E310 | 3DS Development Costs May Mirror Wii, GPU Revealed

By Jorge Ba-oh 23.06.2010 4

E310 | 3DS Development Costs May Mirror Wii, GPU Revealed on Nintendo gaming news, videos and discussion

At a post E3 session Nintendo president Satoru Iwata revealed that wuth its better hardware, the 3DS dev costs maybe as high as Wii.

Developing 3D images for the new portable console is not as high as people might think, with Iwata stating that all studios would have to do is "capture the same images with two cameras, one for right eye and the other for left eye", according to Siliconera.

That said, with the improvements in actual processing and visual power, if a studio makes the most out of the hardware then Iwata expects costs to rise as much as Wii levels, with some games already looking better than their DS equivilents.

Therefore, if developers decide to try and maximize the graphical powers of the system, then the cost would be more expensive than what it is currently for Nintendo DS and may potentially approach the cost of developing Wii software.

In related news, earlier this week the 3DS graphics chip was made public. The new hardware will be adopting the PICA200 chip from Japanese developer Digital Media Professional (DMP), technology suitable for mobile phones, arcades, consoles and other digital hardware. The PICA200 is said to make good use of "Maestro Technology", where through complex shaders you can achieve a good quality image without draining too much battery.

Thanks to C3 reader Squidboy.

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Keven is offline. Keven 23.06.2010#1

*nerdgasm*

If that was the type of graphics for every game, I don't know what I'd do! Smilie


The former top user was Keven! You'd probably give birth to yourself 1000 times over until you sprout wings to fly away into the fading sun, that or you'd just turn into a lesbian. Who knows @_@ - L, 12/06/09
 
Glenjamin is offline. Glenjamin 23.06.2010#2

You know even if the handheld is a little on the pricey side of things, from what I've seen the 3DS capable of is really looking to be worth the money(granted I'd rather not have to pay more then $249US for the system w/software around $29-39). I'm really interested in seeing what other features this system will have and what the online abilities and functions of the system will be.

And I'm TOTALLY diggin' that 3rd party support! Here's hoping they really DO put serious effort into their games so everyone can be making some good coinage.

 
PMD is offline. PMD 23.06.2010#3

That's a tech demo, but it does show that the 3DS has promise. Gamecube-like graphics are not totally unachievable, especially when viewed on a smaller screen.

Though I hope they release it for 199USD. That seems to be a sweet spot.

 
Magna (guest) 23.06.2010#4

PMD said:
Though I hope they release it for 199USD. That seems to be a sweet spot.

I can see this since they lowered the price of the DSi. I don't believe they'll put a huge gap in prices between the DSi and 3DS. It would hinder the 3DS startup, imo.

Anyways... at that price, even with the fantastic launch catalogue, I'll have to hold buying it. It's just too steep for me now (even a DSi is too high for me) Smilie

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