What? How are they pussyfooting around? They've told you EXACTLY what it is. It's the same thing they did for the Game Boy and DS. If you need to hear the specific word "stopgap" from Nintendo to work that out, then you're way beyond help.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Rumor: New 3DS will double RAM and (nearly double) VRAM.
- Thread starter KojiKnight
- Start date
What? How are they pussyfooting around? They've told you EXACTLY what it is. It's the same thing they did for the Game Boy and DS. If you need to hear the specific word "stopgap" from Nintendo to work that out, then you're way beyond help.
Miles Quaritch
Member
Yeah, with this stop gap/new 3DS, I can see them pushing back any new hardware announcements to 2016/2017.
Any news on if this 3DS will have HDMI out?
tkscz
Member
Vita has 512MBs of RAM and 256MBs of VRAM, along with a quad-core CPU and GPU. It doesn't compare.
Graphics Horse
Member
Nintendo traditionally make a lot of money from selling hardware. The point is to make a lot of money.
Which is exactly why I'm waiting this out until the real revision which will likely have backwards compatibility. I'd need a better screen with better resolution to make it worth it. Xenoblade may have turned me if it didn't look so awful.
And_Gignac
Member
This is a clear move (if true) to give breathing room for the establishment of a third pillar and all the development resources it will require.
KojiKnight
Member
We actually do not have confirmation on any upgrade or not to the GPU. The GPU is integrated into the CPU and currently runs at the same clock rate, but that's no guarantee that a boost to the CPU will mean they'll clock the GPU again to match.
Given the multiplier in the current 3DS, it's most likely going to be clocked at rouchly 533mhz on a dual core. ARM11 isn't exactly 1:1 comparable to x86 or PPC, but that compares a lot more favorably to the current 266mhz clock.
It's not. DSi got a similar boost to CPU/RAM/Vram and the second analog and buttons were already a part of the regular 3DS via the circle pad pro.
Maintenance
Member
Vita's VRAM is 128MB.
Vita has 512MB RAM and 128MB VRAM.
If the core architecture changed, then this would be less of a revision and more of a generation shift. Since it isn't, this is a pretty signifigant revision change in terms of horsepower and is somewhat suprising coming from Nintendo. Hopefully the PR pricepoint translates over into being as affordable to promote easy adoption.
It also has to output games at a way higher resolution.
Unity/Webkit would help much more with that.
Minecraft might get a lot of kids on the system with the right marketing though.
fredrancour
Member
I'm going to need to see this reflected in the software before i decide to upgrade....xenoblade 3ds is cool but no screen resolution upgrade really hurts the idea of buying this for the hardware upgrade.
I wish Nintendo had more clear information about their roadmap. It would help me as a consumer decide whether this is worth it. If they are targeting '17, for instance, for a 4DS, I'd bite and get this.
With the possibility that the true successor to the 3DS might be around the figurative corner though, it's just not a gamble I'd easily make.
With the possibility that the true successor to the 3DS might be around the figurative corner though, it's just not a gamble I'd easily make.
Would make sense, I mean look at this
The difference is huge.
Has it got 802.11ac as well then? The hardware shouldn't make the download portion that much faster. A little, sure, but if that's real world it must have better WiFi.
CyberPunked
Member
Sony and Microsoft should do this with the PS4 and Xbone.
It is as much of a "new platform" as the DSi was a "new platform" to the DS lite.
Wolfgunblood Garopa
Member
A MB for every pixel
Maintenance
Member
Doubt it, keep in mind that the resolution is still an atrocious 400x240p, or 800x240p if you count the 3D.
No it doesn't, the screen is just higher res. There's nothing stopping a dev from making a 240p game and many are 360p.
Would make sense, I mean look at this
The difference is huge.
My XL is a piece of shit compared to that.
Wishmaster92
Member
Would make sense, I mean look at this
The difference is huge.
This is great, but what about games specifically coded for the new version, like can it support better textures? Or it doesn't work that way?
Hero_of_the_Day
Member
Not until I start seeing some exclusive games.
I think that's what is making this so weird for me, the fact that they announced it with a single game that we already played years ago.
The question "is it a new console or not?" is not relevant anymore as i think we should consider 3DS as a platform, with many iterations, differents specs and features just like iphones,ipads...
so yes its a new system, but yes it is still a 3DS.
Just like on ios, differents games can run or not, some take advantages of the best platforms, some arent.
i think it will be transparent for the customer, the game being played being as best as the system can handle.
so yes its a new system, but yes it is still a 3DS.
Just like on ios, differents games can run or not, some take advantages of the best platforms, some arent.
i think it will be transparent for the customer, the game being played being as best as the system can handle.
Graphics Horse
Member
I think this guarantees late 2016 or later for a new system.
KojiKnight
Member
For current games? It's hard to say... They may be able to employ a type of caching system or have big name games patched to take advantage of the new components for better performance... but I wouldn't count on it. I'd imagine most current games will go into a sort of 'compatibility' mode that sets the clocks the same to the stock 3DS.
Future games that are designed with it in mind may be able to get boosts to performance, and games that are designed specifically to only be used on it could be quite a bit more advanced.
Would make sense, I mean look at this
The difference is huge.
This reminds me of how much browsing the internet with my current 3DS XL sucks.
deltatheta
Member
256 MB of main RAM still isn't very much. That's the same as the iPhone 3GS.
I think this is only going to take the browser/MiiVerse performance up from abysmal to poor.
I think this is only going to take the browser/MiiVerse performance up from abysmal to poor.
Excellent point. This might be the beginnings of 3DS upgrades every 2 years. Gulp ..
SolarPowered
Member
No way in hell. It won't be after holiday 2016, even for Europe. If QOL doesn't take off and they don't have a true handheld successor for 2016 (Wii U successor will probably be 2017) they may as well just close their doors like they've said when people asked about them going third party.
QOL slows things down, but not to a snail's pace.
There's more to this revision than just improved processing power/bandwidth.
Plenty of reason to upgrade or first-time buy, I'd say. Improved 3D viewing angle on the XL is a pretty huge deal, for example. Improved battery life. Little mini analog stick thingy(seriously, wtf is that supposed to be called?). And of course with the power improvements come a snappier interface, which is probably the bigger selling point than simply exclusive software.
Double the vRAM would indeed theoretically allow for higher quality textures.
At the very least, it should alleviate any performance bottleneck concerns for developers making content with the original 3DS specs in mind. I could see a scenario where developers don't ignore the old 3DS userbase, cuz that would be crazy, but performance is a bit more solid on the newer version.
It's a dedicated gaming device. On iOS, even on 1GB devices, your app will start getting warnings and risk being shutdown if you hover above ~350MBs of RAM. Most iOS games run under 200MBs of RAM.
GBC was a similar upgrade in terms of specs, and I'd argue that it qualifies as a successor platform in terms of how it was positioned and received. (DSi does not.) It really depends on the software support, and whether Nintendo and third-parties actually abandon development for the vanilla 3DS.
Graphics Horse
Member
Why do you think that? We have no firm idea of what QOL is and people keep saying that it will impact games hardware schedule, why??
Zekra Dezivad
Member
Ok, now we can finally consider the 3DS a weak console for 2011 standards.
Just joking
Just joking
nintendo always did this kind of upgrades, they just went further with this concept.
Also , they announced 2 systems today, and clearly they're not adressed to the same customer ( just like iphone 5s/5c)
Maybe in a few years we'll buy one game, running on all nintendo platforms, playing differently on each one ( HD graphics on WiiU, 3D effect on 3DS etc...).
Mr. Wonderful
Member
This isn't necessarily true. A service's download speed can be influenced by the processor. I'm really hoping they added 802.11n, however. (I think you're dreaming wishing for ac).
The problem with your comparison is that the iPhone 3GS is a phone. New 3DS is a dedicated gaming machine. All resources are going towards gaming.
Except it isn't. The 3DS like all modern consoles limits RAM available to games to enable basic multitasking.
I dunno how this is administrated, but on the Vita you can really notice the RAM pool is smaller when a game is running in the background. NeoGAF pages with a lot of images go into a refresh loop.