you guys envision it? Maybe you put your cards down and your opponent does the same, and the pokeballs hit them, turn into tiny Pokemon, and then cast their attacks in the real world?

That would be a lot of work, though. Would Nintendo really do it?

@achhibbar
You can definitely use both cameras at once. Even the DSi had that functionality for 'tilt' games. And they've already confirmed that the Nintendogs can respond to your facial expressions in the game. Why not in AR? Maybe that weird-ass Face Training experience will be Nintendo's ace in the hole.

I can speak from experience, you don't really lose the effect unless you tilt the system (left/right) away from your line-of-sight. Even if you tilt the system up and down, the stereoscopic 3D remains in effect. The key with playing AR games in 3D is to move your body and not the 3DS. As long as you do this, you will not lose the effect. It takes practice, but it can be done. I trained myself to do it within a matter of minutes.

Yeah, that's logical. The Up/Down axis shouldn't be much of a problem, since your eyes are still aligned.

I can probably get used to stiff-arming the 3DS, but I wonder how comfortable it would be over time.

It reminds me of how you hold a baby with a stinky diaper, except a 3DS isn't nearly as heavy.

anandxxx said:

@achhibbar
You can definitely use both cameras at once. Even the DSi had that functionality for 'tilt' games. And they've already confirmed that the Nintendogs can respond to your facial expressions in the game. Why not in AR? Maybe that weird-ass Face Training experience will be Nintendo's ace in the hole.

That makes sense. The 3DS has so many methods of interaction, I'm sure it'll be the same devs that flourished and made innovative stuff on the DS that will get the best out of the 3DS too.

That may be, but I'm sure the audience won't care, once again, unless said innovation involves puppies or staving off senility. I was kind of sad that the swell of innovative DS software kind of dried up after the first year or two.