3d | featured news

Nintendo has done its best to launch a new era in video games with the launch of its 3DS portable gaming system, which goes on sale for $249 on Sunday. The appeal of this device, which can display games in stereoscopic 3D without glasses, is growing on me. But I’m not sure it’s the greatest thing since the iPhone.

The wireless industry has been wondering for months which cellphone vendor would launch the first 3D smartphone

From Hollywood studios to Japanese TV makers, powerful business interests are betting 3-D will be the future of entertainment, despite a major drawback: It makes millions of people uncomfortable or sick.Optometrists say as many as one in four viewers have problems watching 3-D movies and TV, either because 3-D causes tiresome eyestrain or because the viewer has problems perceiving depth in real life. In the worst cases, 3-D makes people queasy, leaves them dizzy or gives them headaches.

Imax, the big-screen movie specialist, said its global gross box-office sales more than doubled in 2010, thanks to additional theaters and big 3-D blockbusters.

The eyesight of children under six could be harmed by 3D games played on Nintendo's forthcoming handheld console, the company warns.

As Toshiba prepares to start selling the world's first glasses-free 3-D televisions in Japan this week, the company says it plans to go global with a larger model of over 40 inches in the coming fiscal year.

Shoppers ignored Best Buy Co Inc's promotion of pricey 3D televisions and other high-end gadgets this holiday season as they chased bargains elsewhere, hammering the company's profits.

The Monkey King character from Chinese folklore will be revived in a $60 million 3-D blockbuster starring Donnie Yen and Chow Yun-fat, as local filmmakers try to match the massive success of "Avatar" by launching their own productions in the new format.

By purchasing the company, Microsoft will have access to chips that, when combined with a digital camera, allow things like cars, toys and computers to perceive the world in three dimensions.

Johnny Knoxville and his "Jackass" gang are even bigger hits in three dimensions. Jackass 3D," their latest big-screen collection of crazy stunts and antics, opened with a whopping $50 million, soaring past the debuts of their first two movies, according to studio estimates Sunday.