# 3DS loads DS games much slower than DS itself



## Snailface (Mar 8, 2011)

From Gamespot:


			
				QUOTE said:
			
		

> Despite faster hardware, Nintendo's new portable trails the original DS when it comes to firing up original DS games.
> 
> Nintendo released the 3DS in Japan on February 26, and we promptly flew one back to the States for some tinkering. Nintendo traditionally makes its handheld consoles backward compatible with the previous generation. The original Nintendo DS was backward compatible with Game Boy Advance games, and the pattern continues with the Nintendo 3DS's ability to play Nintendo DS/DSi games.
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Source: Gamespot
Edit--Factual error: Original DS has a 67 Mhz Arm9 not 133 Mhz (lol)
(thanks for the chart, mercluke!)


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## AlanJohn (Mar 8, 2011)

... I don't think it loads 3DS games faster...


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## redact (Mar 8, 2011)

load times comparison chart^


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## heartgold (Mar 8, 2011)

DS games are emulated  
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




It's probably just some extra AP checks or stuff. Probably switching from 3DS mode to DS mode hardware takes time.


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## TheTwoR's (Mar 8, 2011)

The DS barely takes time to load DS games anyway, so waiting 35% more wouldn't really make any difference.
And since it's all the same once the game has loaded, it really won't matter. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	



But thanks for the update anyways mate. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	








			
				mercluke said:
			
		

> load times comparison chart^



Is it just me or the picture isn't loading?

EDIT: Omg sorry! 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 Double-post :/
Mods please merge them..


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## Ace Overclocked (Mar 8, 2011)

0.0 hell
but wont really matter


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## Forstride (Mar 8, 2011)

I don't see why this is big news.  I'm sure people won't die waiting 5 more seconds than usual.  It's just start-up time anyways.

Now, if in-game load times are affected, it might be important, but other than that, it's really not.


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## redact (Mar 8, 2011)

TheTwoR's said:
			
		

> mercluke said:
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working perfectly fine for me
maybe your pc hates my webhost?


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## Ace Overclocked (Mar 8, 2011)

TDWP FTW said:
			
		

> I don't see why this is big news.  I'm sure people won't die waiting 5 more seconds than usual.  It's just start-up time anyways.
> 
> Now, if in-game load times are affected, it might be important, but other than that, it's really not.


yeah
but for the cpu...


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## Ikki (Mar 8, 2011)

Software Emulation?

Lol people trying to look smart.


Well, I don't really care about this. I won't be playing DS games a lot on the 3DS given the fact that I'll keep my DSL.

And extra seconds or not, the games are playable. It's not the world's end.


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## TheTwoR's (Mar 8, 2011)

TDWP FTW said:
			
		

> I don't see why this is big news.



No one said it was.


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## Snailface (Mar 8, 2011)

Ikki said:
			
		

> Software Emulation?
> 
> Lol people trying to look smart.
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Right, but you have to admit, it's kinda surprising.

Edit: Another thing they got wrong in the article is that the avg. increase in loading time is approximately 60%, not 35%. (lol again)


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## Vigilante (Mar 8, 2011)

Well if its only booting time,its not really a big deal.


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## BlueStar (Mar 8, 2011)

Presumably it just takes about 5 seconds to shut down the 3DS OS and boot DS mode.


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## NamoNakamura (Mar 8, 2011)

Calling it now:  Nintendo's competition and various people who dislike Nintendo are going to overblow this minor issue to make it seem like the 3DS is a bad console.

I can see the headlines:  "Sony:  The 3DS takes longer to load older software, our system is clearly better".

Then I can see the CoD-heads saying "The 3DS takes forever to load older software, h0w [email protected] 1 pwn n00bs with that?  Lol my screen name is xXxXx0oO0oO7heCh0$3nWhun0oO0oOxXxXx"

Edit:  Poked more fun at teh ecksbawks


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## Skyzoboy (Mar 8, 2011)

BlueStar said:
			
		

> Presumably it just takes about 5 seconds to shut down the 3DS OS and boot DS mode.



And 1 second to write some logs in device (AP)


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## Bladexdsl (Mar 8, 2011)

couldn't care less if i ever get a 3ds i wont be playing ds games on it and anyway it's stupid it's like saying gamecube games take longer to boot on the wii cos you have to click the disc channel button


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## haddad (Mar 8, 2011)

looks like 3ds loads games faster then?


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## Noitora (Mar 8, 2011)

Skyzoboy said:
			
		

> BlueStar said:
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Umm...No?


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## mkoo (Mar 8, 2011)

heartgold said:
			
		

> DS games are emulated
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I think 3DS uses some sort of hypervisor to mimic ds cpu.


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## DiscostewSM (Mar 8, 2011)

I wouldn't worry about this too much, unless a game used a lot of streaming of game data during actual gameplay. A few seconds more on loading screens isn't gonna kill anything.


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## Anakir (Mar 8, 2011)

They have a reason to make 3DS Lite now.


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## mechagouki (Mar 8, 2011)

Anyone who started gaming on home computers in the pre-NES days will know that an extra 5 seconds is nothing to get upset about. I remember my Sinclair Spectrum taking 5+ minutes to load some games, off tape cassettes, and then sometimes it would crash immediately and you would have to start over! I bet half the members here don't even know what a tape cassette is.


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## cwstjdenobs (Mar 8, 2011)

mechagouki said:
			
		

> I remember my Sinclair Spectrum taking 5+ minutes to load some games, off tape cassettes, and then sometimes it would crash immediately and you would have to start over!



Lol, some games sounded great when loading though. And it was quicker than typing in listings from magazines...

If it wasn't for the fact that some flashcarts work I'd have presumed it was copying the game into a ramdisk or something similar.


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## Deleted User (Mar 8, 2011)

mercluke said:
			
		

> load times comparison chart^


OH MAH GAWD EXTRA 10 SECONDS FOR GAMES! HOW WILL I LIVE?

Anyways, on a serious note, think about early PSP games. Us Nintendo and 3DS owners will hopefully never go along the lines of their 2 minute game loading times.

Edit: Even more seriously- apparently the DS games on 3DS emulation look washed out, meh.


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## DeMoN (Mar 9, 2011)

Yep, I can't think of any other explanation besides anti-piracy.


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## bigpaws (Mar 9, 2011)

they could and would have used more powerful cpus so they were not compatible for the ds games directly
they might be emulating the ds hardware on the cpus


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## doyama (Mar 9, 2011)

mechagouki said:
			
		

> Anyone who started gaming on home computers in the pre-NES days will know that an extra 5 seconds is nothing to get upset about. I remember my Sinclair Spectrum taking 5+ minutes to load some games, off tape cassettes, and then sometimes it would crash immediately and you would have to start over! I bet half the members here don't even know what a tape cassette is.



Considering I was loading Romancing the 3 Kingdoms off of tape onto some esoteric Japanese NEC hardware I feel your pain. Though I don't think it really got much better in the Tandy/Vic20/Com64 days with floppies. 

Least you weren't loading 25 floppies to install Crusader:No Remorse only to have disc 23 crap out on the zip extraction. 

Fun times!


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## doyama (Mar 9, 2011)

tigris said:
			
		

> OH MAH GAWD EXTRA 10 SECONDS FOR GAMES! HOW WILL I LIVE?
> 
> Anyways, on a serious note, think about early PSP games. Us Nintendo and 3DS owners will hopefully never go along the lines of their 2 minute game loading times.
> 
> Edit: Even more seriously- apparently the DS games on 3DS emulation look washed out, meh.



Press Start or Select when you start a DS game and it won't stretch/scale the image to fit the screen.

Also please the 3DS is not 'emulating' DS mode. It's using the same architecture so there's no need to emulate anything.


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## bigpaws (Mar 9, 2011)

who can verify it is the same
it is only rumored that it uses arm
and even then, the clock is way above that of the ds
even if they didnt emulate it, they would have to underclock the cpu


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## Rydian (Mar 9, 2011)

The DSi underclocks the CPU to run DS games...

But yeah, we don't yet know what's in the 3DS or exactly how it runs DS games.


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## ManFranceGermany (Mar 9, 2011)

mechagouki said:
			
		

> Anyone who started gaming on home computers in the pre-NES days will know that an extra 5 seconds is nothing to get upset about. I remember my Sinclair Spectrum taking 5+ minutes to load some games, off tape cassettes, and then sometimes it would crash immediately and you would have to start over! I bet half the members here don't even know what a tape cassette is.



Thats why Im happy my first Console was the NES

TOPIC: This may not be a real problem for DS Games, but what i dislike is that even 3DS Games have high loading times!
I would like to know where we can find the weakest link. transfer rate of the Card? BUS?


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## redact (Mar 9, 2011)

bigpaws said:
			
		

> who can verify it is the same
> *it is only rumored that it uses arm*
> and even then, the clock is way above that of the ds
> even if they didnt emulate it, they would have to underclock the cpu





...you were saying?


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## Arm73 (Mar 9, 2011)

mechagouki said:
			
		

> Anyone who started gaming on home computers in the pre-NES days will know that an extra 5 seconds is nothing to get upset about. I remember my Sinclair Spectrum taking 5+ minutes to load some games, off tape cassettes, and then sometimes it would crash immediately and you would have to start over! I bet half the members here don't even know what a tape cassette is.



I do !
And some 128K games used to take 13 minus + to load...LOL.

And then................R Tape Loading Error..........Does it sound familiar ? 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




Anyway, it's probably just the 3DS switching to DS mode, not a bid deal anyway.
Besides, I plan on keeping my DSiXL for ever, 'cause I think is the best way to enjoy DS games on a larger, in native resolution screen.
Of course I will need a 3DS to play 3DS games...............


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## chartube12 (Mar 9, 2011)

QUOTE said:
			
		

> Detailed specs:
> * Plays Nintendo 3DS games and *most DS and DSi games*
> * Store and transfer personal data with the SD Memory slot and included 2GB SD card
> * Use the new Street Pass feature to exchange information with other 3DS users
> ...



Most..MOst..MOSt..MOST DS games?! Game stop are not the only ones I seen this written. Walmart, Target and best buy have this label in fine print. I wonder what DS games won't run and why they won't? Is their a connection to the lag? Or is nintendo blocking games with non-public holes and games known to be used in flash cards?


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## redact (Mar 9, 2011)

chartube12 said:
			
		

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Nintendo ds browser and all guitar hero on tour games


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## yuyuyup (Mar 9, 2011)

it is wacky news and it further justifies holding on to my XL, I bet nintendo will fix it down the road w/ firmware update.  If not, dang.


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## spinal_cord (Mar 9, 2011)

mechagouki said:
			
		

> Anyone who started gaming on home computers in the pre-NES days will know that an extra 5 seconds is nothing to get upset about. I remember my Sinclair Spectrum taking 5+ minutes to load some games, off tape cassettes, and then sometimes it would crash immediately and you would have to start over! I bet half the members here don't even know what a tape cassette is.



I hear that! One of my C64 games had a warning on the back of the box that it would take upto 13 minutes to load! Thats long enough to go get a cup of tea and a sandwich!


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## cwstjdenobs (Mar 9, 2011)

spinal_cord said:
			
		

> I hear that! One of my C64 games had a warning on the back of the box that it would take upto 13 minutes to load! Thats long enough to go get a cup of tea and a sandwich!



Yep, but for some reason I hardly ever did and sat mesmerised listening and (sometimes) watching the game load. I'm telling you if you put a drum beat to some of them they sound just like a Slipknot track...


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## Bladexdsl (Mar 10, 2011)

spinal_cord said:
			
		

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oh i remember them fucking tapes all too well 5-10+ minutes to load *IF* they loaded you played for about another 10 minutes cos the games were pretty boring back than shut the damn thing off!


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## phoenixclaws (Mar 10, 2011)

doyama said:
			
		

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I was glad to have the CDs for Crusader No Remorse and then the follow up Crusader No Regret. Those were some great games. I so miss Origins.


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## KingVamp (Mar 10, 2011)

mercluke said:
			
		

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Could infra red be use in a way, to have them (guitar attachments) to be made just for the 3DS?


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## Guild McCommunist (Mar 10, 2011)

KingVamp said:
			
		

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I still don't think they'd bother making new guitar attachments for a game that's a couple years old. And if they do make a new Guitar Hero game (however unlikely that is), I don't think they'll bother with this dumb attachments. Probably go the route of Rock Band Unplugged/Lego Rock Band DS/Rock Band 3 DS and make it rhythm game.

If the 3DS has a multitouch screen (IDK if it does or not) they can probably do something with that.

As for the topic, as long as load times aren't atrocious I don't really care. I can wait a couple of seconds to load. When you had a R4 back before Wood game out you were stuck for weeks waiting for a fix. I didn't play Bowser's Inside Story for what felt like a good 3 weeks to a month after its US release.


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## Rydian (Mar 10, 2011)

3DS isn't multitouch.


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## DiscostewSM (Mar 10, 2011)

Back on-topic.

Considering 2GB+ cards the 3DS uses, I would guess that Nintendo went with a somewhat different card port to allow more data to be transferred (4MB RAM vs 64+MB RAM). The focus on 3DS functionality most likely reduced compatibility with DS games, so the hardware tries to mimic DS port protocols, and the numerous checking of correct data is probably where the slowdown is coming from.


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## iMasaru (Mar 10, 2011)

mercluke said:
			
		

> load times comparison chart^


i never realised the games took that long to load o.O
if i didn't notice the load time for the ds, im quite sure it'll be the same fore the 3DS... just a few more seconds.


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