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.
WiiWare
Jam City Rollergirls – 320 blocks
Furry Legends demo – 178 blocks
Fish’em All! demo – 128 blocks
VC
Black Tiger – 61 blocks
1942 – 56 blocks
DSiWare
Digger Dan & Kaboom – 52 blocks
Airport Mania: Non-Stop Flights – 49 blocks
Rocks N’ Rockets – 25 blocks
Ante Up: Texas Hold’em – 19 blocks
– One screenshot from Famitsu shows Sora standing in a faceoff with Xehanort
– Another screenshot shows Riku in a face off against Ansem
– Sora and Riku appear to encounter different bosses
– Another shot: Sora running through a bell tower (new world)
– Another shot: Sora falling down into a crowded plaza (new world)
– Sora swings from poles
– Riku kicks off walls
– Sora slides down ropes at high speeds
– The image associated with the name is “the distance you fall in your dreams”
– The three words have a number of meanings
– “Drop” is related to the gameplay
– According to Tesuya Nomura, if you take Kingdom Hearts as a base and evolve it like Final Fantasy, you get Final Fantasy Versus XIII; evolve the Kingdom Hearts qualities further to get Kingdom Hearts 3D
– Versus XIII forms a pair with Kingdom Hearts 3D in and the future Kingdom Hearts series in terms of gameplay
– Moves in KH3D provide a glimpse at the image of the future of the series, and Kingdom Hearts III
– Game’s concept is “bold actions”
– Nomura thinks numbered Kingdom Hearts games should have proper and orthodox evolutions
– Team wants to try bold elements for non-numbered games, including KH3D
– KH3D to be bolder than Birth by Sleep
– Nomura: “By playing this, you will probably understand how Kingdom Hearts III will evolve”
– The Mark of Mastery test will only be in some parts of the game
– Character switches will have nothing to do with where you are in the story
– Numerous secrets to the Drop Gauge
– Nomura says you should think of the character switches as something like a countdown event always taking place
– Riku/Sora stories are different
– The two stories don’t have the same goal
– Different actions and controls for the characters (relates to a new system which hasn’t been shown)
– Nomura wouldn’t acknowledge that the bell tower world looked like it was from Hunchback of Notre Dame
– New worlds in the game have been often requested by fans
– No number given for the amount of new worlds
– Nomura: “Also, there are still titles that were not announced this time”
Bethesda’s Pete Hines was recently asked if the company is looking into the 3DS…
“Again, we don’t have DS titles in development. So, if we were to announce or to do DS stuff, then I would guess they would be looked at for whatever title that might be developed. But that’s purely hypothetical. We don’t have anything for DS.”
Given the fact that the 3DS was referred to as the DS throughout the response, I’d say that Bethesda won’t be making any 3DS games soon. Although, it probably isn’t a huge loss, as Bethesda’s never really had much in the works for the DS.
