Respected video gamer technology site Digital Foundry have gotten their hands on the New Nintendo 3DS which is available to purchase now in Japan. The publication states that there are positive changes across the board meaning that when it eventually comes to the west it will be worth upgrading to the new system. Here’s their verdict.
“The volume control is now located on left-hand edge of the top screen directly opposite the 3D slider, meaning you’re less likely to unintentionally knock it during play. The WiFI toggle has been expunged completely, and now wireless connectivity is controlled entirely via the user interface – another welcome change that means no lost StreetPass hits from accidentally knocking the switch when the console is in transit. The start and select keys have been pushed to the right-hand side of the touchscreen, while the bottom edge of the console – previously the sole preserve of the 3.5mm headphone socket – is now festooned with inputs and other elements. The stylus dock, game card slot and power button have all been repositioned here, but the last two changes don’t feel quite right. While download-heavy players might be able to ignore the placement of the cart slot, the power button is awkward to find with your finger and would have been much better off in its original location next to the touch panel, protected by the upper screen when the unit is closed. While the button thankfully won’t turn off the console when it’s in your bag or pocket, it will power it up if you’ve already switched it off.”
“The most obvious is the vastly improved auto-stereoscopic 3D effect, which now uses the front-facing camera to detect where your head is and adjusts the image accordingly. On previous 3DS models, even tilting the console very slightly would be enough to break the 3D image and ruin the effect, causing blurring and double images to appear on the screen. However, the New 3DS all but eradicates this irksome issue; it’s possible to turn the unit quite aggressively and still have a rock-solid picture, because that camera is constantly monitoring your relative position and compensating for movement by adjusting the parallax barrier screen. Deconstructing the process isn’t hard; simply turning your head away from the console and then quickly looking back at it causes the 3D image to “jump” as it recalibrates and locks onto your face once more – subtle movements are picked up as well, which suggests that the console’s accelerometer is also being called into play. Even so, it’s an astonishingly effective solution to what was a very bothersome problem for 3DS owners.”
“Under the bonnet Nintendo has tinkered with the internal tech to provide some welcome improvements. The CPU is now faster, which means that navigating around the 3DS menu is much quicker – for example, the painful pause which traditionally accompanies pressing the home button during a game is now all but removed, and loading and boot-up times are markedly decreased as well. Downloads are also much faster, and browsing the web is less akin to pulling teeth this time around. The browser also features a filter to block adult content – a wise move, given Nintendo’s family-friendly outlook – though this can be disabled by paying a small fee via a credit card.”
Why do you insist on posting what Digital Foundry says? They are useless, garbage spewers, don’t you know that?
Because they post facts.
First!
No.
Digital foundry. Are these the guys who were really anal about framerate?
Objective*
As my memory escapes me at the moment, I would like collective reassurance from members of mynintendonews as to whether or not Digital foundry were the same organization, who weeks prior critiqued the performance of games released for Nintendo Wii U; and made observations on said frame rate of games.
Yes, and I played Bayonetta 2 demo, and can confirm that what they said is true.
And before you say “It’s a demo”, yes it’s a demo, and a demo is an accurate representation of the final product as it is their biggest advertisement.for the game.
No damage control, please.
Speaking of which, are you going to get the game this 24th?
I won’t get it on launch day, no. But I’ll get it soon after. Probably the first week of November, or something like that.
They’ve been doing that for years with literally every game. It’s what they do. They run tests on games at different resolutions, different systems, etc. They don’t have anything against Nintendo. They’ve even stated how the Wii U version of some games have better textures, frame rate, etc, than the PS3/360 version. They are helpful to gamers (especially PC gamers) that like to know all the details about how games perform. I don’t see what the big deal is.
why didn’t failtendo make this a new console??? they never listen to the fans…. just screw over the other millions of 3ds owners……. just great. if only they can fix the ToastU
You can pretend for yourself that it’s a new handheld. Problem solved!
Strong consoles or weak, this year has been pretty underwhelming overall. I bought the Wii U at launch to play Xenoblade Chronicles X. I still don’t have X.C.X. Still, the 8th gen hype is unusually strong, seeing as the consoles are only marginally stronger, collectively speaking.
Video games aside, how have things been going for you irl Ice? Fine I hope, you never can tell on these blogs.
“another welcome change that means no lost StreetPass hits from accidentally knocking the switch when the console is in transit”
That doesn’t really happen, I have had my since launch. I am super rough with my unit to the point, I have had it replaced. But, I have never accidentally turned off the Wifi missing street passes.
I wonder how well the face-tracking works in the dark.
great point. They are probably hoping the lighting from the screens is enough.
Yes yes but the important thing like resolution is 90’s crt style,120PPI on N3DS and incredible 95PPI on N3DSXL,at least original has 133ppi..Nintendo is master of selling outdated hardware (WiiU is exception,teh vise WiiU is two next gen console,but small % can understand..)