Meet the The Nintendo DS

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

USA Today Article

 

LOS ANGELES — Video game giant Nintendo, facing increased competition in the market for handheld entertainment, will have a new portable out this fall with twin color screens, sharper graphics and the feel of a PDA. The Nintendo DS — short for dual-screen — will be unveiled Tuesday morning at the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo game industry gathering.

 

The DS will sell alongside today's Game Boy Advance, not replace it, according to the company. Nintendo has not announced a release date or price, though analysts predict it may sell in the $150 range.

 

One of the two 3-inch screens is touch-sensitive and works with a stylus — like Palms and Pocket PCs — to control the action in some games. In one demo, players guide a toddler-age Mario as he falls from the sky by drawing clouds. Other games give multiple views of the action.

 

The DS also has Bluetooth wireless communication to connect with other units within range for cordless competition. DS has separate slots for current Game Boy Advance cartridges and new, smaller DS game cards.

 

DS is largely viewed as Nintendo's response to Sony's PlayStation Portable, or PSP, a new system that will play both movies and video games stored on mini DVD discs. Sony has announced plans to release PSP in Japan later this year and in the USA in 2005.

 

"I have not seen the PSP," says Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of the famous Mario, Zelda and Donkey Kong characters. "The screen, I believe, is bigger than a DS screen, and I am sure it will have excellent graphic quality." But, he adds, "the PSP will not be able to display anything that you cannot do on a current system. ... We want to do things that you could not do before. We are looking at the creative end."

 

The DS has slightly more processing power than the Nintendo 64 console released in 1996. While that's nowhere near today's top game-system graphical capabilities, two- and three-dimensional game images, when viewed on DS screens, are surprisingly crisp.

 

Sony's PSP, reported to be only slightly less powerful than the PlayStation 2, will have a higher-resolution screen and more graphics power. The price has not yet been announced, though estimates have ranged to $250 and up.

 

Having sold more than 168 million Game Boys worldwide since 1989, Nintendo dominates the handheld game market, even as it's losing market share in console systems to Sony and Microsoft. Over the past 15 years, such companies as Sega, NEC, SNK and most recently cell phone giant Nokia have launched nine competing portable game systems without much success.

 

 

I've got to say that looks ugly.

[razazteca 0]

D-pad is still small.

[AndrewTS 0]

Still four buttons?!

 

Also, yeah--d-pad doesn't look so hot. NEO GEO POCKET COLOR CLICKY THUMBSTICK!! STEAL IT, YOU BASTARDS!!

 

I'm interested so far, though.

[LaParkaYourCar 0]

I thought the GBA was selling well? Why are they making a new handheld? Or is this just a revamped GBA?

 

I don't think it's ugly. As far as the buttons, maybe it has two shoulder buttons that we can't see in that pic. Then it would have 6 buttons.

[AndrewTS 0]

The GBA is selling well, but the PSP could be a threat to Nintendo's handheld market. (COULD be, that is)

[Detective Comics 0]

I think I am in love!

[Lightning Flik 0]

It looks interesting and I could definitely see this creating some very interesting concept games.

 

But as asked, new system or a revamped GBA?

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

I thought the GBA was selling well?  Why are they making a new handheld?  Or is this just a revamped GBA?

 

I don't think it's ugly.  As far as the buttons, maybe it has two shoulder buttons that we can't see in that pic.  Then it would have 6 buttons.

The DS will sell alongside today's Game Boy Advance, not replace it, according to the company. Nintendo has not announced a release date or price, though analysts predict it may sell in the $150 range.

 

Its called the Nintendo DS, not the Game Boy Advance DS for a reason, even though it can play GBA games, it has a completely different format for games thats smaller.

[Jobber of the Week 0]

I'm still not seeing the "other" screen used for anything but minimaps, which is disappointing and dull.

[Guest JRE]

I wouldn't be caught dead with that.

[Lightning Flik 0]

I wouldn't be caught dead with that.

I said the same thing about a GBA:SP. Especially in indiglo.

 

Guess what. I own one that's indiglo. So I'm quite sure it doesn't really matter. If it impresses you and makes you feel like you need it, you'll buy it.

[Guest JRE]

I wouldn't be caught dead with that.

I said the same thing about a GBA:SP. Especially in indiglo.

 

Guess what. I own one that's indiglo. So I'm quite sure it doesn't really matter. If it impresses you and makes you feel like you need it, you'll buy it.

I haven't bought anything videogame related in a year and a half. I'm just saying....it looks pretty ugly and not necessary at all.

[LaParkaYourCar 0]

I'm still not seeing the "other" screen used for anything but minimaps, which is disappointing and dull.

It could free up some space on the main screen. Since it's a small screen, the more they can fit on the main viewing screen the better. Plus the addition of the touch sensitive screen could make for some unique games...or it could totally go to waste.

[Lightning Flik 0]

I haven't bought anything videogame related in a year and a half. I'm just saying....it looks pretty ugly and not necessary at all.

Depends. I could see it being very valuable.

 

Take a tactical game. You can have one screen having actual combat being displayed on the other screen, all the while the "main" screen, you can plain out your next attack while the attacking process happens (like La Pucelle like, where it switches to traditiona). Thus giving you a continuous flow and keep up the pace. And wait! If you time it right, you can get your next character (an archer) to run behind your knight, and nail in a couple of arrows against your opponent to do some more damage and combo up. Or you could even have the dual screens show a whole battlefield with one screen being one, and another being another battle field. And you have to fight two at the same time!

 

Or how about in an RPG you get to a wall and must read an inscritipion on the wall. On the main screen, you go up to the wall and when the inscription comes up, it'll go on the secondary screen but in like regular lettering on the graphics, not in a text box. Or you could even have some characters say some odd things in the secondary window to add a whole bunch of convos that you normally wouldn't hear, and it might even impact your story as a character might ask you if you were listening, and you say no, and then you get like smacked across the head or something.

 

...yah, that isn't all that great in words, but if you play it out, could add a little fun.

[BUTT 0]

Here are some DS demo screenshots (keep in mind, not all of these may be actual games:

 

Mario 64x4

 

 

Metroid Prime: Hunters

 

Wario Ware DS

 

 

PictoChat

 

[AndrewTS 0]

Those demos look promising. Yeah, the prospect of N64 quality graphics doesn't sound thrilling, but it's far from terrible. The GBA is basically a souped-up portable SNES.

[Guest SpiderFan]

If they port of some n64 games to the system (albeit with tweaked controls since DS has less buttons) I'd probably look into getting one. I'd love to play GoldenEye, Mario 64, and Zelda: OoT anywhere. Other then that, the system doesn't really interest me.

[Jingus 0]

Hell yes, nobody's stolen my line yet:

 

Wasn't one Virtua Boy enough?

[Prophet of Mike Zagurski 0]

I do not think that this was a good idea because the company just released the GBA like 3 years ago. They're just spliting the market again. Now I won't have enough money for PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, GBA and maybe the new system.

[Lightning Flik 0]

Hell yes, nobody's stolen my line yet:

 

Wasn't one Virtua Boy enough?

Considering we got an N-Gage, a PSP, and now this?

 

I say, for some reason console makers understand, no.

Edited May 11, 2004 by Lightning Flik

[AndrewTS 0]

Hell yes, nobody's stolen my line yet:

 

Wasn't one Virtua Boy enough?

...because this is SO much like a large, unwieldy, heavy headset with 2 colors, eye-damaging vector graphics and one or two decent games.

[DerangedHermit 0]

From fatmangames.com:

What is Nintendo's online strategy?!

 

How about this - the DS supports 16 player wireless at 100 feet apart!  Instant chat, draw, sending pictures to each other, and...  If you get in range of other people, the DS automatically turns on, and activates online mode if you want.  And there's more.

 

It's got wi-fi.

 

Daaaaaaa-yum. I want to see a Smash Bros. game for the DS.

[AndrewTS 0]

Probably the wireless requires you to buy a special wireless connector. But it won't work with the DS initially. You'll have to buy an adaptor, connect that to the wireless connector and then connect it to the DS.

[Anya 0]

I find it hard to get excited about a portable system. I don't know what to make of the dual screen either. I could see Nintendo doing something with it, but it seems like it'd be ignored by 3rd parties. The whole thing comes off as gimmicky.

[AndrewTS 0]

If it's going to be primarily used for 3D games, I'm not sold on it.

[dubq 0]

I wouldn't be caught dead with that.

I said the same thing about a GBA:SP. Especially in indiglo.

 

Guess what. I own one that's indiglo. So I'm quite sure it doesn't really matter. If it impresses you and makes you feel like you need it, you'll buy it.

I haven't bought anything videogame related in a year and a half. I'm just saying....it looks pretty ugly and not necessary at all.

Glad you could share your pessimism with us, then.

[dubq 0]

 

I've got to say that looks ugly.

Looks fine to me. Besides, that's probably just a beta/prototype image. I'm sure the big N will soupe it up in about 50 different colours/designs down the line.

 

Aside from that, I'll buy it if it matches the GBA:SP in terms of screensize [3 inches sounds about right, but I'm not sure of the SP's size off hand at the moment] and having a backlight. Nintendo has had a pretty excellent track record with handhelds lately, so I'm sure this new system will have a ton of great ports and new games. The backwards compatibility part is definitely a plus as well. Apparently there are versions of Animal Crossing and Pokemon planned as well.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Probably the wireless requires you to buy a special wireless connector. But it won't work with the DS initially. You'll have to buy an adaptor, connect that to the wireless connector and then connect it to the DS.

The DS also has Bluetooth wireless communication to connect with other units within range for cordless competition.

 

Bluetooth built in just like the Nokia N Gage (ugh).

[Scroby 0]

Has how big it will be and how much its gonna weigh been annouced yet? It looks like its going to be bigger than a GBA, length wise, not width.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

From an IGN report:

 

The Nintendo DS system is, in its current form, about the size of two Game Boy Advance SP systems placed side by side. It's approximately as wide as the original Game Boy Advance system, and designed in clamshell fashion exactly as the Game Boy Advance SP is. Each half of the clamshell contains two brightly lit LCD screens fixed in the center. The controls are located on the lower portion of the system, with the eight-way D-pad positioned on the left of the lower screen, and the A, B, X, and Y buttons laid out identically to the Super NES controls on the right of the lower screen. The system's microphone, for built-in voice recognition in certain games, is currently located on the front edge, directly below the D-pad. The unit's L and R buttons are circular and in similar location to where they're positioned on the Game Boy Advance. The system's audio speaker is located to the right of the upper screen; the left side had the same similar concave design, but didn't seem to have a speaker inserted there.

 

Theres way more info on the DS here