Reports: 3DS more powerful than Wii, doesn't use Nvidia chips

by JC Fletcher on Jun 7th 2010 1:00PM

Reports from anonymous sources are starting to paint a rather surprising picture of the mysterious Nintendo 3DS. Both IGN and Eurogamer report that developers have said off-the-record that the handheld won't use the Nvidia Tegra chip, as it was rumored to do. Eurogamer's sources claim that the 3DS hardware is internally known as "CTR," suggesting that the motherboard image submitted to the FCC in May, which noted the "CTR" codename, was indeed related to the 3DS.

According to IGN, "Several developers that have experienced 3DS in its current form have reported, off the record, that it has processing capabilities that far exceed the Nintendo Wii and bring the device with abilities that are close to HD consoles such as PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360."

We'll find out for ourselves when Nintendo unveils the thing at E3, but this sounds rather uncharacteristic. Nintendo's handhelds have always been designed to use not-quite-cutting-edge technology, to keep costs down and battery life long. We suppose a certain level of processing power is required to generate 3D imagery, especially on two screens, but if these reports are true, the 3DS would represent a totally new strategy for Nintendo.

Source: Eurogamer
Source: IGN

Tags: 3DS, CTR, ds, Eurogamer, IGN, nintendo, Nintendo-CTR, Nvidia, Nvidia-Tegra

Reader Comments (134)

OMG! WHAT A BEAST!

Eh, I'll believe it when I see it. It doesn't take *that* much horsepower to render visuals like PS3 or Xbox 360 at 256x192 (x2), but it seems very uncharacteristic of Nintendo to covertly add that much extra power to what seems to only be a small hardware refresh.

"I'll believe it when I see it" is exactly what I clicked the Comments link to say

@Marty:
exactly. And if was that easy, then it would have be done to the next iteration of the Wii, maybe bringing it in line with the PS3 and 360.

It's not a hardware refresh, it's a new console.

1080P HANDHELD OMG
: O
: O
: O

Where does it say that?

More importantly, such a resolution a 3-4 inch screen is stupid and pointless. 720p is probably as high as it should go for a screen that size. Even then that's questionable. Sure, it's held closer to your face so resolution does matter, but 1080p isn't worth it for a HANDHELD unless some sort of Super Battery is invented.

That's....the joke :/

They don't understand your wit, Acosta02. But, I appreciate it and you.

This is good and sad at the same time. A handheld should not beat out your main console system, unless you are planning to bring out a better Wii soon. Can't wait for 3DS though.

"A handheld should not beat out your main console system"
I think it should. It's the handheld that you're going to play the most, right?

If Nintendo wants to shoot themselves in the foot, by all means. If a PSP more powerful than the PS3 came out, there'd be a lot of problems for the console. I'm excited for the 3DS. Just seems to indicate a newer Wii in the near future, or they just plan to go handheld for sales.

Having better technical specs than the Wii and producing graphics better than the Wii are two different things.

Well of course it is, but saying "more powerful than the Wii" is a rumor to cover both of those aspects. More powerful = Better Technical Specs = Better Graphics. So yeah, that was a pointless post. Sorry.

@Mert

That's subjective. I use my home consoles far more than my hand-helds.

Well, the PSP already seems to be more powerful than the Wii. That didn't seem to hurt Wii sales.

I believe the PSP has a 240x480 or so screen. If the 3DS ran at the same resolution (and assuming half of those 480 went to rendering each eye image), it has 1/3rd of the pixels of the Wii to render. It should be pretty easy to surpass the Wii in that respect.

Heck, netbooks with 1GB ram, 10" screens, HDD's, etc can be had for $200 these days. The Wii only has half a gig of RAM.

I agree that a Wiifresh is in order. But with nearly 80 million in the wild, and Super Mario Galaxy 2 doing well at retail, it might be a while before the casual little system that changed gaming goes away.

@Winterfang

Exactly. That's why I am guessing they are aiming for more handheld sales or we will see a newer Wii in the future.

@Seishino

I meant the PSP vs PS3. The PSP won't hurt Wii sales due to being two ends of the spectrum. This news just brings up a lot of questions that I am sure will answered by E3.

@Spike Spiegel: The point is that to make pretty graphics you also need to consider the amount of RAM, how the GPU performs, how much resolution you have to work with, and the fact that part of the processing will be dedicated to 3D. It's safe to assume we're talking about iPhone-quality graphics or slightly better, nothing like Mario Galaxy.

How about build it the best you can then use that hardware as a base for both portable and console markets. Its portable out of the box but with a console addon it can easily attach to the TV and offers more control and game disc/format options!!

Whatever it may be, I am just happy to see Nintendo taking some extra stride. Not to say the DS and Wii are bad, but it can always be better!

@Seishino-
actually, the Wii only has 88MB memory (shared with the GPU), which is 5.5x that of the DSi and only 18% of the PS3's memory (combined GPU and Main)

I would guess their next console hits by holiday 2011. It would be idiotic of them to kill off the wii at this point just because their new handheld is more powerful than it (which isn't going to happen anyway)

I don't think that follows logically *at all*. The relative horsepower of a portable to a home console will have little to no bearing whatsoever on the relative success of either. What it comes down to is 1) Games Library, and 2)Pricing. If you can deliver compelling games experiences at a reasonable price, you've got a shot, irrespective of what anyone else is doing.

This angers me... don't know why.

Go get an anger management class, bud! It's good for everyone :D

"Several developers that have experienced 3DS in its current form have reported, off the record, that it has processing capabilities that far exceed the Nintendo Wii and bring the device with abilities that are close to HD consoles such as PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360."

At this point doesn't a Commodore 64 have more processing power than a Wii?

Terrible joke.

what the hell is it suddenly early 2007 again? because that is the only way that joke would be even close to funny.

You mean 1 gamecube and duct tape?

I like how he said "At this point," as though the Wii is becoming less powerful while the Commodore 64 is becoming more powerful.

History does indeed discard this as stupid crazy rumor, but it is nice for now to believe. Not for Nintendo, but just so that we have a real mind explodey of an announcement at e3.

3DS, more than just two DSs duct-taped together: CONFIRMED.

Well durr, its THREE DS's taped together! 3DS? Huh!?

and if the original DS was just two GBA SPs duct taped together, we just have 4 GBA SPs. damn you Nintendo! we knew you like to repackage hardware but come on!

now we just have to figure it out in terms of duct taped Gamecubes...

3 x 2 = 6

not 4.

Maybe we'll finally be able to play Final Fantasy Crystal chronicles with 4 people then?

nintendo's probably converging the handheld and home products into 1....

dang, a handheld ps3.... :D~~

Maybe if it was Apple. Certainly not Nintendo.

*picks up banjo*

Fancy a duel, Mr ESC?

Ahem...
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Gibson-The-Super-Earl-Banjo-517401-i1149382.gc
Arm yo'selves with that.

The banjo is like a woman...no one wants to hear it.

Obviously people misinterpret the point. Hardware that small and that powerful is friggin' expensive to produce. Nintendo is not prepared to put a price tag on their hardware that rivals an iPhone. It's just not their MO. Apple would do it because they can charge whatever they like and get away with it. They cater to a different crowd.

Nintendo still covets the gaming parents' kids market. They want 2 3DS' under every tree this Christmas. That's not going to happen at $400 a pop and they're not going to take a loss on it.

It's undeniable logic. (Unless you're high)

@koehler:

The problem with that idea is that A LOT of parents buy iDevices FOR THEIR KIDS.

If they come out with a 3DS that has power equal or greater than the Wii (which would also make it better than the current PSP, but no telling what Sony will do with PSP2), and buff it with strong multimedia and internet capabilities (you know what Nintendoes that iDon't? Flash), it'd be more popular with kids than iPod touch.

"Real Console"

I am going to kill everyone and everything. Sorry, innocent bystanders.

"Several developers that have experienced 3DS in its current form have reported, off the record, that it has..."

I don't know a lot about journalism, but I'm pretty sure when someone tells you something "off the record", you aren't suppose to repeat it to everyone on the internet.

Why did they even tell Joystiq to begin with if they didn't want it aired out?

Off the record just industry talk for "covering our ass."

The first thing I learned in Intro to Journalism was "there is no such thing as off the record." It's only a matter of either courtesy or "if anyone asks, I didn't really say this."

I guess in the case "off the record" means "don't tell them who we are"

Good thing this is a blog and not a news site hey Alex. "Off the record" doesn't mean shit here. :)

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Reports: 3DS more powerful than Wii, doesn't use Nvidia chips

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Posted: Jun 7th 2010 1:03PM (Unverified) said

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