This is a pointless thread, may as well ask what the reason was for the PSX vs PS2, PS3Slim, XB360Slim or Elite, or what the point was of the Vita revision, or DSi, or anything for that matter. These are hardware steps built to revitalize sales, use better/cheaper parts for cost reduction over time, introduce functionality (like the new 3D on the N3DS), etc.
Scisca said:
To have a reason to increase the price for hardware that was outdated on its release. Honestly, I have no idea how they can get away with charging this much for their crappy hardware. The reason why I haven't got a 3DS is because it's too expensive for me! Vita is so much cheaper and from the technological point of view, the quality of execution it's miles away.
With such ridiculous pricing, I won't get a 3DS unless it's finally hacked like the DS. I don't accept such rip-off policy. |
Give what we now know of the N3DS, you'll be sad to know that the Vita is no longer above the N3DS across the board. It largely depends on the game but the (now revealed) massive clockspeed boost on the N3DS puts it above the stock Vita in MIPS (but below when the Vita is forced to use its faster clock setting and shut off certain features, think like how the OG3DS had to boot to run Smash3DS). The 3DS still sports a dated GPU and screen, so it is not going to be trying to output sub-resolution, up-scaled 540p.
In fact, the jump actually puts the N3DS chip on a rather forward edge of technology on its node production line (still dated, mind you), which is VERY surprising because it is an almost entirely pointless upgrade amount (on top of the boosts to VRAM, core count, etc). The only part of it that wasn't boosted, for rather obvious compatability reasons, was the GPU. This leads many of us to suspect that Nintendo is actually having problems with CPU bottlenecks (on top of reaching full Unity functionality on the half-step of the N3DS) and not only with the 3DS but probably the WiiU as well, which bodes INCREDIBLY well for the next platform having considerably better throughput, bandwidth management, and so on.
Exactly how far they push the NX remains to be seen, but I am no longer going to be surprised if we see them on a 14/16nm production line given their apparent (and now verified) desire for considerably more CPU power. This is also good news for full middleware engine support such as Unity, UE4 (got to get DQXI somehow), and others. In fact I wouldn't even be surprised if the N3DS is boosted so much as an excuse for younger developers to get a crack at Unity tools and other more common place middleware solutions that were previously gated off by the 3DS's horrible clock speeds and core limits.
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