Just a wireframe of the DS lite, not the 3DS
Nintendo officially announced today that they have a brand-new successor for the DS line in the works for release within the next financial year, the Nintendo 3DS. The lid will be blown off of the system at this year’s E3 on June 15th, so until then we just have a couple of facts that Nintendo has officially shared and some conjecture based on their unofficial statements and those of developers that are apparently already using the new system’s dev kits. A shortlist of 3DS facts and conjecture can be seen after the jump.
You can also check out 4cr’s famous 3DS Mockup Archive here
Officially Sanctioned 3DS Facts:
- Displays 3D effects without the need for glasses of any kind
- It is backwards-compatible with all DS and DSi games
- 3DS is only the working title and is probably going to be changed
- The 3DS marks a new generation of portable consoles and is not just another DS model
Internet Conjecture:
- Features graphics very similar to that of the GCN/Wii and the dev. kits have similar functionality
- Because of similar dev kits, there is almost no learning curve for devs that have worked on the GCN/Wii and thus great graphics can be expected from the get-go as the graphical “tricks” employed already will still be applicable on the 3DS
- Features motion-/tilt-sensing capabilities not unlike those in the iDevices
- Features at least two cameras (required for DSi compatibility)
- The two screens on the 3DS have virtually no space between them when it is open allowing the screens to be easily used as one big screen
- Features two touch-sensitive screens
- Launching world-wide before the end of 2010
Additional Conjecture:
- Will use the Nvidia Tegra 2 chipset (which would allow for GCN/Wii-level graphics with low power consumption)
- Will utilize Sharp’s parallax barrier 3D LCD to achieve 3D without glasses
- Improved battery life and WiFi (Wireless N & WPA2?) functionality over DS systems
- Built-in vibration function — vibrating screen to transfer vibration to styli
- “3D control sticks” of some description — no other details, could be anything from a control stick or “control nub” (a la PSP) to something that will blow our minds
- Screens smaller than 4″ diagonally (aka – able to fit in your pocket)
Looks like this year might end up being one of the biggest in gaming history. With Playstation Move and Microsoft’s Natal on the way in addition to the 3DS, there’s a lot of new tech to look forward to this fall. The Usagi will keep you posted if any more news on the 3DS surfaces before E3.