Nintendo 3DS Hardware Includes Optional 3D Toggle, Stronger Anti-Piracy Measures

Though Nintendo is waiting until mid-June to properly debut its new portable game machine, the Nintendo 3DS, the company has confirmed a few new details about it.

The portable's three-dimensional visuals--achieved without the need for glasses thanks to a specialized display--can be toggled on and off due to health concerns, Nintendo president Saturo Iwata told Forbes during a recent chat in a Tokyo hotel.

In addition, the Nintendo 3DS--due to launch no later than March 2011 and confirmed to be backwards compatible with the software of both the vanilla Nintendo DS and the camera-equipped Nitnendo DSi--will also include stronger measures to prevent the use of pirated software and games, though Iwata refused to elaborate on the specifics.

"We fear a kind of thinking is become widespread that paying for software is meaningless," he said. "We have a strong sense of crisis about this problem."