14 DAY TRIAL // After the technical specifications for the Nintendo 3DS were revealed at the E3 trade show, only a couple of questions were left unanswered: what chip powers the new device and if it has more punch than the Wii, as some pre-show rumors suggested. Now, a hardware firm based in Japan called Digital Media Professional has announced that the Nintendo 3DS is powered by its Pica 200 graphics core processor complete with a set of extensions that deal with the three-dimensional aspect called “Maestro technology.”
Tatsuo Yamamoto, who is the president and Chief Executive Officer of Digital Media Professional, said, “We had a very ambitious goal in the realization of naked-eye 3D stereo vision, and video game console style high quality graphics rendering, whilst maintaining low power consumption. I am delighted that we were able to contribute with ‘Maestro technology’, which we have developed over several years at DMP.”
The company is stating that the Pica 200 chip has “complex shader functionality” and the power to enable high performance graphics to be displayed on mobile systems, like the Nintendo 3DS, without using too much power from the battery, thereby extending the game time that a player can get out of the device.
The Nintendo 3DS was the indisputable star of the 2010 edition of the E3 trade show, with its glasses-free full three-dimensional capabilities impressing journalists and analysts alike. The device will have two screens, like the current generation handhelds from the Japanese giant, with a slight difference in size between the top and bottom one.
The gaming gadget will also have three cameras, one of them facing the player and rumors have been pointing to the ability to locally install videogames. The company has not committed to a clear launch date but the 3DS is expected to arrive in Japan before the end of the year.