Hardware The reason why there is an infrared port on the 3DS

[Astoria]

Remember some days ago, Nintendo confirmed that there will be multiplayer in VC games?

There is the answer, the IR port will be used to allow multiplayer in NES and GBA games, the IR is easier to adapt to old games than wireless or bluetooth.

But I think there will be more uses to the IR port, for example the Pokémon games use IR and another possibility I want to see, maybe via eShop or later on a homebrew:

Could you imagine controlling your TV with your 3DS?

 

[kevan]

Sounds cool man, love to play some multi gba (Four Swords) or Nes (Mario).

 

[nexus1556]

i very well doubt that is the case but if its cool i gusse....

 

[Chikaku-chan]

Controlling the tv with a 3Ds, what more can nintendo think of?!?!?!?!?!?

 

[KidIce]

The IR port is there so that the 3DS can be used as a Wii(u)mote. o.O

 

[Astoria]

The IR port is there so that the 3DS can be used as a Wii(u)mote. o.O

The Wii (and probably the Wii U) use bluetooth to communicate with the console

 

[Chikaku-chan]

Its so the people at nintendo can activate them on the december of 2012 to make all nintendo products turn into human hunting robots, Luckily for me beings that I am a Vampire and no longer a human.

 

[KidIce]

The IR port is there so that the 3DS can be used as a Wii(u)mote. o.O

The Wii (and probably the Wii U) use bluetooth to communicate with the console

Uhm... What do you think the IR port on the front of a Wiimote is for? Or the IR sensor bar on top of your TV? The Wii and the Wiimote uses IR to tell where your pointing the the Wiimote... They communicate that data over bluetooth, but that's not how they get it.

 

[wolffangalchemist]

The IR port is there so that the 3DS can be used as a Wii(u)mote. o.O

The Wii (and probably the Wii U) use bluetooth to communicate with the console

Uhm... What do you think the IR port on the front of a Wiimote is for? Or the IR sensor bar on top of your TV? The Wii and the Wiimote uses IR to tell where your pointing the the Wiimote... They communicate that data over bluetooth, but that's not how they get it.

that's only used for motion tracking with the sensor bar and the wiimote has a IR camera not a IR diode, all important data(mii's, controller sync, and other stuff) is done via bluetooth.

 

[canli]

it's for the use of some ds games as walk with me

 

[heartgold]

One of the reasons I remember Nintendo saying was, it was related to Pokemon. hg/ss and b/w all had infra-red built into the carts, that slightly ups the costs I guess. Having infra-red built into the device makes it more flexible/wide use I suppose.

 

[Weaselpipe]

One of the reasons I remember Nintendo saying was, it was related to Pokemon. hg/ss and b/w all had infra-red built into the carts, that slightly ups the costs I guess. Having infra-red built into the device makes it more flexible/wide use I suppose.

I heard this too, Pokemon had it to combat piracy- you could play the game but there were some aspects unavailable as flashcarts didn't have the IR built in (Pokewalker and whatever B/W use it for).

 

[Ryupower]

on the psp 1000 there is on IR port
but
Sony NEVER did anything with it

the homebrew community used it, there are a few apps that use the ir port

so nintendo may never use it

and
the 3ds use wifi to communicate with the wii

 

[nano351]

I remember back with gameboy color, IR communication was awful, you had to have two gameboys pushed up against each other and it couldn't really be used for any sustained multiplayer (just stuff like mystery gift). I doubt nintendo would depend on IR communcation for multiplayer on the VC. IR communication is slow and unreliable.

 

[zumbertinho]

Sounds cool man, love to play some multi gba (Four Swords) or Nes (Mario).

If you have a 3DS or DSi you'll be able to play Four Swords for free.. they're releasing a free Four Swords DSi Ware in September, as part of the 20th anniversary of Zelda. (DSiWare = multiplayer via wireless)
But as far as I know, GBA and NES updates for multiplayer in the VC is still pure speculation.. and I don't really want to go back to the IR communication age, I hope it supports wireless =/

 

[dragonkid6]

Sounds cool man, love to play some multi gba (Four Swords) or Nes (Mario).

If you have a 3DS or DSi you'll be able to play Four Swords for free.. they're releasing a free Four Swords DSi Ware in September, as part of the 20th anniversary of Zelda. (DSiWare = multiplayer via wireless)
But as far as I know, GBA and NES updates for multiplayer in the VC is still pure speculation.. and I don't really want to go back to the IR communication age, I hope it supports wireless =/

It's not really "going back" as it just simply a tool to help bring back old titles. It's like saying "why does the Wii/Wii U have support for gamecube controllers in Wii games." Altho not preferable for some, why not just use the classic controller(pro).

 

[lismati]

The 3DS' IR port has the same use as IR port on fat PSP, or GH3 guitar's expansion port - none.

 

[KidIce]

The IR port is there so that the 3DS can be used as a Wii(u)mote. o.O

The Wii (and probably the Wii U) use bluetooth to communicate with the console

Uhm... What do you think the IR port on the front of a Wiimote is for? Or the IR sensor bar on top of your TV? The Wii and the Wiimote uses IR to tell where your pointing the the Wiimote... They communicate that data over bluetooth, but that's not how they get it.

that's only used for motion tracking with the sensor bar and the wiimote has a IR camera not a IR diode, all important data(mii's, controller sync, and other stuff) is done via bluetooth.

By port on the WiiMote I did not mean to imply that it was two way. It is not however the emitter, as your diode comment suggests, the sensor bar is. The WiiMote's IR port is the receiver. And if you read the bold I am also well aware of how they are used. I didn't not suggest that they used either the IR window port on the WiiMote or the sensor bar to communicate beyond the WiiMote gaining orientation of where it's pointing... Data which is sent over bluetooth... As I said.

 

[Astoria]

Maybe... The 3DS has an acelerometer and a gyroscope, so it can work as a WiiMote... or not?

 

[Brian117]

Maybe... The 3DS has an acelerometer and a gyroscope, so it can work as a WiiMote... or not?

That is an interesting thought actually. But I don't think Nintendo would even bother going to that extreme. It will probably just have something to do with communicating to other 3DS systems and transmitting data.