Author Topic: Nintendo 3DS Touchscreen Technology Chosen for DS Compatibility  (Read 5308 times)

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Offline NWR_MattB

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Hideki Konno explains the reason behind the handheld's vintage touchscreen technology.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/26777

Even though the Nintendo 3DS is a much more powerful piece of hardware than its predecessor, the system still uses the same resistive touchscreen as the original Nintendo DS.

In an interview with Joystiq, Hideki Konno, who worked as a hardware producer on the handheld, revealed the reason for the same old touchscreen technology is because of the original Nintendo DS.

When asked about the subject, he responded by saying:

"Really, it's all about the backwards compatibility. We have to play DS games on this and we want to make sure they work. Now that technology may come out sometime in the future, but when we were making our decision on what kind of touchscreen to implement," he said, "that was one of the deciding factors."

Even though that explains as to why the Nintendo 3DS bears the same older touchscreen as its predecessor, it fails to explain as to why the Wii U uses the same technology.


Offline UncleBob

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Re: Nintendo 3DS Touchscreen Technology Chosen For DS Compatibility 
« Reply #1 on: June 12, 2011, 03:29:57 PM »
Does it?

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Offline Oblivion

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Re: Nintendo 3DS Touchscreen Technology Chosen For DS Compatibility 
« Reply #2 on: June 12, 2011, 03:44:23 PM »
Meh, he's just making excuses. In DS mode, the 3DS could've easily had single touch resistive touch.

Offline KnowsNothing

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Re: Nintendo 3DS Touchscreen Technology Chosen For DS Compatibility 
« Reply #3 on: June 12, 2011, 03:50:55 PM »
For the past year or so my DS Lite's shoulder buttons stopped working and the touchscreen became inaccurate in some places.  Because of these issues (mostly the shoulder buttons, because the touchscreen was still 90% fine) I ended up using my iPod Touch as my portable gaming device.   Now that I have a 3DS and can go back and play all my old DS games, I have to say I MUCH prefer using a stylus to using my fingers.  When using a stylus you don't really need a capacitive touchscreen with multitouch.  There's just no need for it, the screen they use works perfectly fine.
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Offline Oblivion

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Re: Nintendo 3DS Touchscreen Technology Chosen For DS Compatibility 
« Reply #4 on: June 12, 2011, 04:01:03 PM »
The only thing I hate about Nintendo's touch screen is the possibility of losing the stylus.


Offline Lady Mushroom

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Re: Nintendo 3DS Touchscreen Technology Chosen For DS Compatibility 
« Reply #6 on: June 12, 2011, 04:13:47 PM »
Having an iPod Touch and a DS I would say that I definitely prefer a resistive screen for gameplay. I can see why the i devices use capacitative, for all their functions it is best, but for games it isn't great.


I wonder if this means that DS games will be on the WiiU virtual console. There is no reason they couldn't be.
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Offline leahsdad

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Re: Nintendo 3DS Touchscreen Technology Chosen For DS Compatibility 
« Reply #7 on: June 12, 2011, 05:56:30 PM »
Quote
The only thing I hate about Nintendo's touch screen is the possibility of losing the stylus.

Yeah, but let's take a real poll here:  how many extra styli/styluses do you have lying around?  Me, I have about 6 or 7 hiding around the house.  I think I got a 3-pack of styli and a cleaning cloth from a Gamestop bargain bin for 2 bucks, and I got another 4 from a Toys R Us 2 for $5 DS accessory sale, where I got a really cool belt-clip DS case and I just had to get something else.

Quote
Having an iPod Touch and a DS I would say that I definitely prefer a resistive screen for gameplay. I can see why the i devices use capacitative, for all their functions it is best, but for games it isn't great.

I also have a touch and a DS, and I would go further and say I prefer resistive period.  I accidently press stuff on my touch all the time--  it's just too sensitive.  And then, there's the stylus thing.   My fingers are too big, the buttons on the Ipod are too small.  If I had an Ipad, this would not be an issue.  If I had no need to press small buttons on the touch, this would not be an issue.  Unfortunately, this is not the case.  When I first got the touch, I tried to used a stylus on it and found that it didn't work--  then I read about capacitive and the electrical signal it requires, etc... and I thought "that is the stupidest technology in the world."   
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Offline Oblivion

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Re: Nintendo 3DS Touchscreen Technology Chosen For DS Compatibility 
« Reply #8 on: June 12, 2011, 05:59:50 PM »
Actually, I have only the original stylus for each of my DS systems, 3DS included.

Offline UncleBob

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Re: Nintendo 3DS Touchscreen Technology Chosen For DS Compatibility 
« Reply #9 on: June 12, 2011, 06:08:31 PM »
Actually, I have only the original stylus for each of my DS systems, 3DS included.

It should be noted that (new) DS systems always came with two styli packed in (although the 3DS is the first exception to this).

In fact, whenever I sold a DS to someone for a younger child, I always told them there was two in the box, take the second one away and put it someplace safe so two weeks later, when the kid lost it, they'd have a spare.  If they bought one of those 24-in-one accessory kits, I'd tell them to do the same with those extra styli as well. :D

I had a lady come in once that I told this to (she didn't get the kit, so she just had two of them).  She came in the next day to buy a pack of replacement ones. She said she was going to take my earlier advice this time. :D
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Offline Oblivion

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Re: Nintendo 3DS Touchscreen Technology Chosen For DS Compatibility 
« Reply #10 on: June 12, 2011, 06:39:11 PM »
I know.

...I lost the first stylus of each pair for my Lite and DSi. >w>

Offline pololmejor

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Re: Nintendo 3DS Touchscreen Technology Chosen For DS Compatibility 
« Reply #11 on: June 12, 2011, 07:19:27 PM »
Actually I love how my 3DS's touch screen works, it's very different from my DS's

Offline Pale

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Re: Nintendo 3DS Touchscreen Technology Chosen For DS Compatibility 
« Reply #12 on: June 12, 2011, 07:25:36 PM »
You guys know that it is possible to use a stylus on multitouch screens like the iPad don't you? It just has to be a differently made one.


The main reason why I don't like this old tech resistive touch screen is that the screen is not anywhere near as durable. Easily scratched and ruined.


Look at the iPhone's screen... ignoring the ridiculous "gorilla glass is indestructible" nonsense, it sure does take a hell of a lot to scratch or ruin it in any way.


"Backwards compatibility" is a lame excuse too.... by that logic they will never EVER upgrade the screen. As I said before, I'm pretty sure it would be plenty possible to make a stylus that would allow for backwards compatibility with old DS games. In fact, I often wonder if it would improve them.




I really shouldn't be complaining though... I'm just over here counting my blessings that the WiiU controller screen has a competitive PPI! :)
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Offline Oblivion

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Re: Nintendo 3DS Touchscreen Technology Chosen for DS Compatibility 
« Reply #13 on: June 12, 2011, 07:34:29 PM »
The iPhone doesn't scratch because glass doesn't scratch. Yes, it will shatter if dropped, but it won't scratch. Don't associate what type of touch screen it is with it's ability to resist scratches.

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Re: Nintendo 3DS Touchscreen Technology Chosen for DS Compatibility 
« Reply #14 on: June 12, 2011, 09:30:19 PM »
It is a direct association. Resistive touch screens have to have the soft film on it or they don't work. You can't put a nice thick sheet of glass on top.
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Offline Oblivion

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Re: Nintendo 3DS Touchscreen Technology Chosen for DS Compatibility 
« Reply #15 on: June 12, 2011, 09:36:53 PM »
I see. I stand corrected.

Offline Nemo

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Re: Nintendo 3DS Touchscreen Technology Chosen for DS Compatibility 
« Reply #16 on: June 12, 2011, 09:58:31 PM »
let's take a real poll here

I still have the stylus from my launch DS Phat. I don't recall if it came with two and it's possible I bought a cheap-o stylus pack "just in case." But I never lost the original. Same goes for the 3DS.
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Offline Lady Mushroom

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Re: Nintendo 3DS Touchscreen Technology Chosen for DS Compatibility 
« Reply #17 on: June 12, 2011, 10:02:42 PM »
I've had my DS Lite for years and I use a screen protector. It's fine. A lot of scratches on the protector but I can change that whenever I want to. It's never interfered with gameplay in the slightest.


With the WiiU I doubt one will use a stylus much except in specialized applications. For touching virtual buttons etc. you'll just use your fingers. Is that a case for capacitative? Not in my view. I never had any trouble with virtual buttons and fingers on DS Lite, and if the WiiU touch screen is like the 3DS's (which it probably will be) it will be even less of a problem.


For those more specialized uses, though a resistive touch screen is much more accurate.


I don't go as far as Leahsdad at all. I think capacitative is good for manipulating the device in the absence of physical buttons, but when you have plenty of real buttons for the "meat and potatoes" work, I really would much prefer resistive for the other things. The relatively simple virtual-button uses of a machine that has other controls do not require a capacitative screen, allowing it to have the much finer and more precise resistive screen.
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Offline Mop it up

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Re: Nintendo 3DS Touchscreen Technology Chosen for DS Compatibility 
« Reply #18 on: June 12, 2011, 10:11:55 PM »
Does it?

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That would actually give me a reason to buy a Wii U, though I doubt it will happen. The controller uses that type of screen because it is cheaper; they can't put expensive components into the controller if they want it to remain affordable.

Offline Adrock

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Re: Nintendo 3DS Touchscreen Technology Chosen for DS Compatibility 
« Reply #19 on: June 12, 2011, 10:18:09 PM »
Seems like a silly reason to stick with this resistive screen technology. Personally, I find backward compatibility rather awkward on 3DS with the different sized screens. Nintendo should be thinking, "What's best for 3DS?" instead of choosing technology based on its compatibility with a predecessor. I mean, if the resistive screen was the best choice, fine, but that should be the main reason for choosing it.

I think the stylus works well for gaming; better than fingers more often than not. It'd be nice if the screen could do both. I believe there are capacitive styli but I don't think they're really cost effective enough to be worth including in a handheld game system.

Offline NWR_insanolord

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Re: Nintendo 3DS Touchscreen Technology Chosen for DS Compatibility 
« Reply #20 on: June 12, 2011, 11:29:41 PM »
In my experience, each type has advantages. There are games on DS that wouldn't work well with the iPhone's touch screen, and there are also games I play on my iPhone that wouldn't work well on the DS.
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Offline Ceric

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Re: Nintendo 3DS Touchscreen Technology Chosen for DS Compatibility 
« Reply #21 on: June 13, 2011, 12:36:12 AM »
On the DS Phat you could take a piece of thread, put it through the wrist holder hole, and through a hole in the stylus.  This way you didn't lose the stylus. That saves mine a few times.
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Re: Nintendo 3DS Touchscreen Technology Chosen for DS Compatibility 
« Reply #22 on: June 13, 2011, 12:39:12 AM »
On the DS Phat you could take a piece of thread, put it through the wrist holder hole, and through a hole in the stylus.  This way you didn't lose the stylus. That saves mine a few times.

You can still do that on other DS models, including the 3DS. It's a bit more clunky with the 3DS, but it could be done.
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Offline abe

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Re: Nintendo 3DS Touchscreen Technology Chosen for DS Compatibility 
« Reply #23 on: June 13, 2011, 04:17:09 AM »
actually, it's about saving money..