Nearly A Third of Players Think the Nintendo 3DS is Better Without the 3D

You would think that most 3DS owners would play the handheld largely for, you know, the 3D part. After all, it’s the first gaming device to sell itself on 3D – without glasses, no less – and despite the criticisms hurled against its rushed release and lack of launch titles, it’s an impressive technical feat. Yet a recent survey from research firm Interpret LLC found that over a quarter of respondents thought that 3-dimensionality made the handheld worse.

Speaking at the 3D Gaming Summit in California last week, Interpret’s Dan Casey revealed that 28% of the 1,600 players who took the survey felt that 3D detracted from the experience, while only 22% thought it improved gameplay. 13% of players used the handheld device with the 3D completely switched off.

Casey also revealed that players much prefer the prospect of an immersive, big-screen TV 3D experience – 56% cited a playable console connected to their television as an ideal 3D experience, while only 7% would prefer handheld 3D gaming.

Awareness for the 3DS was up by 60% – which is kind of a given, seeing as how it wasn’t around a year ago – but when there are more people actively avoiding the main selling point of your product than there are people using it, one has to wonder if 3D in games is worth pursing right now.

Gamespot via Gamasutra [28% of 3DS players say 3D detracts from gameplay]