Interesting Nintendo Rumor regarding new GB, DS

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

I saw this over on Joystiq (from some site called Spong)

 

The new model of the Game Boy Advance will be shown at Nintendo’s E3 press conference this year in what will be one of the most remarkable moments in recent videogame history.

 

The unit will be a true gaming machine and will come equipped with a large high-quality back-lit screen and analogue controls, very much, one might argue, like Sony’s PSP.

 

Nintendo staffers have confirmed to SPOnG.com that preliminary hardware will be shown both at the firm’s conference and encased alongside the Nintendo Revolution on the showfloor.

 

Indeed, SPOnG has been privvy to the emergence of the next-generation of Game Boy Advance for some time, though little more than it’s E3 debut was known.

 

As this news breaks, perhaps the most pertinent point to be mulled is exactly how Nintendo is going to explain the situation to fans and, of course, early adopters of the Nintendo DS. The answer to this conundrum is quite possibly the most incredible climb-down the games industry has ever witnessed.

 

Specifically, Nintendo will unveil a suite of PDA-focussed software for the DS powered by recently licensed Palm OS technology. The machine will evolve from a pure gaming machine into a PDA equipped to play Nintendo 64 quality games. Essentially, Nintendo believes that with the right software, it has a high-powered, wireless-enabled PDA capable of playing games of a higher standard than any competing device.

 

Picking up the pieces, however, will be something of a PR nightmare, something that Nintendo is fully aware of. The DS, announced so soon after the PSP was unveiled by Sony, was effectively a spoiler machine, aimed at snatching away market share from SCEI. Although this has been categorically denied by the Kyoto giant, the revelation that a new Game Boy, which in essence appears to be a PSP with a Nintendo badge, confirms this belief beyond any doubt.

 

The new Game Boy will be based around existing Nintendo GameCube hardware and will be, when it launches in the US and Japan towards the end of this year, the most powerful handheld console on the planet. SPOnG also believes it likely that the machine will make use of GameCube software. Revolution connectivity was confirmed.

 

By way of damage control, Nintendo must now cling to its ever-present third-pillar line regarding the DS. The firm has always claimed that the Dual Screen represents not a furthering of the Game Boy range, but something quite different. It would seem that those well-placed foundations will now be required to carry the hefty bulk of a complete reversal of application for a machine that was launched as a gaming device and will, within months, have its key role significantly altered.

 

 

Believe it, or don't. There was a "counter" article from

Eurogamer that pretty much contradicts this and says it will be just a GBA-SP-DX type thing with extra stuff added to the GBA-SP for the Same price and the GBA-SP reduced to $49.

 

I dont know what to make of it, honestly. On one hand I think Nintendo almost has to release an equivalent version of the PSP this year, on the other hand I cant see them doing that having just released the DS. A Gamecube based GB makes the most sense because A)Huge game library, B)same disc form factor as the PSP, C)The Cube was pretty small as it was so it couldn't really be that hard to turn it into a portable. The whole "DS is gonna be a PDA that plays games" makes a good argument for them doing that, but its gonna piss off a ton of people who bought the DS thinking it was the successor to the GameBoy. Then again, Nintendo has always said that the DS was never intended to replace the GameBoy, sooo..you can go by that and say that they had intended from the start for the DS to be a PDA that plays games..But if this ends up being just a beefed up version of the GBA-SP, then its not going to be a huge enough annoucement to be worth any hype at E3 and people will end up being disapointed.

 

*head explodes*

[Youth N Asia 0]

I've never been big on handhelds...but do they really need to redo the gameboy every couple of years. Say what you want, but I think most people look at the DS as another gameboy

[AndrewTS 0]

I'd be *so* there for a portable Gamecube.

[Eclipse 0]

This is indeed a PR nightmare here. If any of that is true, basically, the new GBA will have stuff that should have been on the DS. Also, it looks like they are completely ripping off PSP.

 

I really don't know what to think of it, but right now, they have better differentiate the new GB to the DS.

[razazteca 0]

You would think that all of the nintendo fanboys would get a clue and get tired of having to buy a new gameboy every year with only ports or remakes as the nucleus of the software library.

[AndrewTS 0]

You would think that all of the nintendo fanboys would get a clue and get tired of having to buy a new gameboy every year with only ports or remakes as the nucleus of the software library.

Ports, remakes and sequels. GET IT RIGHT!

 

...wait a second--that's exactly what the PSP line-up is right now.

[razazteca 0]

Outside of Advance Wars and Golden Sun what was so orginal about GBA games......Castlevania AoS is the greatest sequel of a remake ever.

 

But for $49 I would get one.

[AndrewTS 0]

Outside of Advance Wars and Golden Sun what was so orginal about GBA games......Castlevania AoS is the greatest sequel of a remake ever.

 

But for $49 I would get one.

Original? Not much. Good though?

Lessee...

 

3 good CV games

Krazy Racers/Mario Kart sequel

Astro Boy

Ninja Five-O

Super Puzzle Fighter

Altered Beast sequel

Pinball of the Dead

portable Fire Pro

Kirby

Mario/Luigi

Legend/Zelda: Minish Cap

WarioWare

 

For those who care about RPGs:

revamped Final Fantasy 1 and 2 (for those who care)

Fire Emblem

Kingdom Hearts: COM

Demi-Kids (MegaTen games)

Mega Man Battle Networks

 

Sadly, I know that that Game Boy systems are sold more by Pokemon and Yu-gi-oh than anything else.

[Guest DVD Spree]

Well, for starters, treat anything you read on Spong with a HUGE rock of salt. They aren't known for their reliability.

 

The info seems to have come from some random analyst's report, in which he speculated on a few things (with some truly wild and wacky reasoning that make no sense to anyone else).

 

One of the news editors here spoke to Nintendo yesterday, and said there was nothing to it. It would be complete suicide for the DS anyway, particularly as it's not out in a lot of territories. But who knows how Nintendo work seomtimes…