By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Reggie: 3DS costs "ALOT MORE" to make than the DSi

Qays said:
mundus6 said:
Qays said:

Anything over $200 is just too much for a handheld, especially one lacking in productivity/utility features.


How is it lacking features when it will have as good (if not better) graphics than PSP. Plus a touch pad, 3d screen and gyroscope as well as 2 cameras?`From my view its superior to PSP in every way and if its $200 dollars there is no reason what so ever (other than piracy) to even considering buying a PSP anymore, let alone a PSP-GO.

I didn't say it was lacking in graphics, it certainly isn't. I said it was lacking in productivity/utility features: email, internet, apps. The kind of stuff you'd find on an iPod/iPhone.

The 3DS is unambiguously superior to the PSP, but I don't really think that's a fair comparison. We don't know what Sony has in store for the PSP2 yet - everyone knows the PSP1 is on its last legs.

At $200 the 3DS is a great buy. That's only $30 more than the (ridiculously overpriced) DSi and the PSP itself, after all. But any higher and people will begin to ask themselves: why am I buying this instead of a home console or a smartphone?

Because its Nintendo? Seriously, why are people are still buying a Wii instead of a PS3 or a Xbox 360 is beyond me... Also everybody already has a cell phone, not everyone has a 3D console that is handheld at that.



Around the Network

I'd probably pay up tp $350ish for it. I don't expect it to go above $250 however. The DSi probably costs less than $75 to make including shipping and everything else.



darn straight



 Been away for a bit, but sneaking back in.

Gaming on: PS4, PC, 3DS. Got a Switch! Mainly to play Smash

jarrod said:
Alby_da_Wolf said:
jarrod said:

It'll be $199.  The only really pricey part is likely that 3D screen, and I'd imagine Sharp's cutting Nintendo a pretty sweet deal on it.

And I can't imagine DSi costs much to make.  Ancient ARM chips, 16MB RAM, 256MB flash, 2x 3.25" screens (1 being touch), 2x 0.3mpxl cameras, casing, speakers, microphone, 802.11g/b WiFi chip, 840 mAh mobile battery, SD/DS game interfaces, buttons... honestly, if those components add up to more than $50-60 I'd be shocked.

16MB RAM look too little to me, the memory requirements of some things, like level maps, depend on the detail of description and features and object richness of the environment described, not on the res at which they are visualized, the need of generating two views of a scene will increase the RAM requirements too so the RAM needed will be larger, but it shouldn't be a problem anyway, even 128MB would have a negligible cost now. Considering also that at the working frequencies of ultra-low power consumption portable CPUs you don't need expensive fast memories, you can use the cheapest ones without drawbacks.

I was talking about DSi, not 3DS.  3DS is speculated to have just 16MB of VRAM alone (and 64MB main RAM).

Oh, sorry, I misread. I hope the main RAM will be greater than 64MB, though.



Stwike him, Centuwion. Stwike him vewy wuffly! (Pontius Pilate, "Life of Brian")
A fart without stink is like a sky without stars.
TGS, Third Grade Shooter: brand new genre invented by Kevin Butler exclusively for Natal WiiToo Kinect. PEW! PEW-PEW-PEW! 
 


250 dollar launch price confirmed! I'm getting one even if it is 300 dollars.



Wichdog69

Around the Network

Well duh the 3DS costs a lot more than the DSi/Lite/etc.  For one thing, the DS's internal technology is what, at least a decade old?  The thing's power is somewhere in line with the Playstation and N64.  The 3DS, on the other hand, is using technology that is maybe only about five years old, since all indicators seem to show that it runs on something like GameCube hardware, which means that for the first time since the original Game Boy launched, Nintendo's home console and portable systems will be roughly equal-powered.  On the other hand, it actually has the 3-D screen and technology, which probably actually costs something.

Nevertheless, when has Nintendo ever released a console for $300?  I'm pretty sure it's never.  The N64 and Wii were the most expensive consoles, and they reached $250 at launch.  The DSi is gearing up for a price drop as it is, and no doubt, Nintendo will still be making money on the damn thing.  The 3DS will cost less than $200, because 3D or not, costing more than that puts the 3DS in a precarious place to continue to combat the PSP and whatever Sony jumbles together to as the PSP's successor.  Nintendo has always kept their portables fairly cheap--fairly affordable--because they know that you can't sell a portable system successfully if it costs a small fortune. 

Pachter, as usual, doesn't really know what he's talking about. 



Resident_Hazard said:

Well duh the 3DS costs a lot more than the DSi/Lite/etc.  For one thing, the DS's internal technology is what, at least a decade old?  The thing's power is somewhere in line with the Playstation and N64.  The 3DS, on the other hand, is using technology that is maybe only about five years old, since all indicators seem to show that it runs on something like GameCube hardware, which means that for the first time since the original Game Boy launched, Nintendo's home console and portable systems will be roughly equal-powered.  On the other hand, it actually has the 3-D screen and technology, which probably actually costs something.

Nevertheless, when has Nintendo ever released a console for $300?  I'm pretty sure it's never.  The N64 and Wii were the most expensive consoles, and they reached $250 at launch.  The DSi is gearing up for a price drop as it is, and no doubt, Nintendo will still be making money on the damn thing.  The 3DS will cost less than $200, because 3D or not, costing more than that puts the 3DS in a precarious place to continue to combat the PSP and whatever Sony jumbles together to as the PSP's successor.  Nintendo has always kept their portables fairly cheap--fairly affordable--because they know that you can't sell a portable system successfully if it costs a small fortune. 

Pachter, as usual, doesn't really know what he's talking about. 

Someone buy this man a beer. Seriously not only was his post excellent but he topped it off with the one piece of advice that should be but won't be followed by the majority of the VGChartz community. Don't listen to Pachter. As RH just so eloquently pointed out. Nintendo has never released a console for more than $250 and they've nearly released a portable for over $200. I don't know why people think hardware that's two generations old, (DS/DSi), cost so much.



Well, I'd like to take a small issue with his otherwise great post. 

The 3DS isn't that much more powerful than DS compared to past Nintendo handheld advancement.  The GB is considered comparable to the NES, GBA to SNES, and DS to N64; so 3DS to GC is not exactly shocking.

And Wii =/= GC. 



Tag (courtesy of fkusumot): "Please feel free -- nay, I encourage you -- to offer rebuttal."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
My advice to fanboys: Brag about stuff that's true, not about stuff that's false. Predict stuff that's likely, not stuff that's unlikely. You will be happier, and we will be happier.

"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Sen. Pat Moynihan
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The old smileys: ; - ) : - ) : - ( : - P : - D : - # ( c ) ( k ) ( y ) If anyone knows the shortcut for , let me know!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I have the most epic death scene ever in VGChartz Mafia.  Thanks WordsofWisdom! 

I expect $229.99. I don't think it'll be the same price as Wii upon release, but it'll be more than PSP or DS.



Final-Fan said:

Well, I'd like to take a small issue with his otherwise great post. 

The 3DS isn't that much more powerful than DS compared to past Nintendo handheld advancement.  The GB is considered comparable to the NES, GBA to SNES, and DS to N64; so 3DS to GC is not exactly shocking.

And Wii =/= GC. 

The GBA was a great place for SNES-like games, but was a much more capable system.  It ran on a 32-bit engine, easily twice the SNES's obvious 16-bit hardware.  I was reading about classic Game Boy specs, and apparently, while it was largely the same hardware as the NES, I guess it was a tad more refined. 

And yeah, every Nintendo portable has been roughly one generation behind the current, but given the current set-up of console strength, the 3DS might just as well be a portable Wii with 3-D tech rather than motion control. The Wii wasn't exactly engineered, they simply took GameCube hardware and, in a sense, supercharged it.  While the Wii doesn't exacty equal a GameCube, they are awful close--which has been the constant embarrassment for the Wii this generation.  Which, of course, means 3rd party developers will be able to make ports of games (like Call of Duty) using the same graphics engine for the Wii and 3DS (and PSP and PS2 if they're so inclined) to save money, and then just tweak to utilize the system's relative strengths.  As usual, the Wii would be getting the shaft in the graphics department, but I think we're all used to that now.