The vector processor in the BCM2727 isn't directly available to 3rd party developers, so how is that relevant? It makes more sense to compare it to the GPU and potential fixed-function accelerators in practice. The fact it's programmable is an (interesting) implementation detail.It really sounds unreasonable. I'd take dual 533MHz ARM11 easily, or even single ~500MHz Cortex A5 with NEON. Or at least having some dedicated hardware for vector processing, like Broadcom's BCM2727 in Nokia N8.
The first two are obvious and I said so myself, but I'm not certain about the last one. It's perfectly possible that there is dedicated hardware for audio, and even if there isn't you seem to be exaggerating the processing cost involved (it's just 20MHz per MP3 and you can do it in advance for the usual small sound effects).With this kind of hardware, we just know the 3DS games are condemned to scripted physics, AI and even low-quality sound music/effects (please, no more midi sound, really.. it's enough) during their whole lifetime (until 2016?).
I certainly agree in a general sense, for what it's worth; it's mostly a disagreement about magnitude and important details.The console is coming at the same time as dual-~1GHz A9 smartphones hit the market.. I just can't believe they think they can pull another "it's okay 'cause we're creative" on us, with 5 year-old hardware.
And how about not removing the context of the quote? You said 'as soon as 3D displays become standard'. A single model is as far from standard as can be - while I agree OS support will probably come in less than 2 years, the number of features supported by various OSes that never became mainstream is a staggering number. This will nearly certainly become mainstream eventually, but my point is that if it doesn't within 3 years of the 3DS' release, then that's not a big deal for Nintendo - and I assume that's what Nintendo is thinking here too. But if it does happen faster as you seem to believe, then yes I agree it would be a substantial problem for them.When? How about 3 months ago?
There is a difference between casual gaming and casual games. The DS is all about what many would call casual games, but people who own one used them a lot more than cellphone gaming on average, so it's not casual gaming per-se. That's presumably the distinction MfA wanted to point out.The DS' worldwide success is all about casual gaming.