Gaming The DSi, after the 3DS

[thedicemaster]

i think specifically support for the DSi will be dragged on a while after the release of the 3DS.
mainly because they are aimed at different markets.

DSi(especially the DSiXL) is aimed at family and casual use, while the 3DS will be aimed more at gamers.

 

[Overlord Nadrian]

I do not abuse my hand held and yet the L & R triggers are failing after less than a year (a sign that the hinge is breaking).

Er... no. A lot of dust gets between the contacts of the shoulder buttons, which makes them work bad (or not at all in some/most cases). Blow out the dust either manually or with canned air and it'll work.

 

[gosub]

3DS can run DS games but the DS(i) can't run 3DS games. That's probably why they redesigned the game cards.
http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/image...06/9e3b3550.jpg

Right, same as you can't run DSiware on a DS Lite. But (as above) I wouldn't rule out dual-mode releases either, seeing as there's a depth slider for the 3D display which runs all the way down to zero i.e. 2D mode.

The redesign appears to be all of a key nibbin, which is great for fending off tech support issues but says nothing about compatibility - at least, without seeing confidential specification documents. If you can't do a dual-mode, it's because someone at Nintendo foolishly went out of their way to prevent it. It's the sort of thing developers would love, and it's the sort of thing which will drive 3DS development. The DS has a major pre-established customer base that the 3DS is lacking. 3DS development could really use the jump start of that many extra potential sales.

There's no official info here either way, this is just my own speculation based off the limited available information, my knowledge of electronics design, and my knowledge of game development & production. It would be a huge plus for developers (and thus Nintendo) if it was available, and it should be quite easy to provide (simply don't break software compatibility) but it might not be.

On the other hand, if that's not possible for some reason, developers will probably still be able to release two different carts for DS and 3DS without major porting provided that Nintendo hasn't magically redone the entire SDK from scratch. Which wouldn't happen, for the reason of time and developer outrage alone.

Dont say you have read anything if you think that a 3DS is simply a DS with 3D enabled.

Oh, good. I really enjoy when people reply to my posts without actually reading them first.

lolwut. 3DS has improved hardware and graphic capabilities. Games on the 3DS won't be able to run on a DSi or XL.

It does have updated processors - which is great seeing as we're talking console-type devices and the extra speed won't do crap for DS titles. It's just there to enable the double-render for the 3D display and to provide some extra oomph to support 3DS-only titles. The "improved" capabilities you speak of are meaningless outside that context, and the XL still has a bigger screen.


QUOTE(BobTheJoeBob @ Aug 30 2010, 06:34 AM) Their completely different consoles. Like the transition from GBA to DS.

No, that's just more FUD and misinformation again.

QUOTE(thedicemaster @ Aug 30 2010, 09:29 AM)

i think specifically support for the DSi will be dragged on a while after the release of the 3DS.
mainly because they are aimed at different markets.

DSi(especially the DSiXL) is aimed at family and casual use, while the 3DS will be aimed more at gamers.

This is a big part of it.

Also, Nintendo will at a minimum want to leave open a transition period while they see how 3DS purchases (and more importantly, 3DS development and software purchases) go. If in a year it is making DS handhelds totally irrelevant, we may see a 3DS XL (parts availability on the new screen allowing) followed by no more vanilla DS releases. After all, you can run a 3DS in 2D mode, so potential simulator sickness vs. none isn't a huge issue.

It could potentially replace DS console distribution in time for no other reason than that it might let Nintendo simplify their production (although for some time yet DS production will probably be much cheaper). But that doesn't affect the future-compatibility of a DSi XL, except insofar as it might affect release distribution between 3DS and "universal" DS carts three years or so down the road.

The only factor in play which can possibly obsolete the existing DS consoles is what developers decide to develop for in the future. We might as well speculate about developers leaving the DS platform in droves next year for Microsoft's new super-secret DS killer. And that, I just made up.

 

[BobTheJoeBob]

Their completely different consoles. Like the transition from GBA to DS.

No, that's just more FUD and misinformation again.

You clearly haven't been noticing the news much if you honestly think that the 3DS is a 3D enabled DS. Have you seen the gameplay of Kid Icarus? Show me one DS game with graphics like that.

 

[Deleted_171835]

Their completely different consoles. Like the transition from GBA to DS.

No, that's just more FUD and misinformation again.

You're right in a way.
The 3DS is more similar to the transition from the GBC to the GBA.
A different handheld generation with more processing power but nothing too big of a change except for the 3D tech.

The transition from the GBA to the DS was major. The DS was a whole new brand. It took away 'Gameboy'. It added a touch-screen, microphone and two screens. The difference was extremely obvious if you looked at the GBA and DS side by side.

 

[gosub]

Side note, I would recommend the 3DS over a DSi (but not necessarily XL) irrespective of 3D aspects. Once it's out, anyway.

Why? WPA support. It works on a modern wireless network.

 

[BobTheJoeBob]

Side note, I would recommend the 3DS over a DSi (but not necessarily XL) irrespective of 3D aspects. Once it's out, anyway.

Why? WPA support. It works on a modern wireless network.

What? Why would you recommend an XL over the 3DS? (Price aside) The 3DS has much more to offer. And how do you know the 3DS won't have WPA support? Also the WPA support doesn't apply to games and it's also on the DSi.

 

[Deleted_171835]

None of you guys have seen a 3DS in person, yet.
Why argue about the better handheld? You're basing your argument on mere speculation.

 

[BobTheJoeBob]

None of you guys have seen a 3DS in person, yet.
Why argue about the better handheld? You're basing your argument on mere speculation.

No, most of my arguments are based off fact.

 

[Deleted_171835]

None of you guys have seen a 3DS in person, yet.
Why argue about the better handheld? You're basing your argument on mere speculation.
No, most of my arguments are based off fact.

What facts?

The 3DS has much more to offer.

How can you be sure of this?
You haven't seen the 3DS in person.
QUOTE(BobTheJoeBob @ Aug 30 2010, 03:34 PM)

Their completely different consoles. Like the transition from GBA to DS.

Again, have you seen the 3DS.
How can you know this for sure?

 

[BobTheJoeBob]

What facts?
The fact that it's a next gen console and has much more power and is capable of more.

How can you be sure of this?
You haven't seen the 3DS in person.
From what has already been confirmed I would say that's enough to say "much more"

QUOTE(SoulSnatcher @ Aug 30 2010, 08:51 PM)

Again, have you seen the 3DS.
How can you know this for sure?

Because of the fact that it's 3D, has much more power and judging from the gameplay of kid icarus, much improved graphics.

 

[Deleted_171835]

The fact that it's a next gen console and has much more power and is capable of more.
Sure, it's capable of more but how do you know Nintendo will put that all to use? The DSi is capable of much more but Nintendo didn't take advantage of that.

From what has already been confirmed I would say that's enough to say "much more"
What do you think constitutes as "much more"?
QUOTE(BobTheJoeBob @ Aug 30 2010, 10:01 PM)

Because of the fact that it's 3D, has much more power and judging from the gameplay of kid icarus, much improved graphics.

Improved graphics are a given. Nothing major.
How do you know it has much more power? You're speculating. We don't know what processor it uses.

 

[Overlord Nadrian]

We don't know what processor it uses.

The Pica 200.

 

[Deleted_171835]

We don't know what processor it uses.

The Pica 200.

I was talking about the CPU.
Not GPU.

 

[BobTheJoeBob]

Sure, it's capable of more but how do you Nintendo will put that all to use? The DSi is capable of much more but Nintendo didn't take advantage of that.
As I said before, judging from the confirmed features and whatnot, their putting it to use.

What do you think constitutes as "much more"?
Well about the amount of features and stuff that nintendo has confirmed.

QUOTE(SoulSnatcher @ Aug 30 2010, 09:09 PM)

Improved graphics are a given. Nothing major.
How do you know it has much more power? You're speculating. We don't know what processor it uses.

Overlord Nadrian answered this one for me.

 

[gosub]

Also the WPA support doesn't apply to games and it's also on the DSi.

True, I should have been more specific. Also as a feature it really only applies to 3DS titles, which makes it a bit redundant.

It would also apply to DSiware titles, but we all know how well that worked out.

What? Why would you recommend an XL over the 3DS?

Bigger screens.

QUOTE(SoulSnatcher @ Aug 30 2010, 01:40 PM)

None of you guys have seen a 3DS in person, yet.
Why argue about the better handheld? You're basing your argument on mere speculation.

I don't want people to think an XL now is a bad buy. Or any other DS really. It will almost certainly still be an active platform. You are only missing out on 3DS game compatibility, and maybe not always that either. The 3DS vs. DS issue depends on developer response, there is minimal justification for the ongoing "3DS will kill DS" meme.

 

[BobTheJoeBob]

I don't want people to think an XL now is a bad buy. Or any other DS really. It will almost certainly still be an active platform. You are only missing out on 3DS game compatibility, and maybe not always that either. The 3DS vs. DS issue depends on developer response, there is minimal justification for the ongoing "3DS will kill DS" meme.

Aside from the ton of games being developed for it by third part company's. After the 3DS release most Dev's will more than likely move onto the 3DS and it's new and improved hardware. There is already developer response before the 3DS has even been released. Depending on the 3DS's success, this can either become even bigger or fail completely. And seeing what we have of the 3DS and people's response, I don't think it's gonna fail.

 

[monkat]

Hey gosub...

Do you like...know....anything? Just wonderin

 

[Alato]

^ +1

I mean, I had no idea that people even still considered it to be that "new DS with a bit of added tech".

Is this not enough proof that the 3DS has higher spec?
and the fact that this can't be played on any other DS?

It's not at all like PS3 -> PS3 Slim. The original DS -> DS lite was that same kind of thing.
Then DS lite -> DSi is more comparable to PSP -> PSP Go.
3DS is a new handheld console with backwards compatibility.

 

[KidIce]

I do not abuse my hand held and yet the L & R triggers are failing after less than a year (a sign that the hinge is breaking).

Er... no. A lot of dust gets between the contacts of the shoulder buttons, which makes them work bad (or not at all in some/most cases). Blow out the dust either manually or with canned air and it'll work.

I know the blowing trick. I've swapped a couple DS Lite cases (1 of them mine) both due to hinges that were about to break. Both units had failing R triggers which started to die when the cracks in the hinges first appeared. Blowing them out became increasingly less successful as a remedy as the hinges got worse. After the case swap those triggers were magically fixed and I didn't bother to blow them out during the swap. It kinda tells me it isn't just the dust.