
Inside the Magic, Disney Parks in 3D

Popular Disney podcast+website Inside the Magic has a new menu tab: 3D Pics!
Like 3DS View, Inside the Magic features a growing set of Nintendo 3DS photos, from a number of different parks (with more coming soon).
And not only are they offered in crossview and anaglyph formats for web viewing, but also as 3DS-native MPO files. Just download to your SD card, pop it in your 3DS, and you're off to glasses-free Disney 3D. Pretty cool.

'3DS View' offers 3DS Views

Nintendo news site 3DS View is compiling a nice collection of 3DS-created imagery, including in-game screenshots and camera photos.
Instructions are also included for converting images from the site into 3DS-readable MPO files. They accept user submitted photos as well, so get busy!



Nintendo 3DS, on display at Best Buy

Can't wait to try out the Nintendo 3DS? Check your local Best Buy. Many (most?) of the them already have the demo kiosks up and running, and are eager to take your pre-order money.
Yesterday I had the chance to check it out for myself, and found the 3D effect to be near-perfect. The sweet spot (holding it dead center) produces no image ghosting, and the results are as good as the auto-stereoscopic screen on the Fuji W3 (pretty darn good).
The sweet spot could be wider, but unless you plan to shake your head back and forth while playing, it's not much of an issue (and will no doubt be improved in future versions of the system).
The depth slider makes it easy to tailor the effect to each game, and I found that setting the slider to halfway provides a pleasing depth effect without any eye strain.
I'm eager to see how it does with movies and photos, but the demo unit was locked into Pilotwings. There are reports that you can disable this mode, but I was approached by a sales rep before I could try.
Verdict? At $250 plus $40 per game(!), my primary use for it would probably be as a portable, glasses-free photo viewer - and my Fuji W3 alreadly serves that purpose well and puts the "cameras" on the 3DS to shame. As an iPhone game developer, it's also hard to ignore the growing number of quality Stereo-3D games on the App Store. In addition to my own experiments, there are some great 3D games like Fly Effect, Ground Effect and Crash Course (all recommended and available for $2 each). Yes, you have to wear glasses, but the effect is very similar at a fraction of the cost, and on a device you probably already own.
Still, Mario in full-color-glasses-free-3D is a pretty cool idea. A large catalog of downloadable retro games, redone in 3D and priced accordingly would make it hard to resist.


3DTOAD serves up 3D 360s

Designed as a scientific learning tool and built on Techtol's photo wizardry, 3DTOAD:
...allows parents, students and teachers free access to 3D images of a variety of educational subjects. Items that once could only be viewed in the classroom are now available 24 hours a day via any internet connection.
The site offers over a dozen scientific categories, with more coming soon. To find the stereoscopic views, click on any category and look for the 3D glasses icon under the thumbnails.
