Apple and oranges.

Among console manufactures, Nintendo has charted a fairly Apple-esque course. While Sony seems to be trying its hardest with the new PSP to emulate the Playstation experience in hand-held form, Nintendo has abandoned the hardware arms race in favor of promoting novel user experiences -- to great success. Although the Nintendo DS was initially knocked for its seemingly bizarre clamshell two-screen design, it is now close to eclipsing the PlayStation 2 as the greatest selling console of all-time.

The same cycle seems to be repeating again with the Nintendo 3DS. Tech demos of untranslatable user experience hits the web, fan-boys gripe, Nintendo still makes a mint. It reminds me of the initial unveiling of the iPad: it was rather underwhelming simply watching Steve Jobs sitting in his chair casually surfing the web on his new iPad. Likewise, it is impossible to gauge the effectiveness of the 3D effect without actually playing a unit for oneself. Much like the iPad, I think the Nintendo 3DS will become a handheld juggernaut once units start circulating in public.

Or maybe not.

Two elements of the Nintendo 3DS strike me as distinctly un-Apple. First - and this, in my mind, is a huge dealbreaker - is battery life. The handheld gaming market is just that: handheld. A 3 hour battery life seems debilitating, particularly as it diminishes with extended use. In contrast, the iPad is essentially one gigantic battery. Battery life may not by itself sell units, but it certainly improves user satisfaction. There is something almost magical about leaving an iPad untouched for a week or two and still finding that it has a 95% charge. The 3DS won't even survive the first leg of your cross-continental flight.

The second element is price. As wonderful a leap forward as the technology may be, I find it hard to justify paying twice as much for the 3DS as I did for the DS Lite.

Well, at least until Zelda and Star Fox come out in the summer.