Nintendo 3DS

[GDB]

I assume newer titles that require the stick, such as Xenoblade, will work perfectly fine with just the cradle that most people used for Monster Hunter anyway.

The only real question is whether or not that upgraded CPU will affect gameplay. If it does, that's pretty dirty of them.

[shadow1296]

another new 3ds, the 2ds isn't even a year old yet, i really hope the games that they showed can only be played on the new one, then that means nintendo is screwing over alot of the 3ds and 2ds owners who can't afford to get the new 3ds

[GDB]

Well, apparently Xenoblade is N3DS only. And word had it he mentioned that others are also going to be N3DS only. So... yeah, Nintendo being a bit ballsy there.

Just means to keep an eye on the games, so when the HDS (or whatever the next handheld system is, HDS standing for HD DS, basically) is announced, if it has backwards compatibility, grab them before they skyrocket in price.

[Sides]

Originally Posted by shadow1296

another new 3ds, the 2ds isn't even a year old yet, i really hope the games that they showed can only be played on the new one, then that means nintendo is screwing over alot of the 3ds and 2ds owners who can't afford to get the new 3ds

Both new 3ds models are listed a bit cheaper than the current models. As for 2ds, that was never released in japan.
The new 3ds has actually a few improvement over the current models, like c-stick zl/zr buttons, nfc, eye tracking for 3D and a few other stuff. It is really similar to the DSi, which was an improved version of the NDS, or gameboy color to gameboy, aso.
As for CPU upgrade, you can expect faster loading times and probably improved frame rate on older games.
Basically it is a new handheld, with full backwards compatibility to the 3ds, plus a stupid name that will cause confusion

[dniv]

Originally Posted by Sides

Both new 3ds models are listed a bit cheaper than the current models. As for 2ds, that was never released in japan.
The new 3ds has actually a few improvement over the current models, like c-stick zl/zr buttons, nfc, eye tracking for 3D and a few other stuff. It is really similar to the DSi, which was an improved version of the NDS, or gameboy color to gameboy, aso.
As for CPU upgrade, you can expect faster loading times and probably improved frame rate on older games.
Basically it is a new handheld, with full backwards compatibility to the 3ds, plus a stupid name that will cause confusion

Woah. That sounds pretty boss. This makes me maybe want to buy the Japanese version of this to justify playing DQ X and other stuff that hasn't come to the West!

[Dextro]

It really looks like Nintendo learned nothing from the Wii U release with the naming of this new console. "The New 3DS" is even worst than "The New iPad". At least the apps for the latter were fully compatible with the device it replaced.

[dniv]

I think I just figured out why this was called New 3DS lol....

They seemed to have made it faster and better using less money to do so. I'm guessing the difference is that this changed how it was made so any patent infringement calls don't apply. That's rather smart.

Since it is coming out on October 11, 2014 it is also probably being used to play Smash Bros since it has the faster CPU (like twice as fast internet connection speed or just CPU speed (apparently by how it looked)) to the other one and the joystick. This is probably to make Smash playable and fun.

[Dextro]

A few details I got from folks commenting on Eurogamer:

-New design plates featuring different colors, Mario, Animal Crossing, etc. that can be interchanged on the New 3DS, but not the New 3DS LL. Nintendo plans to have around 50 available until the end of the year.

-American and European releases won't be within this year, according to a little black fine print in the Nintendo Direct.

-Certain games can be developed exclusively for the New 3DSes to expanded CPU power, such as the Xenoblade port. Older games that are not designed for the New 3DS will not have any difference in quality. There will be old 3DS compatible games that run better or smoother on the New 3DS, so essentially three types of software. Iwata makes reference that there are several of these types of games in the works right now, but doesn't make any reference to who is making them.

-The browser can handle HTML5 and watching movies within it, but perhaps due to that problem they had last year with the child getting exploited through the 3DS (of course no mention was made of this) a new filtering function was added so that children can browse without fear from their parents. This is enabled from the beginning, but so that children can't easily get rid of it, turning it off requires using a credit card and one-time fee of 30 yen.

-The New 3DS and the New 3DS LL will not have a charger included, nor it appears the charge pad, which are now sold separately and apparently from the picture included, in different colors. There are priced at 1000 yen without tax, 1,200 for a New 3DS LL at black.

-The micro SD cards require you to remove the battery shield to put in/remove and the system comes with a 4GB card, so people who already have a 3DS with a larger card need to be careful to buy a new micro SD of the same size, in transferring content. Iwata realizes that it is a hassle to switch cards by removing the battery shield, so there will be a new function to more easily switch files between PC and the 3DS with Wi-Fi.

-There will be a new feature that can automatically adjust the brightness of the screen if you walk from brighter to darker areas, which Iwata says will mean some players will experience even longer battery life than the proposed times from the presentation, which were claimed to be ever so slightly longer than the original 3DS and 3DS LL

It looks like from the Q&A, the only data users will be able to move back and forth with their microSD cards using the new PC interface will be music and pictures and the like. Only a part of save data or games rather than the whole of it, is not supported. Also, Nintendo says they've confirmed it on Windows 7 and 8.1, but the way it's worded makes it seem like it might work on other OSes.

The physical Wi-Fi switch has disappeared, but users can still turn off Wi-Fi through a menu.

The whole feature of preventing blue when moving your head does not work with certain software that use the camera heavily (I would presume like Chibi Robo or that Face Raiders game) and Nintendo also warns that if you're wearing accessories that could reflect light, it also might not work correctly.

As ever, there is a manual way of transferring SD card content to your PC and then 3DS, and a way using wi-fi to send the information to the new system and card from your old machine. It doesn't seem to have changed other than the fact that you obviously can't use your old SD cards.

That's all that was noteworthy for now, at least for overseas users. There is an interesting note that they might add Suica support for the NFC later on for us Japanese users.

I've highlighted a particularly interesting bit there: apparently the improved viewing angles are dependent on the camera not being active so I'm guessing that Nintendo is using some sort of face tracking software to dynamically move the focus point of the 3D screen. That's rather clever (and a few coworkers and I were talking about that possibility at lunch today. Talk about coincidence )

[com_gwp]

Originally Posted by Dextro

It really looks like Nintendo learned nothing from the Wii U release with the naming of this new console. "The New 3DS" is even worst than "The New iPad". At least the apps for the latter were fully compatible with the device it replaced.

I scarcely think it's as huge a misstep as people are making it out to be; the N3DS is an update the same way the DSi was, not an entirely new generation of hardware. And Apple is hardly a fair comparison, they make such a huge show of every new iteration they release that everyone knows it's a new model. Besides, from a consumer standpoint, I'd bet anyone buying a 3ds would pay particular attention to the word "NEW". It's probable the old models are being quietly phased out as well.

Still, good on Nintendo, it's like they knew I lost my current 3ds and might possibly need a new one! Only shame is that the XL will not be getting the custom faceplates, which is making me seriously consider getting the standard model over the XL.

[Slayerx]

Originally Posted by com_gwp

I scarcely think it's as huge a misstep as people are making it out to be; the N3DS is an update the same way the DSi was, not an entirely new generation of hardware. And Apple is hardly a fair comparison, they make such a huge show of every new iteration they release that everyone knows it's a new model. Besides, from a consumer standpoint, I'd bet anyone buying a 3ds would pay particular attention to the word "NEW". It's probable the old models are being quietly phased out as well.

I disagree. The main sticking point being the fact that the New 3DS will be getting games exclusive to it. The DSi was an upgraded DS and had a lot of new features, but the games that came out for the DSi were also still playable on the DS. The New 3DS getting its own games makes it a new console in its entirely. We will likely see a wave of games that will only be playable on the New 3DS as the original is quietly phased out. Basically this is much more like the transition from the DS to the 3DS. And with this poor naming choice, it really this is bound to cause all kinds of confusion for gamers, in particular parents of kids, as they may not be clear on which games may or may not work on their kids 3DS. I can imagine a lot of angry parents showing up at retail stores when they find out the game they bought for their kid is not playable on their old 3DS


Not to mention that it feels like a big FU to those Nintendo fans that picked up a 3DS in the past year for games like pokemon X and Y; one year and the hand held they got is already obsolete. Ya technically this always happens when a new generation comes around but the 3DS is way too young. The 3DS came out only 3 years ago in 2011; its WAY too early to suddenly move up a generation, especially not when the 3DS was just starting to get some steam going after having a slow start. In contrast, The DS/DSi generation lasted 7 years. Worst case scenario is where nintendo starts coping apple by releasing a new hand held every few years with small upgrades which will get its own exclusive games and thus require gamers to upgrade to keep playing.

Nintendo releasing a new model that improves performance and has new features? Nice. Nintendo releasing a new hand held that renders the previous generation obsolete when the previous gen is only a few years old? Bad.

[dniv]

Originally Posted by Slayerx

I disagree. The main sticking point being the fact that the New 3DS will be getting games exclusive to it. The DSi was an upgraded DS and had a lot of new features, but the games that came out for the DSi were also still playable on the DS. The New 3DS getting its own games makes it a new console in its entirely. We will likely see a wave of games that will only be playable on the New 3DS as the original is quietly phased out. Basically this is much more like the transition from the DS to the 3DS. And with this poor naming choice, it really this is bound to cause all kinds of confusion for gamers, in particular parents of kids, as they may not be clear on which games may or may not work on their kids 3DS. I can imagine a lot of angry parents showing up at retail stores when they find out the game they bought for their kid is not playable on their old 3DS


Not to mention that it feels like a big FU to those Nintendo fans that picked up a 3DS in the past year for games like pokemon X and Y; one year and the hand held they got is already obsolete. Ya technically this always happens when a new generation comes around but the 3DS is way too young. The 3DS came out only 3 years ago in 2011; its WAY too early to suddenly move up a generation, especially not when the 3DS was just starting to get some steam going after having a slow start. In contrast, The DS/DSi generation lasted 7 years. Worst case scenario is where nintendo starts coping apple by releasing a new hand held every few years with small upgrades which will get its own exclusive games and thus require gamers to upgrade to keep playing.

Nintendo releasing a new model that improves performance and has new features? Nice. Nintendo releasing a new hand held that renders the previous generation obsolete when the previous gen is only a few years old? Bad.

You're wrong though and you are also missing the point. This comes out in the West next year, not this year. And hopefully with Feedback that is given to Nintendo by fans, they will try to call said 3DS in the West something else. They are probably willing to listen to advice about these sorts of things now. A year is a long time. If you think about it... next year is the year of the Wii U anyway--not the 3DS. I'm also guessing most games that will be produced for the NEW 3ds will also be produced for the 3ds... which makes most of these problems moot.

Given the reasons that they made this new 3DS... I don't really think that it is such a bad thing... It isn't like the 3ds isn't a good console anyway... They had to come up with something that could rival smartphone type fun... so you shouldn't just call it a bad move because they made something more functional sooner rather than later...

[Student no.0]

3DS is region locked right? How can I check the territories it's region locked in?

[Dextro]

Originally Posted by Slayerx

I disagree. The main sticking point being the fact that the New 3DS will be getting games exclusive to it. The DSi was an upgraded DS and had a lot of new features, but the games that came out for the DSi were also still playable on the DS. The New 3DS getting its own games makes it a new console in its entirely. We will likely see a wave of games that will only be playable on the New 3DS as the original is quietly phased out. Basically this is much more like the transition from the DS to the 3DS. And with this poor naming choice, it really this is bound to cause all kinds of confusion for gamers, in particular parents of kids, as they may not be clear on which games may or may not work on their kids 3DS. I can imagine a lot of angry parents showing up at retail stores when they find out the game they bought for their kid is not playable on their old 3DS


Not to mention that it feels like a big FU to those Nintendo fans that picked up a 3DS in the past year for games like pokemon X and Y; one year and the hand held they got is already obsolete. Ya technically this always happens when a new generation comes around but the 3DS is way too young. The 3DS came out only 3 years ago in 2011; its WAY too early to suddenly move up a generation, especially not when the 3DS was just starting to get some steam going after having a slow start. In contrast, The DS/DSi generation lasted 7 years. Worst case scenario is where nintendo starts coping apple by releasing a new hand held every few years with small upgrades which will get its own exclusive games and thus require gamers to upgrade to keep playing.

Nintendo releasing a new model that improves performance and has new features? Nice. Nintendo releasing a new hand held that renders the previous generation obsolete when the previous gen is only a few years old? Bad.

Actually the DSi had a few games that didn't work on a regular DS system but that was mostly due to the camera addition. Now the new 3DS has a faster processor and that's a completely different story. I know that as an engineer I would be very inclined to target the faster system and scale down if requested or just ignore the older system altogether if sales numbers for the newer one support that decision (and personally I think they will because Nintendo is replacing both 3DS systems on te market. These new units will not sit side by side with the old ones)

[GDB]

Originally Posted by Dextro

(and personally I think they will because Nintendo is replacing both 3DS systems on te market. These new units will not sit side by side with the old ones)

But the 2DS will still exist. Plus, it's not like all the current stock is just going to disappear. Nor will even most of the current... what, 48 million?, customer base even come close to upgrading.

[Freeter]

I'm guessing that Nintendo is going to enact a rebate offer for all current 3DS owners, which may explain the blunt naming convention. They're probably banking on people having the 'upgrade' mentality from smartphones and applying it here. Time will tell if this gamble pays off.

On the plus side, people like myself who were on the fence now have the 'definitive' version to get. The 3D workaround is definitely a welcome feature, as is the additional analog stick. I'll still wait until we get concrete info on the Xenoblade port coming overseas first (maybe Project Rainfall might need to suit up again ).

[dniv]

Originally Posted by Freeter

I'm guessing that Nintendo is going to enact a rebate offer for all current 3DS owners, which may explain the blunt naming convention. They're probably banking on people having the 'upgrade' mentality from smartphones and applying it here. Time will tell if this gamble pays off.

On the plus side, people like myself who were on the fence now have the 'definitive' version to get. The 3D workaround is definitely a welcome feature, as is the additional analog stick. I'll still wait until we get concrete info on the Xenoblade port coming overseas first (maybe Project Rainfall might need to suit up again ).

I'm expecting something similar myself actually... but the problem is that the new 3DS apparently costs less than the old one... Also, I don't really see how a rebate would work in the first place... it isn't like they have any use for old 3DS consoles...

[Freeter]

The important thing isn't acquiring the old consoles, it's getting people to upgrade. The list of new features isn't quite enticing enough to the average owner, so easing the price point with a rebate offer will make it more appealing.

They're going to need more than just Xenoblade to sell people on the exclusivity though. Smash in particular needs to have some strong New 3DS-only features since it's the major AAA title that could sway everyone to this device.

[GDB]

Originally Posted by Freeter

Smash in particular needs to have some strong New 3DS-only features since it's the major AAA title that could sway everyone to this device.

Pretty sure this would just piss people off and cause some to not even pick up the 3DS version in protest. You'd still get those who don't care, and those who just want smash now now now, but you'd lose a good number of people.

Especially since, you know, it'd be locking game content until after the Wii U version came out (for all but Japan), making it even sillier to do.

Honestly, they'd be better served NOT trying to forcefully sway people over with super amazing awesome N3DS only games. A lot of people are mad enough as it is that this system merely exists with just Xenoblade. They'd be better served doing ports like Xenoblade as the only N3DS games, just so people don't feel jilted.

Bad blood and grudges are strong with consumers in this industry.

[Shadow5YA]

The only feature that a New 3DS would offer to me is a second analog for playing Smash 4, but by the time this actually comes out I would have dropped the 3DS version already to play the Wii U version, so it's pointless.

[Chaos2Frozen]

Wow, that's a tiny second analog stick relatively speaking, I assumed it would be the same size as the original.