Skip to around 30:50 to hear some talk (well, hints…) about Conduit heading to the 3DS. High Voltage has previously expressed interest in the system, so it can definitely happened. Nothing confirmed just yet, though.
Wii
1. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
2. de Blob 2
3. LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean
4. Conduit 2
5. LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars
DS
1. Pokemon Black/White
2. Okamiden
3. Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Reverie
4. Monster Tale
5. de Blob 2
3DS
1. Paper Mario
2. Mario Kart
3. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D
4. Kid Icarus: Uprising
5. Star Fox 64 3D
Nintendo has pulled back the curtain on prototypes for previous systems in past Iwata Asks columns. And now the company has done so once again, this time for the 3DS. Nintendo shared a couple of prototype images today.
The model above is slightly smaller than the final 3DS, though it lacks cameras and it wasn’t 3D ready. It is known as the “minimum model.”
The next prototype features the Circle Pad. Nintendo actually joked about releasing a product in which players could decide themselves where to place the buttons wherever they wanted.
A few weeks ago, Nintendo announced that the 3DS’ battery life will last three to five hours – much to the disappointment of fans. At the time, it wasn’t clear if certain features had more of an effect than others, and if turning particular settings off would increase the battery life at all. It seems as though the brightness setting for the 3DS screens will have the biggest impact, based on information from the latest Iwata Asks. Ryuji Umezu, Satoru Iwata, and Hideki Konno shared the following information:
Umezu: We announced the other day that the battery duration for playing Nintendo 3DS games on it is about three to five hours. When I measured it by playing several Nintendo games, with the backlight set to the brightest level and the power save mode turned off, battery duration was about three hours. But if you use the power save mode under the same conditions, it gets about 10-20% longer. And if you set the backlight to the darkest setting, the battery lasts five hours, but the power save mode makes less of a difference then.
Iwata: In other words, the brightness of the backlight has the greatest effect on battery duration.
Umezu: Right. What’s more, with the backlight set as high as it will go, battery life changes about 25% according to whether you’re playing in 2D or 3D.
Iwata: Yes, 3D is a battle against power use. How about wireless use? Some players may be worried about that.
Umezu: In StreetPass mode, the system isn’t always communicating, so there isn’t much of a drain on the battery, but games that communicate a lot through local play and online play—with the backlight set to high—have an over 10% effect on the battery.
Iwata: So it will be necessary for this system to be charged more often than for the previous systems. For that reason, we include a special charging cradle. We recommend that when players get home, they put their system there.
Another challenge we faced this time, after adopting the 3D LCD, is how it will look different to different people. The space between people’s eyes differs, among other individual differences.
Konno: Yes. We solved that with the 3D Depth Slider, which allows you to adjust the 3D effect.
This information comes from Capcom’s Jun Takeuchi…
“In most cases, launch titles until now have used around 50% of the capabilities of the system. This time, we’re suddenly using up 80 to 90%.” He boasted that the game’s graphics are so good that they will make you ask “what is the difference between a portable game machine and a console!?”.
“We have titles for 2011 that have yet to be announced.”
Regarding the secret titles, Takauchi said that they are large scale projects. Both games will be revealed by the summer, though it isn’t clear if either game is for a Nintendo platform.
Takauchi also commented about the 3DS’ hardware. Takauchi appears to be impressed with the system’s graphical capabilities, and mainly pointed out Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater as one of the more interesting examples. Additionally, he feels that the 3DS will be able to do amazing things for those who implement inventive ideas and know how to use the hardware.
