Nintendo said Friday that a software update for its 3DS handheld due in late November in Japan will add the ability to shoot movies in 3D.

Nintendo will slash the price of its 3DS handheld gaming device in Japan from mid August.

Japan's console and portable gaming market sank 16 per cent in the first six months of the year as new software failed to make a splash and sales of hardware fell, according to data released on Thursday.

Hackers have stolen the personal data of some 1.29 million customers of the Japanese game maker Sega, the company said, in a theft via a website of its European unit.

Sales of 3D television sets and handheld devices will surge this year after a weak start in 2010 as manufacturers step up production and marketing, an analyst said on Thursday.

It looks like Nintendo's 3DS isn't having trouble finding buyers in Japan. According to Japanese newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun (via Andriasang) gamers essentially exhausted Nintendo's initial shipment of 400,000 units. The 3DS launched in Japan Saturday to reports of lines and pre-order sellouts.

Nintendo's 3DS has another trick up its sleeve for its glasses-free 3D handheld: a deck of augmented reality playing cards included with each game console.

Here's my obligatory list of 2010's top 10 video games, in no particular order. Yours would no doubt look different. That's the point of lists, after all: To throw our favorites out there, then stand around comparing and critiquing.

Thank God Steve Jobs isn't on the Supreme Court.

The 3D consumer electronics trend reached a boiling point today when Nintendo announced the portable 3DS gaming device, a no-glasses 3D system promising simplicity and elegance for gamers seeking a 3D experience. After getting a hands on with the new gadget at E3, there is little doubt that the era of effective and sensible 3D has finally arrived.

Is the iPhone a legitimate gaming platform? Ask anyone who's ever fiddled with one for more than a few minutes anyone that isn't Nintendo, anyway). Ask anyone who understands, correctly, that video games are more than just Modern Warfare 2 and World of Warcraft.

Nintendo's newly announced 3DS handheld promises 3D imagery without the need for goggles. How is this possible? If it does indeed use Sharp's "parallax barrier" technology, this is how it works.