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3DS FAQ - Everything we know about the 3DS so far

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Cow Mengde said:
Why would it need 4GB? Remember, the resolution of the videos would also be lowered because the 3DS's resolution isn't even as high as the PS1.
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What? Most PS1 FMVs were 320x240. 3DS FMVs would be 800x240. That's over twice as many pixels.
 
Cow Mengde said:
Why would it need 4GB? Remember, the resolution of the videos would also be lowered because the 3DS's resolution isn't even as high as the PS1.
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The top screen on the 3DS has a higher resolution than the PS1 outputs natively. Only the bottom screen is the same.

edit: gaah
 
Do we know if the 3DS can show TrueColor? So far, we have seen big jumps from GB to DS, and they actually made a bigger graphical difference than the resolution leaps.

GB to DS: 4 -> 56 -> 32'768 -> 262'144.
 
Ezduo said:
Has a Warioware game been announced for the system yet?
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Oh wow, I totally forgot about Warioware. Kind of surprise as Warioware has been a staple for Nintendo's system launcher ever since the DS to show off system capability.

DS - Warioware Touched
Wii - Warioware Smooth Moves
DSi - Warioware Snapped
 
Cow Mengde said:
How many hours of FMVs were in the original FF7 anyway? Looking at some AVI compressions, you can fit a low res movie into 700 MB. I don't know the exact numbers on the resolution, but it's very close. The resolution is somewhere around the resolution of the 3DS screen.
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Just 1 hour. I remember the back cover of the CD case. "Wow! 60 minutes of cinematics! What's a cinematic anyway?" :D
 
Branduil said:
What? Most PS1 FMVs were 320x240. 3DS FMVs would be 800x240. That's over twice as many pixels.
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Some developers might opt for 2D FMVs, but yeah. The 3DS will certainly be able to support better compression formats though.

Neo C. said:
Do we know if the 3DS can show TrueColor? So far, we have seen big jumps from GB to DS, and they actually made a bigger graphical difference than the resolution leaps.

GB to DS: 4 -> 56 -> 32'768 -> 262'144.
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Every demo that's been shown so far doesn't show any dithering or banding, which is certainly a good sign.
 
Branduil said:
What? Most PS1 FMVs were 320x240. 3DS FMVs would be 800x240. That's over twice as many pixels.
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Shouldn't it be 400 x 240? Well, either way, it's still wider than PS1 resolution. I could have sworn PS1 FMVs were pretty high res. Oh well, it's been god knows how many years now, so it probably looked better than I remembered.
 
Yeah in 2d the top screen will be 400x240, but I'm sure with the extra res they could find some way to interlace it if the FMV isn't itself in 3D.

And WarioWare 3DS would kick major kinds of ass. Integrate CrossPass with the DIY mechanic, bring back updated versions of Twisted's minigames, 3-freakin-D, and if they have time put in some crazy multiplayer mechanic and it will be GOTF in this frog's eyes.
 
AceBandage said:
The official tech sheet said the starting point is 2Gigs.
Logic dictates that the size will increase, if needed.
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2GB is the current maximum. Learn to read, people. Most launch games will be on 256-512MB cartridges I'm sure.
 
Stabbie said:
2GB is the current maximum. Learn to read, people. Most launch games will be on 256-512MB cartridges I'm sure.
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xaneiu.gif


bu bu but I don't understand! ;_;
 
Stabbie said:
2GB is the current maximum. Learn to read, people. Most launch games will be on 256-512MB cartridges I'm sure.
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Wow, I miss that too. Indeed, I just checked the official fact sheet from E3, and it says : "Nintendo 3DS Game Card: 2 GB Max. at launch."

Even more confusing to have "max" and "at lauch" in the same sentence :lol

I don't care, I think this change nothing. 99% of Gamecubes games takes 1.4GB, and for the few of them that requires more (or 3-discs PS1 games that some people want ;) ), this will probably not be that difficult to manufacture 4GB cards.
 
The maximum storage will of course increase later on (to 4 and even 8GB), just know that most games will definately be less than 2GB. Especially 3rd party games since smaller cartridges are cheaper.
 
Branduil said:
What? Most PS1 FMVs were 320x240. 3DS FMVs would be 800x240. That's over twice as many pixels.
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The thing is compression algorithms have gotten much better over the years then they were during the PS1. You should be able to store a good 100 minutes of FMV in like 1GB if compressed right, unless you want it to be visually flawless (Which even most PS1 FMV's weren't)

And all the 2GB at launch means is what it says, Nintendo will only offer upto 2GB carts during the launch window. Most likely the system will end up with 32GB carts by the end of its life.
 
Drkirby said:
And all the 2GB at launch means is what it says, Nintendo will only offer upto 2GB carts during the launch window. Most likely the system will end up with 32GB carts by the end of its life.
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a game as big as a blu-ray? get the fuck outta here :lol
 
ILikeFeet said:
a game as big as a blu-ray? get the fuck outta here :lol
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Yah that seems a bit much. I doubt we'll see anything higher than 8GB, and 4GB will be standard even for most "larger" games.
 
Zerokku said:
Yah that seems a bit much. I doubt we'll see anything higher than 8GB, and 4GB will be standard even for most "larger" games.
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25nm and smaller flash, and we're talking five years from now. Though I agree. I don't think they'd ever use or even need anything over 16GB.
 
Yeah I wouldnt be too surprised to see it top out at something like 16GB. I mean look at the DS, its gone from like 128mbits to 4gbits. Im sure theres a few Japanese devs that would take advantage of extra space.
 
Zerokku said:
Yah that seems a bit much. I doubt we'll see anything higher than 8GB, and 4GB will be standard even for most "larger" games.
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Pretty much. 99% of Wii games are on a single layer DVD, so I doubt 3DS would need more.
 
1.8GB UMDs are essentially 65mm dual layer DVDs in a plastic shell. I wonder why Nintendo didn't have the foresight to make dual-layer (2.66GB) GC optical discs?

Anyway, most PSP games are less than 900MB, so I imagine the majority of 3DS games will be around 512MB-1GB in the beginning.
 
Mr. Pointy said:
1.8GB UMDs are essentially 65mm dual layer DVDs in a plastic shell. I wonder why Nintendo didn't have the foresight to make dual-layer (2.66GB) GC optical discs?

Anyway, most PSP games are less than 900MB, so I imagine the majority of 3DS games will be around 512MB-1GB in the beginning.
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Didn't know that....What seems to take up the most data? streaming Music and video files?
 
Mr. Pointy said:
1.8GB UMDs are essentially 65mm dual layer DVDs in a plastic shell. I wonder why Nintendo didn't have the foresight to make dual-layer (2.66GB) GC optical discs?

Anyway, most PSP games are less than 900MB, so I imagine the majority of 3DS games will be around 512MB-1GB in the beginning.
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And if my memory isn't faulty, the PSP definitely has a higher 2D resolution than the 3DS.
 
Does Nintendo Power still post how many megs their games are in the review info? I know they did that even during the early GC days.
 
Bizzyb said:
Didn't know that....What seems to take up the most data? streaming Music and video files?
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FMVs definitely take up the most space (For example, Ninja Gaiden Black is 6GB total but 4GB of that is the FMVs). Pre-recorded audio would be next, followed by textures and shader maps. Geometry and real time audio take up practically nothing by today's standards. Code should theoretically take up the least space but many modern engines do somehow manage to take up a lot of space by themselves.
 
I'm hoping for the first SNK game (Doki Doki Majo Shinpan 3D, probably) to have NINTENDO 3DS 16 GIGABIT PRO GEAR SPEC befoe the title.
 
Luigiv said:
FMVs definitely take up the most space (For example, Ninja Gaiden Black is 6GB total but 4GB of that is the FMVs). Pre-recorded audio would be next, followed by textures and shader maps. Geometry and real time audio take up practically nothing by themselves. Code should theoretically take up the least space but many modern engines do somehow manage to take up a lot of space by themselves.
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I'm guessing this is why All the MGS games use in-game engines to progress their stories. They have a crap load of pre-recorded audio but I'm guessing it doesn't take too much space up. Also, they have beautiful graphics and smooth framerates but was most likely due to good art direction, lighting, and character modeling since the textures (sans MGS4) were usually nothing to write home about, which also helped with storage space

I'm just trying to get an idea of how all of the different elements work in regards to a games data space.
 
wwm0nkey said:
Im thinking it will go up to at least 16 gigs.
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Very unlikely. There's no point. The only reason to have that much space is either for A)10 hours of FMVs or B) More voice acted dialogue than any studio could possibly afford. Given that so far the system has proven texturing to be its weakest asset, don't expect devs to fill up cartridges with just those the same way they can on the PS3.
 
Mr. Pointy said:
I'm hoping for the first SNK game (Doki Doki Majo Shinpan 3D, probably) to have NINTENDO 3DS 16 GIGABIT PRO GEAR SPEC befoe the title.
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You know that's not possible right? The touch screen isn't 3D. I'm guessing touching is very important in a game like this.
 
AceBandage said:
They're still a business.
If they were really going to sell the 3DS for like $250 or something, then they wouldn't care about lowering the price of their other systems.
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No, I believe the $199 3DS theory. It's just that it's still Nintendo. Logic has no game here.
 
I'm gonna put my money on $179.99, call it gut feeling. Should we start some kind of official betting line on this, maybe? What's the over under?
 
AceBandage said:
They're still a business.
If they were really going to sell the 3DS for like $250 or something, then they wouldn't care about lowering the price of their other systems.
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One reason they are lowering the price is to get as many "last minute" sales they can from the Aging DS, before they announce the price and release date of 3DS. Which in turn also helps clear inventory for 3DS shelf space (not that it will be needed as they will be flying off shelves, literally). Also don't be too surprised if DSi orders from retailers are significantly reduced within the next month.

None of which has any bearing on what the actual price of the system may be

edit: Also supporting a 2010 release, you typically do NOT want to announce a release date for a product when you already have an internally competing product UNLESS the release date is soon after the announcement. This is why Apple never announces the NEXT iPod/iPhone until a month or less before it's release. Otherwise all you've done is killed sales of the "old" competing version.

Nintendo isn't going to "kill" potential sales of the DS unless it's replacement is right around the corner.
 
Willy105 said:
No, I believe the $199 3DS theory. It's just that it's still Nintendo. Logic has no game here.
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Based on their performance as a company, I'd say they're pretty damned logical the majority of the time. Or very intuitive.

EDIT, @ Bizzyb: I think you are underestimating how much they want to kill the DS. Yes, they make money from it, but they have a far greater opportunity of making money with the 3DS - given the potential for 3rd party involvement on a level the DS never saw - and they won't want anything (even their own system) to hold the system's adoption up.

It'll be $199.
 
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