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Nintendo Reveals History Of 3DS Development
One of the most interesting things about Game Developers Conference is how different it is from a show like E3. Both events feature product announcements and other consumer-friendly news, but GDC is squarely focused on delivering information to the people who make games. It's also a great place to learn some fascinating tidbits about how projects evolved from their conception to the products that players are familiar with. At a panel today, Hideki Konno, head of Nintendo's Software Development Group No. 1, described the creation of the 3DS.
Konno says that the 3DS began with a small team of two internal hardware experts. They set out to investigate the latest in 3D technology to see if it would be feasible to incorporate into a handheld gaming device. Thanks in no small part to the Virtual Boy's failure, Konno says the team faced a fair amount of resistance within Nintendo about the project.
Mario Kart Wii was the first game that was converted to 3D on the prototype hardware, and it took about two weeks to get it up and running in 3D.
Below are a few shots from the presentation, along with some extra commentary from Konno.
The original prototype wasn't much to look at. The assembled heap was piled onto a rolling cart, which was then taken throughout Nintendo's offices for product demos. As Konno says, there were a lot of demos during those early stages.
A Wii nunchuk was modified with a volume knob, giving prototype users the ability to adjust the 3D effect. That functionality is still a part of the final 3DS hardware, though it's been replaced by a slider. The current solution doesn't look nearly as clunky.
Nintendo was concerned about the placement of the 3DS' analog pad, so the designers tweaked a regular DS with a configurable d-pad and analog pad. That way, testers could physically move the inputs around the unit's face as they settled on ideal placement.
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