Report: Nintendo 3DS lifted from Chinese production line, posed for pics

by Ben Gilbert on Jan 3rd 2011 9:45AM

Two full months before Nintendo officially releases its eye melting new handheld in Japan, reports of a Chinese factory worker stealing a unit from the production line have already begun to surface. 3DS Buzz spotted images allegedly snapped by one such factory worker showing off what appears to be a near-final 3DS from many, many angles.

Though an accompanying video shows Super Mario 64 DS being added to the cartridge slot, it seems that the unit is unable to run any retail games, only booting a black screen with the SDK version and memory information (96 steaming hot megabytes of RAM, for those wondering). That said, if you desperately needed to know how the 3DS will stack up next to your GameBoy Micro, visual comparisons to past Nintendo handhelds aren't in short supply here.

[Thank you to everyone who sent this in.]

Via: 3DS Buzz, Engadget
Source: TGBUS.com

Tags: 3ds, china, ds, leak, nintendo

Reader Comments (69)

nerdgasm

Lookin' good...

I think everybody has to agree....this thing is gonna spin the portable market on its head a few times. PSP2 is gonna be nice, but they had best price it competitively.

@ShadowXIII Yep. I travel a lot and take a psp with me for boring hotel room nights, but I'm certainly more interested in the 3ds right now. Sony concentrating on bettering remote play could pique my interests, though. Hope they announce some more psp2 details soon.

@nesinvaders

Congrats, you're the one person in the world that doesn't think a new Nintendo hand held is going to sell like crazy. Michael Patchter better look out!

"it seems that the unit is unable to run any retail games"

This doesn't make sense for a factory-made model, why make so many that you can't sell?

I suspect this unit did not have its firmware loaded onto it yet (not sure, didn't watch the video) thus it would be unable to run anything. It probably could be waiting for a specific firmware loader to be inserted in the card slot and booted before it will do anything else.

@The MAZZTer

Probably because right now it's only running a preliminary firmware suitable for hardware testing and make sure there are no faults with it?

This is it.

Even as the original Wiis were coming off the assembly line, workers were putting the firmware on. In fact demand to get them out was so great, and a new version of the firmware was so recent, some of the launch systems didn't even have it installed, and a disc was inside the box with it.

@The MAZZTer
It's missing the battery cover, so it's certainly not completely finished. Seeing that a DS cart will fit it I think we can assume that R4 developers are preparing to hack it from the ground up before it even gets a final firmware.

@Drakkenfyre

But that was only the very very first Wii's, the ones that ended up for display in stores, iirc

@PN04

R4 developers, really?

Not SuperCard or Team Cyclops, but the R4 developers?

@Mr Khan

Wrong. People ended up with them, too.

it was the first shipment of Wiis for sale, not demo units. Nintendo gave out instructions where if you recieved one of the unupdated systems, there would be a disc in the box with the latest firmware on it, and to put it in before trying to play.

@Esposch What about AceKard & iPlayer teams?

I have admit, that thing is a beauty. Wow!

I can't wait to see how MGS looks playin it. If it turns out great like it should, then consider me sold.

2011 is killing my wallet already!!!

@MLC

I know, I just started a personal savings bank(aka, a seinfeld playing card tin I found in my room) to start saving up for the 3DS, Zelda, Pokemon, Marvel vs. Capcom 3. and Killzone 3. Am I missing anything else in the 1st three months of next year haha.

@MLC I played the brief MGS demo at E3, and I'll tell you this: it looked GORGEOUS, even better than the PS2 version.

looks so ugly from the side

Black version it is. For the same reason black DS or black laptop or black tv - makes for a better gaming experience when there is less stimulus outside of the screen (basic psychology), and also looks really stylish. They should have made the control stick black as well though imo.

Hmmm... I don't care for how the top half seems to be wider than the bottom. It also doesn't seem to be flush when it is closed. This reinforces my decision to wait for v2.

I love the glossy finish, even though it will be a dust magnet. I know I'm going to wait on the 3DS though -- there's not really too much I want for that.

Until January 19th at least.

Well... now we can be sure than the specs that IGN posted are fake. IGN reported that the system had only 64MB of RAM, but this model says:

Memory Mode: 96MB

http://i53.tinypic.com/1jrtpx.jpg

Like NeoGAF members said, the most probably and logical is that Nintendo is using a 128MB RAM module, with 32MB reserved for the OS and 96 for games. 32MB for the OS is the same amount that the 360 has reserved for the OS too.

Which is very logical... remember the video were Nintendo is showing that you can open the OS and browse the Internet while gaming?

@FernandoRocker

It even has more RAM than the Wii... the Wii only has 88MB!

@FernandoRocker
Possible that 32MB is for the OS and 64MB is for games so totalling to 96MB

@Deathmore

But it doesn't make any sense to use two memory modules: 64MB + 32MB.

One single 128MB module makes more sense.

@FernandoRocker

Does anyone know the specs of the Blast Processor ?

@oO Wallace Oo
Or if it'll have Morph-mation built in?

@oO Wallace Oo

I'm not sure about the Blast Processor but I can tell you that the FX Chip will be in full effect.

@FernandoRocker

But Wii uses a 64 + 24, which sounds even more irregular. At least 32 and 64 are powers of two

I, for one, am looking forward to both the 3DS and the PSP2, but My inner Fanboyism makes me want the 3DS a million times moar.

The Yoshi that laid the Golden Egg

@oO Wallace Oo
Let's cut it open!

well we already knew this would happen...every since the PS3 slim in its final form was seen in some random ass Vietnamese shop MONTHS before it was even unveiled, and the iPhone 4 leaked....I think its safe to say all future tech of great importance will suffer the same fate....I halfway expect to see the PSP2 in April thanks to Mr Blurrycam

@Chris DPSN AggieCEO XBLThe Aggi

I still expect March. But yeah i suspect the "controlled leaks" to rise in the industry some more **cough cough PSP Phone Cough**

Why oh why couldn't they just go with a matte finish? Oh, that's right, they need to leave room for improvement, or else there won't be a reason to release the 3DS lite a year later. I'm gonna wait until there's better hardware and good AAA games that aren't remakes or glorified tech demos.

@Misanthropic Gamer

You do Know that every other console released a new version in their lifespan, right? 360 S, PS3 Slim, PSP 2000 and PSPGO. Actually, The Wii is the only system that hasn't had a major revision.

@jph89

if it aint broke dont fix it

gameboy micro=psp go. how has anyone not noticed this yet?

Sigh, I wish they'd make the damned buttons a little bigger. Children aren't the only ones who play these things, y'know.

@Ezio Auditore da Firenze

Nintendo 3DS XL coming in a few years, maybe?

does anyone know if this will be region-locked?

@nighttime

I doubt it will be. Nintendo handhelds never have region restrictions.

I wonder if that music will be playing when they storm his house and beat the shit out of him?

@Uncle Jesse
As a horde of thugs dressed as Toads trash his apartment, a lone Mario emerges from the shadows:

"Let's a-go. There's a-someone who like a word with you."
*orchestra swells, fade to black*

LMFAO!

Tho on a side note wasn't the blast processor sega?

These pictures make me giggle like a school girl.

@A Sandwich

Truth be told, I'm getting more excited just by looking at your picture...

@Uncle Jesse

Have you ever seen a sandwich blush? Because that's what I'm doing right now.

@A Sandwich

I thought that was just your tomato showing...

Looks great, although I was hoping for a more original case design. Oh well. Honestly, I'm just waiting for Nintendo to make this thing a bit more ergonomical. The triggers on the original Game Boy Advance were perfect, then starting with the SP their goal seems to have been to kill me with pointy shoulder buttons.

Sometimes I wish I could take the two portables and put them together. I like the feel of the PSP better, and I like the graphics a lot more. But then I wish I had the Nintendo franchises and the 3D tech. Ughhh.

Looks pretty nice, although I'd prefer a matte finish. I'm definitely going with the black version this time, my white DS Lite is starting to show its age. There's all kinds of crap stuck just inside the casing around the edges, and I've tried cleaning it several times but to no avail.

Um... Is that a USB port on the back of it? The video shows this black rectangle near the left trigger that isn't on the current devices.

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Report: Nintendo 3DS lifted from Chinese production line, posed for pics

Reader Comments (69)

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 9:50AM RobAccomando said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 9:50AM ShadowXIII said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 10:35AM NeoHumpty said

Posted: Jan 4th 2011 4:31PM Juelz345 said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 9:53AM The MAZZTer said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 10:06AM JB2X said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 10:14AM Drakkenfyre said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 10:46AM PN04 said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 3:57PM Mr Khan said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 5:42PM Esposch said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 6:30PM Drakkenfyre said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 6:32PM TheBigKing1 said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 9:57AM MLC said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 10:49AM jph89 said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 3:17PM JasonGW said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 10:00AM AntiVillian said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 10:01AM mrmobius said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 10:01AM Vidikron said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 10:03AM andrewpoe said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 10:05AM FernandoRocker said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 10:10AM FernandoRocker said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 10:19AM Deathmore said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 10:22AM FernandoRocker said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 10:23AM oO Wallace Oo said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 10:39AM SuperWoody64 said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 11:37AM Uncle Jesse said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 4:01PM Mr Khan said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 10:14AM 182 said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 10:20AM oO Wallace Oo said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 11:40AM Air King said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 10:23AM Chris DPSN AggieCEO XBLThe Aggi said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 10:53AM jph89 said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 10:28AM Misanthropic Gamer said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 11:00AM jph89 said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 4:14PM lessthankris said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 11:12AM connorxc said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 11:12AM Ezio Auditore da Firenze said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 4:30PM False said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 11:28AM nighttime said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 3:27PM BrokenTriforce said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 11:35AM Uncle Jesse said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 11:59AM SonoTori said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 11:54AM jimmer411 said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 11:45AM A Sandwich said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 12:00PM Uncle Jesse said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 2:11PM A Sandwich said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 3:57PM Uncle Jesse said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 12:18PM Shockwave said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 12:44PM Fata1Stryke said

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 12:52PM cjssmith said

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