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  • E3 2010 Rumor: IGN Claims 3DS Performance Rivals that of 360, PS3

    by
    alexjlopez
    Published on 06-06-2010 08:49 AM
    10 Comments Comments


    I love Sunday morning game industry rumors. They tend to at least have a seed of truth in them usually, since some lazy game journalist will have had to have gotten their lazy ass out of bed and in front of a PC to report it in the first place. And the week prior to E3 just wouldn't be the same without these inevitable rumors that seem to surface each year--2010 being no different.

    IGN is citing unnamed developer sources in claims that Nintendo's forthcoming handheld system, codenamed 3DS, will have "processing capabilities that far exceed the Nintendo Wii and bring the device with abilities that are close to HD consoles such as PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360". Meanwhile, the long rumored link between 3DS and NVIDIA's mobile Tegra chipset is now thought to be incorrect, with Eurogamer reporting that Nintendo is turning to a Japanese partner to provide the 3D acceleration hardware for it's next handheld.

    As Eurogamer points out, gamers should temper this "news" with a dose of common sense--the heat and battery drain issues alone make this a heck of a magic trick for Nintendo to pull off. And with Nintendo's track record of making their systems affordable and approachable, being on the cutting edge of tech as far as processing power goes has not been a priority throughout their history whether we are talking non-HD Wii consoles or non-backlit greyscale Game Boy handhelds. But who knows? With Nintendo President Satoru Iwata recently calling the war with Sony won, and identifying Apple as the "enemy of the future", Nintendo may be planning to surprise us once again by taking a completely new approach. They do have truckloads of cash from the successes of the DS and Wii, and my guess is they are concerned about taking the dive Sony did when they went from industry leader with PS2 to industry doormat with PS3.

    And speaking of Sony, don't count them out of the handheld space just yet--rumor has it they we will be treated to a PSP2 reveal at E3 next week, just one year after the anticlimactic unveiling of this generation's "Virtual Boy", the PSPGo.

    Could Nintendo's next handheld actually be a dual-purpose device that will eventually replace both the Nintendo DS and Wii? A simple HDMI out could make that possible, and bluetooth controllers could play into the plan as well. It would seem that both DS and Wii have a lot of life left in them, and Nintendo could once again take the "third pillar" approach to slow-phasing them both out, leaving the mythical "casual" gamer to enjoy their existing systems and bringing forth something for the core audience they've arguably neglected for some time.

    Another possibility is that Nintendo could take a page out of Apple's book and opt for a "universal operating system" across it's next handheld and the eventual Wii successor. It certainly seems to have worked well for Apple with iPhone OS bridging the gap between phone, mp3 player, and tablet. Not to mention the next Apple TV, which is poised to bite into the console space next year.

    That's a whole lot of speculation. Much of it is likely wishful thinking, but you just never know with Nintendo. Fortunately we don't have a whole lot of time to wait before (at least) some of the answers are revealed.

    It's going to be a heck of an E3, folks.


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    1. Categories:
    2. DS,
    3. E3 2010,
    4. Nintendo 3DS
    Comments 10 Comments
    1. billwabo's Avatar
      billwabo - 06-06-2010, 11:47 AM
      I read that yesterday and frankly, i'm having a hard time believing it. Good for them (and us) if it's true.
    1. Chris's Avatar
      Chris - 06-06-2010, 11:54 AM
      From the company that brought us Kid Icarus.....
    1. nazzar's Avatar
      nazzar - 06-06-2010, 12:01 PM
      If true, I'm not looking forward to the hefty price tag they slap on the 3DS.
    1. alexjlopez's Avatar
      alexjlopez - 06-06-2010, 12:23 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by Chris View Post
      From the company that brought us Kid Icarus.....
      Come to think of it, IGN was behind the Kid Icarus rumors too hehe.
    1. Yodaporn's Avatar
      Yodaporn - 06-07-2010, 12:57 AM
      This looks like Ign trying to run a troll to create buzz around the net with their name on it. I find it hard to believe that Nintendo, one of the most conservative game companies *ever*, would jump multiple handheld generations in a market they are not even sweating over loosing. At most, I see it rivaling the gamecube as to create a new viewport for games running on the wii without sacrificing graphics
    1. Chris's Avatar
      Chris - 06-07-2010, 04:06 AM
      I can only hope this system launches with Luigi's Mansion 3DS. That would rock.
    1. Bill_Loguidice's Avatar
      Bill_Loguidice - 06-07-2010, 07:15 AM
      While it would be nice, it's hard to see how they could get anywhere near that type of performance and have it at a mainstream price point. Certainly they'll likely need a good amount of processing power to handle the 3D (it may have to generate portions of the same image two or more times), but I'd suspect - particularly given the small screen - something between Wii and GameCube in performance would be far more logical, and even that would be pushing it at a release price of $199 (I can't see Nintendo wanting to exceed that, particularly in light of the Wii's price). In other words, they could get PS2 or GameCube-like performance, and still be perfectly fine at that screen size, particularly since there will likely be performance considerations for the 3D aspect. Certainly sub-PS2 performance looks quite good on the PSP's small screen...
    1. Shane R. Monroe's Avatar
      Shane R. Monroe - 06-07-2010, 08:56 AM
      I would say, the best way to get an expectation sense from the 3DS is to ask yourself:

      What can I get for $199 that still makes Nintendo about $40-50 a unit?

      So, what tech can you get in there for $150?

      I'm actually working on an article for this in anticipation of our E3 coverage.
    1. alexjlopez's Avatar
      alexjlopez - 06-07-2010, 09:05 AM
      As Bill pointed out, considering the small screen, even if they pull off Wii comparable power, it would look amazing. I think where the opportunity is though, is in bridging the gap between handheld and console--to be able to play your games both on your TV at home or on your portable on the go. An HD capable DS is not out of the question, in fact, I'm hearing that Apple is about to announce an HD capable iPhone an hour from now.

      What doesn't feel right about all this is that it seems like far too much discussion about "processing power" and graphics to be a Nintendo reality. We all know Nintendo has never put a priority into these things. I think your right, Shane--they are business people before anything else and they will have identified a logical price point that they think will work. From there, it's all about what they can include at that price, as you put it.

      The reason I harp on the merging of portable and console though, is that under the scenario of an HD capable DS, where does that leave Wii? If there is no merge, and DS starts to look like 360 and PS3, what in the world would the next Wii look like? If 360 and PS3 continue to sit on their longterm plans, could we be looking at a situation where Nintendo leads the way in horsepower/graphics for a period of time?

      I can't help but think that we'll be rewarded for all this speculation with an hour-long demo of the Vitality Sensor next week...
    1. Shane R. Monroe's Avatar
      Shane R. Monroe - 06-07-2010, 10:01 AM
      Here is my first pass ...

      http://www.monroeworld.com/forums/co...g-Nintendo-3DS

      Let the smack down begin!