Super Smash Bros. on 3DS Lacks Circle Pad Pro Support Due to Processing Power Limitations

Posted Tue 30th Sep 2014 12:15 by Thomas Whitehead

So says Masahiro Sakurai

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS has a solid control scheme, but there was some gnashing of teeth when it emerged that it won't support the Circle Pad Pro for some convenient Smash Attacks with the second Circle Pad. It's only been natural to wonder why, then, the c-stick on the New Nintendo 3DS is supported, with various reasons being speculated upon.

Rather than the move being an attempt to convince gamers in Japan or Australia and New Zealand to plump for the New model — we're waiting until 2015 elsewhere — it's apparently all about processing power. We already know that the faster CPU in the new models will allow suspend game options in Smash Bros. not possible on the original hardware, but it seems the game is using so much of the system's resources that even the peripheral is too much of a drain.

Below are translated comments from Masahiro Sakurai — which we've double checked — that suggest there just isn't enough power to support the add-on controller.

Supporting the CCP requires the use of some of the CPU's processing load. From the information received during the development of Kid Icarus: Uprising, this is a quite large load at around 5%. Kid Icarus: Uprising and Smash both use the maximum capability of the device, so we had to abandon the idea of CCP support.

With the New 3DS, we were able to support the C-Stick as the processing power is increased and it is not a peripheral device.

Now you could actually use the Circle Pad Pro in Kid Icarus: Uprising, but not both sticks at once; we suspect there's still a little lost in translation, or an honest mistake from Sakurai-san, with that comment. The observation about the CCP's demands on the processor are certainly interesting, however, and the lengthy load time of the demo alone shows how hard the brawler is pushing the portable.

Are you frustrated by the absence of Circle Pad Pro support in Smash Bros. on 3DS, or happy enough with a quick flick of the Circle Pad and A? Let us know in the comments below.

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2014/09/super_smash_bros_on_3ds_lacks_circle_pad_pro_support_due_to_processing_power_limitations

Do you believe his explanation?

Well... To be fair... When playing SSB for 3ds, you can't access the miiverse or the web browser while runnning the game, and those do require additional resources to run so I do indeed believe him when he is saying that cause to me, it seems running SSB3ds at 60fps even in 3d mode requires a shit ton of horsepower that the 3ds can bearly manage! So, even though its 5%, I think SSB is pushing the 3ds to its absolute limits so even that 5% counts

I think we already knew this, that and the Amiibo peripheral uses the IR slot as well.

Though this makes me wonder if the Amiibo IR is even going to work lol.

That's the word that's coming out, also why the game doesn't run concurrently with any other apps like other 3DS games: it's using all the processing power.

Which begs the "No Ice Climbers" question, because when you remove the drag of the firmware out of the picture, 3DS is handily stronger than GameCube (without it, the numbers tilt in GameCube's favor)