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Portables (Games)

Nintendo DS Gets Sleeker Final Design, Same Name 408

Posted by simoniker from the nothing-to-see-here dept.
Ravi Hiranand writes "Nintendo has announced the final name of their Nintendo DS handheld, and it will be called... Nintendo DS. The final design of the system is viewable on their official site (screenshot) - looks sleeker and far less chunky, but still a bit awkward. There's also an English-language press release full of waffly language, but the only things you need to know are that there are 120 DS games in development (20 from Nintendo) and that the price, release date and launch lineup will be announced later."
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Nintendo DS Gets Sleeker Final Design, Same Name More

Nintendo DS Gets Sleeker Final Design, Same Name

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  • ...dang, that is hot.

    I WANT ONE.

  • Crushing any competition (Score:5, Insightful)

    by darth_MALL ( 657218 ) on Wednesday July 28, 2004 @01:35PM (#9823484)
    Offering 100+ games in the early stages of this things life is going to cement them a damn nice seat in customer heaven. They must have a lot of faith and support from the devs that this thing will be a hit. Good for them.
      • Offering 100+ games in the early stages of this things life is going to cement them a damn nice seat in customer heaven.

      Actually I wonder if it might not help at all. The new design seems to be less kid oriented than past Game Boys have been, so it looks like they're trying to respond to the potential threat of the PSP and its much more adult oriented approach. If that's the case most of the existing games aren't going to mean much to adult buyers, they're largely kid focused.

      I also doubt parents w

      • I think the fact the the gamecube didn't have many games at launch really killed the console. I think they are trying to do the right move to stay at the top of the handheld consoles.
        • I think the fact the the gamecube didn't have many games at launch really killed the console.

          Eh? From everything I can see, the Gamecube is doing quite nicely in about 2nd place, either running neck-and-neck or slightly beating the XBox in the US. And that's to say nothing of Japan, where they're even farther ahead.

          Sure, Nintendo has had failures in the past, but with the GB/GBC/GBA, the Cube, and soon the DS, they're not going anywhere for a while.
      • "I also doubt parents will be too keen on shelling out money for a slightly spiffier Game Boy for their kids after doing so for the Game Boy SP not that long ago (what's it been, about a year?)"

        Some credit where credit is due : This is not a 'slightly spiffier Gameboy' : Allthough the idea takes us back to the LCD-handheld games Nintendo started with in the digital world ; the possibilities are endless**

        ** At least alot more than previous monoscreen handhelds had.

          • Some credit where credit is due : This is not a 'slightly spiffier Gameboy' : Allthough the idea takes us back to the LCD-handheld games Nintendo started with in the digital world ; the possibilities are endless**

          The possibilities may be endless but at launch there will be few (if any) games that take advantage of those possibilities. Parents (especially those who aren't gamers themselves) are going to view this as exactly what I called it "A slightly spiffier Game Boy". Possibilities aren't going to

    • Nintendo's got twenty? (Score:4, Informative)

      by mblase ( 200735 ) on Wednesday July 28, 2004 @01:55PM (#9823719)
      Let's see... there's going to be a Super Mario game, a Mario Party game, a Mario Kart game (watch the drivers in front of you and behind you at the same time), a Metroid game, a Zelda game, two Pokemon games ("Fuschia" and "Teal"), and probably a version of Tetris that uses both screens as a single play area.

      That's eight right there. Any obvious franchises I've overlooked?
      • Wario ware Inc. :D Love that game : And the extra possibilities they have with the stylus is gonna rock it even more.

        I hope they dont confine that game to only using the stylus ; the Wario Ware as of now, also rocks my socks off for those 5 spare minutes a day :)

    • 100+ in dev does not mean 100+ at launch (Score:5, Insightful)

      by LordZardoz ( 155141 ) on Wednesday July 28, 2004 @02:01PM (#9823807)
      Do not confuse games currently in development with games available at launch. Besides, Do you really think that EB / Walmart / whatever will want to give up the shelf space for 120+ games for an unproven console?

      And while there is a chance that the in development also includes the GBA titles currently on the go, I dont think that Nintendo is going go play that sort of game with this launch.

      END COMMUNICATION

  • GBA Compatible? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Schnapple ( 262314 ) <tomkidd&gmail,com> on Wednesday July 28, 2004 @01:36PM (#9823497) Homepage
    Do we have a final word on GB/GBC/GBA reverse compatibility? I'd hate to get a GBA SP and then this thing come out and I could have saved my time/money.

    Of course that's probably the exact reason Nintendo hasn't said anything (if they haven't).

    • Re:GBA Compatible? (Score:5, Informative)

      by harlingtoxad ( 798873 ) <harlingtoxad AT gmail DOT com> on Wednesday July 28, 2004 @01:40PM (#9823549)
      Plays GBA carts in addition to DS games last I heard.

    • Re:GBA Compatible? (Score:5, Informative)

      by solive1 ( 799249 ) on Wednesday July 28, 2004 @01:47PM (#9823633)
      According to what I've read around the internet, the DS will be backwards compatible with the GBA. However, older GBC and GB games will not be compatible. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

      By the way, I'm getting one of these as soon as it comes out. It looks so much hotter than it did at E3.
      • I've never seen anything that said the older games wouldn't work, and it really doesn't make sense, as I thought GBA was a 16 bit superset of the GB instructions.

        • Re:GBA Compatible? (Score:2, Informative)

          by solive1 ( 799249 )
          I've read that the GBA has a chip inside of it that emulates the GBC and GB functions so that the older games can be used in the GBA. The DS will not include that chip (according to my sources).

        • Re:GBA Compatible? (Score:4, Informative)

          by gamgee5273 ( 410326 ) * on Wednesday July 28, 2004 @02:11PM (#9823923) Journal
          Nintendo said, at E3, that only GBA games will work. Any of the trade magazine sites can be looked at for that tidbit of info...

      • Re:GBA Compatible? (Score:3, Insightful)

        by PhotoBoy ( 684898 )
        This is correct, luckily the current GBA is able to emulate a classic GameBoy [passagen.se] perfectly in software (not using the GBA's hardware chip), so I would expect the extra horse power of the DS would easily allow for GBC emulation in software too.

        The only limitation to playing GB and GB Colour games on the DS would be having some sort of re-writable media like the flash cards available for the GBA.

    • Re:GBA Compatible? (Score:5, Informative)

      by brejc8 ( 223089 ) * on Wednesday July 28, 2004 @01:54PM (#9823709) Homepage Journal
      Yes it will. They have included an ARM7 processor on it (doubled the speed too) in order for it to be backward compatable as well as the ARM9 for normal operation.

      • Re:GBA Compatible? (Score:2, Informative)

        by darkain ( 749283 )
        the ARM7 CPU isnt just there for backward compat, however, as the ARM7 and the ARM9 are operational at the same time, thus allowing each CPU to be dedicated to a screen.

    • Re:GBA Compatible? (Score:2, Informative)

      by darkain ( 749283 )
      from what nintendo consumer service will tell you, in their info base, it says GBA games play perfectly, whereas, anything older, will NOT. this is because the GBA has a GBC processor along side it. in the DS, they opted out on continueing to have the aditional CPU used for the GBC. also, there was various other changed in the hardware, such as the voltage differences, as the link port difference.

      another note: "the DS does not replace the GBA, but is marketed along side it", and now you know what they

  • Yes, I must have one... (Score:5, Funny)

    by scowling ( 215030 ) on Wednesday July 28, 2004 @01:37PM (#9823509) Homepage
    ...because two screens are clearly superior to one screen. Logically, this machine must be exactly twice as much fun as a handheld game with only one screen.

    I can barely control my excitement, because it is a given that Nintendo will eventually release the QS with four screens. That amount of fun is sure to explode the heads of children and the elderly.
    • We just recently replaced our CRTs with 19" LCDs in the office. Our manager sent a thank you to the CFO who authorized the purchase to say thank you, adding that the increased resolution (1280) enhances productivity. She didnt realize that her CRT could go up to 1600. I was CC'd and as soon as I got the email I went to her office to tell her that with 2 19" LCDs I would be TWICE as productive.

      Just Imagine, a screen for slashdot, a screen for work! But no, I'm still using one screen, and every so often I

  • I also need to know... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by DdJ ( 10790 ) on Wednesday July 28, 2004 @01:37PM (#9823510) Homepage Journal
    ...the feature set.

    The one thing I'm dying to know that I haven't been able to discover is if this thing will be able to function as a GBA connected to a GameCube. Does it have the connector the Cube uses to connect to a GBA? Can it download code over that port and execute it as the GBA does?

    If so, I'll probably buy one. I was going to buy a second GBA just for when people come over to play Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles. If this thing can serve that niche as well as do everything else they say it'll do, I'll buy one of these and delegate "backup GBA controller" status to my current GBA SP.
    • To anwser one of your questions, yet it will have single cart multiplayer like the GBA currently does. As for actually linking, it is all wireless. They have a proprietary system for when you are within 100' and then they offer 802.11 for internet multiplayer from what they said at e3.

      • Re:I also need to know... (Score:3, Interesting)

        by DdJ ( 10790 )
        That's not one of my questions. I want to know if it will do exactly what the GBA currently does, not something like what it does. I already knew you'd be able to play some multiplayer games with one cart. I'm concerned with the mechanics -- will you be able to do it exactly the same way, with the same physical cables, as a GBA? When another participant in the multiplayer game is an actual GBA?

        I know wireless linking is an option for the non-GBA titles, for the DS-specific titles. But GBA titles are i
    • I honestly don't know, but the fact that I heard that SquareEnix is working on Crystal Chronicles for the DS should be enough reason to buy it. Think about it. On the top screen you have the 3D part of the game, on the bottom (which is the touch screen) you have what would normally be the GBA menu and you can connect up with your friends wirelessly or possibly through the internet (considering it is 802.11 compatible).

      Here's a link to where I found out... http://gameboy.ign.com/articles/534/534070p1.ht [ign.com]

  • Codename DS (Score:5, Interesting)

    by fbrain ( 758421 ) on Wednesday July 28, 2004 @01:40PM (#9823543)
    Its a good job Microsoft project code names don't get taken through to release. XP is easier to type the Whistler.

    Any one else know of any products being released with their code names?

    I know not all products have code names etc. I'm just interested.

  • extra button?!? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Norb ( 207969 ) on Wednesday July 28, 2004 @01:41PM (#9823558) Homepage
    one thing i noticed was that button above the d-pad. i hope that is just the power and not like a regular button.. it would suck to have to move your thumb to use that one.
    • If it's a normal button, that would at least give right-handed people some sort of 'fire' button for their left hand.

      Then again, I guess there's nothing keeping game developers from showing the game up-side-down, and requiring the player to use the stylus on the 'top' screen...

    • How the fuck do mods rate you up? (Score:5, Informative)

      by Inoshiro ( 71693 ) on Wednesday July 28, 2004 @05:20PM (#9826065) Homepage
      As you can clearly see from this image [planetgamecube.com] that's been on PlanetGamecube [planetgamecube.com] since this morning, it's a power button! Why do mods reward people who can't be bothered to look at the zoomed version of pictures? It's not hard!

      What is hard is to RTFA and actually make an insightful comment, or draw attention to something not covered by the subject material. The parent post does not do this!

  • Homebrew Coding... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by dmayle ( 200765 ) on Wednesday July 28, 2004 @01:42PM (#9823565) Homepage Journal
    Let me just say that I want to be one of the first to start doing some homebrew coding on this. I imagine it would work wonderfully as a double-function PDA/Gameboy. What with the Wifi, Blutooth, touch screen, and the ability to scroll a web page across the two screens, I can't wait to get at it...

  • No wonder they don't announce the price... (Score:3, Funny)

    by spoonboy42 ( 146048 ) on Wednesday July 28, 2004 @01:42PM (#9823570)

    From the press release:

    The retooled Nintendo DS features a thinner, black base and an angular platinum flip-top cover.

    Damn, Nintendo, really shooting for the luxery market with this one, huh? Hoping people will assume it's better than the PSP because it has twice the screens and ten times the price? ;)

  • It certainly looks fairly good, much better then the first prototype shots of it I've seen,

    However, I'm gonna have to say I prefer the PSP in terms of looks, it's just that little bit sleeker (tho with all those shiney surfaces it'll probably get scratched up real easy).

    As for which system will be better it all depends on the battery life and most importantly the games.
  • Since Sony announced 100 developers for their device and its portable music/vid capabilities, will the DS lose out to the PSx juggernaut (can 20 more games make/break a game)?

    How much importance is given to the 2-screen design (other than a 'neat' factor)? Also, since the PSP has 1 bigger screen will this make a difference in the long run?

    • Re:DS vs PSP (Score:2, Insightful)

      by rabbot ( 740825 )
      Sony may have 100 developers but only a few of them will actually make good games. It's been that way since PS1. Quantity over Quality.

    • Re:DS vs PSP (Score:3, Insightful)

      by metamatic ( 202216 )
      It's not so much the number of games, as the type. I suspect Sony will go for older gamers, the way the PS1 did when the NES was the market leader.

      I have a GBA, and there are some great games, but 90% of what's out there seems to be targeted at 8-14 year olds. Nintendo has pretty much ignored the adult market on the GBA, and if they do the same with the DS it may prove a costly mistake.
      • 8-14 year old comment notwithstanding, I thoroughly enjoyed Final Fantasy Tactics Adv., Tactics Ogre, Advance Wars, Metroid Fusion, F-Zero, Mario 3, Mario World, Warioworld... the list goes on. These games might be targetted at kiddies, but hell, they're still enjoyable for me!

      • Re:DS vs PSP (Score:3, Insightful)

        by hkmwbz ( 531650 )
        Just because it doesn't have blood and gore doesn't mean that it is only playable to kids. For real adults, what matters is gameplay. If it's a "cute" game but plays great and is fun, who cares? Only angst-bitten teens need blood and gore to convince themselves that they are grown up and cool.

        As for Nintendo making a "costly mistake" by continuing in the handheld market as they have done until now... That must be why they completely own the entire handheld gaming market worldwide, right?

    • Re:DS vs PSP (Score:5, Interesting)

      by tuffy ( 10202 ) on Wednesday July 28, 2004 @02:04PM (#9823840) Homepage Journal
      Since Sony announced 100 developers for their device and its portable music/vid capabilities, will the DS lose out to the PSx juggernaut (can 20 more games make/break a game)?

      If the PSP comes to market at $300 with 3-5 hours of battery life compared to 10+ hours for the DS and a probable $150 price tag, the DS will bury the PSP easily - despite the PSP's obvious technical merits. Battery life and initial cost are everything in the portable market, and the backwards-compatibility with the huge GBA library gives the DS even more of an edge.

      • Re:DS vs PSP (Score:3, Interesting)

        by Thag ( 8436 )
        You forgot the fact that the PSP is also an inch thick, which pushes it squarely into "brick" territory. And the design doesn't even protect the screen.

        I think Sony took one look at the DS at E3 and realized they were screwed. They seem to be doing a lot of cost-cutting and cancelling of unprofitable product lines lately. I think they're trying to cover up an expected loss on the PSP.

        All IMHO, of course.

        Jon Acheson

  • Battery Life (Score:5, Interesting)

    by bunburyist ( 664958 ) on Wednesday July 28, 2004 @01:45PM (#9823613)
    I find that battery life has been a big deal with new handhelds from nintendo, the gba and gba had excellent battery life, I hope I can expect more of the same out of the DS. I'm concerned that with higher performance will come lower battery life, which greatly limits the portability of the devices.

  • Pt ? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Mateito ( 746185 ) on Wednesday July 28, 2004 @01:45PM (#9823619) Homepage
    The retooled Nintendo DS features a thinner, black base and an angular platinum flip-top cover

    Platinum? Sheesh. They are going for the top end of the market, aren't they?

    1. Buy Nintendo DS
    2. Melt casing into ingots
    3. Profit!

  • Portable Games (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Klar ( 522420 ) <curchin.gmail@com> on Wednesday July 28, 2004 @01:48PM (#9823644) Homepage Journal
    I've been held back from buying portable systems for the last few years because of past problems. My first portable was the Atari Lynx(which came out just after the gameboy, and had a colour screen), within a few months of paying the big cash it took to buy, games became very hard to find, and stopped being produced. After this, instead of buying a gameboy, as I wasnt a big fan of the cartoony graphics, I bought a sega Gamegear.. although this system lasted me a bit longer than the lynx, games became much harder to find.

    Now, I think I will wait to see the actual release and game development of the new sony and nintendo portables before I shell out the cash. I guess I will have to settle playing games on my laptop for now.
    • You probably played arcade games a lot when you were younger, too, right? And you say you play games on your laptop? Given your current track record, it looks like laptop gaming is preparing to die.

      For the love of id, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO PLAY GAMES ON YOUR HOME COMPUTER!!! You've killed enough systems already!

    • Re:Portable Games (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Kirby-meister ( 574952 ) on Wednesday July 28, 2004 @02:20PM (#9824033)
      After this, instead of buying a gameboy, as I wasnt a big fan of the cartoony graphics

      Well, there's the problem right there - you generalized all Gameboy games as cartoony, and figured cartoony graphics makes for bad gameplay. While you do have Pokemon and such, you also have your Zeldas, your Metroids, and your Castlevanias.

      I really think it weird people let cartoony graphics get in the way of having a good time with a game. It sounds like the person is a teenaged boy who wants to prove his "matureness" by buying what he perceives as adult things.

      I guess I'm comfortable with my maturity enough that I can play games like Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo or Zelda: The Wind Waker without feeling like I'm playing a kid's game; I'm just playing a fun game, after all.

      You should really rethink your priorities on what you think makes handheld gaming goodness...

      • I havn't gotten a chance to play Wind Waker yet, but I assume it keeps in the same vein as past Zelda titles, just with Cell Shading for the "cartoonish" effect. I don't understand why that would be a turn off, I thought XIII was a pretty cool game, and I hope they release a sequal because the ending sucked.

        XIII was based on a comic book series I believe, and the devs used Cell Shading to make it feel like you were playing a comic book. It's not a kid's game by any means, considering all the references i
    • My first portable was the Atari Lynx...I bought a sega Gamegear..

      I don't feel sorry for you...I owned a TurboGrafx-16

  • Based on E3, I'm glad they changed design (Score:5, Informative)

    by larsoncc ( 461660 ) on Wednesday July 28, 2004 @01:48PM (#9823652) Homepage
    While playing the DS, I noticed that my hands were sometimes pushing a couple of buttons at the same time - basically, the buttons were small and pretty close together.

    Comparing the old button design to the new (old design [fatmangames.com]), you can see that they've altered the layout.

    This is an absolutely welcome change in my book. With the buttons in a side-by-side, wider layout, they'll feel a lot more comfortable for adult hands.
  • Let this not suck as much as the virtual boy does (or did, rather). The design struck me as really cool and retro, and the 2nd screen can add alot of stuff to games (What exactly is left as an exercise to the reader). Apart from the usual remix of mario/ sonic/ rpg's, nintendo could make a nice lineup with a compilation of sorts from old game & watch title, if they're not as stingy as the current lineup of flashback NES titles, and bundle a few nice games together for cheap. Then they could remake the
    • I have a virtual boy. I think it's a really, really cool system. What it is not is a handheld, it's a tabletop, and there is really not much market for tabletop systems. The virtual boy cost too much to produce and people were adjusting it improperly, and the frame rate was too low and flickery - perhaps its one flaw besides the paucity of worthwhile games. I mean, when there's only about three games worth buying (mario tennis, wario land, and red alarm) it's kind of hard to sell a system that expensive.

  • Ports? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by General Sherman ( 614373 ) on Wednesday July 28, 2004 @01:57PM (#9823758) Journal
    Looking at the key layout, there ought to be a bunch of SNES ports for this thing. It's probably more powerful than it.

    XABY 4 LyFe baby!

    • Re:Ports? (Score:3, Informative)

      by 88NoSoup4U88 ( 721233 )
      It can run games that ran on the N64 (Mario64 for example) : So i assume that it would be able to run/port SNES games.. or NES :)

  • real 3d (Score:2, Interesting)

    by scaaven ( 783465 )
    this might not sound cool, but you probably would be able to render the 2 screens in a 3d environment with the eye level of each screen seperated by a little bit. Then you could hold the unit vertical and cross your eyes until the 2 screens meet. then you would be looking at a neat 3d game. of course, people might not want to cross their eyes for extended periods of time... -scaaven

  • innovating is good (Score:2, Insightful)

    by drgonjo ( 746794 )
    I like the fact that nintendo continues to innovate, and a handheld is one of the most well suited niches for exploration. I have yet to try dual screen touch screen gaming, but in the hands of creative devs I think there are a lot of possibilities. Factor in the wireless support and things just get better. Imagine an FPS where the second screen shows a live map and stats, while the main screen features the action or a multiplayer strategy game where the main screen displays the shared world map and the sec
  • Hm Pretty soon we're gunna finally have hand held competition again for the first time in years. THe gameboy advance has been supreme for years and in the next year at most we're looking at the DS and PSP competing with it. (I'm ignoring the Nokia abomination) Let's hope a little healthy competition is good for the market. Personally I'm really looking forward to the PSP, mainly becuase the games seem like they will be focused on a more mature audience. The idea of a turn based metal gear game sounds great.
  • Wow, talk about a rebirth of the Game & Watch line...I just may need to dig up a hundred or so bucks to pick one of these things up when they're released...

  • er.. yeah, it's my... uhhhh... pda.... (Score:3, Funny)

    by mr. methane ( 593577 ) on Wednesday July 28, 2004 @02:16PM (#9823965) Journal

    Aw heck why even pretend. I'm gonna buy one the day it comes out.

    Best part is, I have a son who loves his gameboy, so I don't even have to admit it's for me when I buy it.

    I have no idea what ninetendo's overall financial situation is like, but it's sure easy to picture them placing an order for a printing press to mint their own greenbacks, just to cut out the middleman. /me slobbers.
  • The Japanese information page on DS contains some good info.

    Like it says the DS will have two slots: one for the new compact and slim DS media, and one for GBA media. The thing will play GBA games! Neat! Was that widely known? I sure didn't know it.

    Also it will have two CPUs and ARM7 and an ARM9. Doesn't say anything else about them though.

    16 channel sound w/stereo headphone jack. 3D graphics better than N64.

    Connect up to 16 players (in a 10 meter range) using wireless network. Using either IEEE8
  • Gotta love OSX...

    Feature of NintendoDS
    The latest line of game machine ' NintendoD s ' of Nintendo Co., it could not enjoy with the former game machine, until now the unique game play which is not is implemented. Personal entertainment this portable/as for the communication equipment, it was possible, made the wireless communication of 2 types possible to operate in the touch panel sound with two pictures. As for the game developer, being to be possible, to produce the game with completely new conception it

  • Finally! A/B/X/Y! (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Kredal ( 566494 ) on Wednesday July 28, 2004 @02:21PM (#9824037) Homepage Journal
    It's about time a portable Nintendo device has four right-thumb buttons! Now they can do GOOD ports of every SNES game, and not have to mess with the controls to make them fit in the confines of the GBA!
    • Yeah, just in time for all the N64 ports! Note to Nintendo: When designing a handheld system capable of running games for $console, please include at least as many buttons as were present on $console's controllers.
  • It reminds [nintendo.com] me of the original NES [nintendo.com] controller. I'm not really in the market for a portable game console, but the retro look makes me start to consider it.

    I can't help but think that the resemblance to the old NES is intentional to try to make some sales to people (like me) still clinging to their youth.

    ...Off to play some Donkey Kong.


  • I'm sure I will be buying one, but I'm disappointed in the lack of an analog control stick. I really thought Nintendo might have worked it into the final design. There could be issues with trying to get one sturdy enough built into a portable device, but I really think Nintendo could pull it off. Oh well.

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