# Rumor: Nintendo to Unlock More 3DS Power for Developers



## heartgold (Nov 10, 2011)

_Translated source:_
According to reports running on the net, Nintendo would decide to unlock the ability to use the second core of the console for games.Previously reserved exclusively for the OS, 25% of it would now be used by developers. 
Second, Nintendo would have found a way to make stereoscopic display much less strain on the CPU. These two points accumulated leads us to we expect a new generation of games more optimized. (Info found on the forum Gamekult) In a different area, it appears that the allocated size of the games eShop increase from 16 MB (DSiware) to 512 MB ​​(3DsWare) Nintendo also considering the possibility to patch the game via the eShop.

http://gamekyo.com/g...ticle21339.html


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## spinal_cord (Nov 10, 2011)

Wow!! 25% more power!!!!!!!1111111eleven1, Now Imagine Nintendogs - Pokemon edition can have more polygons in them!!!!!


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## Social0 (Nov 10, 2011)

maybe they should focus more on unlocking more developers instead.


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## Veho (Nov 10, 2011)

Why is an entire CPU core reserved for the OS?


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## Pong20302000 (Nov 10, 2011)

Veho said:


> Why is an entire CPU core reserved for the OS?



background brain scanning

guess they where worried that if it wasnt locked off someone could dump data going through it?


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## Dimensional (Nov 10, 2011)

Well, this will make the 3DS more appealing to consumers as well as developers. And updating/patching games via the eShop would mean something like the PS3 or 360 where the console reads the game header and finds some patch data on it's HDD. It can increase performance and other stuff, but at the same time it can still be very buggy. I still remember that update for my Need For Speed: Undercover. It gave me trophies, but it also made the game glitchy. I drive so far, and find the game decided to wait to load more of the map, so it pauses, and then I find myself in a wall, losing a race.

So hopefully Nintendo will know what to do and not screw this up. And game developers, if they are able to release updates/patches for their games through the eShop, should also make sure that their patches don't in fact make the game experience worse.


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## yuyuyup (Nov 10, 2011)

Holding back 25% power in the first place is so retarded I worry if Iwata can safely cross the street without an adult


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## FireGrey (Nov 10, 2011)

If they did this, then games will greatly improve on the 3DS.
Hopefully the OS could hold up though.


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## Qtis (Nov 10, 2011)

yuyuyup said:


> Holding back 25% power in the first place is so retarded I worry if Iwata can safely cross the street without an adult



Actually an entire core, not just 25%. Now they're giving 25% of that single core to the gaming side (and take something away from the OS side). But then again this is bound to happen if the OS hasn't been optimized for perfection (something that hasn't been done ever in regards to coding ie. new patches/service packs/etc are released daily for different software).

Also before anyone gets great ideas of PS3/Xbox360 game patching levels, think these things through first:
1. Portable = power consumption has to be minimal to operate.
2. Data storage = No HDD on a 3DS.
3. Download sizes = Download a large patch via wireless = have to be stationed near a wlan =/= portable for that period?

But hopefully this does indeed make it possible to patch even small problems with games. Possibly some kind of added content?


-Qtis


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## klim28 (Nov 10, 2011)

I'm hoping this will fix the freeze and lags the Harvest Moon TTotTT is having right now.


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## mr deez (Nov 10, 2011)

Presumably held back due to battery life. If true, the new 3d imaging process efficiency gains would offset use of the second core to keep battery life the same. I suppose the 3d update could mean better battery life in games not using the second core.

Also extra power on the cpu might not make such a difference with games so reliant on graphics chips these days.


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## Erdnaxela (Nov 10, 2011)

Sounds...nice?
Well, I have to see how much this will benefit for developpers. Maybe for kingdom hearts 3D?
It's too late for RE : Revelations.


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## berlinka (Nov 10, 2011)

does that also mean 25% more (quality)games?


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## MR_COW (Nov 10, 2011)

yuyuyup said:


> Holding back 25% power in the first place is so retarded I worry if Iwata can safely cross the street without an adult



The PSP did the same exact thing.


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## Maikel Steneker (Nov 10, 2011)

I love how great the 3DS firmware works. It's just so much smoother than a Wii or a PS3. If they can further optimize it without degrading the quality of the OS, that's great.

The thing I'm most worried about is the battery life. I'm not completely sure about this, but I would guess that the second core will need more power if it is used more. I'm not sure how the 3DS manages this, it might not be a problem at all.


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## lostdwarf (Nov 10, 2011)

it is well known that the other CPU is dedicated to WIFI.  not os. 
this story is fake.


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## awssk8er (Nov 10, 2011)

If that is true... It's stupid how they hold back power... Doesn't make any sense to me.

Also, the good news is, if Resident Evil: Revelations was made without this extra power, imagine what it's capable of.


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## KingVamp (Nov 10, 2011)

MR_COW said:


> yuyuyup said:
> 
> 
> > Holding back 25% power in the first place is so retarded I worry if Iwata can safely cross the street without an adult
> ...



I didn't know that.

I was actually doubting this when I first heard it. Someone even pin a time. (February or March) 
Maybe I should stop doubting...

I hope the stereoscopic display effects aren't decrease while trying to increase battery power.


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## heartgold (Nov 10, 2011)

lostdwarf said:


> it is well known that the other CPU is dedicated to WIFI.  not os.
> this story is fake.


OS is always running in the background which also takes up CPU cycles and it may be doing constant checks and alot more than we know. Second core is used for network communications features as well as running the main OS. Network communication runs along OS level to keep the system updated like street-pass, spot-pass etc...


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## lostdwarf (Nov 10, 2011)

heartgold said:


> lostdwarf said:
> 
> 
> > it is well known that the other CPU is dedicated to WIFI.  not os.
> ...




Fair enough.
Although I remember reading that OS is run on the main core, not this core.  This core was supposed to be for WIFI and IR exclusively. (this is how the circle pad pro works by accessing the IR which is constantly running from the second core, as well as all streetpass and spotpass data)
The main core handles screens, LED lights, switches, both screens, mic, GPU, speakers and sensors.


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## heartgold (Nov 10, 2011)

lostdwarf said:


> heartgold said:
> 
> 
> > lostdwarf said:
> ...



Hmm, I know the 3DS has two cores. One core is fully dedicated to developers to optimise their games and the other core is run other features of the 3DS like commuication, OS and certain other stuff.


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## ferofax (Nov 10, 2011)

i'm still interested in all that DLC patching in the rumor. i have an idea on how they'd go about it, but i guess we'll all see sooner or later anyways, assuming they do it the way i think they should do it. the rumor also stated Nintendo will let the devs patch their games via eShop. it's not too far off to assume that it would include-- scratch that. i'm gonna go ahead and say that it's for devs with published games, enabling them to add patches/fixes/extra content to games that are already released. farfetched, but if i'm guessing right, very workable.


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## Rydian (Nov 10, 2011)

This sounds like bull to me, a rumor made up by somebody who halfway knew what they were talking about.  Most of it doesn't really make sense.


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## heartgold (Nov 10, 2011)

Rydian said:


> This sounds like bull to me, a rumor made up by somebody who halfway knew what they were talking about.  Most of it doesn't really make sense.



GoNintendo seems to have an inside source backing these rumours. :/

http://gonintendo.com/?mode=viewstory&id=166018


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## Necron (Nov 10, 2011)

Well, if the game doesn't have wireless functions (real functions) this could help to make better games.


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## jalaneme (Nov 10, 2011)

ah that is a shame, so when exploits are found or glitches in games that can be exploited patches will be able to remove them just like the ps3 and i hate that  also patches annoy me because they take so long to update and i could use that time to play my game, i really do hate current gen gaming sometimes with all these patches updates and firmware updates, that is just me, i don't expect anyone to agree with me.


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## DarkStriker (Nov 10, 2011)

Better games>Wirelesss


ForeverAlone


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## mysticwaterfall (Nov 10, 2011)

Would seem to me somebody was jealous of how good SM3DL was and then justified it by saying it used the extra power to do that. When obviously, RE seems to be doing just fine without it.


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## shakirmoledina (Nov 10, 2011)

i think nintendo is still unsure about its own system is working. not a bad thing because they created an awesome machine that has many mysteries within it.
i hope the 25% is truly 25% without having 50% less efficiency


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## Gamer4life (Nov 10, 2011)

how much is 25% more anyway what if its just like 10mhz or something


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## lostdwarf (Nov 10, 2011)

The CPU is DUEL ARM11MPCORE 45nm CHIP running at 266MHz.  These chips can be clocked up to 800MHz although this is unlikely.  
The gamecube was 486MHz and the 3DS already wipes the floor with it.  
If they upped the clock speed to something similar to Gamecube on the 3DS it would make a HUGE difference.
BUT it would reduce the battery a lot and also heat up the system a lot more.
The Graphics card is also underclocked at 133MHz, it is designed to do 200MHz-266Mhz 
add in
128MB RAM from Fujitsu
4MB of dedicated VRAM

This is one powerful bit of kit


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## heartgold (Nov 10, 2011)

^ actually 6MB VRAM. =)

http://www.3dbrew.org/wiki/Hardware


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## KingVamp (Nov 10, 2011)

I was actually watching this before I seen this thread and I think he has some good points.


Spoiler








At the same time, I'm fine at where Resident Evil is now for handheld games.


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## DiscostewSM (Nov 10, 2011)

The 3DS has much the setup like the DS, where one CPU/core handled all game-related stuff and the other handled simpler things like WiFi which really didn't require a lot of processing (developers could only access the ARM7 via Nintendo's own API through the ARM9. They weren't allowed to program for it). Unlike the DS and its games, however, the 3DS can be updated so that resources can be shifted to other areas. It makes sense that if they can reduce power consumption and are not using the full capabilities of the system, they can take advantage of the situation. Not just with newer games, but update/patch older games too.



Gamer4life said:


> how much is 25% more anyway what if its just like 10mhz or something



25% is still 25%. Besides, you think RE:R is running off a 40Mhz processor (which is a lower frequency that the DS's ARM9)?

We still don't know the true power of the 3DS, and only a few items are confirmed (like the 128MB of RAM).


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## Chaaru (Nov 10, 2011)

So what does this mean for games that were released before this additional CPU power boost? 

Do they have to be patched? ( Which will mostly likely not happen for nearly all except 1st party games)

Or will the games just spontaneously make use of the additional CPU boost? 

Like fps increases and such. Namely BlazBlue:CSII, which has a terrible frame rate.


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## Deleted User (Nov 10, 2011)

Hmm. Why didn't they do it in the first place?
Anyways, sounds great, anyway.


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## Ericthegreat (Nov 10, 2011)

Chaaru said:


> So what does this mean for games that were released before this additional CPU power boost?
> 
> Do they have to be patched? ( Which will mostly likely not happen for nearly all except 1st party games)
> 
> ...



No porob not, not only nintendo has done this, it is so that better looking games come out for the system over time. But hey you never know I am just stupid.


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## KingVamp (Nov 10, 2011)

tigris said:


> Hmm. Why didn't they do it in the first place?
> Anyways, sounds great, anyway.


For the people who keep saying this, maybe they just wasn't thinking about a power boost at time, figured it didn't need it. 
Now whatever time they thought of doing so, maybe they was taking the time to find the way to not drain more battery life in the progress or
where to take it from.

Other words, they weren't thinking and working on a power boost 'till later on.

If this is all true, that is.


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## GreatZimkogway (Nov 10, 2011)

You know what I find absolutely funny about GBAtemp now?  You can go into any thread, any thread at all, pertaining to the 3DS, and you'll find bashing that just gets ever stupider and stupider. 

Nintendo finding a new way for the 3DS to work, and a way to do so without hardware changes, is nice indeed.  25% is 25%, people, that's a lot.  And, as stated, the PSP did that too.  But no, the 3DS is something that must be absolutely bashed into the ground because it is a mistake of nature.

Grow the fuck up.


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## Rydian (Nov 10, 2011)

25% _of the second core_, not of total power.  If the second core is dedicated to WiFi _naturally_, it's not like it's gotta' be that powerful.  After all in the DS the ARM7 was used for WiFi, same sort of scenario (which is likely where this rumor came from)... And Nintendo allowing something like this _that would knowingly degrade WiFi_?  A decrease in processing power like this does no translate to a decrease in range or anything like that, it would translate to dropped packets, meaning disconnects and online games *not functioning properly*.  Why the hell would Nintendo allow that?

*As presented*, this story is bullshit.  Now whether Nintendo's unlocking more power or not I cannot say, but *the story as given* is bull.


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## heartgold (Nov 10, 2011)

Rydian said:


> 25% _of the second core_, not of total power.  If the second core is dedicated to WiFi _naturally_, it's not like it's gotta' be that powerful.  After all in the DS the ARM7 was used for WiFi, same sort of scenario (which is likely where this rumor came from)... And Nintendo allowing something like this _that would knowingly degrade WiFi_?  A decrease in processing power like this does no translate to a decrease in range or anything like that, it would translate to dropped packets, meaning disconnects and online games *not functioning properly*.  Why the hell would Nintendo allow that?
> 
> *As presented*, this story is bullshit.  Now whether Nintendo's unlocking more power or not I cannot say, but *the story as given* is bull.



Given that it *may *affect the communication functions, it could be optional to games which won't use any sort of communication activity and hence they could use that extra processing power. This is all romours as of yet so yeah.


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## Rydian (Nov 10, 2011)

If a core's naturally dedicated to WiFi, I really don't think it's going to be powerful enough to make any sort of difference (especially not if it's just 25% of it).


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## heartgold (Nov 10, 2011)

Rydian said:


> If a core's naturally dedicated to WiFi, I really don't think it's going to be powerful enough to make any sort of difference (especially not if it's just 25% of it).


What if they are two equal cores and so the other core is pretty beefed. Like those rumours say they run at 266mhz each.


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## Veho (Nov 10, 2011)

Rydian said:


> If a core's naturally dedicated to WiFi


But why are you assuming the other core is dedicated solely to WiFi? All hardware estimates say the cores are symmetrical, and the second core is the same as the one that runs the game. In which case, the WiFi only takes up a fraction of its processing cycles.


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## lostdwarf (Nov 11, 2011)

the only thing I can justify from this rumour is its a slight tech mistake.

It COULD mean upclocking the GPU not the cpu!  this would make a whole lot more sense.

either that, or its all bull.


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## Gahars (Nov 11, 2011)

And this wasn't done from the outset because...?

I don't know, this doesn't seem all that likely. And if it is the case, that still isn't going to solve the whole "lack of games" problem.


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## Rydian (Nov 11, 2011)

lostdwarf said:


> It COULD mean upclocking the GPU not the cpu!  this would make a whole lot more sense.


Except the GPU wouldn't be used for WiFi, so the info is still mismatched.



Gahars said:


> And this wasn't done from the outset because...?


That's another thing I forgot to mention that adds to this rumor not sounding right at all.

It's like every aspect of this rumor is different.


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## Nah3DS (Nov 11, 2011)

Rydian said:


> 25% _of the second core_, not of total power.  If the second core is dedicated to WiFi _naturally_, it's not like it's gotta' be that powerful.  After all in the DS the ARM7 was used for WiFi, same sort of scenario (which is likely where this rumor came from)... And Nintendo allowing something like this _that would knowingly degrade WiFi_?  A decrease in processing power like this does no translate to a decrease in range or anything like that, it would translate to dropped packets, meaning disconnects and online games *not functioning properly*.  Why the hell would Nintendo allow that?
> 
> *As presented*, this story is bullshit.  Now whether Nintendo's unlocking more power or not I cannot say, but *the story as given* is bull.


second this


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## Qtis (Nov 11, 2011)

Rydian said:


> 25% _of the second core_, not of total power.  If the second core is dedicated to WiFi _naturally_, it's not like it's gotta' be that powerful.  After all in the DS the ARM7 was used for WiFi, same sort of scenario (which is likely where this rumor came from)... And Nintendo allowing something like this _that would knowingly degrade WiFi_?  A decrease in processing power like this does no translate to a decrease in range or anything like that, it would translate to dropped packets, meaning disconnects and online games *not functioning properly*.  Why the hell would Nintendo allow that?
> 
> *As presented*, this story is bullshit.  Now whether Nintendo's unlocking more power or not I cannot say, but *the story as given* is bull.



Just a thought: Not all games necessarily need/can even use WiFi? Some games are solely single player with possible friend code enabled features (free stuff?). If you don't have any need for that feature at a certain point, disabling excess features to boost performance could be useful on the long run. Not saying this is probable and the absolute fact (ie you aren't wrong), but the possibility is still there.


-Qtis

ps. Off-Topic and not related to Rydians post: Were has all this hating in 'temp come from? Don't remember so much bashing/trolling a few years ago..


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## DiscostewSM (Nov 11, 2011)

Gahars said:


> And this wasn't done from the outset because...?



Because sometimes improvements don't come until after the release? Has everyone forgotten about how early PS3 games used only a couple SPEs out of the 6 that are now available to developers? There is a bit of complexity that gets added to the system when additional CPUs (even part of one) are thrown into the equation, and without proper testing, it could lead to problems. SM3DL could very well have been part of a test to see how well this set-up would work, and since it seems it does work well, they are now ready to allow others to take advantage of it.

If it didn't work well, but they threw it into the SDK anyways, you think developers would be happy about it?


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## chris888222 (Nov 11, 2011)

I wouldn't really count on this. It's just a *rumor*.


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## Rydian (Nov 11, 2011)

Veho said:


> Rydian said:
> 
> 
> > If a core's naturally dedicated to WiFi
> ...


Missed this post earlier, my bad.

The rumors talk like the second core (or whatever core is used for WiFi) isn't used for games currently.



Qtis said:


> Just a thought: Not all games necessarily need/can even use WiFi? Some games are solely single player with possible friend code enabled features (free stuff?). If you don't have any need for that feature at a certain point, disabling excess features to boost performance could be useful on the long run. Not saying this is probable and the absolute fact (ie you aren't wrong), but the possibility is still there.


That's possible, I don't think it's plausible with Nintendo.  They don't do this sort of thing last I checked.


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## ShadowSoldier (Nov 11, 2011)

I think this is a brilliant idea. As long as the console doesn't get hacked (sue me GBAtemp community), I support this. It talks about less strain on the CPU, does that mean longer battery life when playing some titles?


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## Rydian (Nov 11, 2011)

Er, this is talking about MORE CPU usage.


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## lostdwarf (Nov 11, 2011)

Rydian said:


> Er, this is talking about MORE CPU usage.



and inadvertently lowering battery life, heating the system more (they do get warm after a good session already) and ditching WIFI to use it.
This makes sense only if (*crosses fingers and wishes*) they are about to release a new 3DS version with better battery and heatsink.!


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## KingVamp (Nov 11, 2011)

lostdwarf said:


> and inadvertently lowering battery life, heating the system more (they do get warm after a good session already) and ditching WIFI to use it.
> This makes sense only if (*crosses fingers and wishes*) they are about to release a new 3DS version with better battery and heatsink.!




Quite frankly, that makes less sense,since that would screw certain and future owners (at Christmas).

How are you holding/playing your 3ds? I experience no heat up.
Unless you mean your own hands...which isn't the system fault.

At least this rumor sounds possible, even if it is not plausible.
It even says less strain on cpu by the stereoscopic display.


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## heartgold (Nov 11, 2011)

lostdwarf said:


> Rydian said:
> 
> 
> > Er, this is talking about MORE CPU usage.
> ...



If they have found a way to make put less strain on CPU, it kinda evens it out, although you most likely get a lower battery performance. Anyway we don't know how the second core is set up. Is it solely intended for networking or was it planned in advanced as a backup so developers could use that extra processing, if so it would have been made to be more capable of supporting, processing game data and Wifi communication at the same time.

However 25% is big chunk, If it is a fully fledged core then hopefully WiFi communication should be handled by the second core. It it isn't then I suppose Nintendo wouldn't unlock it as 3DS is meant to be utilising features like streetpass while playing games.


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## zachtheninja (Nov 11, 2011)

Social0 said:


> maybe they should focus more on unlocking more developers instead.


 I agree.


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## BoxmanWTF (Nov 18, 2011)

If it takes away from the wireless abilities, that kinda sucks.
But, what about OoT 3D and SF643D? those disabled the wifi when played, maybe it'll be the same.


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## Hyro-Sama (Nov 18, 2011)

If this is true then Nintendo is screwed. The 3DS is going to need lots of well done Multiplayer/Online games to survive.


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## DiscostewSM (Nov 19, 2011)

I honestly don't see this conflicting with WiFi at all. WiFi does not require the resources of an entire CPU/core. An OS could, but can you seriously say the 3DS OS is using 100% of one of the CPUs/cores? Either way, the OS is practically doing nothing while on standby during game-play, so that 25% of the 2nd CPU/core is available anyways. When you press the Home button, the game is put on standby, which would then free up that 25% when the OS re-activates. It's pretty much only one of them is really being used at any given time.


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## EugeneSalvador (Nov 22, 2011)

25? Nintendo can you increase it to 35? Please? Please? 

So that Nintendogs and Mario Kart can be more realistic 

from a Nintendo fan


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