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[Fantastical]

Calling it now: there is no way the 3DS will support anything in the way of "game installs" as we commonly know them. Instead, I believe this is in reference to the system's "tag mode," which as confirmed through PGC, can be used to "install" several small applications that can make use of Tag Mode, even when the game isn't physically in the 3DS itself.

As such, these should use a few Megabytes of information, at most (and likely less.) Do note that this doesn't include save file information, which is likely what will be shared via tag mode--I think the days of saving to the game itself are largely behind us.

Sort of like Mario Kart or Wii Fit channel? Or am I misunderstanding? Because I like that idea.

Yes.

Where, just curious? I was thinking about this the other day.

 

[Kandinsky]

Is that Sept29 conference actually been confirmed by Nintendo?

 

[ILikeFeet]

I'm pretty surprised at how many people seriously underestimate the 3DS's capabilities, it's like they just can not believe it can do stuff like the Resident Evil game or even DoA.

do we need to post screenshots to reassure people again?


also, 1.5Gigs must mean the 3DSware is about the same size or larger than WiiWare games (not to mention movies). awesome

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

Is that Sept29 conference actually been confirmed by Nintendo?

Yes.

 

[brain_stew]

Does ARM have a dual core processor--would be more feasible than two physical processor chips? What happens when mobile devices have to start requiring more than passive cooling? Obviously mobile processors are designed from the start for low power consumption (thereby reducing heat), but at some point we are going to reach a threshold where that is just impossible with current technology.

You do realise that the vast majority of dual core CPU designs are just two identical cores on the same die right? All of the hardware (including the RAM but not including the flash) will be included on the same "system on a chip."

 

[KAL2006]

In general CPU performance? Absolutely
As a general computing device? Absolutely
As a dedicated gaming device? Hard to say

Honestly people that were expecting a 1ghz A9 need to get a reality check. Go run the Epic Citadel demo on your Ipone 4 until the battery runs out and I doubt that thing will last 3 hours. Sorry but Nintendo don't have some exclusive magic battery technology and Apple are already pretty damn good at optimising for battery life. If you want this thing to last 10 hours in games then something had to be sacrificed and I'm glad it was general CPU performance.

As for RAM, 64MB (+4MB dedicated) really isn't that bad at all. Its better than anything from last generation and if people were happy with the textures in Xbox games when displayed at 480p on a bog screen TV, I'm sure the same resolution textures will look just fine at 240p on a 3" screen. My desire for 128MB was mostly motivated for performance in other tasks (like a web browser) and because it would have allowed Nintendo to develop a nice and fully featured OS/dashboard that ran at all times. It would have been nice for games, sure but it isn't a dealbreaker. Anything more than 128MB really wouldn't have made any difference in games at all, I'm quite sure of that as the hardware just isn't powerful enough to take proper advantage of it.

64MB actually compares pretty damn well to the amount of memory iOS apps/renderpaths which aren't ES 2.0 exclusive have access to actually. Its only stuff like Citadel which target the high end devices exclusively that can take advantage of that extra RAM and even then the OS eats into a major chunk of it.

Damn I was hoping the 3DS had a functional OS/dashboard similar to PS3, so there is an ingame menu where you can check your messages and invite players for online matchmaking and a friends list. I was also hoping for a functional web browser.

 

[Plinko]

Tell that to the millions of people playing "games" daily and the booming game market on AppStore.

Fixed.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

I already went there, it wasn't pretty. People seem to think SE is going to be contempt with putting the game on a lacking system.

I am sure they are very contempt

 

[redbarchetta]

I assume its because they have nothing else to compare it too. But yes it really is an apples to oranges comparison.

I see what you did there.

 

[Plinko]

Calling it now: there is no way the 3DS will support anything in the way of "game installs" as we commonly know them. Instead, I believe this is in reference to the system's "tag mode," which as confirmed through PGC, can be used to "install" several small applications that can make use of Tag Mode, even when the game isn't physically in the 3DS itself.

As such, these should use a few Megabytes of information, at most (and likely less.) Do note that this doesn't include save file information, which is likely what will be shared via tag mode--I think the days of saving to the game itself are largely behind us.

My sentiments exactly.

I never bought the "game installs" idea because wouldn't that lead to people just borrowing games and leaving them installed on their system forever? Or, in the other direction, tying a specific cartridge to a specific console and thereby eliminating the resale market?

 

[rezuth]

Fixed.

I understand that you are scared of this change in the industry but I don't believe you should put down the efforts being put into games on iOS devices.

 

[goomba]

Sounds good to me , sounds like the specs are in line with a portable that has a good battery life / power tradeoff.

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

Where, just curious? I was thinking about this the other day.

Japanese Link

Slowtaku link

 

[Man God]

It's not going to be anywhere near as good as a smart phone but I think the 3DS could have a pretty good web browser with the power upgrade the system has over the DSi.

The DSi browser works great for anything without a ton of pictures.

 

[inner-G]

Damn I was hoping the 3DS had a functional OS/dashboard similar to PS3, so there is an ingame menu where you can check your messages and invite players for online matchmaking and a friends list. I was also hoping for a functional web browser.

This is NINTENDO, dude.

 

[ILikeFeet]

Damn I was hoping the 3DS had a functional OS/dashboard similar to PS3, so there is an ingame menu where you can check your messages and invite players for online matchmaking and a friends list. I was also hoping for a functional web browser.

as long I can see the sites I go to, this isn't a problem (I can on my DS. in emergency of course)

 

[big_z]

Damn I was hoping the 3DS had a functional OS/dashboard similar to PS3, so there is an ingame menu where you can check your messages and invite players for online matchmaking and a friends list. I was also hoping for a functional web browser.

the online system is going to be a major indication of where nintendo is heading. on the 29th we should find out how nintendo is handling friends lists and how they're going to allow users to bring over their previous dsi ware purchases. if they bring up friend codes it's safe to assume we're effectively screwed for another generation.

they've been silent about online though so fingers crossed.

 

[Sega]

Calling it now: there is no way the 3DS will support anything in the way of "game installs" as we commonly know them. Instead, I believe this is in reference to the system's "tag mode," which as confirmed through PGC, can be used to "install" several small applications that can make use of Tag Mode, even when the game isn't physically in the 3DS itself.

As such, these should use a few Megabytes of information, at most (and likely less.) Do note that this doesn't include save file information, which is likely what will be shared via tag mode--I think the days of saving to the game itself are largely behind us.

Yeah, I don't think you have to call anything. It was made abundantly clear by the Iwata Asks videos. I would have liked installs though, because I hate carrying around extra pieces for my portable devices. I want it all self contained.

I never bought the "game installs" idea because wouldn't that lead to people just borrowing games and leaving them installed on their system forever? Or, in the other direction, tying a specific cartridge to a specific console and thereby eliminating the resale market?

That's a reason TO believe it. All publishers want to destroy the used market. I think if it were implemented, it would flag the cart as "copied" and not let you play off it, but would let you "copy it back" to turn off that flag and delete it off the system. Regardless, it won't happen.

 

[XPE]

Why the hell would you need to install games on a 3DS any way ?!?!?!?

 

[Vic]

dp

 

[Vic]

Calling it now: there is no way the 3DS will support anything in the way of "game installs" as we commonly know them. Instead, I believe this is in reference to the system's "tag mode," which as confirmed through PGC, can be used to "install" several small applications that can make use of Tag Mode, even when the game isn't physically in the 3DS itself.

As such, these should use a few Megabytes of information, at most (and likely less.) Do note that this doesn't include save file information, which is likely what will be shared via tag mode--I think the days of saving to the game itself are largely behind us.

Allow me to repost the Nikkei rumor:

Nintendo has packed 3DS with so many features that it's not even promoting some of the major ones. Today's Nikkei detailed one such silent feature: software install.

According to the paper, gamers will be able copy 3DS software to internal memory. Multiple games can be stored with the system in this fashion. You'll be able to switch between games by selecting a title from the system's main menu.

The paper notes that due to this feature, there'll be no need to swap cartridges. When outside of the home, you won't need to carry game cartridges with you.

Nikkei is a financial paper, so it obviously didn't get into the specifics on how this installation system will work. We'll have to wait for Nintendo to provide clarification.

http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/201...tware_install/

It clearly says full games install.

 

[ILikeFeet]

I understand that you are scared of this change in the industry but I don't believe you should put down the efforts being put into games on iOS devices.

dude, most of the games in the app store already have an equivilent on the DS.

 

[Plinko]

I understand that you are scared of this change in the industry but I don't believe you should put down the efforts being put into games on iOS devices.

I own an iPhone and have about 100 apps for it right now. There are VERY few apps on the market I'd consider as games even somewhat comparable to what is offered on handhelds right now.

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

the online system is going to be a major indication of where nintendo is heading. on the 29th we should find out how nintendo is handling friends lists and how they're going to allow users to bring over their previous dsi ware purchases. if they bring up friend codes it's safe to assume we're effectively screwed for another generation.

they've been silent about online though so fingers crossed.

*fingers crossed*

3DS needs a good online system to be portable of the forever (and to have proper versions of MH and even FPS games!!! lol)

 

[jufonuk]

Truth be told all care is if the 3DS can delivery the same magic as the DS.
given Nintendo's pedigree with developing handheld specific games I am gonna say yes.

 

[Door2Dawn]

This is NINTENDO, dude.

I wish people would stop saying this. There is no point putting all that shit on a fucking handheld.

 

[viciouskillersquirrel]

Allow me to repost the Nikkei rumor:

It clearly says full games install.

Mistranslation of a misinterpretation. IGN asked Miyamoto about it later on and he said he'd never heard anything about that.

 

[redbarchetta]

I think that's actually a surprisingly roomy amount of internal storage. It compares incredibly well to the ~256MB which users have access to on Nintendo's home console and should be more than enough to last most casual useers several years. GAFers can still buy cheap 32GB SDHC cards later on, but this means that you can put off that purchase for the first 6 months.

To be fair, we shouldn't be comparing 1.5GB to the Wii's "256MB" user-accessible memory, as it's safe to assume a large portion of the 3DS's memory will also be used for the OS. As such, the 3DS does triple the amount of available memory and should be adequate, assuming Nintendo actually makes effective use of the SD card this time around.

 

[defferoo]

yeah... it uses a cartridge... not a disc. the only thing you'd install is 3DSi Ware games

 

[Pennywise83]

but thats not gameplay, when I see gameplay footage that look as good as Mario Galaxy, RE4, FFXII and etc, then I will be happy. At the moment the only gameplay we have seen is Nintendogs and Kid Icarus which don't looks as good as the above examples I gave. Basically I want the graphics as good as all those above games, but in 3D.

Yep, it's not gameplay but the movie is made with a real-time engine. During the demo you can freeze the scene and then move the camera and zoom-in, all in real-time.

 

[Plinko]

I don't know why anybody would be surprised by these specs.

Seems right in line with all previous Nintendo consoles--technology chosen to keep prices low while offering good (but not top of the line) performance.

In a bad economy, this is exactly what they should be doing.

 

[ILikeFeet]

I wish people would stop saying this. There is no point putting all that shit on a fucking handheld.

bu bu bu....achievements! ;_;

 

[Mudkips]

I just don't see these specs lasting a full handheld generation.
The PSP2 is simply going to one up the 3DS in every category (except software, lol).

Nintendo squeezing every fucking penny tighter than Scrooge McDuck's water-tight anus pisses me off. I would have loved:

2 front-facing cameras for 3D video chat.
Cameras that weren't VGA. At least 1.2 MP, come on!
Resolution that didn't suck. Because I hate shitty scaling, I would want 4x the resolution on both screens (2x in each dimension). ("It doesn't matter on such a small screen!" I completely disagree.)
More RAM. You can never have enough RAM.
Better processors. This one's a duh. I like how Nintendo focuses on battery life, but I have to tip my hat to the PSP's design allowing games to set the clock to 333 vs 222 or whatever it was.

Storage space I don't give a fuck about. As long as it's enough to hold a decent OS and provide the rumored installation option, proper SD support makes any storage space issue moot.

The 3DS specs as we know them are fine and dandy for 2010, but I seriously question if this base design can remain competitive 6-8 years out. Sony is not retarded enough to pass up 3D for the PSP2. The only thing the 3DS will have over the PSP2 looks to be Nintendo games and first out of the gate / user base. 3rd parties hate Nintendo games, and the user base lead simply resulted in a major shit storm of shovelware on the Wii and DS.

I'm still in on day fucking 1, of course.

 

[brain_stew]

I see nintendo going cheap again in the RAM department...

The 4MB framebuffer will definitely not be cheap. That's 40% of the dedicated RAM that the 360 has, the same amount of dedicated RAM the PS2 has an more than the GCN/Wii has. Considering the resolution is much lower than any of them systems, its bloody massive. That 4MB of dedicated memory will do a lot more for performance in games than shifting upto 128MB would have done with in a GPU in this performance range.

Again, its an example of Nintendo spending their budget in the areas that will most directly benefit the quality of its gaming performance.

Oh and again since people really don't seem to realise. The 3DS has more RAM than the Xbox. Its pointless comparing it to the Iphone just as its pointless comparing the 256MB of system RAM in the PS3 to the 4GB/6GB of system RAM in most PC rigs. The Iphone is a general multitasking computing device, the 3DS is a dedicated gaming device. Big difference.

 

[antonz]

I imagine we are gonna see the DSi OS expanded upon. It already has a channel like system of the Wii. We know some sort of movie playback exists due to deals with movie studios.

 

[Plinko]

I just don't see these specs lasting a full handheld generation.

Is this a quote from every naysayer before:

A) The Game Boy
B) The Nintendo DS
C) Nintendo Wii
D) Nintendo 3DS

Because honestly I can't tell the difference.

 

[Vic]

Mistranslation of a misinterpretation. IGN asked Miyamoto about it later on and he said he'd never heard anything about that.

Why, he should have said yes? Nikkei rightfully leaked the DSi and the 3DS and their functionality weeks before they were revealed.

 

[redbarchetta]

Allow me to repost the Nikkei rumor:

It clearly says full games install.

(Emphasis added)

And I'm saying it's full of BS, for the aforementioned reasons.

 

[Sega]

Just a little reminder of how pumped you should be. The sub-week period is only a few hours away.

 

[ILikeFeet]

Why, he should have said yes? Nikkei rightfully leaked the DSi and the 3DS and their functionality weeks before they were revealed.

well, questions like this are meant for Konno, not Miyamoto. though Miyamoto is so high up, he would be of the first to know

 

[Kandinsky]

Japanese Link

Slowtaku link

Thank you Sir.

 

[viciouskillersquirrel]

*Unrealistic wishlist*

The 3DS specs as we know them are fine and dandy for 2010, but I seriously question if this base design can remain competitive 6-8 years out. Sony is not retarded enough to pass up 3D for the PSP2. The only thing the 3DS will have over the PSP2 looks to be Nintendo games and first out of the gate / user base. 3rd parties hate Nintendo games, and the user base lead simply resulted in a major shit storm of shovelware on the Wii and DS.

I'm still in on day fucking 1, of course.

DS was a comparative lightweight when it came out and here we are, nearly six years later, still competitive.

Your priorities are not the handheld market's priorities.

 

[Kandinsky]

I just don't see these specs lasting a full handheld generation.
The PSP2 is simply going to one up the 3DS in every category (except software, lol).

Nintendo squeezing every fucking penny tighter than Scrooge McDuck's water-tight anus pisses me off. I would have loved:

2 front-facing cameras for 3D video chat.
Cameras that weren't VGA. At least 1.2 MP, come on!
Resolution that didn't suck. Because I hate shitty scaling, I would want 4x the resolution on both screens (2x in each dimension). ("It doesn't matter on such a small screen!" I completely disagree.)
More RAM. You can never have enough RAM.
Better processors. This one's a duh. I like how Nintendo focuses on battery life, but I have to tip my hat to the PSP's design allowing games to set the clock to 333 vs 222 or whatever it was.

Storage space I don't give a fuck about. As long as it's enough to hold a decent OS and provide the rumored installation option, proper SD support makes any storage space issue moot.

The 3DS specs as we know them are fine and dandy for 2010, but I seriously question if this base design can remain competitive 6-8 years out. Sony is not retarded enough to pass up 3D for the PSP2. The only thing the 3DS will have over the PSP2 looks to be Nintendo games and first out of the gate / user base. 3rd parties hate Nintendo games, and the user base lead simply resulted in a major shit storm of shovelware on the Wii and DS.

I'm still in on day fucking 1, of course.

This is just too damn funny.

 

[delirium]

I just don't see these specs lasting a full handheld generation.
The PSP2 is simply going to one up the 3DS in every category (except software, lol).

Nintendo squeezing every fucking penny tighter than Scrooge McDuck's water-tight anus pisses me off. I would have loved:

2 front-facing cameras for 3D video chat.
Cameras that weren't VGA. At least 1.2 MP, come on!
Resolution that didn't suck. Because I hate shitty scaling, I would want 4x the resolution on both screens (2x in each dimension). ("It doesn't matter on such a small screen!" I completely disagree.)
More RAM. You can never have enough RAM.
Better processors. This one's a duh. I like how Nintendo focuses on battery life, but I have to tip my hat to the PSP's design allowing games to set the clock to 333 vs 222 or whatever it was.

Storage space I don't give a fuck about. As long as it's enough to hold a decent OS and provide the rumored installation option, proper SD support makes any storage space issue moot.

The 3DS specs as we know them are fine and dandy for 2010, but I seriously question if this base design can remain competitive 6-8 years out. Sony is not retarded enough to pass up 3D for the PSP2. The only thing the 3DS will have over the PSP2 looks to be Nintendo games and first out of the gate / user base. 3rd parties hate Nintendo games, and the user base lead simply resulted in a major shit storm of shovelware on the Wii and DS.

I'm still in on day fucking 1, of course.

Weren't same arguments used against the DS when it was released?

 

[H_Prestige]

bu bu bu....achievements! ;_;

Well it would kind of suck of online multiplayer is no different than it is on the Wii. Nintendo needs to work on that.

 

[Earl Cazone]

brain stew:

My desire for 128MB was mostly motivated for performance in other tasks (like a web browser)

care to elaborate? i think the problem of the original DS' browser wasnt the memory but the resoöution and weird screen size.

 

[Vic]

(Emphasis added)

And I'm saying it's full of BS, for the aforementioned reasons.

Okay. Have it your way.

 

[KAL2006]

Is this a quote from every naysayer before:

A) The Game Boy
B) The Nintendo DS
C) Nintendo Wii
D) Nintendo 3DS

Because honestly I can't tell the difference.

That is true. But I got tired of DS graphics in year 2. Wii graphics were poor since day 1. GB had poor graphics since we seen the GameGear. It seems Nintendo don't give a fuck about having a console that is future proof. But and the end of the day it's the games that count, and thats were Nintendo delivers. It seems to hold true for the 3DS.

 

[brain_stew]

so the 3DS would be some where between the Dreamcast and PS2?

A system with launch games that outclass anything produced on the Dreamcast, PSP, PSP, GCN, Wii and Xbox is between the DC and PS2? Yeah, I guess that makes sense.............................

 

[Jin34]

do we need to post screenshots to reassure people again?


also, 1.5Gigs must mean the 3DSware is about the same size or larger than WiiWare games (not to mention movies). awesome

All the screenshots in the world as well as people pointing out those videos were realtime have not convinced people. I think even after the 29th there will be doubters.