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DMP announces PICA200 GPU is the heart of the 3DS

by: Sean Colleli -
More On: 3DS
It's not the official word from Nintendo, but I'm sure they wouldn't let this sort of announcement slip without permission. Apparently Digital Media Professionals is supplying the GPU for the 3DS, and it's the portable PICA200 core they've had available for a few years now. According to Digitalfoundry  it isn't quite as powerful as what the iPhone and iPad have under the hood, but Nintendo specializes in using slightly dated tech, and the 3DS is definitely a more focused platform than Apple's portables.

Supposedly the PICA200 is fully capable of shaders, lighting effects, shadows and the other graphical bells and whistles we've come to expect, and from what we saw on the show flood the 3DS is at least as capable as the GameCube, and maybe even the Wii. With so many developers speaking enthusiastically about the 3DS its obvious that they have confidence in the hardware too.