Just 
two years ago, 3D was being touted as the Next Big Thing in gaming
Sony released an affordable 3D monitor for the PlayStation 3 to showcase the system’s potential. Nintendo proudly trotted out the 3DS. First-party developers added in the necessary coding to make their games shine on the then-hot technology.
Nintendo 
has endured more than its share of bumps and bruises recently, but the company’s fortunes might be turning around.
Shares of the Kyoto-based video game maker hit a two-year high today, jumping 4 percent as traders in Japan speculated that strong 3DS sales numbers in the U.S. could help the company’s overall bottom line.
Last 
week’s E3 conference was a celebratory look at the growth that’s expected to come in the gaming industry’s near future. This week, though, it’s back to the present — and its harsh realities.
Retail sales of video game hardware and software were down 25 percent in May, according to The NPD Group. Total software sales — combining console, portable games and PC titles sold at retail — were down 44 percent compared to last year to $187.6 million.
One 
of the tentpole events of E3 won’t be taking place this year.
Nintendo shocked the gaming world late Wednesday by announcing that it has decided not to hold its annual E3 press conference. Instead, the company said, it plans to focus on smaller events and will address the gaming world through a series of Nintendo Direct broadcasts, essentially cutting out the large, noisy middleman.
It 
might be the year of Luigi, but another green-garbed Nintendo mascot stole the spotlight Wednesday as Nintendo announced a slew of upcoming titles.
An all-new The Legend of Zelda game set in the world of 1991’s The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is scheduled to launch for the 3DS this holiday season. Also on the way are new entries in the Yoshi’s Island and Mario Party series, as well as the U.S. arrival of the cult-classic Earthbound, the company announced in a direct broadcast to fans.
A 
U.S. District Court is ordering Mario to cough up some gold coins.
A federal jury in New York has found Nintendo guilty of infringing on a key patent in the creation of its 3DS handheld system and has ordered the game maker to pay over $30 million in damages.
Nintendo 
seems to once again be winning the battle of the handheld gaming systems.
Sony reports it has sold 2.2 million PlayStation Vitas worldwide through June 30th. That’s not a bad figure, but it falls woefully short of the 17 million 3DS units that have been sold.
Another 
month, another batch of bad news for the game industry.
July continued the industry’s ugly retail decline, with sales of video game software falling 23 percent compared to last year, according to The NPD Group.
When 
Nintendo reported a $533 million annual loss in late April, it was the first time in the company’s 30-year history as a publicly traded company that it had fallen into the red.
Even though the loss was expected at that point, it was a mark of shame for Nintendo — and investors battered the stock. Now, as the company’s next generation console system prepares to launch later this year and the handheld 3DS device starts to get its legs under it, it’s hoping to get back to black. But not everyone’s convinced it will manage to do so.
The 
3DS is getting supersized.
Nintendo announced plans in an online video early Friday to roll out a new version of its 3D handheld system — called the 3DS XL — which will effectively double the system’s screen size. The handheld will go on sale in the U.S. on Aug. 19 for $200.
Chris Morris: Journalist 