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Nintendo's Mystery DS Portable Revealed
Thanks to GameSpy for its story revealing the first information on the dual-screened, portable Nintendo DS, the previously rumored 'mystery console' that's been lacking any concrete details up to now. According to the piece, the DS "features two separate 3" TFT LCD display panels, separate processors, and semiconductor memory of up to 1 Gigabit. It's scheduled to launch worldwide before the end of 2004." The article further explains: "Players can look forward to being able to simultaneously manage their game progress from two different perspectives, enhancing both the speed and strategy of the challenge. For example, players will no longer be forced to interrupt game play to shift perspective, such as moving from a wide shot to a close up, or alternating between a character's ongoing battle and a map of their environment." A concurrently released official Nintendo press release confirms this information.
They can probably make it fold up in a way that a single big screen can't.
This sounds pretty cool. You could do some really interesting things with RPGs and strategy games.
This may lead to the idea of Picture in Picture for high end game consoles. Wouldn't it be nice to have a bigger, more detailed map on those games like zelda, or have a list of objectives?
:)
Maybe this will lead to lower prices on other handheld systems which would be nice, even if this system becomes a dud
Jeff
As much as I applaud Nintendo for being innovative and taking a risk, I can't help but feel that this move will alienate 3rd party developers. On the other hand, Nintendo's first party games are usually very good and without a credible competitor for the moment in the handheld department Nintendo could pull this off. Regardless it's a risky move.
Very cool. My first thought was of the old Game&Watch games, some of which had two screens. So not only do we get to have games like that, but we can also have games that use the two screens in different ways. In RPGs you could constantly have your stats/inventory open. In other games you could have the top window be a map and the bottom the area where your working. If they put a few more buttons on, you could head to head on one unit with someone else on simple games. I think this will be VERY interesting to see what developers come up with for this. Puzzle games alone (with two perspectives) could be very intersting.
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Um, wouldn't it be 128 megabytes, not kilobytes? That's not too terribly bad for a handheld. It's more memory than my old thinkpad 600 had when I got it.
I'm flipping over the idea of two screens, though. I assume they're going to be placed vertically, with the top screen as the "game play" screen, and the bottom screen as a menu/map/status reporter/whatever.
It would be neat if this thing had the ability to add extra peripherials, like a GPS with moving map or movie players.
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You'd think they'd learn from their Virtual Boy mistakes. While for the most part I'm agreeing with "What the hell", there are two things that I like about this, that were sparked by your mentioning innovation.
1) It's a break from the whole "Supremacy through system specs" scheme that Nintendo's never been a fan of (Gamecube's no hardware monster, just knows what it wants to do).
2) This is going to force game designers to be a little creative, unless the designers just reject it and the system bombs. Still, it's good to see some forward-thinking minds in an industry driven by sequels upon sequels.
I'll say it right now, I'm going to buy one of these. It's great having Nintendo around for reasons like this and though this looks like an obvious bomb, I want to support them all the way. It looks like they're carrying the torch that Sega dropped, and nobody looks fit to taken from Nintendo if they fall. Let's turn video games into an art medium, not a commercial playground
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I had been hoping for either a portable Gamecube or possibly some sort of VR/holographic wonder thingy that Satoru Iwata was teasing us with. This is just confusing... maybe once I see an actual product, I'll understand.
Heck, I thought they were going to use the 8cm discs in thier newer products and for it to be a "de facto standard". Looks like they are sticking with solid state.
My first thoughts on the dual screens is so that the device can be closed with the screens touching, thus being protected. However, there may also be other reasons... observe:
* Playing Battleship the way it was meant to be played. One screen has your ships and the other has where you fired.
* Flip the screen around and use it for two player games. The unit may even have a second controller for this purpose.
* Hook up to special headgear that would position device right in front of eyes to recreate Virtual Boy experience. (my favorite)
* Plug two Pokemon cartridges (1 screen for each game) into device to trade Pokemon back and forth. It is all about the Pokemon after all.
These are just a few unique gaming concepts I can think of at the moment. Anyone else care to speculate?
It isn't a killer app, but Pac-Man Vs. is fun, especially if you get 4 people playing together. A quick over view of the game, one player plays old school Pac-Man on the Gameboy, the other player(s) play as the ghosts, with a perspective view of them (can only see their immediate surroundings). If a ghost tags Pac-Man those players switch controllers and there is a new Pac-Man. You play to a certain point goal.
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I also think that Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles will be the killer app for GBA GC connectivity. Other than the problems pointed out by Penny Arcade in this comic http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2003-0
It is hard to give your full attention to two screens at once. For most games, the second screen on the DS will probably end up being more of an information window that you occasionaly glance at. It seems rather unnecessary on a portable.
Nintendo does this kind of gimmicky stuff all the time. They come out with something truely innovative and clever but ultimately useless and neglected. See also ROB, SuperScope, SuperGameboy, VirtualBoy, e-Reader, 64DD, and GBA-GC link.
Actually, all of the above were launched for strategic reasons.
The ROB was released to get the NES out of department stores and into electronics stores, and at that it succeeded admirably (they never intended to support it, sadly). The GBA-GC link was an attempt to use the success of the GBA to drive sales of their new system. The SuperGameboy took some of the edge out of the criticism that the Game Boy was not actually a color device, during a time when it was under a very real attack from the Lynx, the Game Gear, and the TurboExpress. It also attempted to leverage the success of the GB to the SNES, in the same way that the GBA-GC link would later fail to do. The 64-DD was an experiment in optical re-writable technologies, as a response to criticisms of the storage capacity of cartridges and the then obvious future for networked gaming. The e-Reader sold and still sells well in Japan. Selling barcodes for 5 bucks sounds like a good idea to me. The SuperScope was Nintendo's attempt to make and promote a gun to shed their kiddy image, but to make is so laughably non gun-like (and ergonomically challenged) as to not offend parents. Gunpei Yokoi, who helped found Nintendo's interactive ambitions with light gun shooting galleries and created the original zapper, was responsible for the SuperScope. He also (ill)concieved the VirtualBoy was during a time where JaguarVR and the Genesis/SegaCD/32X VR system was perceived as a threat.
You did miss a few, though. There was the Power Pad, the Game Boy Camera, the Game Boy Printer, the Super Mouse, the Play Choice 10, the Nintendo Super System, the entire Wizard movie, Killer Instinct for the SNES, the years-too-late mini NES. Some of them, like the RAM expansion pack, or the Satellite, were handled surprisingly well overall. Most of them were just swept under the rug.
I think we can all guess what the fate of this system will likely be.
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