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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - NPD: 3DS Sales Lowest Since July 2011. About to Fall Behind PSP.

czecherychestnut on 12 September 2014
Soundwave said:

This is basically what I came up with on a cost basis ...

Nintendo Budget Tablet (Nintendo Touch)

- 3DS GPU + ARM Cortex 9 (dual core) CPU + PowerVR G6430, basically a 3DS + an iPhone 5s chip customized for gaming performance. 

- 6.3 inch LCD, 1280x720 single screen, no 3D. Not the greatest screen quality but far better than the Wii U controller or 3DS screens. 

- Runs custom version of Android per Nintendo's specs. Main menu has Miiverse plaza when you boot it up. Nintendo controls which Android games are allowed and also charges a Nintendo "tax" on games so they get their cut of the action. So $2.49 for the standard Android game, maybe $9.99 for things like Minecraft and Final Fantasy III. Nintendo pockets money on each download. Facebook, Instagram, Google Maps, WhatsApp, Twitter, Netflix, Hulu, Youtube, and many more apps can all be free however. 

- Full Virtual Console support (NES-N64, GB-GBA, DS) and also 3DS support. Requires a control cradle to play games in vertical (DS/3DS) mode, but many 3DS/DS games could be reworked quickly to be able to play in horizontal mode. $2 for NES games, $4 for SNES, $6 for N64, $15-$25 for DS, $25-35 for 3DS. 

- Ships with "Nintendo Learn" software. Basically a mashup of Brain Training, Art Academy, and Louvre Museum. Point of this is to make it seem like more of an "edutainment" tablet that kids can sucker their parents into buying (way cheaper than a iPad too), lol. 

- Price: $179.99

That's actually pretty powerful too, a good deal past the Vita. 

This late in the piece there is no point using an Cortex A9-based processor, A9 is nearly 7 years old now (remember the Vita has a quad-core A9). If you want to go with power you are better off with A12 which is around 40 % more powerful for the same power, or A7 if you want similar power but lower power consumption. I also wouldn't put such a weak CPU with a PowerVR G6430 either, too imbalanced.  But the general idea though sounds solid, Nintendo has so much value tied up in their catalogue that they seemingly don't want to use, VC could be so much better utilised and that could bring people back to Nintendo games. 



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Soundwave on 12 September 2014

 

Yeah I kinda gimped the CPU just because it seems like a Nintendo thing to do, lol. A12 would be fine as long as its cheap. 

I kinda splurged a little on the GPU, but I think it would be worth it. In this price range it would be hard to find a tablet with this level of performance aside from the fact that it plays Nintendo games. 



Vena on 12 September 2014

Soundwave said:

Yeah I kinda gimped the CPU just because it seems like a Nintendo thing to do, lol. A12 would be fine as long as its cheap. 

I kinda splurged a little on the GPU, but I think it would be worth it. In this price range it would be hard to find a tablet with this level of performance aside from the fact that it plays Nintendo games. 


Cortex A12s are cheap, they are/were for sub-200$ phones.



NickK on 12 September 2014

3DS is a monster!!!



MoHasanie on 12 September 2014

That's surprising. The holidays should keep sales high so the N3DS is coming at the right time.



    

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BOLLOCKS on 12 September 2014

PSP, teh king of non Nintendo handhelds.



Soundwave on 12 September 2014
Vena said:

Soundwave said:

Yeah I kinda gimped the CPU just because it seems like a Nintendo thing to do, lol. A12 would be fine as long as its cheap. 

I kinda splurged a little on the GPU, but I think it would be worth it. In this price range it would be hard to find a tablet with this level of performance aside from the fact that it plays Nintendo games. 


Cortex A12s are cheap, they are/were for sub-200$ phones.


Yeah. 

To be honest a A12 ARM CPU (dual or quad core) + G6340 GPU + 3DS GPU is pretty beastly, I may have overcooked it a bit, lol. 

That would be a definite generational leap past the current 3DS, it would be above the Vita quite comfortably too. 



Vena on 12 September 2014
Soundwave said:

Yeah. 

To be honest a A12 ARM CPU (dual or quad core) + G6340 GPU + 3DS GPU is pretty beastly, I may have overcooked it a bit, lol. 

That would be a definite generational leap past the current 3DS, it would be above the Vita quite comfortably too. 


+ Bluetooth for comofrtable use of the Wii U Pro Controller.



Soundwave on 12 September 2014

I specced a few concept ideas for what the design could be too, not sure which I'd go with. 

1.) Standard Horizontal Tablet + Controls design:

Like the Wii U controller, but nowhere near as thick. I think probably the controls and screen would be smaller than this model (a JXD tablet). 

2.) Horiztonal or 4:3 style screen:

This would be good for DS/3DS backwards compatibility. 

 

3.) Removable "Controller Wings"

Not exactly like what's pictured above, but perhaps the main part of the system is just the screen and you can remove the controller parts on the side and play vertically or horiztonally (DS/3DS) mode. 



oniyide on 12 September 2014
hated_individual said:
Dunban67 said:
oniyide said:
Dunban67 said:
Seece said:
Jizz_Beard_thePirate said:
Makes sense considering the n3ds announcement... I expect it to get a bump during Smash Bros but not to sell as high as it could have been


Not the reason, that was announced late August when this sales period was closing.

The New 3DS announcement could not have come at a stranger time IMO-  they are about to release a potential 3DS system seller with Smaah Bros and are getting close to the holiday sales season but they announce a new version that will surely cause many potential 3DS purchasers to hesitate or put off all together getting a 3DS until the "New 3DS" is available at an unspecified time in the future.....

.....unless they think they have pretty well tapped the existing market and now need to sell multiple 3DS s to its existing ownership base 

this is EXACTLY what they think

Either you are correct (I think you are) or they made a big mistake in the timing of the announcement which I don t see them doing 


DSi...

So...the same thing