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Nintendo 3DS smuggled off a Chinese assembly line

A

antonz

Member
Nirolak said:
32 MB for the OS is as much as the Xbox 360 uses.

If we assume this is true, this tells us one of three things.

1.) The OS is as robust as the 360's.
2.) Nintendo sucks at programming.
or 3.) Some of that is dedicated to supporting hardware functionality, which would help free up more resources for the games themselves. For example, if part of that 32 MB is reserved for some kind of buffering, that means the buffering doesn't have to go into the remaining 96 MB.
Click to expand...

I could see them having OS and buffering using that remaining 32MB. It certainly makes more sense for it to be a 128MB chip than a 64 and 32
 
G

gofreak

GAF's Bob Woodward
antonz said:
Conversation seems to suggest the 3DS has 128MB of ram with 96MB available for usage
Click to expand...

I'm not sure how much stock I'd put in that. There's little to suggest that but the speculation of one poster there who seems to have an axe to grind against IGN.

I think as reasonable to speculate that it's 64MB with 32MB reserved for the OS, per prior info. The mode showing 96MB seems to be a pretty low level, perhaps a debug mode and/or sitting under the rest of the OS, in which case I'd expect it to report total memory.
 
T

The Dutch Slayer

Member
15nrbx5.jpg


That are a lot of ports on the backside of the 3ds
 
S

swerve

Member
Well, the official videos from September show us the browser being run *quickly* whilst in-game (and back out). That suggests the OS is pretty slick. We'll see very soon.
 
A

antonz

Member
gofreak said:
I'm not sure how much stock I'd put in that. There's little to suggest that but the speculation of one poster there who seems to have an axe to grind against IGN.

I think as reasonable to speculate that it's 64MB with 32MB reserved for the OS, per prior info. The mode showing 96MB seems to be a pretty low level, perhaps a debug mode and/or sitting under the rest of the OS, in which case I'd expect it to report total memory.
Click to expand...

IGN was reporting 68MB of total ram with 4MB being vram. At this point we can confirm IGN was at least wrong in that regard but you are correct the 128 is mostly speculation and they seemed to have stopped talking about the system now
 
B

beje

Banned
The Dutch Slayer said:
http://i51.tinypic.com/15nrbx5.jpg[IMG]

That are a lot of ports on the backside of the 3ds[/QUOTE]

They look like charger, game card, stylus and infrared

Swerve, get out of my head ¬¬U
Click to expand...
 
S

sasimirobot

Junior Member
0l9Xa.jpg
[[/QUOTE]

See the old school fat boy DS with the japanese "catch touch yoshi" sticker. I have seen that posted somewhere on this board before
 
T

Takao

Banned
Benson said:
Bingo! It's a pretty awkward location for the stylus though, prefer the DS location.
Click to expand...

Headphone Jack, and the d-pad are in awkward locations too. So are the LEDs that tell you battery length, and data transfer. Who's going to see that there?
 
G

gofreak

GAF's Bob Woodward
antonz said:
IGN was reporting 68MB of total ram with 4MB being vram. At this point we can confirm IGN was at least wrong in that regard but you are correct the 128 is mostly speculation and they seemed to have stopped talking about the system now
Click to expand...

We can't really say they were wrong if the developer they were talking to was informing about game resources i.e. if 32MB is reserved by the OS. In that case, if 96 was the total then 64MB from an application POV would be correct.

On the other hand...

antonz said:
I could see them having OS and buffering using that remaining 32MB. It certainly makes more sense for it to be a 128MB chip than a 64 and 32
Click to expand...

...there is more of a logic to this. Maybe the dude who has the 3DS could prise it open and count the RAM modules...

Nirolak said:
32 MB for the OS is as much as the Xbox 360 uses.

If we assume this is true, this tells us one of three things.

1.) The OS is as robust as the 360's.
2.) Nintendo sucks at programming.
or 3.) Some of that is dedicated to supporting hardware functionality, which would help free up more resources for the games themselves. For example, if part of that 32 MB is reserved for some kind of buffering, that means the buffering doesn't have to go into the remaining 96 MB.
Click to expand...


They do want to allow in-game web browsing which would be a reasonable memory hungry. They could page things out of memory to support this, but for faster switching, reserving a decent chunk of memory would be easier solution. Whether IGN's number was right or wrong - whether the total is 96MB or 128MB - it does seem like 32MB is OS reserved, and that makes sense.
 
B

Benson

Member
Takao said:
Headphone Jack, and the d-pad are in awkward locations too. So are the LEDs that tell you battery length, and data transfer. Who's going to see that there?
Click to expand...

I quite like the headphones at the bottom but yea the D-pad could never be used as a main control, your hands would cramp up in minutes. My biggest gripe with the stylus is im afraid of knocking the game cart out when pulling it out :lol
 
G

gofreak

GAF's Bob Woodward
Amir0x said:
so all this smuggling just led to us having more glamour shots of the 3DS? :/
Click to expand...

Well, we know the battery capacity now - 1300 mAh. Which admittedly isn't much use on its own, but it's something.

And we know something about memory, although again on without context it's a little less helpful I guess.
 
J

JoshuaJSlone

Member
The Faceless Master said:
IR returns? don't tell me for the VC...
Click to expand...
I think it's more so they don't need to build it into specific game cards when they want a game to interface with an external accessory like the Pokéwalker.
 
B

bryehn

Member
I think it's horribly ugly-looking. The d-pad and power buttons are oddly placed and the whole frame around the bottom screen...ugh. Worse than the DS fat.

I'll still get one on launch day though, because I am a sucker for new gadgets.
 
A

antonz

Member
reading that forum is depressing. People telling him to donate it to flash card makers so they can try and crack the system before release etc so they can get all their games free
 
M

meppi

Member
sasimirobot said:
See the old school fat boy DS with the japanese "catch touch yoshi" sticker. I have seen that posted somewhere on this board before
Click to expand...

Indeed, I recognize that one as well.

Wonder if all of those systems are stolen as well. :p
 
A

Amir0x

Banned
antonz said:
reading that forum is depressing. People telling him to donate it to flash card makers so they can try and crack the system before release etc so they can get all their games free
Click to expand...


actually at this point donating it to some tech savy group to pick it apart would be more informative

plus chinese smuggler could ask for money. I'm sure lots of people would pay
 
A

antonz

Member
Amir0x said:
actually at this point donating it to some tech savy group to pick it apart would be more informative

plus chinese smuggler could ask for money. I'm sure lots of people would pay
Click to expand...

Oh for sure. Im sure someone out there who wants to know the specs bad enough would pay a small fortune.
 
T

The M.O.B

Member
Amir0x said:
actually at this point donating it to some tech savy group to pick it apart would be more informative

plus chinese smuggler could ask for money. I'm sure lots of people would pay
Click to expand...

I bet Gizmondo has already placed their bid.
 
V

Vinci

Danish
Not sure about the layout, but the gloss is pretty. Still probably won't be buying one at launch due to other obligations, but... I'll get one somewhere down the road, barring nothing crazy happens with 3rd party support.
 
T

Takao

Banned
The Power Button isn't surprising. Nintendo moved away from the slider with the DSi, and the only reason the 3DS doesn't have it in the same place is because of the d-pad. Although I understand GAF concern in that it may make accidental game shut downs hapen.
 
V

Veins

Unconfirmed Member
Munin said:
Can anyone tell me how it could possibly be comfortable to use that D-pad where it is?
Click to expand...
Wow I just realised where it is. I guess the analog thingo is going to be the preferred choice for controlling movement by the developers.
 
V

Vinci

Danish
Are people just now realizing that the D-Pad is going to be relegated to minor functions in likely the vast majority of 3DS titles? The moment analog showed up, that should have been obvious.
 
S

swerve

Member
The usefulness of the DPAD really depends on how adept you are with them. I mean, on the SNES, my hands were too big, so I learnt to use them with the middle-section of my thumb. That skill is still going to work for the 3DS.

However, most people can't even do 'hold one button and press another' so I guess it's barely going to be used for most games. :(
 
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