Topic: Nintendo 3DS Discussion

[Caterkiller]

360/PS3 power? That is just insane! But you know what? With the insane profits Nintendo has made this generation I would not put it past Nintendo to have invested heavily in the graphics department.

Just watch the 3DS be as powerful as the PS360 and the Wii2 will be just as powerful, no more no less.

[Mannypon]

I'm not too tech savvy so I hope there are others here that could fill in some blanks for me, correct me where I'm wrong, and/or put in their 2 cents but here is my take on what to expect from the 3DS in terms of specs.  Before I continue, I do have to warn everyone that I did this search in haste and only used Wiki for the most part which is not the most reliable place for accurate information. 
 
First, lets establish the 3DS's competition.  I believe its main competition are , obviously, Apple's new Iphone 4g and Sony's PSP2.  The 4G Iphone is due to release June 24 and the PSP2 is anyone's guess but I'd say anywhere from fall of this year to early 2011.  The 3DS will release after the 4G Iphone and anywhere from before, on, or after the PSP2 so I assume its specs should fall in between its 2 competitors.  IMO, the 3DS's specs should fall between, at the least, the 4G and slightly less or similar to the PSP2.
 
From my quick googling, I've come to find out that the 4G is using Apple's new A4 chipset which consists of an ARM Cortec-A8 CPU core, which is 1 Ghz, paired with a PowerVR SGX 535 GPU which, supposedly, can do 28 Mpolys/s, 500 Mpx/x @ 200 Mhz with a max memory band of 4.2 GB/s. 
 
The PSP2's guts are unknown at this moment but rumours are making the rounds that the GPU in use is a PowerVR SGX 543MP8 (MP8 standing for 8 cores out of a max of 16 cores possible with this chipset) which, supposedly, puts out 532M poly/s and fill rates in excess of 16 Gpixels/s @ 400 Mhz.  There are no rumours I've been able to find on what the CPU could be on the PSP2 so I'll not comment on that.
 
Just for sh*ts and giggles, I also looked up the Tegra 2 for comparison's sake.  It has a Dual-core ARM Cortex A9 MPCore and its GPU is supposed to be slightly ahead of the PowerVR SGX 540 series of chips. 
 
So basically, if all this information holds true, I believe the hierarchy goes something like Apple's 4G < PSP2 <= Tegra 2.  Based on my assumptions the specs of the 3DS should lie between an ARM Cortex A8 and multi core A9 for the CPU.  For the GPU, it should fall between a PowerVR SGX 535 and a PowerVR SGX 543MP8.
 
Now, like I said earlier, I'm not tech savvy so I have no idea if any of these numbers are true or any good.  I don't really know what these numbers mean in relation to what the user will be able to expect/experience.  Here are my Wiki links
 
Apple's A4
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_A4
 
PowerVR (show's NEC is a licensee of the PowerVR series 5 chips SGX and the PSP2 rumour)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerVR#Series5_.28SGX.29
 
Tegra 2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nvidia_Tegra#Tegra_2xx_series
 
 

[BlackNMild2k1]

Capcom CEO speaks on 3DS

Finally, one of the regular questions in this year's batch of interviews: what does Tsujimoto think about Nintendo 3DS? The Nikkei interviewer actually brought up 3DS in reply to a statement Tsujimoto made about the success of NTT DoCoMo's iMode mobile contents service. The reason the NTT service was such a success, believes Tsujimoto, is because it provided a full business model, allowing for a good cycle for providing a large amount of content. This separated it from the services provide by other carriers.

For 3DS, Tsujimoto feels the 3D technology is just one element of the system. Said Tsujimoto, "Of course, it allows us to do things that couldn't be done until now, so the development staff is showing great interest, but what's important is how much the users themselves want 3D content. What we're more looking forward to is the offering of a new business model. Nintendo has been in the hardware business for a long time, and I believe they must be looking closely at Apple's recent success. We third parties are paying attention to Nintendo's E3 3DS announcement because of this point as well."

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Translation:  "We are looking for the best avenue for laziness."

[MaryJane]

Kinda missed a lot so I'll just quickly say:

 Nintendo partnering with IBM and others to build the chips and other parts for their consoles is one thing, the kind of partnership I was alluding to would allow the other company a say (albeit a small one) on the 3DS's development. If they had used the Tegra 2 or whatever number/letters you can bet Nvidia would be pushing for more dev kits to be sent out and more applications to be run on the system to fully show what their chip set can do, and they would try to implement a graphical standard for games made but as they are simply providing Nintendo with chips their say would be small. If they were to ask Google to bring an app store to the 3DS now we're talking partnership as Google would need access to the entire 3DS to run their app store, and for it to run efficiently they would be able to give Nintendo meaningful input, maybe not in system design, but software implementation and the scope of the marketplace and 3DSWare. If the 3DS is running a unique build of Android or Chrome OS, that would also give Google a certain say since again they would have to be working with the 3DS's internals to build a specific OS.

Here's my question with the 3DS being as powerful as the PS3/360: if the iPhone4 has a 900x640 screen, did Nintendo manage to squeeze an HD (1,024x760) screen onto the 3DS and is playing really pretty video of games for these devs to see, or will it have the graphical power to create boss battles like those on the level of God of War 3? With how much Sony was able to shrink the PS3 so quickly, it may not be too far fetched but I'm holding on to a little skepticism. 

[BlackNMild2k1]

I seriously doubt there will be a screen resolution that high. I wouldn't expect anything above what Sharp said the sweet spot was to get their 3D screen looking as good as they do (854x480 I think) as far as graphical power, anything around GC level on a screen that small should look identical to what you are hoping for. Rumors are that the 3DS may have the power of 3 GC's duct taped together(that's 1.5 Wii's), so it could be even better than you hope.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

What a fine set of duct tape it is.

[Kytim89]

What I am saying is that Google partnered with Nintendo will provide a Itunes like service for 3DS users. I magine the service providing app such as a youtube channel for the 3DS backed up by a Google based internet service and apps, which will be more techncal based and supervised by Nintendo.

[BlackNMild2k1]

EA's Riccitiello comments on the 3DS

IG: On a related matter, I almost sort of separate this out, have you   seen Nintendo’s 3DS personally? Have you actually had a chance? Have   they given you access?
 
  JR: It’s like one of these things here where with Nintendo where   you’ve got to be very careful here because they’ve got a lot to say at   E3, and I want to be careful to not accidentally transgress an NDA. I   will tell you, I’ve seen it; it’s cool.

Sounds like he could see the Nintendo Ninjas out of the corner of his eyes during that comment. Reflections of sunlight gleaming off the polished Ninja Stars already in throwing position and treading carefully not to disturb the razor thin "invisible" wire already wrapped around his throat from somewhere in one of the shadows in the corner.

This man was very careful to preserve his own life while still giving an answer.
There's one thing we all know and that is that "Nintendo don't play dat!"

NDA's are life contracts, and that is non-negotiable.

[Sessha]

Is it too late to board the hype train, In a few weeks I've went to fairly interested to foaming at the mouth.

[MaryJane]

I mentioned to a friend today at his house how in Japan they are moving away from the console and focusing more on portables, we talked about whether that could happen here, when his girlfriend who had only said a few things about liking to play as peach on one the "old" Mario's asks: "Can you play the new 3D one on your T.V?"

HD video out on a portable is not unheard of, and if the 3DS has two front facing camera's could it track a Wiimote perhaps, or even have a port for the sensor bar?

Will the "third pillar" become the only pillar?

[Kytim89]

I am getting butterflys in my stomach the closer we get to 3DS reveal next week.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Is it too late to board the hype train, In a few weeks I've went to fairly interested to foaming at the mouth.

I've been saving you a seat. It's in the VIP section with all the NWR Staff.

HD video out on a portable is not unheard of, and if the 3DS has two front facing camera's could it track a Wiimote perhaps, or even have a port for the sensor bar?

If the wiimote has an infrared LED it(the 3DS) could probably track it with ease. I think the easier solution would be to build in 2 IR LED's to the 3DS for the Wiimote to track instead.


But I doubt Nintendo is going with the Portable only strategy, but an HDMI-mini port would be an ACE in the hole.

[Kytim89]

Nintendo has given third party developers permission to reveal their 3DS titles at E3.
 
http://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2010/06/08/nintendo-gives-third-party-developers-greenlight-to-announce-3ds-titles.aspx

[TJ Spyke]

If Nintendo really wants to launch it by March, they didn't really have any choice. Still exciting that we may see a bunch of 3DS games soon.

[kraken613]

Wonder if it will use Friend Codes....

[Kytim89]

Could a Dead Space and No More Heroes 3DS game be in the works? I sure hope that the 3DS becomes home to some major franchise titles.
 
Here is my final list of third party games for the 3DS:
 
Final Fantasy 5 3DS
Final Fantasy 6 3DS
Final Fantasy 7 in 3D
Mass Effect 3DS
Dead Space 3DS
No More Heroes 3DS
Madworld 3DS
 

[Mannypon]

One thing that I do wonder though is how exactly is Nintendo going to show the 3DS off at its conference? Screenshots and videos on a projector aren't going to be able to show off the 3d affect in the games and I'm sure thats something Nintendo will want to show off. Could they possibly hand out prototype systems to all in attendance so everyone can see direct footage themselves? Could they possibly project videos in 3d on a large display using the same tech in theaters requiring everyone in attendance to don glasses but expressing that the system itself will yield the same results without them? Whats going to suck is that we won't really get a look at the 3d aspects of the system until they are on display at Gamestop and Bestbuy. We are going to have to rely on word of mouth and previews from journalists for a few months
 
In the end, I think that'll work out well for Nintendo as word of mouth tends to spread alot faster than still images on the internet. Also, word of mouth is prone to exageration which will just build up hype for the 3DS's eventual release.

[MegaByte]

Nintendo had the same dilemma with the Wii, which started their "Playing = Believing" campaign (and to a lesser extent with the DS's "Touching is Good")... I think it worked out quite well.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Nintendo 3DS.... Seeing is Believing

[MegaByte]

I do wonder if Nintendo will let us film at all given the technical challenges.  Wii filming had specific restrictions for several years where you had to show the person in the shot (which sucked for lighting control).

[BlackNMild2k1]

Who wants a BLAST FROM THE PAST!!!!

From waaaaay back in 2004 (the year the DS announced and released):
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6087254.html

RUMOR #2: The Nintendo DS will incorporate 3D technology from Sharp.

Source: UK-based online game mag Gamesindustry.biz.

The official story: A Sharp spokesperson did not confirm nor deny the story. However, given the company's history with Nintendo, the rep added that such news would not be a surprise. E-mails to Nintendo were not returned.

What we heard: Sharp actually stopped by the GameSpot offices to show off its impressive 3D technology, which displays two slightly askew images on a single screen to create the illusion of three dimensions. Apparently someone heard the words "two" and "screen," thought "DS," and started posting away. They might have also remembered the two companies' industry-shattering 1989 collaboration, the Sharp NES TV, and figured one loopy idea warrants another. Still, Nintendo and Sharp's silence could mean they're hiding something--that or they can't be bothered to respond to pesky reporters' idle gossip. It's doubtful that Nintendo could incorporate such premium technology into the DS and keep its price low enough to arouse interest in such a, er,unique system.

Bogus or not bogus?: The thing already has us seeing double. Making it 3D would make millions cockeyed. Bogus.

This has been in the making for a really long time, so I really hope Nintendo gets it right right out of the gate.

[Louieturkey]

Back to the discussion about how powerful the 3DS is, the iPhone 4 shows us that a lot of power can be had in a little package and with good battery life.  Based on that alone, I wouldn't be surprised if the 3DS is somewhere inbetween Wii and 360 power and be able to still have a 10-15 hour battery life. The iPhone 4 boasts 10 hours of use on Wifi with one charge.  With the 3DS now having a constant always on 3G connection, it could easily surpass that and it would have more room for a bigger battery as well.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

"The iPhone 4 boasts 10 hours of use on Wifi with one charge."

Is that assuming it never connects to anything?

[BlackNMild2k1]

Animal Crossing 3DS!?
So which version of Animal Crossing gets ported this time?
Animal Crossing GC, Animal Crossing DS or Animal Crossing DS: Wii Edition?

According to our sources, Nintendo has been quietly wooing developers and publishers with a handheld 3D demo of its popular franchise, Animal Crossing. Word has it that the game will be revealed next week as a launch title for Nintendo's handheld. When contacted with a request for comment, Nintendo's response was as expected: "Nintendo does not comment on rumors or speculation."

Could it really be a mix of Animal Xing and Friend Connection..... in 3D?
Possibly as an optional central hub for online and system interactions involving Mii's as avatars and locations as services?


edit: And for you non-believers out there that have yet to hop on the HYPE TRAIN and think I'm just talking that crazy talk again....

The Inside Story of Animal Crossing - 2008

Players will be able to take photos within the game and transfer them to SD card or send them as letters from within the Wii Menu, but due to Animal Crossing’s status as a “special place” it’s unlikely there will be much more integration with wider Wii features than that. Despite Eguchi’s protests that this was a good example of the expansion of communication options “not only in-game, but outside the game, too,” it’s difficult not to feel that at least in some ways Animal Crossing: City Folk is a missed opportunity to realign the Wii hardware’s frontend to include an almost PlayStation Home-like experience.
 
 â€śIt’s   definitely a possibility,” Eguchi relents. “We just haven’t chosen to do it this time. It’s certainly something to think about in future, though.”

Q: In other words, could Animal Crossing be used as a GUI for the system itself?
A: “It’s definitely a possibility,” Eguchi relents. “We just haven’t chosen to do it this time. It’s certainly something to think about in future, though.”