dinofan01 said:
The latest IGN Wii podcast pretty much confirms no and its likely to be an ATI card instead. Too lazy to link.
With all due respect, that was not only IGN we're talking about, but it's also their opinion. It wasn't the guy quoting some Nintendo rep, he just "thought" it would use Tegra. And lets please remember that at times, IGNorance knows no bounds with them.
I'm more curious that IF the 3DS does indeed have "Gamecube caliber graphics", how they intend to handle the back compatibility. Even with a chip like Tegra or whatever, they can't just emulate the old DS/DSi hardware. And Tegra or even a new chip wouldn't be automatically be compatible with the old DS hardware either. And I seriously doubt they intend to include a new fancy GPU chip AND the old DS hardware. If they did, that would present us with 3 problems. First, that would be very crowded inside the system and it would seriously hinder portability (it would be huge trying to fit DS/DSi/3DS hardware all in one system). Secondly, it would be very inefficient in terms of power and battery life, even in regards to heat management. Thirdly, all that hardware would definitely cost a ton. Cramming in both DS and 3DS hardware would be very expensive, and we the consumers would be pinned with that bill.
I hate to say it, and as always, I would love to be proven wrong (really, i would this time, i WANT a gamecube portable lol), but i think the new 3DS will just be another step in the DS/DSi overclocking thing they have going on. Whatever power the new system has, i seriously doubt it would be powerful enough to emulate the old DS/DSi. And I doubt they can cram all the bones of the DS/DSi/3DS in together without serious size, heat, power, and price issues. Maybe Nintendo knows something i don't about technology or whatever, and lets hope they do. But knowing them, i wouldn't put it past them to just offer it up as an even further overclocked DSi (which in itself is an overclocked DS). There is hope though, since the system is being marketed as a "DS successor" and not just a minor upgrade or whatever. Still too early to tell, and i'm just using my own logic here, which can be crushed.
Just remember everyone that we don't really know ANYTHING about 3DS besides that it has non-glasses 3D tech and works with old DS/DSi games. Any other info as of now, can very well be complete rubbish. That includes what i said above and what anyone else says.