3DS at CES

[Bush]

They have also stated that it was heavily inspired by the GC, hopefully we will see some gc-ish titles on this thing.

 

[Zero]

I have to agree with him, though. Nothing coming out of Nintendo has really caught my attention since the backlit GBA. V

V

Besides, that would mean it's far superior to the Wii.

 

[vskid3]

The 3D doesn't mean anything to me (I can't see it), the dual screens probably aren't necessary for 95% of the games it'll have, the addition of an analog is nice, but two would have been better (touchscreen might make up for it though). Looks interesting, but I'm waiting until it comes out to pass further judgment.

 

[jleemero]

There's no way that little thing can crank out graphics equal to the 360. It probably uses some texture filtering or bump mapping to make up for low-poly models. Having a small dot pitch on a low-res screen helps graphics look smoother as well. Judging from Nintendo's portable consoles of yesteryear, it's probably somewhere between the N64 and Gamecube in terms of power, leaning more to the N64 side.
The 3DS is bound to have a much less powerful processor, less texture memory, less system memory, a weaker GPU, and certainly less available disk storage than the 360. It's fixed at 800 or 400 by 480 resolution, so it has no reason to store textures anywhere near the 360's resolution.

While you're right that it's nowhere near the level of the 360 in, well, virtually any ability (save for portability), it's more powerful than you give it credit.

The raw ability, in the sense of processing power, far exceeds the N64.
Clock speed aside, no, that Dual-Core ARM isn't going to be pushing the limits that something like the 486MHz PowerPC processor in the Gamecube could.
But if it is clocked at the rumored 532MHz, it is gonna perform Dang well regardless, and Dang near comparable.

As for graphics, we know a lot about that PICA200 the 3DS is sporting.
It's a 200MHz powerhouse, and an embedded system like the 3DS is easily its ideal use.

PS2's "Graphics Synthesizer."

147MHz
Polygon Fill Rate: 75 Mpolygon/s

There's a lot more to it, but these numbers will get my point across.

By Comparison, there's the 200MHz PICA200 in the 3DS.

200MHz
Polygon Fill Rate: 15 Mpolygon/s

At 200MHz, it's certainly outclocking the PS2's GPU.
But what really matters is results, and it's pushing out a fraction of the polygons the PS2 is.
To really scare you, with 2xAA, Bilinear filtering, Diffuse Map, 2 full textures, and Gouraud shading, the PS2 can still push 18Mpolygon/s.

You'll note, of course, the PS2 also wiped the floor with the Gamecube.
Surely, the 3DS is at least outperforming that old thing, right?

162MHz

Ha! 3DS' GPU is totally running faster than that crap!

Polygon Fill Rate: 20.25 Mpolygon/s

Yeah. Just like the PS2, despite being "slower", it pushes out more pixels, and more polygons, in less time.
Even throwing in AA, Bilinear Filtering, and a few other things, it can still beat where the 3DS' PICA200 tops out.


So, when working with real, working figures...
The 3DS is going to wipe the floor with the N64, and the DS.
But it's only approaching the Gamecube's ability.
It doesn't touch what the nearly 11 year old PS2 can do.
It doesn't even touch what the PSP is capable of.
(In fact, the PSP, in Raw numbers, can push more than the Gamecube or original Xbox can. However, it can't match them when you account for AA, Filtering, Shading, etc)

However, with its small screen, at those resolutions?
It's going to look Dang good nonetheless.

 

[CamaroCam]

I didn't write that.... why did you quote me?

 

[jleemero]

I dunno how that happened ..

 

[J.D]

If the 3DS hardware wasn't running 3D, it could probably run a ton better. Maybe homebrew can address that.

 

[XCVG]

IIRC 3D effectively halves the framerate, since two frames are needed for every one. It probably puts some more load on the CPU as well.

So, when working with real, working figures...
The 3DS is going to wipe the floor with the N64, and the DS.
But it's only approaching the Gamecube's ability.
It doesn't touch what the nearly 11 year old PS2 can do.
It doesn't even touch what the PSP is capable of.
(In fact, the PSP, in Raw numbers, can push more than the Gamecube or original Xbox can. However, it can't match them when you account for AA, Filtering, Shading, etc)

How does the ION/Atom 330 combo in SJ3's PCp (if he ever finishes it) compare?

 

[bic]

Beats it up and steals its lunch money.

 

[Jidan]

Yay guts.

http://www.tvgzone.com/thread-4818-1-1.html

 

[Bush]

You'll note, of course, the PS2 also wiped the floor with the Gamecube.

Not from a spec standpoint, the GC has a 486mhz CPU and also a faster GPU. The limiting factor of the GC was its mini DVDs, which stored less data than regular sized DVDs. I'm not really sure where "wiped the floor" occured, imo the GC fared well against the PS2 in the graphics department; its graphics still hold up well today.

Edit: fixed cpu clock.

 

[samjc3]

How does the ION/Atom 330 combo in SJ3's PCp (if he ever finishes it) compare?

450 mhz core
1100mhz shader
Texture fill rate 3.6 Billion/second

Needless to say, it is more powerful, seeing as how it can run current gen console games. (and can emulate ps2 moderately passably)

 

[jleemero]

You'll note, of course, the PS2 also wiped the floor with the Gamecube.

Not from a spec standpoint, the GC has a 486mhz CPU and also a faster GPU.

Uh, no, from a Spec Standpoint, it did wipe the floor with the GC.

Clock Speeds aren't what matters, actual performance is.
If you look at the kinds of numbers I posted, actual rates, the PS2 exceeded the Gamecubes capabilities many times over.

 

[DK]

I'm probably going to wait until the PSP2 is released before buying a 3DS, want to see if the PSP2 really is as powerful as a PS3 (somehow).

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011- ... ps3-report

 

[vskid3]

I'm probably going to wait until the PSP2 is released before buying a 3DS, want to see if the PSP2 really is as powerful as a PS3 (somehow).

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011- ... ps3-report

I doubt that, unless it looks a lot like this.

 

[grossaffe]

You'll note, of course, the PS2 also wiped the floor with the Gamecube.

Not from a spec standpoint, the GC has a 486mhz CPU and also a faster GPU.

Uh, no, from a Spec Standpoint, it did wipe the floor with the GC.

Clock Speeds aren't what matters, actual performance is.
If you look at the kinds of numbers I posted, actual rates, the PS2 exceeded the Gamecubes capabilities many times over.

There's more than just polygons. PS2 was built for polygons. Problem was it had to render each polygon again for each effect layer. So a polygon with 8 effects would have to be rendered 8 times by the ps2. The gamecube, on the otherhand, could render those 8 effects at the same time, so it would only have to render the polygon once.

blah blah blah... reading material: http://cube.ign.com/articles/086/086984p1.html

 

[PalmerTech]

I wish I was more excited, but I am just... Not.

I really want a Virtual Boy refresh, and I am 100% serious.

 

[Twilight Wolf]

I'd honestly think this was pretty badass if it didn't have all the indications that it'll cost $250-$300. :/

If I'm gonna spend that much I'd rather buy an Xbox 360.

 

[XCVG]

If it's that expensive, forget it. I need every nickel I can scrape together for a new Sandy Bridge rig. I'm the kind of guy who would rather spend three times the cost of a Wii on hardware to emulate it better. My laptop does a better job than the quad-core desktop I was once so proud of. The 3DS is neat, but not that exciting for me. I'm just not interested in the kind of games it offers? Zelda? I'm the one person on the planet who doesn't like it. Mario? SM64 was the best, and I'm not sure if there is any 3DS release planned in the near future. I'm tired of Pokemon, and most of the games being released I've never heard of.

As for the PSP2 having PS3 level hardware, I doubt it. but Tevos would

 

[D.J]

It will be 250 at launch, I will pass.