Iwata Asks is a series of interviews conducted by former Nintendo Global President Satoru Iwata with key creators behind the making of Nintendo games and hardware.



Iwata Asks Home

Nintendo 3DS



Volume 2 Nintendo 3DS Hardware Concept

Starting Before Launch of the Nintendo DS

Iwata

Today I have with me Umezu-san, who was in charge of the Nintendo 3DS system design, Sugino-san, who designed the hardware, and Konno-san, who was the project producer. Thank you for joining me today.

Everyone

Thanks for having us.

Iwata

Umezu-san, would you start by introducing yourself?

Umezu

Sure. I'm Umezu from the Research and Engineering Department. My role was pulling together system design from the point of view of hardware, so I was in charge of specifications for SoC design.

Iwata

"SoC" is an abbreviation for "system on a chip." These days it's called that because all systems necessary for running a game system are placed on a single semiconductor chip.

Umezu

It used to be called a custom LSI.1

Iwata

When were you put in charge of making custom LSIs?

Umezu

The first time was for the Game Boy Color system.2 Next was the Game Boy Advance3 and Nintendo DS4, and now the Nintendo 3DS system. 1. Custom LSI: A large-scale integrated circuit specially designed and produced for a particular product.

2. Game Boy Color™: A handheld game system released in October 1998 as the successor to the Game Boy system. It featured a color screen.

3. Game Boy Advance: A handheld game system released on March, 2001 as the successor to the Game Boy Color.

4. Nintendo DS™: A handheld game system with two screens, one of which is a touch screen. Released December 2004.

Iwata

Game Boy Color came out in 1998, so you've been involved with LSI design for 12 years.

Umezu

Well, I began working on the design earlier than that. LSI and SoC design begins long before you know what is required of the new hardware or see what form it will take.

Iwata

In other words, when you begin SoC design, the people around you aren't telling you what kind of functions they want in the new system or giving you any hints for development.

Umezu

Right. I have to imagine what kind of functions will be necessary for a handheld gaming system that will go on sale years in the future.

Iwata

You think about what may be possible years down the road and structure it accordingly.

Umezu

Yes. It doesn't mean that we can keep it the way it is because what we released in the past is currently selling. Rather, it's difficult because I have to purposely abandon the current situation and think of the next new thing.

Iwata

While the software developers are working as hard as they can on games for the hardware that's now on sale, you are all alone thinking up the next hardware.

Umezu

I am! (laughs)

Iwata

Then you must have been thinking about what would come next about the time that the Nintendo DS system came out.

Umezu

Actually, when Nintendo DS came out, I had already finished SoC design, so I had begun thinking about what came after that!

Iwata

Oh, I see. Before even a single Nintendo DS system had been sold, you were already on to the next thing. What were you thinking about?

Umezu

First, I thought about the graphics—what kind of graphics would be required of the next generation system. Then I started fleshing it out.

Iwata

What kind of graphics did you think would be necessary in a future handheld gaming system at that time?

Umezu

I paid particular attention to home consoles. Even though it was a handheld, I wanted the visuals to be as close to those of a home console as possible.

Iwata

What did you focus on?

Umezu

I focused on the balance between graphics performance and power consumption. I couldn't put in such a big battery that it would influence the size of the system, and handheld game systems are under particular constraints when it comes to battery life and cost, so first I thought about how to get the best performance within those limits. And unlike anything before, the Nintendo DS had the characteristic of two screens, so…

Iwata

You had begun work without yet knowing whether the world would accept Nintendo DS with its two screens.

Umezu

Right. So, at first, I also considered a design without two screens. That never saw the light of day, though.

Iwata

And you didn't just consider it, you actually made it.

Umezu

Yes. I actually made something that ran. But while I was doing that, Nintendo DS became well received by a lot of people. About the time the Nintendo DSi5 system came out, I realized two screens was a must and began thinking about an early form of Nintendo 3DS. 5. Nintendo DSi™: A handheld game system released in November 2008 as an upgrade model of the Nintendo DS Lite. It possesses various new features, such as bigger LCD screens and two cameras.

Iwata

The Nintendo DSi system came out in November 2008, so…

Umezu

I began thinking about the SoC that would be an early incarnation of Nintendo 3DS in the latter half of 2007. I wanted to achieve high-performance graphics, but if I allotted all the power to graphics, I wouldn't be able to do anything else later.

Iwata

At that time, we hadn't started talking about an LCD that would allow users to see 3D with the naked eye.

Umezu

Right. You have to be thrifty when it comes to the limited power of a handheld, so I designed the SoC with some leeway for putting in whatever surprise elements might come along later.

Iwata

You had to design it with leeway so that you could adapt to whatever ideas popped up later on.

Umezu

Yes.

Iwata

Sugino-san, you were in charge of hardware design. Would you please introduce yourself?

Sugino

I'm Sugino from the Research and Engineering Department. I'm manager of the Design Group, so I was responsible for the overall design of the Nintendo 3DS system.

Iwata

Your work as an industrial designer goes back quite a way to such products as the Play It Loud! series6 and Game Boy Pocket7, right?

Sugino

Yes. I also participated in Nintendo's first 3D game system, Virtual Boy.8 6. Play It Loud!™: A series of the original Game Boy system released in different colors.

7. Game Boy pocket: A compact version of the original Game Boy handheld game system. Released July 1996.

8. Virtual Boy™: A 3D game system with a display in an eyepiece. Released in July 1995.

Iwata

I imagine that in your work designing all those systems, you've noticed a lot of changes in materials and mounting technology.

Sugino

Yes, especially these last few years. Changes in materials and its miniaturization for cell phones became particularly prominent. Such developments have proven incredibly informative in game system design as well.

Iwata

When you design a handheld gaming system at Nintendo, everyone says, "Make it thinner, make it smaller, make it lighter."

Sugino

Yeah. (laughs)

Iwata

You're also told to make it so it won't break if you drop it, so you have to make a lot of tradeoffs, such that if you do this, you can't do that.

Sugino

That's our fate. Take the first Nintendo DS, for example. You said, "Make it thinner!" (laughs)

Iwata

Yeah, I said, "Do you really think this is all right?" (laughs)

Sugino

I was like, "If I could make it any thinner, I would have in the first place!"

Iwata

You thought you had made it as thin as you could from the very start.

Sugino

Yeah. I mean, with a folding body and two LCDs, I didn't see how it was possible. But when I gave it a shot, the result was the Nintendo DS Lite system.9

Everyone

(laughs)

Sugino

When you changed your approach and got rid of all gaps, Nintendo DS Lite was born. I think that experience can be seen in Nintendo 3DS.

Iwata

The first thing (Nobuo) Nagai-san10, who's in charge at the Uji plant, said to me when he looked over the designs for Nintendo 3DS before mass production began was "This time it's fully packed right from the start."

Sugino

Oh, really? (laughs) But he was right. That's why we don't have any short-term plans for creating a more compact version of Nintendo 3DS like we did with Nintendo DS Lite. (laughs)

Iwata

Yeah. (laughs) When making Nintendo 3DS, we used all our tricks for Nintendo DS Lite—and more—for cutting down on size right from the start. 9. Nintendo DS Lite™: A handheld game system released in March 2006. It features a thinner, lighter body than the original Nintendo DS model, and screen brightness can be adjusted to four different levels.

10. Nobuo Nagai: Senior Managing Director and Representative Director, Nintendo Co., Ltd. General Manager, Manufacturing Division.