A new Iwata Asks has been released regarding the 3DS and its hardware. Read about the men who were partially behind the 3DS design, some commentary about the Luigi's Mansion 3D that never was, and all the little features included such as the Merge Lens and Mii Maker.

Read about all this and more at the newest: Iwata Asks



IWATA

ASKS
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Umezu said:

We announced the other day that the battery duration for playing Nintendo 3DS games on it is about three to five hours. When I measured it by playing several Nintendo games, with the backlight set to the brightest level and the power save mode turned off, battery duration was about three hours. But if you use the power save mode under the same conditions, it gets about 10-20% longer. And if you set the backlight to the darkest setting, the battery lasts five hours, but the power save mode makes less of a difference then.

Yowch.

At least this explains exactly why the battery life is the way it is.

There are so many factors contributing to the battery life drain. Mainly the Brightness, 3D, and WiFi. All of these are adjustable.

Anyway, that was a nice, informative Iwata Asks, as usual.

I'm not very worried about the battery life. These days, anyone with a smart phone should be accustomed to plugging it in every night, the same will have to be done with the 3DS but I'm used to that mentality. If people are playing it longer than 3 hours at a time, such as on a flight, then I can see it being a bother but I think the amount of people flying frequently with DSes are not enough for Nintendo to be concerned about. Most people should be able to get a new charge when they want it I'd think.

Yeah, I can't remember the last time I had a 3 hour gaming session on my DS, and the truth of the matter is that I play at home 98% of the time anyway...

Yessss, the hardware Iwata Asks sessions are the best. I really enjoyed reading the M+ Iwata Asks. They ended up cooking the circuit board for the M+ gyro!

Edit: Looks like Umezu had to go back to the drawing board when they decided on the 3D effect.

Iwata Asks said:

Umezu: I had to render the upper, 3D screen at twice the usual speed, which meant I needed to rethink the SoC I'd been designing.

Iwata: Which brings us back to how you had designed the first SoC with some leeway in power.

You guys were probably right all along, the next version of 3DS will probably have greatly improved battery life.

Sugino:Those tests were another reason I wanted to be in time for E3. But when we started making the prototype around January of 2010, the schedule was looking tight, so I couldn't tell you we'd do it. Then, like a bolt out of the blue, the idea of putting in a gyro sensor came up.

Konno:Yeah, that's right. (laughs)

Umezu:(holding his head) Oh, that…


It's exchanges like these that make me love Iwata Asks.

Iwata Asks said:

Umezu: We announced the other day that the battery duration for playing Nintendo 3DS games on it is about three to five hours. When I measured it by playing several Nintendo games, with the backlight set to the brightest level and the power save mode turned off, battery duration was about three hours. But if you use the power save mode under the same conditions, it gets about 10-20% longer. And if you set the backlight to the darkest setting, the battery lasts five hours, but the power save mode makes less of a difference then.

...

Umezu: Right. What's more, with the backlight set as high as it will go, battery life changes about 25% according to whether you're playing in 2D or 3D.

Son of a $%^&*.

Iwata Asks said:

Iwata:

The first thing (Nobuo) Nagai-san10, who's in charge at the Uji plant, said to me when he looked over the designs for Nintendo 3DS before mass production began was "This time it's fully packed right from the start."

Sugino:

Oh, really? (laughs) But he was right. That's why we don't have any short-term plans for creating a more compact version of Nintendo 3DS like we did with Nintendo DS Lite. (laughs)

Iwata:

Yeah. (laughs) When making Nintendo 3DS, we used all our tricks for Nintendo DS Lite—and more—for cutting down on size right from the start.

Alright, well unless they are lying, seems like there is little point waiting for a revision at the moment.

@Pandareus
Well, even if they were planning on releasing a revision they wouldn't tell us now! And they were only talking about reduction in size. There are other areas that can be improved with a new 3DS, such as better screens and longer battery life.

@Pandareus

*glances at my preorder*

*smiles*

Hmm, it's true that there is ambiguity, they're not saying there's no plan for revised hardware, just no plan for more compact hardware.

I read it too fast.

I'm not worried about battery length as I will probably play more at home than anywhere else. Though, for those times that I am not at home and maybe want to get in some long gaming sessions, esp. lets say I'm camping out for Nintendo's next console, hopefully there will be batteries availbale that last longer.

@Pandareus

I honestly don't think there will be a revision for a smaller unit, esp. anytime soon, if at all. Look how long the DS has been out and all the changes its been through. The 3DS is an extension of the DS system, its not like a brand new handheld. Plus, look at it's size now, about the same as the DSi.

If anything, I think we will see a larger version of the 3DS before will see a smaller one. Heck, I even go as far saying there will not be a smaller unit. Seriously, these things can only get so small. I actually like the fatty DS more so than the DSlite/DSi, cause the smaller size units are tough on my hands after awhile.

Edit: I read the article. Actually it was a really good read, probably the best Iwata Aks that I have read. After reading the article, more than likely I will buy a 3DS at launch for myself. I know lately I have been complaining about the launch games, ect. The way they make it sound, even if I don't buy a game I will get enjoyment from the system. Yea, I knew I was being overly bitchey lately and in the deep dark recesses of my mind I knew I would always buy a 3DS at launch.

I think its amazing how the initial design of the 3DS had nothing to do with 3D technology. It was designed for high end graphics. Later on they got the notion to add in the 3D display which required the hardware designs to change. Then they started cramming in everything including the kitchen sink. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know they are definitely going to come out with a new revision that optimizes a lot of these features.

Volume 3 of the Iwata asks about 3DS saga.

I'm so behind on Iwata Asks. I would seriously pay $40 for a nice bound collection.

That was a fantastic Iwata asks,I didn't read a lot of these but I wish I had.Its interesting to hear about all the hard work that goes into the simplest of things like the sliders and button coatings.No wonder the system costs what it does...if the new psp isn't at least $100 more I will be surprised.