Nintendo 3DS

It's fairly clear that the powers that be at Nintendo HD in Japan firmly believe that 3D is the future. "The 3DS will change gaming… again," executives said at the launch conference, citing the company's track record with the Wii and Wii Fit.

The questions are: is their faith in the technology going to translate to a real game changer? And is tacking on the clever autosteroscopic 3D screen to ageing DS technology really the best way to take us to this utopian three-dimensional future?

From the outset, any kind of critique of the 3DS needs to be tempered with the very big disclaimer that the autosteroscopic 3D is very much a "suck it and see" technology.

For some, the addition of a genuinely well-designed top screen, the fact that it allows you to see 3D very effectively without the need for glasses, and the fact that the handheld has a slider that allows you to alter the effect to suit the way in which you hold the console to suit your vision will be groundbreaking.

But for others, the 3D will be a gimmick – not enhancing games but distracting from the playability or merely a nice trick that will quickly grow old.

The enhancements in the 3DS are not limited to the 3D screen, but it is fair to say that it is this addition that will define it, despite some nifty communications tools like StreetPass and SpotPass and, crucially, an analogue stick to join the almost bewildering array of input options already present in the DS platform

The Nintendo 3DS will live or die by the 3D – and despite a lacklustre launch line-up, the early indicators are that this will make sure the entire platform is alive and kicking for some time to come.