Nintendo DS Full Specs Allegedly Leaked

sarcastodon writes "Various sources such as GI.Biz are suggesting that detailed specifications of the upcoming Nintendo DS have been leaked. Surprising capabilities contained in the allegedly leaked Japanese-language document for the dual-screen handheld include 3D hardware acceleration, 802.11 wireless support, and the inclusion of a touch screen." However, GI.Biz notes: "Of course, a single leaked screenshot of a Japanese document doesn't constitute hard proof of any description, and this document should be taken with a pinch of salt - but if it is a forgery, it's a rather good one."

Comments

That is a bitching line up.

[Ayanami Rei]

Why don't I just throw out my palm? ... network, touchscreen, hi-res screen, it's got it all! They'd better make a PIM/PDA cart for it with web/email capabilities, or bundle it in the ROM. It'd be a shame not to.

too much press without product

[BlanketLord]

It seems that there is quite a bit of negative views surrounding the DS from readers. In my opinion, the N-Gage's failure can be attributed to all the negative reviews it recieved. It was flamed in Penny Arcade, and other review sites rated it poorly. If it recieved opposite reviews, would it have been a success? Now we are getting a lot of press about the DS, but no product and some are already making judgements, mostly based on the fact that none of us have any idea on what exactly this device will do.
I still have high faith in Nintendo; the Gameboy's proven success gives them a stronger foot that this potentially revolutionary product will succeed. I really am looking forward to seeing what this product really does though, as it has peaked my curiosity.

Re:too much press without product

[Rallion]

Uh...no. You misread those numbers. GameCube recently caught up to XBox in the US, and XBox has been pretty much a complete failure in Japan, selling under a million units IIRC.

Re:But what's the thing going to look like?

[Ayaress]

I personally hope they go with the different sized screens like you mentioned. It'll probably be underused by games, but I can think of one major use for the second screen: Menus in RPGs. The text boxes in most console-style RPGs get in the way, and scrolling through the box for a spell usually blocks the action on-screen (which really sucks for those RPGs where the enemy keeps attacking while you're in the menu. FF:CC uses the GBA screen for each character's menu in multiplayer, which aside from being a potentially prohibitive barrier to multiplayer, is a very good thing, since with some practice, you can move through the menus while still keeping track of the action on screen.

Translation Corrections

[mowph]

Here are a few things that I noticed have been left off or missed by the translation on the article.

Processor:

• There are unreadably small words between "Cache:" and "8Kb", as well as "TCM:" and "32Kb" which have been ignored by the translation. They probably refer to two separate types of cache under each category.

Memory:

• Main memory: 8MB on debugging version (developer model?)

LCD:

• Colour: R:G:B = 6:6:6 (referring perhaps to 6 bits of information for each color channel per pixel?)

Sound:

• Up to 8 channels may be assigned for PSG. (I don't know what that is. Anyone?)

Input Device:

• "Cross", a translation of "juu-ji kii", refers to what is commonly known as a direction-pad (similar to the four-way controller on most Nintendo gamepads)

Electric Power Control:

• Wake-up can also be timed.
• The "uknown" engine is the geometry engine.

Re:Translation Corrections

[moronga]

There are unreadably small words between "Cache:" and "8Kb", as well as "TCM:" and "32Kb" which have been ignored by the translation. They probably refer to two separate types of cache under each category.

The word there is "meirei," which means "command" or "order." Does that make sense in that context? I'm not a hardware person. :P

Touchscreen's are a poor deciscion

[Sangloth]

I used to work with touchscreen videogames at my old job. While touchscreens do have some advantages for an arcade machine...

1. Simple to understand
2. Difficult to vandalize.

those advantages don't mean anything for portable machines, and they have some fairly severe disadvantages...

1. While using a touchscreen, your fingers will obscure what you are seeing on the screen, especially for the small portable screen.
2. Touchscreen's are weaker then a macintosh mouse. You can only click, it's difficult to drag an object, or anything other then just click on the screen. Your hands could accomplish more on the controller. That way you could hit multiple buttons, instead of just clicking.

Besides, imagine playing an action game, and moving your hand from the buttons to the screen, and back to the buttons. It wouldn't work in an action game, and you can do menu selection faster using the buttons. I'm all for innovation, but this is going to be a gimmick.

Sangloth
I appreciate any comment with a logical basis...it doesn't even have to agree with me.

Best layout = danger hiptop

[RedCard]

No, I believe Nintendo said that they're going to be vertically stacked... ...if that is the case, I'd like to see a layout like the Danger hiptop where the touchscreen is on top, for palm-pilot like use, or for games that only require one screen.

The second screen could be hidden under the first, with the top screen swivelling up and 180 degrees for two-screened games. This also means that the second screen could be used as an option, not all games would have to incorporate it, and it would be hidden and protected when not in use.

I don't see a touchpad as a replacement for an analog stick, though. Touchpads/screens STINK when used as controllers. I think it's more likely that an analog controller will take the form of a standard crosskey that responds to how hard you press. It's also possible to make a (recessed) analog control ball, instead of a stick. The old sega saturn analog controllers had these, and they were almost impossible to break.