3DS Design in Detail, 3rd February 2011 (1up.com)
Nintendo explains the system's three-layer design.
If you've looked at photos of the Nintendo 3DS closely, you may have noticed that it's comprised of three layers. It might seem like an inconsequential choice, when in fact there was a lot of consideration put into Nintendo's decision to design it in that way.
The latest Iwata Asks sees Nintendo president Satoru Iwata speaking with several of the people involved with designing the 3DS, including Yui Ehara of the Research and Engineering department's Design Group. Originally there were 12 different models that were rejected for various reasons -- but mainly because they were "old-fashioned" and lacked "any new characteristics," as Iwata put it. With a limited amount of time to come up with something better, three new prototypes were brought in for approval, with the one Ehara was instrumental in designing being chosen.
As the picture above shows, there are three layers to the system, each with a different color. Ehara explained, "For the top layer, we want players to open their Nintendo 3DS system very often, so in order to make it easy to open, we wanted to use a distinct reverse taper. ... By boldly using that shape for the top layer, without having to add in a niche for your finger, you could easily open the lid at any point along its edge."
The reasoning behind the second layer being recessed had to do with the placement of the buttons: "For the second layer, it was decided to put a sound volume slider and LED lights on the side, so in order to avoid accidentally hitting buttons when operating the system or carrying it around, we decided to concentrate them on that single layer and make the whole layer a bit of an indentation, which would make the top layer even easier to open."
Ehara continued, "Then for the bottom layer, I wondered if we could adopt something like the sign system at airports. I thought putting icons or lettering on the third level for the buttons and LED lights on the second level would be a good way to make everything clear to users."
Even the different color tones for each of the three layers had thought put into it; the idea was to "represent through the design how all kinds of content would come in, not just when you went out walking around with it, but also when you just had it sitting at home," referring to the device's StreetPass and SpotPass features.
The interview goes on to discuss the problems involved with actually converting the design into the device that will be hitting store shelves in Japan later this month and North America in March.
Source: Siliconera