I've heard that the new models also have a "faster CPU", but I haven't been able to find any additional information on it. Brandon, have you heard anything about this, and if so do you know anything about how it's "faster"? Is it simply clocked higher?
This looks like a strange hardware update from Nintendo. It's almost like an intermediary console between the 3DS and whatever comes next. I'm pretty sure this is the first time Nintendo has ever done something like this. Usually when they do a revision (like the DS Lite) it's just a smaller/lighter formfactor with maybe a better display and battery life, but they've never increased performance. I heard there's already an exclusive title for the New 3DS that's not compatible with the original.
Just going to reply to my own comment here with an added thought.
While they haven't done the added better processors with things pre-DS, they have added new new hardware when they made the GBA SP that had a backlit screen and added the cool clamshell form factor.
Oh, didn't realize that. Were there any exclusive games that took advantage of the additional performance, or was that extra power primarily used for the new cameras/augmented reality features?
Actually, there WERE exclusives, but all in the form of DSiWare. Some packaged games also made use of the camera, optionally, in the way some GB games could work as GBC games to make use of its more advanced functions. But I don't believe any packaged games were exclusive to it.
Actually even more than that though: some games managed to stick to better framerates, and Pokémon Black and White (among others?) implemented support for the newer DSi Wireless API (WPA2 ftw).
This is debateably accurate. I'd consider the Gameboy Color to be similar to the DSi or this new 3DS and it doubled the clock speed and quadroupled the RAM. Same game compatibility with a few exclusives, same screen resolution, etc.
By faster CPU, it's probably just a higher clock of the same CPU. Yields have probably improved since initial production and they are able to clock them higher.
This is pretty common, even in the PC industry. Remember the Surface 2 Pro's that had a i5-4200U then a few months later were just replaced with i5-4300U's because Intel started having better yeilds and didn't want to make the old chip anymore.
But not to state the obvious: the CPU won't run faster in games to guarantee platform compatibility with older hardware. Such is the limitation of the console market...so the faster CPU resources will be dedicated to things like improved 3D tracking performance, faster web browsing, etc...
Obviously the additional memory can be utilized in games the same way the 4MB RDRAM upgrade for the N64 was utilized by games like Turok II and GoldenEye by running a software-developer-optimized "performance mode"
In the case of Turok II, texture filtering was turned on and texture resolution was doubled. In the case of GoldenEye, multiplayer split-screen detail was better. Many games took advantage of the extra memory BUT STILL ran fine on systems without the memory upgrade.
Hard to believe how little memory those old consoles had. I guess you just had to work with what you got. So the New 3DS now has 256MB of FCRAM and 10MB of VRAM.
Oh snap, I missed the part where it has a second analog stick (that thing is tiny!). I guess whenever the 3ds successor comes out, it will definitely have one.
There are a significant number of games that support the "circle pad pro", which is an add-on second analog stick. I assume Nintendo will use the same protocol for this analog stick, so those games will already support it, and any future games will probably support either the add-on or the built-in.
Other articles have stated that the screen size of the LL/XL did not, in fact, increase at all; only the standard-sized unit. Also supposedly the faceplates are exclusive to the smaller unit.
where is that second analogue stick? that tiny grey dot above the XYAB keys? If that's it then not sure if its going to work too well, seems smaller and less travel than even the OG PSP's craptacular stick
I wonder if we'll see many more games, except for the forthcoming Xenoblade Chronicles, to make use of the upgraded hardware. I believe that, for most part, the new specs will help to make the OS to run faster (it is currently very slow) and take care of the head tracking to improve the 3D effect.
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dragonsqrrl - Friday, August 29, 2014 - link
I've heard that the new models also have a "faster CPU", but I haven't been able to find any additional information on it. Brandon, have you heard anything about this, and if so do you know anything about how it's "faster"? Is it simply clocked higher?This looks like a strange hardware update from Nintendo. It's almost like an intermediary console between the 3DS and whatever comes next. I'm pretty sure this is the first time Nintendo has ever done something like this. Usually when they do a revision (like the DS Lite) it's just a smaller/lighter formfactor with maybe a better display and battery life, but they've never increased performance. I heard there's already an exclusive title for the New 3DS that's not compatible with the original.
Morpheusx3 - Friday, August 29, 2014 - link
After the Lite, they released the DSi, and with that, they added in a faster processor and more RAM.While Nintendo didn't do it for anything pre-DS, it seems to be fairly standard moving forward.
Morpheusx3 - Friday, August 29, 2014 - link
Just going to reply to my own comment here with an added thought.While they haven't done the added better processors with things pre-DS, they have added new new hardware when they made the GBA SP that had a backlit screen and added the cool clamshell form factor.
dragonsqrrl - Friday, August 29, 2014 - link
Oh, didn't realize that. Were there any exclusive games that took advantage of the additional performance, or was that extra power primarily used for the new cameras/augmented reality features?tipoo - Friday, August 29, 2014 - link
Cameras and new features. All games after its launch still ran on the old ones.tipoo - Saturday, August 30, 2014 - link
Oh, looks like Xenoblade is exclusive to the new 3ds thoughdragonsqrrl - Saturday, August 30, 2014 - link
Ya, that's what I hinted at in my first comment "I heard there's already an exclusive title for the New 3DS that's not compatible with the original."TheTurboFool - Saturday, August 30, 2014 - link
Actually, there WERE exclusives, but all in the form of DSiWare. Some packaged games also made use of the camera, optionally, in the way some GB games could work as GBC games to make use of its more advanced functions. But I don't believe any packaged games were exclusive to it.lmcd - Saturday, August 30, 2014 - link
Actually even more than that though: some games managed to stick to better framerates, and Pokémon Black and White (among others?) implemented support for the newer DSi Wireless API (WPA2 ftw).WitherFire - Wednesday, November 5, 2014 - link
The new smash bros game still works with theoriginal but it was originally meant for the newVash63 - Saturday, August 30, 2014 - link
This is debateably accurate. I'd consider the Gameboy Color to be similar to the DSi or this new 3DS and it doubled the clock speed and quadroupled the RAM. Same game compatibility with a few exclusives, same screen resolution, etc.Brandon Chester - Friday, August 29, 2014 - link
Nothing. Nintendo has never been very forthcoming with the specs in their consoles and I wasn't able to find anything beyond "faster" from Nintendo.ishmoo21 - Friday, August 29, 2014 - link
There's a rumor based off of pulled code changes that the ram will be doubledhttp://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=88509...
Samus - Saturday, August 30, 2014 - link
By faster CPU, it's probably just a higher clock of the same CPU. Yields have probably improved since initial production and they are able to clock them higher.This is pretty common, even in the PC industry. Remember the Surface 2 Pro's that had a i5-4200U then a few months later were just replaced with i5-4300U's because Intel started having better yeilds and didn't want to make the old chip anymore.
But not to state the obvious: the CPU won't run faster in games to guarantee platform compatibility with older hardware. Such is the limitation of the console market...so the faster CPU resources will be dedicated to things like improved 3D tracking performance, faster web browsing, etc...
Obviously the additional memory can be utilized in games the same way the 4MB RDRAM upgrade for the N64 was utilized by games like Turok II and GoldenEye by running a software-developer-optimized "performance mode"
In the case of Turok II, texture filtering was turned on and texture resolution was doubled. In the case of GoldenEye, multiplayer split-screen detail was better. Many games took advantage of the extra memory BUT STILL ran fine on systems without the memory upgrade.
dragonsqrrl - Saturday, August 30, 2014 - link
Hard to believe how little memory those old consoles had. I guess you just had to work with what you got. So the New 3DS now has 256MB of FCRAM and 10MB of VRAM.franzeal - Saturday, August 30, 2014 - link
It's not the size that counts, but how you use it.Ultraman1966 - Thursday, September 4, 2014 - link
Try running Win 7 on 512MB of RAM...Biggie - Wednesday, September 3, 2014 - link
If you only have to render a 800x240 screen, you don't need that much ram. If the upgrade gives better fps on titles that would be quite welcomed.wrkingclass_hero - Saturday, August 30, 2014 - link
I believe you mean Perfect Dark, not GoldenEye.tipoo - Friday, August 29, 2014 - link
Oh snap, I missed the part where it has a second analog stick (that thing is tiny!). I guess whenever the 3ds successor comes out, it will definitely have one.tipoo - Friday, August 29, 2014 - link
Though how useful is that if most 3DS games were made assuming only one stick?barleyguy - Friday, August 29, 2014 - link
There are a significant number of games that support the "circle pad pro", which is an add-on second analog stick. I assume Nintendo will use the same protocol for this analog stick, so those games will already support it, and any future games will probably support either the add-on or the built-in.Reminds me of the Wii Remote Plus add-on...
TheTurboFool - Saturday, August 30, 2014 - link
Other articles have stated that the screen size of the LL/XL did not, in fact, increase at all; only the standard-sized unit. Also supposedly the faceplates are exclusive to the smaller unit.wintermute000 - Monday, September 1, 2014 - link
where is that second analogue stick? that tiny grey dot above the XYAB keys? If that's it then not sure if its going to work too well, seems smaller and less travel than even the OG PSP's craptacular stickRon-F - Monday, September 1, 2014 - link
I wonder if we'll see many more games, except for the forthcoming Xenoblade Chronicles, to make use of the upgraded hardware. I believe that, for most part, the new specs will help to make the OS to run faster (it is currently very slow) and take care of the head tracking to improve the 3D effect.