Nice specs!

Direct3D is an API that has a set of libaries and instructions that you can use with or without programmable pipelines, think of it as kind of a popular middleware like UE3 in a sense(more direct would be OpenGL.) The difference is the flexibility really, on a fixed pipeline, it's an entirely different math game you are playing and is more restrictive in the long run, which is really not something I'd worry about on a handheld since the viewing area is so limited anyways. You can do custom shaders on even the TEV as well, they just often come out not as efficient since you are making it do a lot of extra work that it wouldn't have otherwise have to do vs a matured programmable pipeline code or a set of instructions that does a similar task in much shorter paths already embedded in the hardware itself.

From my understanding with Pica200 it's a fixed pixel shader pipeline but (up to four) programmable vertex shaders?  It's DMP's customized extensions (Maestro suite) that allow the sort of effects you'd expect from a Unified shader model chip (ie: programmable pixel, vertex and geometry shaders).

Side note, digging around DMP's site, it seems Silicon Studio is one of their Maestro development partners... anyone else like to see 3D Dot Game Heroes given a second chance on 3DS?  Seems almost perfect for the system imo...

Didn't Sony publish the first game, or is the IP owned by Atlus?

From Software owns the IP and published it in Japan.  Atlus licensed it for America, and Southpeak for Europe.  Sony doesn't have any involvement with it, you might be thinking Demon's Souls (which they own outright)?

No, I just never saw the publisher, for some reason, and inferred Sony was publishing it (I think I misread a comment somewhere that made me think this).

it does have 4 custom vertex pipelines on paper that you can use as pixel pipelines but it wouldn't be very useful as it is unless they have a new version that has more, the way it is now, I can only see all 4 being used for vertex shading in most cases. It won't push anything insanely awesome like a massive unified pipeline design. It's more of a hybrid, not nearly as flexible but, but! the chip is able to create DX9-10 type effects with what it has! so as far as the visual capabilities go, it's beyond the Xbox or the Wii for sure.

You mean the AMD Fusion?