LG Optimus 3D: First Price Listing and Bundled 3D Games

We know LG announced their Optimus 3D smartphone at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, but there was no price or release window details accompanying it. Now it seems online retailer Expansys has listed the phone with a release date of April 25, and at a price of £514.99 (which is around Rs. 38,000). Expansys were also the first to list the Optimus 2X's price, if you remember. When you factor in that the phone will no doubt have a price increase if/when it comes to India, you are looking at one seriously expensive piece of cutting-edge technology.

Expensive, but what's this bundled with the device?

What we also found out at MWC was that LG had partnered with YouTube in a bid to provide a consumption platform for generated 3D content from Optimus 3D owners. But while we could guess what other bundled apps would make it onto the device thanks to Android, what we really wanted to know was how much 3D content would actually be packed into the device, considering that is indeed the device’s USP.

Gameloft have stepped up to answer that question, announcing (also at MWC) that the Optimus 3D would come loaded with three of their titles, built from the ground up in 3D. 3D versions of N.O.V.A, Asphalt 6 and Let’s Golf! 2 will be bundled free with Optimus 3D, which begs a couple of questions. Asphalt uses the accelerometer heavily, as does N.O.V.A, but what effect would that have on the 3D processing? Moving yourself or the screen really isn’t recommending when watching 3D content, so picking these games seems like a strange decision to me.

Of course, the games will have a software 3D slider, much like the hardware 3D slider on Nintendo’s upcoming handheld console, the 3DS. So if you can’t handle the 3D, you can tone it down a notch, or even turn it off entirely. But then again, what would you be doing with a 3D phone if you can’t handle the 3D?