Nintendo 3DS Direct - 29/08/2014 - 12pm

[Serebii]

Someone just made a good point to me... With the newly enhanced perfomance of the New3DS... Will it now be powerful enough to support the Unity Engine?

 

That would be very interesting... Suddenly you'd see a lot more indie support for the 3DS eShop literally spring up overnight!

 

Oh and that 2nd circle pad placement is the only way they could've possibly have done it, without massively increasing the size of the machine, for ergonomic reasons. Actually think about how you'd have to hold it if they stuck a full sized circle pad in the bottom right...

I'm more thinking some sort of Wii U controller compatibility. It now has all the buttons except clickable sticks...

 

As for the second stick, I think they did the right thing. If they put a second full sized circle pad in, then people would have likely assumed it was a new platform altogether (which some people are even assuming now -_-), and thus caused more issues.

[RedShell]

Oh and that 2nd circle pad placement is the only way they could've possibly have done it, without massively increasing the size of the machine, for ergonomic reasons. Actually think about how you'd have to hold it if they stuck a full sized circle pad in the bottom right...

They could have put a full sized circle pad above the buttons though, level with the left one.

And moved the Y X B A buttons down slightly, level with the D-Pad.

[Dcubed]

They could have put a full sized circle pad above the buttons though, level with the left one.

And moved the Y X B A buttons down slightly, level with the D-Pad.

 

And then you have the same problem when you try to press the buttons...

 

Either way, you'd have to contort your hands into a claw just to hold the thing

 

I'm more thinking some sort of Wii U controller compatibility. It now has all the buttons except clickable sticks...

 

As for the second stick, I think they did the right thing. If they put a second full sized circle pad in, then people would have likely assumed it was a new platform altogether (which some people are even assuming now -_-), and thus caused more issues.

 

Not gonna happen. It only supports 2.4ghz Wifi B/G, so it's not fast enough.

Edited August 29, 2014 by Dcubed

[RedShell]

And then you have the same problem when you try to press the buttons...

 

Either way, you'd have to contort your hands into a claw just to hold the thing

 

 

Nah, I don't see how it'd be any different to using the D-Pad on the current 3DSXL, which I find OK.

[Dcubed]

 

 

Nah, I don't see how it'd be any different to using the D-Pad on the current 3DSXL, which I find OK.

 

The main difference lies in how you roll your thumb over each input.

 

With the d-pad, you just need to roll your thumb ever so slightly in order to hit each input. With the circle pad however, you need to pull your thumb back much further to be able to move the pad with fidelity.

 

There's no space to move your thumb to the right if the C pad is located in the bottom right (think about how you'd have to move your thumb if you had to move the camera to the right using that 2nd cPad in the bottom right...)

 

There's a good reason why they didn't put it in the "obvious" place...

[Josh64]

I think they could have moved the ABXY buttons further up and had another slide pad under them, but still a normal size.

 

But they're the ones that get paid masses to design this sort of thing, so it probably was the right thing to do.

[Retro_Link]

As for the second stick, I think they did the right thing. If they put a second full sized circle pad in, then people would have likely assumed it was a new platform altogether (which some people are even assuming now -_-), and thus caused more issues.

It's always just faffing around all the time and needing to make excuses.

 

Who cares if some people think it's a new console... they'll find out when they go to buy the thing. Nobody realised the Wii U was a new console with it's massively different controller did they. So it doesn't matter.

 

Give us a proper button layout, give the thing a proper name and be done with it. All these half measures to try and please everyone all the time (which would be ok if they actually were!).

[RedShell]

The main difference lies in how you roll your thumb over each input.

 

With the d-pad, you just need to roll your thumb ever so slightly in order to hit each input. With the circle pad however, you need to pull your thumb back much further to be able to move the pad with fidelity.

 

There's no space to move your thumb to the right if the C pad is located in the bottom right (think about how you'd have to move your thumb if you had to move the camera to the right using that 2nd cPad in the bottom right...)

 

There's a good reason why they didn't put it in the "obvious" place...

I guess so.

Anyway, here's what New 3DS could've looked like with a full sized 2nd circle pad:

 

 

or:

 

Although it doesn't look as good, I actually reckon face buttons level with the left circle pad, and right circle pad level with the d-pad would've been a good move.

 

I mean the 2nd circle pad (or "c-stick") is much less important than the main one/buttons, so I think it would've been alright for it to be in a slightly more awkward position.

[drahkon]

@RedShell I gladly repeat myself: You should work at Nintendo, show them how it's done (assuming you did that redesign you're showing) : peace:

[ReZourceman]

Is the new nub the same as a laptop one? I.e. touch sensitive like? How does it work?

[D_prOdigy]

I don't think anybody's doubting that it looks nice in pictures.

 

I'm just pretty sure the multi-billion dollar hardware company with decades of experience in building hardware *probably* did consider and test it in a design stage.

 

But who knows. Maybe they didn't. Or maybe they did and it was ergonomically perfect and they just rejected it to annoy everyone.

 

I don't know.

 

My uncle isn't a janitor at Nintendo.

[nekunando]

I never really approved of the original 3DS XL upgrade but, after some initial doubts, I'm starting to come around to the idea of upgrading my original black 3DS to the New 3DS (which I would still much prefer over the XL version )

 

With the Micro SD card thing, how would the system transfer work this time around..? Don't you currently need to make use of the SD card to move data from one 3DS to another?

 

Whatever the case, the improved 3D viewing angle would be an excellent addition, as well as the better performance. As long as there's still a few more substantial 3DS games to come, I'll be happy enough

[Aneres11]

Had a proper look at this now.

 

Not massively struck on the design of the thing. It looks ok, but I wish it would look a bit slicker. Like the DSi was - I loved that console!

 

The layout of the buttons doesn't seem a problem to me, and I'm not really going to comment or say its a silly decision until I've actually held one. Game Pad aside, Nintendo tend to do well with comfortable controllers / consoles, so hopefully this won't be an exception. I'll reserve judgement until I've had my hands on one anyway.

 

It's interesting that they have decided to improve the capabilities of the console. I wonder if it will launch in Europe with a brand new set of games that show off the hardware? That'd be sweet.

 

I like the interchangeable covers too. That Peach one in particular .

[ReZourceman]

I'm just pretty sure the multi-billion dollar hardware company with decades of experience in building hardware *probably* did consider and test it in a design stage.

 

The same company who created this;

 

 

And then didn't continue to use it forever.

[Serebii]

 

The same company who created this;

 

 

And then didn't continue to use it forever.

Then why is a new version of it coming in November? :p

[D_prOdigy]

 

The same company who created this;

 

 

And then didn't continue to use it forever.

 

 

 

You made me open my Iwata folder. Are you happy now.

 

Because I am.

Edited August 29, 2014 by D_prOdigy

[Hero-of-Time]

It's interesting that they have decided to improve the capabilities of the console. I wonder if it will launch in Europe with a brand new set of games that show off the hardware? That'd be sweet.

 

I like the interchangeable covers too. That Peach one in particular .

 

I wouldn't be surprised if it launches alongside Monster Hunter 4 early next year.

 

Haha! I knew you would have your eye on that one.

[Aneres11]

Monster Hunter. Urgh. Do not want.

 

Come on, stone me.

 

And you know me so well H-o-T.

[david.dakota]

 

Also, I really need to play Xenoblade.

 

 

I think this looks great - but the timing of the announcement (or at least lack of a western release at this time) is seriously going to undermine the western hardware sales over Christmas.

 

As for the name, it's fine. Don't get the problem - it's pretty clear what the device is: a new 3DS. I doubt there's much room for confusion in even the simplest of minds.

 

My only complaint is the decision to go with micro SD; I'm sure I won't be the only one whose invested in a huge SD card. Whilst I have a nice 16Gb micro SD card, i'm at a loss as to what to do with my 32Gb :|

[Rummy]

Xeno Chronicles should have been done for Wii U not a brand new 3DS+system - they're clearly hoping to cash in heavy on the demand for it previously; I fear it might not do as well as they hope however. Thinkit may also be indicitive of having given up some amount of hope on WiiU that they didn't give us a HD port there(definitely would have bought) but rather chancing it on a new hardware instead. Having said that too - new 3DS doesn't appeal to me much at all - can't be affording new hardware.

 

Other than the new 3DS, XC, and any Smash news - what other things were there worth noting?

[Dcubed]

Looks like the New3DS also has double the RAM of the original 3DS too, if the hackers who are poking around with the 3DS firmware are right...

 

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=885095

 

Wouldn't surprise me. GBC and DSi also got very similar RAM upgrades from their progenitors too...

 

GPU will probably get a bump too, since it's clocked the same as the CPU and that said to be getting an upgrade, so it should easily sit a class above Wii x2 (for 3D - wheras it's roughly equivalent to just one Wii right now) now in terms of horsepower

Edited August 29, 2014 by Dcubed

[Grazza]

Got mixed feelings about the new model. It doesn't help that I've been a big fan of the 3DS and bought the original + XL (neither or which I regret). I don't really want a 3rd one, and generally feel that both the graphics and resolution are no longer good enough to keep using this late in the day. I'm also very doubtful that there will be enough retail software. Metroid? Majora's Mask? Maybe, but I'm sure they could have been done on the original.

 

I think @Wii made a great point about how the 3DS will probably be spun out until they can launch their next hardware at the same time (whether that's a handheld + console, hybrid or whatever). The end of the handheld as a separate system.

 

On the other hand, for me the DSi XL was worth buying just for Risky's Revenge. If, as @Dcubed has wondered, the New 3DS is capable of running SNES games (linked to my NNID), then it could well be worth it. There's also bound to be another non-remake Zelda, which I guess will be enhanced for the new machine. So overall, it could be worth it, but I'm in no rush.

[Happenstance]

So is it only Micro SD now? If so that sucks and is Nintendo basically telling anyone who wants to upgrade that they cant just use the cards from their current 3DS'

[liger05]

Surely with this 3rd 3DS Nintendo have finally produced an itereration which no longer has the screen scratching issues that we've seen already. It will be truly incompetent if again this issue is still apparent.

Edited August 29, 2014 by liger05

[Gizmo]

Are people basing their comments on the 2nd stick on anything other than what it looks like? It seems a bit stupid to dismiss it without any hands on impressions first...