Announcing the device on March 23, 2010, Nintendo officially unveiled the device at the 2010 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) on June 15, with the company inviting attendees to play with the console. According to industry analysts, the timing of Nintendo's original announcement, which had drawn attention away from the launch of the company's still-new Nintendo DSi XL handheld, was likely intended to preempt impending news leaks about the product by the Japanese press
Although it had been discussed before then, speculation about a true high generational successor to the Nintendo DS series began to ramp up in late 2009. In mid-October, tech tabloid Bright Side of News* reported that graphics processing unit (GPU) developer Nvidia had won the microprocessor contract for the device with its Nvidia Tegra system-on-a-chip series. Later that month, speaking about the future for Nintendo's portable consoles, company president Satoru Iwata mentioned that while mobile connectivity via subscription mobile broadband "doesn't fit Nintendo customers," he was interested in exploring an option similar to the Whispernet service for the Amazon Kindle, in which users are not charged for the mobile connectivity, and the costs are cross-subsidized.
Though Nintendo has expressed interest in including motion-sensing capabilities in its handhelds since before the release of the original Nintendo DS, in January 2010 an alleged comment by Satoru Iwata from an interview with Asahi Shimbun led to a minor dispute between the publication and Nintendo over whether Iwata confirmed that the successor to the Nintendo DS would incorporate a motion sensor. Later that month, analyst Jesse Divnich of Electronic Entertainment Design and Research (EEDAR) stated that the firm believes that Nintendo will launch a Nintendo DS successor "within the next 15 months."
In mid-February, video gaming website Computer and Video Games (CVG) reported that a select "handful" of Japanese developers were in possession of software development kits (SDKs) for the Nintendo DS successor, with The Pok¨¦mon Company given special priority. According to CVG's insider at an unspecified third-party development studio, the hardware features a "tilt" function that is similar to that of the iPhone, "but does a lot more." The insider noted that the distributed hardware is not for the final product, but of trial hardware for developers to provide feedback on.
In mid-March 2010, veteran video game journalist Raymond Padilla reported additional rumors about a Nintendo DS successor from the San Francisco Game Developers Conference. According to developers claiming to be working on the system, the handheld would feature two display screens like the Nintendo DS, but with bigger, higher-resolution display screens, and a smaller gap between them¡ªnegligible enough that they can be used together as a single large screen. An accelerometer would be incorporated into the device. The SDK is reportedly "similar in power to the GameCube," with an easy learning curve for developers familiar working with Nintendo's GameCube or Wii home consoles. The developers claimed that their games for the new handheld would be finished before the end of the year, which Padilla said indicates a likely announcement of the console at E3 2010 in June, and a launch in late 2010. In the same month, several developers spoke publicly about features they wished to see in a Nintendo DS successor, including stronger online functionality, dual multi-touch screens, a (GPS) receiver, and 3G mobile broadband connectivity. On March 23, Nintendo officially announced the Nintendo 3DS.
In late-April 2010, a picture of a possible development build of the internal components of the 3DS was released as part of a U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) filing by Mitsumi. An analysis of the image showed that it was likely genuine as it featured components known to be used in the Nintendo DS line along with features of the 3DS that have not been announced like a 5:3 top screen, and a control nub similar to those used in Sony PSP systems.
In early-June 2010, video gaming website IGN reported that according to "several developers who have experienced 3DS in its current form", the system possesses processing power that "far exceeds the Nintendo Wii". They also cited "several developer sources" as saying that the system does not use the Nvidia Tegra mobile chipset.
The system was officially revealed at Nintendo's conference at E3 2010 on June 15, 2010. The first game revealed was Kid Icarus: Uprising, with several other titles from third parties also announced, including Square Enix with Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy, Konami with Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater 3D, Warner Bros. Interactive with a Batman title, Ubisoft with Assassin's Creed: Lost Legacy, Capcom with Resident Evil: Revelations and Super Street Fighter 4 3D Edition, and Activision with DJ Hero. Other Nintendo titles were later revealed after the conference, such as Mario Kart 3DS, a remake of Star Fox 64 , and a remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time in 3D. On June 21, 2010, it was officially announced that the 3DS will be released everywhere by March 31st, 2011.
By Lone Wolf Blaze
