Yesterday, Nintendo revealed its fourth-generation handheld gaming device, the Nintendo 3DS. For months, we speculated and talked to sources about just what it would be. Well, here it is. Letâs see what our educated guesses nailed and what they didnât.
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âBut the new 3DS sports a bigger top screen, presumably a Sharp-manufactured display capable of showing game graphics in screen-popping 3D. The 3DSâ lower screen is built to the specifications of the original DSâ lower touchscreen.â
The reality:
Got it. The top screen is indeed larger than the bottom, and the bottom screen is three inches wide, just like the DS (though itâs a higher resolution, at 320Ă240 vs 256Ă192). One snag: we have not been able to confirm yet that the screens are made by Sharp.
What we said:
âA rectangle near the d-pad of the 3DS in the sketch could represent the Sharp-designed 3D camera that was rumored last month to be on its way to the new Nintendo handheld. Such a camera might be used to capture images in 3D dimensions or detect motions of the player.â
The reality:
We were dead-on that the 3DS would include a 3D camera, though we were off on its placement and design. There is a camera facing the user, but itâs located above the top screen, and doesnât do anything fancy like track your motions. The 3D camera faces away from the user on the back of the top half of the 3DS.
What we said:
âThe Nintendo 3DS, weâre told, will use a second, proprietary medium for games specific to the portable. We understand that the new 3DS games will fit on a card about the size of a Compact Flash card and that the system is designed to accept both these new games and DS games, possibly in the same slot.â
The reality:
Not sure yet. In the demo units, the game cartridge slot is covered.
What we said:
âKotaku has heard from a number of other sources about another exciting feature for the portable. It turns out that the white nub in the circuit board photo is an analog stick, one weâre told is a real (short) stick, not a PSP-like nub⊠The 3DS will have this stick and a d-pad.â
The reality:
Close. As you can see above, thereâs an analog stick on the 3DS above the d-pad. Itâs a nice, big slider that glides under your thumb more like a stick, but it is a disc connected to a flat surface, not quite the stick we had expected.
What we said:
âWeâve also learned that the rumored 3D slider, a feature described on an IGN podcast as means to âtoggle the strength of the 3D effectâ is included in development versions of the 3DS hardware, though we donât know if this slider will be made available to gamers.â
The reality:
Yup. Thereâs a 3D âdepth sliderâ on the side of the 3DS.
What we said:
âWe do expect the 3DS to have a tilt sensor or accelerometer of some sort, a fact that was all but confirmed by Nintendo president Satoru Iwata himself despite the companyâs attempt to distance themselves from the statement after it was published in a major Japanese newspaper.â
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Right again. The 3DS has both a motion sensor and a gyroscope.
What we said:
âGame industry sources familiar with the project have acknowledged to Kotaku that the system is an extremely capable device. It may be as powerful as a Wii.â
The reality:
Seems like it. While itâs hard to tell just how powerful the 3DS without spending serious time with proper games, the demos and trailers released so far look on par with early GameCube/Wii titles.
