Nintendo 3DS

[The NZA]

 

UNF i cant wait, just over a month left. im sitting on so many titles for this right now, hoping for more video impressions of how it handles DS titles - ive already seen it looking sharp at 1:1 ratio but i need to know how it looks fullscreen.

[The NZA]

recent Iwata Asks segment revealed some technical details on the XL:

 

Some excerpts:

 

Iwata: To start off, I'd like to go back to how the Nintendo 3DS XL project began. Koshiishi-san, could you start by talking about that?

 

Koshiishi: From my own perspective, I became involved when our department started to ask in an internal meeting, "Can we bring out the XL in 2012?"

 

On power consumption:

 

 

Iwata: The first thing that I thought of was how a larger LCD would increase the area that the backlight needed to hit, thereby increasing power consumption. The casing is larger, so you might be able to handle it by increasing battery capacity, but you can't just simply make it heavy either.

 

Murakami: The backlight uses the most power, so it would have a large effect on battery life. Naturally, our first debate was over whether it was all right the way it was.

 

...

 

Murakami: We checked out various methods and technologies and found a new, as-yet-unestablished, technology for decreasing power consumption.

 

...

 

Murakami: It's a technology for holding down power consumption that, compared to the Nintendo 3DS, improves the use efficiency of light from the backlight.

 

Iwata: When you view 3D images on the Nintendo 3DS, the liquid-crystal barrier blocks the images for the left and right eyes from each other, so the efficiency of the light is halved. You thought that improving that would also save power.

 

Murakami: Right. With had our parts maker developed a new method for improving transmittance (the amount of light emitted), and in the end were able to adopt it.

 

Iwata: It's a new technology that didn't exist when we made the Nintendo 3DS, so I would imagine that dragged on until the last moment.

 

Murakami: Yes. We made fine adjustments up to the last second. Usually, you should determine the LCD specifications early on, but they actually didn't solidify until the end of last year.

 

Iwata: But that time spent solved the two problems of screen brightness and battery life, so it really paid off.

 

On pixel density:

 

 

Iwata: With regard to the LCD, many customers appear to be worried, asking questions like "If the screen is bigger, won't the dots stand out?" and "Will the screen get blurry?" As a developer, what do you think about that?

 

...

 

Murakami: To get a bit technical, it is thought that you need the screen to have at least 100 ppi to view good 3D images, and I've set it as a goal. What's more, the Nintendo 3DS XL's attraction as a product is that it's bigger than the Nintendo 3DS and shows 3D graphics with impact—and when it comes to that, it's just fine.

 

New speakers:

 

 

 

Fujita: Yes. Speaker size influences frame design, but the first design picture that came to our design team was already such that the same speaker as in the Nintendo 3DS wouldn't fit. (laughs)

 

...

 

Fujita: As much as possible, we wanted to achieve what was pictured, so we searched for small speakers, and considered moving the speakers to the bottom half. We modified the DSi XL and put the speakers by the buttons, and checked how it sounded by listening to the opening theme music from Dragon Quest.

 

Iwata: But if the speakers get smaller or sound comes from someplace other than the screen, then the sound may have half the effect.

 

Fujita: Yes, musics play important role in the games, so we had a number of speaker makers introduce a variety of technologies and heard about some thinner, elongated speakers.

 

...

 

Iwata: You made custom-sized speakers to fit within a limited, narrow space. How do they sound?

 

Fujita: On a graph of acoustic characteristics, they aren't exactly identical to the Nintendo 3DS speakers. The speaker size is smaller than that of the ones on the 3DS so sonically it had a disadvantage. But by fine-tuning the structure and capabilities of the speakers itself, and then optimizing the sound with the software, we tried to have them sound like the ones on the 3DS as closely as possible.

 

Some other details about the 3DS XL:

 

 

Miyatake: The website says it's 22 millimeters thick, but that number includes the feet-like projections. Without it the thinnest part is 21.3 millimeters, only 0.1 millimeters more than the Nintendo 3DS.

 

Murakami: But that 0.1 millimeter really rankles! (laughs)

 

Everyone: (laughs)

 

:

Miyatake: We designed it with the concept "A softer 3DS with a bigger screen". It was only made possible because it was a larger piece of hardware, but the battery is in the center of the main body this time, so we could achieve more rounding on the exterior surfaces than ever before. With the battery in the center, the balance of weight is good.

 

 

Miyatake: As for something we haven't touched on yet, I'd like people to look at to how some aspects of operation have improved. The A, B, X and Y Buttons, as well as the +Control Pad are bigger and thicker, making them easier to use in play. In particular, we increased the thickness of the key tops height-wise for the L and R Buttons, so they're easier to use too.

...

Miyatake And for Start, Select and Home Buttons, I had the designers work hard so the keys sink in a seesawing action. They have a long and thin key top, and wherever you press them, they sink right in.

 

On LCD screen anti-reflection:

 

Murakami: Yes. On a LCD screen there are basically three reflective layers, which all of them reflects and cause glare. So this time, we specially treated all the layers. Reflectivity on the Nintendo 3DS was about 12%, but we decreased that to about 3%.

 

Iwata: Why were you able to do that this time?

 

Murakami: Simply put, the progress of technology.

 

Iwata: AR coats have been around for quite some time. Is the principle the same?

 

Murakami: The principle is the same, but the manufacturing process is different. And then there's the cost. It used to be really expensive.

 

Iwata: Anti-reflection has been a topic every time since the Game Boy Advance system, but most of the time we had to give it up because of the cost.

 

Murakami: But we continued to keep an eye on the technology the whole time.

 

Iwata: And the time came.

 

i'm already sold, but the more i read about this stuff, the more hyped i get. also, possible throwback variant:

 

[The NZA]

 

18 days, barring someone mercifully breaking street date

[Thrizzle]

 

discuss

[Keth]

Ewwwwwwwwwwwww

[Iambaytor]

I hate the shape, but like the lack of 3D

[Newtype]

[Iambaytor]

So it doesn't fold and it doesn't have a power saving mode, they knock about $50 off the price I'll be pretty much sold

[Keth]

Full disclosure, the XL does in fact come with a power adapter. I think it's a region thing.

[Newtype]

So it doesn't fold and it doesn't have a power saving mode, they knock about $50 off the price I'll be pretty much sold

 

It's $129

 

Full disclosure, the XL does in fact come with a power adapter. I think it's a region thing.

 

UK or Japan didn't get one.

[The NZA]

PACK IT UP, APPLES - who else is gonna go sell their mobile products tomorrow

[Keth]

 

 

 

[The NZA]

oh god, hadn't even thought about McElroy's point...it's a great puzzle, that

 

kaz always delivers, and good ol' lawblob...i'm surprised he didn't work benghazi in there somehow

[Iambaytor]

I think this system was invented for holdouts like me who were waiting for the price to go down. $129 is a nice discount. Still not crazy about the shape or lack of folding.

[The NZA]

 

relevant to panch's interests

[Da Cap'n 2099]

It's not the one that closes, tho. I want the one that closes.

 

The price is nice tho.

[Keth]

In another chapter of stupid decisions axels makes: Months ago I ended up selling my 3DS. I found myself rarely playing it and decided I wouldn't miss it.

 

I. Was. Wrong.

 

 

Very wrong.

 

And as good as that price is, I really want my XL back. I may have to make another dumb decision and by it back this summer.

 

I...

 

I really want Pokemon Moon

[The NZA]

i love my XL & so glad i got those ambassador games, but man, id swap it for a new 3DS XL if i got a chance. messing with bish's, the 3D is way better...i only use that for a few games, granted, but this sega classics collection would totally be one of those.

 

i had the majora's mask one, but it was worth too much so i had to sell it. still, hoping they dump those down the road!

[Little Nemo McFly]

Oh, man - the XL has got a much, much bigger screen than the launch model and it's got face-tracking 3D. That required 'sweet spot' for the 3D is gone - the screen follows your head / face so you're always getting' 3D. Revolutionary.

 

 

Get a 3DS - there are good games in there and dude - it's the only glasses-free 3D gaming...anywhere! "Erbody know dat! Damn, boy..."

 

Edited May 27, 2016 by Little Nemo McFly

[The NZA]

damn, 3DS still getting games i want

 

 

[The NZA]

USGamer: There's a Reason the Nintendo 3DS is Sticking Around

Quote

People are really digging the Nintendo Switch. That's great. That's super. Less super is watching Switch fans become irritable over Nintendo's support of the 3DS.

There's still a lot of life in the dual-screened portable, even in a world where the Switch's single screen dominates so many people's portable gaming time. Not everyone feels the same way, though. Kotaku news editor Jason Schreier penned an editorial the other day declaring cool new Nintendo 3DS games are a waste of resources.

"Last Friday, Nintendo released a new WarioWare, the first in nearly ten years. This would be more exciting for hardcore Nintendo fans if it weren’t exclusive to the 3DS," he lamented. He also decried the recent news about Persona Q2 coming to the 3DS instead of the Switch.

I have a few objections to this criticism against publishers' continued 3DS support. First, Atlus (which is developing Persona Q2, natch) hasn't been shy about backing the aged handheld, so its continued projects hardly come as a surprise. Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology and Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux are two 2018 releases from Atlus, and Japan is also getting Etrian Odyssey X and Persona Q2 before the year's done. Atlus' steady stream of 3DS releases is a good indication the platform is still very profitable for them (and it's not as if the House of Jack Frost doesn't have any important Switch projects in the works). There's also the small matter of Persona Q2 and Strange Journey Redux being map-heavy games perfectly suited for the 3DS's twin screens.

 

as a fan of the switch: ill never understand people assuming every 3DS project is a game denied to them, like a).costs are the same and b) most of us don't still have our 3DS's. personally, I'm glad the little guys still chugging along, i don't want dedicated handhelds dead just yet. 

[Visitant]

Eh, I just got the SNES 3ds (i had a 1st gen purple i rarely played), and i love having it. Yeah most of my time is on monster hunter because I just got it - but I love still having a handheld gaming system just for that. 

 

...i love you my vita