Slashdot Mirror
E3 - First Nintendo DS Pic
Ravi Hiranand writes "Steven Kent has a look at the Nintendo DS -- along with what appears to be the first picture of the unit (which doesn't look anything like any of the wild rumours suggested it might!). It's still unclear whether the game pictured (a Mario Kart title!) is really a DS game or whether the whole thing is just a render, but the image is credited to Nintendo, so it appears to be genuine..."
It looks kinda big... how's it going to stack up compared to my deliciously pocket size SP?
Best read in good ol' Monaco 9 point.
Now if only they still have that ear-piercing tone that nearly drove my parents insane, we're in business!
(better still have the alarm too!)
Honestly, it doesn't look too dissimilar to the GBA SP, and that's one of the best selling consoles of all time.
Looks can be deceiving. Or CAN they?
At least Nintendo finally decided to give their handheld four face buttons. I couldn't believe they chose to leave them out of the GBA design. Especially considering the mass amount of SNES ports it received.
Creator of the popular web game Proximity
This looks like a weird idea, but it could also be used to make a lot of really interesting games. The two displays have a lot of possibilities. In an RPG or something, one could display the dungeon map while another could contiunally montitor your characters' status, or give the player other useful information in some way. Is this idea really gimmicky? Sure. But it might lead to a couple of neat games...
It not only looks big, but also cheap. We can only hope that the photo is some early prototype or something. If the DS looks anything like that, and the PSP looks anything like the photos we've been seeing, the DS is gonna get crushed.
Well, as a confessed Nintendo fanboy, the look of this reminds of the old LCD dual screens I played when I was growing up.
I LOVE the look. It reminds of nintendo when they were really big. Way to go!
So, Nintendo is going to continue selling GBA's, claiming these two systems compliment each other instead of outright replacing the GBA? You know what that's going to cause: confusion in the marketplace. Let's not forget the rumour that there's a complete GBA replacement in the works for sometime next year.
Anybody remember the Sega Genesis, Sega Saturn, 32x Extension, and CD-Drive extension? Nobody knew what to buy because nobody knew what games were going to be made for which combination of hardware. That along with the prices deep sixxed all of the above hardware.
Nintendo should make the DS 100% compatible with GB and GBA games, and stop selling GBAs. What they're doing now is simply confusing the market and giving Sony prime oppurtunity to come in and clean up their mistakes.
And the dual screen? It's a gimmick. Anything the Dual screen can do could also be done by a bigger or wider screen.
What is Nintendo thinking??
Imagine a beowulf cluster of those ! (had to be said)
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.
Backwards compatible and built in wireless? Where do I sign up for a pre order?
Looks can be deceiving. Or CAN they?
Is it just me, or does the mini-map of the race track look like a dinosaur (barney) that needs too pee (the crossed legs at the bottom) ?
It looks like those old dual-screen Game and Watches. This is pretty exciting, I want to see what kind of games are planned for this. It's kind of like most seafood dishes: it has the potential to be really good or really bad, but nothing in between.
It looks very Nintendo. It sounds like Nintendo has no plans into getting into a computing power/graphics race with Sony, but intends to focus on their dominance in innovative game design. Consider this is the company whose original low-resolution original black&white GameBoy stomped color portable systems into the ground, I wouldn't dismiss it. A Zelda or Metroid game with N64 quality graphics on one screen and a map display on the other would be very appealing.
It's worth pointing out that the DS is expected to be more powerful than the nintendo 64. That means 3d becomes not only a possibility, but a reality for this system.
Goldeneye on the tube via bluetooth anyone?
Wathch out.. the early eighties are back, at least as far as casedesign is considered...
Mind you, there isn't too many ways to pack dual screens into a handheld unit in - and the clamshell will help protect the screens, unlike on my GBA.
As for wether it'll flaot or sink... it depends on many factors, not least price and avilability of games that require two screens.
Everything in the world is controlled by a small, evil group to which, unfortunately, no one you know belongs.
1) The article said there would be a separate
:)
cart slot for GBA games, dunno if they'll still
support GB/GBC games (there's no reason not too,
other than adding a Z80 somewhere...)
2) I would think that it would be around 10 hours
or so if they do it right. I for one liked the
SP scheme of recharging every once in a while
instead of having to find batteries (easier to
find an outlet).
3) If the leaked specs are to be believed, the
main processor will be an ARM9 (I forget the
speed, but much faster than the GBA's ARM7).
According to the same specs, there'll be a
ARM7 co-processor as well.
I can't wait to see it RE'd and homebrew tools
come out!
Handhelds have more than 4 shades of green these days, buddy. The Game Boy Advance boasts graphics on par with the Super Nintendo. The PSP and now the DS claim even higher resolution and better graphics.
"They don't stand up to the likes of the XBox and PS2." Yeah I can see how it would be preferable to hold my Xbox in my lap while riding down the road and playong on the tiny screen within the car instead of holding a unit in my hand and looking at a tiny screen.
I googled after some specs for nintendo DS
[...] the system will have two processors, with an ARM-9 CPU running at 67MHz and an ARM-7 unit running at 33MHz. Retail DS devices will have 4Mb of main RAM (while debug development units will have double that), with additional chunks of cache and shared RAM for the processors and 656Kb of video RAM. [...] The system will possess decent 2D capabilities, but it also has a 3D graphics system which, the spec. claims, is capable of drawing 120,000 polygons per second, representing a fill-rate of 30 million pixels per second. [...] Wi-Fi [802.11] and, touch panel input device.
#
#\ @ ? Colonize Mars
#
Yay, X and Y buttons.
...where are the shoulder buttons?
... homebrew software is developed for it :D (*cough* SNES emulator~@#~@#$!@#$)
...but...
Damn.
This thing does look pretty sweet, though. I wonder how long it'll be before some type of
</delurk>
[an error occured while processing this directive]
Being a techie and a geek for a very long time I have to say I'm buying into this overall-consitency thing Nintendo and Apple like to emphasise.
I bought a GB SP earlier this year and just got a new iBook the other week. And their overall desing and feeling makes the extra money worthwhile. And that's a former Linux-only user saying this!
This dual screen thing seemed stupid, but now I understand what they where talking. It's not about a screen but about coping with the lack of GB buttons!!! That's why the bottom one is a touchscreen. And a touchscreen where you can change the writing size and amount of buttons instantly is the next best thing to a mechanical keyboard. IMHO this has all the chances of becoming a neat engineering/solution stunt.
For my part I can say that I'm sold. I'll definitely check this gadget out when it hits the shelves. I hope it has enough ooomph and controlability to get some neat RTS and FPS games on it. Duke Nukem GBA is neat but not really stunning.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
I am 23 and love my GBA SP. There are oodles of games that are not geared toward 5-12 years olds. I have Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Breath of Fire II, Tactics Ogre, Phantasy Star, etc. These games are definitely for adults. Especially BoFII, which deals heavily with organised religion. Both Metroids were classics, short, but classics. I have big hands and fingers, and the controls are just fine for me, the shoulder buttons are a little bit of a stretch, but you figure out how to hold it for maximum ease of use pretty quickly. And don't call me Shirley.
I hate sigs.
I think you fail to realise that handhelds and consoles are two different marketssegments alltogether.
Yes, the screen on my GBA is tiny comprared to me 30" WideScreen TV thats hooked up to my PS2. Yes, the graphics kinda sucs compared to the PS2 as well, beeign (roughtly) on the same level as most PC-games from a decade ago. Yes, the whole shebang is in a tiny package, making the controlls akward if you got huge hands.
BUT I can slip my GBA in my pocket and take it with me on long journey, and the batteries last all the way across the atlantic. Hard to do that with my PS2 and the widescreen tv, right?
You may not like them or be able to use them for recreation, but that do not mean they are useless. As for the agebracket... well, I'll admidt that my Pokemongame might be aimed (mostly) at kids around 10-12, but I can assure you thats there is plenty of games around that any adult might find fun too.
Everything in the world is controlled by a small, evil group to which, unfortunately, no one you know belongs.
Given that it's more powerful than an N64, I'm sure it could emulate a GB/GBC/SGB pretty well.
Join the Free Software Foundation
clearly someone has never picked up a Gameboy Advance SP. :)
[an error occured while processing this directive]
Sorry Guy, but you're not entirely correct there on the age spread... I bought my 30 year old gf one on the GB Advances and installed an afterburner kit in it. Its pretty sweet- she probably plays that more than she watches tv. (For some reason between the computers and the GB, the TV doesn't get much usage...;-)
I know a lot of college students who also own them. Turns out they're a decent waste of time if you have time to waste. And yes- I also know some 12 year olds who have them.
They make a LOT of different games for those things... And yes- a lot of em are aimed at the pre-teen crowd, but they also make a lot of classic games too. (I play Joust-)
Sig currently under construction. Mind the gap....
I think I'm still finding it hard to catch that freaking Pikachu.
Seriously, though, I'm a college student with a full time job at the moment, but I still love my SP dearly. Not just for the abundance of games, but for the compactability and portability. I can play it anywhere. Not that I have a lot of time now, but I still get a chance.
Sure, the screen is 'tiny' (bigger than most cellphones,) and it can't do amazingly wonderful graphics like the XBox or Gamecube. But, then, if I wanted to play XBox or Gamecube, I'd first of all own one, and then I'd get a portable screen for them and lug them around in a cooler.
One of the reasons Nintendo's 8-bit hand held stood above the colorful and vibrant competition was price. Price price and more price. That, and it didn't eat batteries like some... battery... eating... monster. Yeah. It's a reason Nintendo survived for some time (N64's pains were not because of price), and a reason they will still survive.
I mean, yeah. Handhelds are marketed towards the younger demographic. But will a parent be more willing to buy a $150 handheld with N64-like graphics or a $300 handheld with useless features that has PS1-like graphics when the kid doesn't really care?
Some would say the same of Linux.
you did, read the article, correct? in it it states that it will have a slot for GBA games as well as the new DS games, and that it is about as powerful as an N64, so we should now get to see n64 re-write lame-ass 3d games ;)
nothing about battery or screen, but I'd hope that with a little extra graphical horsepower it'll have a higher res screen (at least one of them) isn't out of the question.
This is a very interesting gamble for Nintendo. On one hand, the GB advance really does not need a replacement yet. It is still the top selling handheld. With Sony's handheld at/above $200, it clearly is not going to take the market by storm. Most people are either at work, or at home. If I am at home, I have several game systems to choose from, and then I have to screw around on the internet and play games on my pc too. I really am not interested in a console "replacement" for "on the go" gaming.
"Jeremy, you need to get to an internet cafe and cut and paste some appropriate sentiments about me from the world wide
Sure,
Because Eternal Darkness, Metal Gear Solid TS, Killer 7, and Resident Evil sure do represent Mickey Mouse... That was an abvious troll if I've ever seen one.
1) the article you should have read talks about gba compatibility, I think we can forget gb and gbc, games.
3) gba hardware is well designed and easy to program. it doesn't need more sram or a faster cpu.
-- moo
It has bluetooth. That means you can connect it to the internet via a bluetooth cell phone. That means you can play game on it against anyone on the internet. That means I can play advance wars with people in cars in CA while I'm in a car in NY. If Nintendo makes a move on that technology they'll be the first to have multiplayer online gaming that is also portable. If they emphasize this feature they will rock the house. Two screens only helps this out. Put the score and the chat on one screen with the action on the other. I'm buying this no matter what, poo poo to all you naysayers.
The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
The article did not mention whether Nintendo plans to continue to maintain backward compatibility in the GameBoy line. This would be a very strong selling point.
Is this the day for bad karma ? Both Nintendo and Sony put out new products that, I think, are actually aesthetically backwards design steps.
Koei To Bring Dynasty Warriors To The DS.
Those of you who've played Dynasty Warriors on the Playstation 2 will know just how useful the map is (much more so than having a screen for Mario Kart's map.). It not only shows you troop movements, but which troops are fighting (losing/winning), where your body guards are, and where key events are occurring. Getting lost is easy considering the huge maps--trying to get anywhere without a horse is frustrating.
Like most /.ers, I think we've all been following this story about the DS for sometime. I was skeptical at first, but now that I've had the opportunity to see the device, I am really not that overly impressed with the design. It looks like an old Compaq Pocket PC!
This format just gives game developers opportunities to make more gimmicks into their games. It's a new paradigm, and so the games will fundamentally change to accomodate this. I bet you only 25% of the games that come out in the first year will use those two screens effectively. Let's look at the numbers the other way. That means my estimate is 75% of the games that come out in the first year for the DS will get the dual screen WRONG. It's a new platform, a new paradigm. I hope for the best, but I expect the worst. And I am not even going to shell out any money for this gimmick device.
I think that if they wanted a shot at attracting an older market, they should have made a screen that was like 4"-5" wide and have built in APIs to split the screen side by side into 2"-2.5" halves. Give gamers the opportunity to see handheld games in a wider format. Maybe use a 16:9 ratio, and give your device half a chance of succeeding outside of Japan...
Honestly, I smell another Virtual Boy on the horizon...
At 25, I still enjoy portable games on occasion. The problem is that the GBA's screen is way too small for me, and requires a damn floodlamp to be able to see the screen. The GBA SP fixed the light issue, but I've been waiting until the "Nes version" is released in a month or so.
I finished playing Golden Sun a few days ago and wanted to transfer my character data to Golden Sun 2, but the silly 6-page password wouldn't work. It takes about 20 minutes to type the thing in. So, I killed two birds with one stone and picked up a Gameboy Player for my Gamecube. Now I can play my games on a 32" screen, and it supported the link cable which allowed me to link Golden Sun to Golden Sun: The Lost Age to transfer my character data.
Let's just say that I am very happy with my purchase of the GameBoy Advance Player. Graphics are largely on-par with the SNES and Genesis of old. They might be, perhaps, a bit blockier in some respects, since they are games that are designed for a portable, but it's entirely possible that I am just used to flashy 3D graphics these days.
The graphics aren't the issue though. These recent GBA games are some of the most enjoyable games that are being released on any system. Graphics can't change that. There is something special about the games of the SNES era. They were generally quite fine. A lot of that is lost today, when companies try way to hard to make games as glitzy as possible on game consoles.
If you base your game buying decisons solely on the quality of the graphics, you are missing out on a lot of great games. It's your loss though, not mine.
What will happen in 10 or so years when this system dies? Will the games, obviously designed with dual screens in mind, be able to be emulated on any future hardware? Or will the games that appear on this system be lost forever once the system gets superceded!
Am I the only one who read this as BOFH??
I got my hope up that there was a BOFH game where I got to plug the EtherKiller in...
Guy 1: Hey Mark, when did you start carrying a purse?
Guy 2: Oh. I bought the new Game Boy. This is the battery.
The government's moral compass is controlled by GPS.
In times of crises, they alter it to suit their needs.
In this case, the ARM 7 is the GBA's processor (with some slight modifications to serve as a stripped-down Z80 for GB/GBC compatibility, IIRC). When running GB/GBC/GBA titles, it'll be doing all the work. And when running DS titles, it'll serve as a co-processor for a little extra oomph.
Ita erat quando hic adveni.
Wonder what the original poster was reading? They already said it was a flip open unit with 2 screens that are ontop.
Great. I've already lost my Dr. Mario, which was a "big" GB cart; the GBA carts are even smaller, and now we're getting even smaller cards? They're going to make a killing selling new games to people that lose their old ones!
There will be no 'crushing' because they are not in competition. Sony says they wont compete with the Gameboy line, Nintendo says they wont compete with the portable media player (PSP) line. They're all good.
Why isn't it designed to draw power from a GC when they're connected?
Nintendo doesn't seem to realize that The #1 annoyance of mobile devices is having to take care of batteries. (NO, in this case, a separate power supply is not a solution)
This falls right in line with my favorite myth that
"Machine X is more powerful than machine Y...therefore machine Y sucks"
First, it does play GBA games. If you would have read the article they mention this. Second, it was designed to play entirely different types of games with bluetooth multiplayer in mind. Something two screens is not a gimmick for. Third, Nintendo is not giving Sony any prime spots to take their market share - Sony has said many times before that the PSP is not going to compete in their market, they're going multimedia with the PSP .. PDA, Movies, MP3s etc .. People who strictly want to play games will stick with Gameboys. But guess what, instead on OMG confusion OMG, you have CHOICES.
D'you think this system will be fast enough to run a DOS emulator that can play older games? That'd be sweet.
Have you seen the PSP?
Judging by the layout it looks like Nitendo got inspiration from its old 'Game & Watch' game systems. For Nintendo the concept of a dual screen game system is certainly nothing new, though this time you aren't limited to one game. I see it as a fusion of Gambeboy and 'Game and Watch'.
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
For those who didn't RTFA yes, it has slots for supporting old GBA games.
TruePunk | Games
I can see where these two handhelds could coexist. The GBA is small and I can carry it in my pocket anywhere. The DS would be nice for longer trips when I have a backpack or something to carry it in. I'm really looking forward to some N64 ports also.
Apple and Nintendo seem to have fallen into the same hole. Both make excellent and fun to use hardware. Both are very innovative. Both make things we may not like at first, but grow to love. And both share the same competition. Microsoft and Sony are both making products to shut down Apple and Nintendo. I can think a hundred examples where Apple comes up with an idea, and Sony and Microsoft use that idea to make more money than Apple. You can almost say the same for Nintendo.
Now why don't these two companies merge? Think of the great ideas that would come out of such a merger! The iPod would be even more kick ass because it would have a GBA cartridge slot and you could play games on it (and maybe copy them to the iPod's hard drive?). The next Nintendo console would look so cool that everyone would have to have one, and the Apple guys would be smart enough to make it play DVDs or whatever new media is out at the time (Nintendo foolishly made their game Gamecube discs mini-dvd, so you cannot play movies on it).
I may not be the first person to think of this, but I feel like it almost doesn't make sense as to why this hasn't happened already.
geek n performer who performs morbid or disgusting acts, as biting off the head of a live chicken
You just named every single one of cubes non-kiddy games. Not setting a good example are we?
Seems to me that Nintendo's biggest competitor in the handheld game space is themselves. Why not release a system to compete with the GBA at a higher price point?
My vocabulary is so huge it's enormous. if only I could think of a word bigger than enormous, like huge.
The DS design might have its own upsides, but for me a widescreen GBA SP (GBA SPWS!) would make much more sense. Think about it, It's like the difference between a single widescreen TV and two smaller regular TVs stacked on top of each other. With the DS we can have neat touchscreen menus, maps and all sorts of other wacky crap, but what happens with games that wouldn't really make much use of it? Having a single wide screen might not be as adult and PDA-ish but I'm pretty sure that it could display just as much information as two smaller screens would, plus it would less limit the way said information is displayed. Every game would benefit.
I guess this means that I have to start crossing my fingers so that rumours of a vanilla gameboy successor will come true.
% mkdir
% ls -dF
My thoughts exactly. It looks a lot like the dual-screen version of the Game & Watch.
OLPC Australia
Well, it looks nice and all, but can it run linux? ;)
Just like six buttons, right?
"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."
Game Gear, Nomad; Turbo Express; Neo Geo Pocket, Neo Geo Pocket Color; NGage.
What other systems are they counting here? Or are they just leaving out a few companies? In which case the the only US-released system I can think of, of any note, is the Tiger Game.Com. I suppose the Wonder Swan and Wonder Swan color (no US release, correct?) would bring it to 9, but if we're going to count those three, what about the GP32?
Am I forgetting anything?
I love GTA:VC and all, but I'll take Metroid Prime over 99.99% of the PS2 games in existence any day.
Kiddie or not, if a game is good, a game is good.
---
Mod me down, you fucking twits. Go ahead. I dare you.
(I read with sigs off.)
Huh? I don't know what gaming sites Ravi (the poster) was reading, but this thing looks just about like I've seen predicted. Not that there are that many ways to arrange such a thing... Maybe he was reading sites that said it'd come in give iColors rather than just grey?
Anywho, this is just about how I envisioned it- but maybe with some more curves ala the GBA.
Working toward a usable PDA environment in the spirit of Newton OS: Dynapad
Yes, because we all know that how a console looks is the most important thing.
I mean, how can you possibly be expected to play great games on a great system if it doesn't have an uber 31337 blue LED winking all the time?? You can't honestly want to own something that is isn't stainless steel and makes the Quake door opening door everytime you turn it on can you??
I mean games are one thing, but you can't pull the chix with that thing!
We all know women just melt at the sight of a good looking gaming system. It's only a matter of time until they come storming into your mom's basement looking for some action!
My major problem with the GBASP method of having an internal rechargable battery is that it tends to pose some annoying problems. If there's a power outage, or if I'm on a long car/plane/train ride, or for some other reason my ability to stick the thing into a wall socket is impaired, I have no way to power the device should its internal battery be drained. Granted, the internal battery does have certain advantages (cheaper in the long run), but I still wish the system could accept regular AA batteries as a fallback option, even if it would neccessitate a larger case. Then again, I'm one of those folks who never really found anything particularly endearing about making electronic equipment so tiny that it runs the risk of falling out of one's pocket.... :-)
That said, with the sort of gizmos and processing power Nintendo seems to want to pack into this DS, I think it's very possible that conventional AA batteries wouldn't be able to keep the thing running for any significant length of time....
Sean Daugherty "I have walked in Eternity -- and Eternity weeps."
for sure
BZZT! WRONG!
The GBA's arm7 processor does not convert to a CISC z80 compatible, they are separate chips.
"Given that it's more powerful than an N64, I'm sure it could emulate a GB/GBC/SGB pretty well. "
I'm puzzled by the observation that was made. They're saying it can push more polys than the 64 could, but there's no indication if those polys have all the nice texturing filters that the 64 had. I'm worried it'll be more like the original Playstation. In that case, it's not more powerful than the 64, it's significantly less powerful. That means porting of some games may be problematic.
Not trying to be a pessimist, but the 64 hardware, though it seems primitive today, is still pretty damned powerful when putting it in a portable form factor.
"Derp de derp."
I was looking at the design for the DS and I noticed that there's a big design flaw for me and my tenth of the population. If the stylus is going to be in our left hands, how is a left hander supposed to use the D-Pad that is on the left side?
This comment was thought up very late at night and does not necessarily reflect my views at a more reasonable hour.
This is slashdot, so we don't read articles but notice a few things. 1) They said it would have similar performance to the N64 (actually it said a little faster) and 2) It shows a picture of Mario Kart 64.
Now those games are definitely not dazzling by today's standards, but they were tons of fun. And bluetooth networking could make for an eight-person battle mode game in mario kart... that would be sweet,
You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it dissolve.
Talk about innovative design on behalf of Nintendo....NOT!
I used to own this hardware...17 years ago...sure it only played Donkey Kong, but there's no denying that the layout/design is identical to the old Nintendo Game & Watch:
Nintendo Game & Watch on Ebay
This couldn't an image of the real DS.
Take a look at the D pad, the ends of it all all rounded. Nintendo has had the same classic d-pad design on all of their consoles, it is their signature, I just can't see them changing that.
redune.com: The World 3.2 Megapixels at a time
If Nintendo said "The DS will replace the GBA" the sales of GBA's would drop to the floor in anticpation of the GBA.
A lot of us find the small size of the GBA SP to be one of its best advantages. As for the games' qualities, if you're talking just graphics, then yes, they're SNES quality. If you're talking gameplay value, well, a big chunk of the games have original NES quality gameplay, because they're almost direct ports. And you know what, that's a great thing, because there were a lot of really great NES games. There's also some excellent SNES ports, as well as plenty of other original games.
Will two screens be all that useful for a racing game, maybe not. Is a computer mouse the an ideal steering mechanism for a racing game? Not really, but that doesn't mean mice are a bad idea. Just because two screens won't necessarily make everything better doesn't mean they have no value. And also, these two screens are fairly small, so I question how hard it will be to monitor both of them (if the game's interface is designed well, naturally). Sweeping my eyes up and down across both DS screens should take less time than looking across my 19" computer monitor.
One time I threw a brick at a duck.
For better or worse, precision-wise and fingerprint-wise, I'm thinking the touch screen will be finger/thumb-touched instead of (or in addition to?) pen-touched. Juggling a stylus then putting your thumbs back on the buttons wouldn't be very natural, and if there's one thing Nintendo knows it's intuitive, comfortable controls.
I don't see any stylus clip on the unit, though I suppose it could be buried in the dark black area or inside the hinges. Plus it would be terribly easy to lose a tiny little pen. Nintendo might be doing their best to start appealing to an older crowd, but they're not going to also start ignoring pokemon-aged kids!
I'm right-handed, but could easily use either hand to point at stuff. I started out really skeptical about this thing, but warm up to it a little more with each tidbit of news.
its a portable device. personally, I want my portable devices as small as possible, and with reasonable battery life, and a dvd drive, even if its a "mini" one, will make the thing even bigger.
on top of that, portable gaming is best when its a sort of "whip out and play" experience: you really want to worry about load times when you're on a 20 minute wait? I certainly don't.
cartridges are naturally a better medium for portable equipment any way you look at it. if you want a fancier, bigger, and more elaborate gaming experience, can't you just wait till you get home to play that? I can.
The stripped down Z80 is embedded in the ARM processor and functions as a seperate mode of the ARM chip. They are essentially two different CPUs on the same chip, near as I can tell. None of the specs show a genuine seperate Z80 chip in the GBA.
Ita erat quando hic adveni.
following your racing example: isn't it nice to have a rear view mirror in your car to see who's pulling up behind you? I think so. a rear-view-mirror-cam as the second screen would work quite well, I'd think.
I love the design of the new DS (I dont think every game will keep up with the quality of Mario Kart but still this promises to be a great device) However lets start calling it by its name this is the new GBA it has a 3d card and its backwards compatible. If you think nintendo is going to keep pumping games for the GBA OR is workign in another GBA next year, you have another thing coming.
That doesnt make the GBA a doorstep theres hundreds of games for it and is considerably cheaper actually (at least for a while) the biggest library of games for the DS is going to be the GBA games available now.
Go ahead MOD my day!
More opinions here
"Run faster, damn you! Faster! FASTER!"
*CRACK*
Congrats! Nintendo found another way to make you buy their handhelds more than once!
Do you really have to say "BZZT! WRONG!" when you correct someone? That has to be the most annoying Slashdot habit ever. Especially when the parent you corrected turns out to be right.
"GBA SP is way too small, the buttons are too small, the screen is too small, and the games quality is that of SuperNes!!! I expected something better than outdated 16-bit graphics. It was a great disappointment."
Uhhh...did you not do your research before you bought one? Its not like they aren't everywhere for you to try before you buy. As far as the types of games go, you obviously don't really have a clue as to what you were buying did you?
Just because a subject says "not a troll please read" doesn't really mean its not a troll post.
Just want to point out that this was, according to my girlfriend, on the front page of the dead tree version.
Glad to see the world is finally sorting out its priorities to my satisfaction.
The only thing that is wrong with the GBA SP is the screen size. I wish it were a little larger and it would be perfect. It looks like the DS isn't going to have any larger of a screen either which is unfortunate.
and it's also cheaper. You wouldn't be paying $150 a pop if they used a 640x240 resolution screen. If they had gone with a single screen they would have had to manufacture a non standard screen resolution LCD panel and games would have had to support it. If they had put the screens side by side there would be an unavoidable and annoying dark slice between the two. You'd be constantly distracted by the action on one screen while you're trying to pay attention to the other. If the game tried to be wide screen, you'd have that annoying slice. The system would also need to be taller than it is.
As it is, it makes sense, you can glance down to see various information and back up to keep playing.
It could definitly be used as a gimmic but it has far more potential than that since it's also a touch screen.
Also, since they have two video screens, it would be really nice if they had two video outs so you could attach 3D glasses to it. There will no doubt be games that support a camera that can follow the player so you can have on screen looking in front of you and the other, looking behind.
A video in would be nice to be able to hook up a portable DVD player to it. Or any other device like a TV tuner or VCR.
Ben
Work Safe Porn
If you looked at the image in the article you can see the screen is sporting a 3D racing game.
So yes, it does have 3D capabilities and "more powerful than the N64" does mean it will be able to support any game that the N64 could handle and then a bit more.
Each GameBoy release is intended to be as good as the previous console. The GBC got the GameBoy up to NES quality, the GBA got it up to SNES quality and now the DS will get it up to N64 quality. This allows Nintendo to rerelease their old classics again for the portable system and get some more cash out of them.
Considering that the GameCube is practically portable already it wouldn't be much of a surprise if they next major GB release in a few years was as powerful as the GameCube.
Ben
Work Safe Porn
The LCD screen is not lighting the base (I doubt they forgot about backlitting again) so the screen could be in fact in fact turned off.
The perspective of the top LCD screen is slightly moved if you look at it carefully you will notice is an screenshot plastered on top.
Both screens are slightly pixelated on the sides.
Theres a lot of wasted space on the sides of the TOP lcd screen if you notice the GBA design they used all the space they could on the top is unlikely they didnt noticed that. (unless the speakers are there.)
The image is too small is unlikely a press announcement will be followed by an image of such low resolution.
Look at it again. it looks like a medium quality 3d rendered image with 2 screenshots plastered on top.
Maybe the image is a prototype render, definetily is not a real picture.
Go ahead MOD my day!
More opinions here
I would *hope* the programmers are smart enough to figure out that you can't get good gameplay by requiring players to swap control systems in the middle of fast action.
Come on. 'Fess up. That was a really, really, REALLY lame example.
+++ATH0
I said this when the Gamecube was announced. It has the IBM PPC chip in it, just like the Macs. It has the ATI nVidia GFX-card in it, just like the Macs. Both had cube form factors. Ironic, isn't it?
What's so bad about being lazy? What if there was a war and nobody showed up?
http://www.evilavatar.com/modules.php?op=modload&n ame=News&file=article&sid=4253&mode=thread&order=0 &thold=0
Other have tried with devices far better and with excellent looks, hell anything looks good to the game boy, and all have failed totally. Looks don't matter.
The only thing I find odd about this device is the size of the top screen. Wouldn't there be space for a slightly larger screen? Add maybe 10-20 dollars to the price tag and give peoples eye a break.
The old GBA stood alone but this one is going to be compared the PSP and who likes a small a screen.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Gamespy just released an article detailing a hands-on with DS. You can check it out here. Also, it seems like every freaking video game website on the net is slow as anything. In fact, Nintendo's own website appears to be down. Ouch! I wish I could find some free videos of today's press conferences, since I am too cheap to pay for accounts to video game websites.
SIGFAULT
Sweet dude. Thanks for the link.
? s= ecff7e828e6d531444392429794c5a0d&threadid=1043 889
It certainly looks impressive, I guess we're in for a very interesting hanheld market battle, with the PSP announced at $150 too. I want one!!!
Link with pics...
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php
first thing, judging from this, i don't like square shape. i personally found the GBA SP a PITA to control for my big mitts. though this might be big enough. the GBA SP was too damn small and closely packed for me.
second thing. they are jetisoning the classic gameboy games from this unless an addapter is release (it better be or i'm gonna be pissed as i have a BIG collection of GB and GBC games and i don't really wanna carry round a GBA and this new one)
the bluetooth addition is something i have been waiting years for. no more damn gamelink cable!
the power should be plently and they will be able to bring out some of the best games that were made for da N64. Smash bros. in my pocket! fun, especully with multiplayer!
we'll see...
upon the advice of my lawyer, i have no sig at this time
Gamespot has an article about the Nintendo DS, and the reporter actually played on prototypes.
After reading it, I am really excited about it. But playing WarioWare on it arises a serious question...how durable will be he ouch screen?
My brain instantly said, "Update Punch-Out!!!". Such fond memories of that game and it's stacked screens.
Spelling, grammar, punctuation? We need something that checks logic.
http://www.usatoday.com/
I new Slashdot moderators would not understand me.
The problem with the small size of the GBA is that I can't easily handle it. My hands are too big for it.
My problem is not with the gameplay of the SuperNES ports; I recognize that some of the games are good, but you have to face 2 truths:
1) the small screen makes a big difference in enjoying this gameplay. The graphics are too tiny.
2) the graphics are outdated beyond belief. After having played Winning Eleven, for example, I just can't accept soccer players with a dozen animations. It hurts my eyes. It was good for 1992, but it ain't no more.
A mouse does not distract the player from the game. You don't have to take your eyes off the screen to handle the mouse: it becomes intuitive after a while.
I did not do any research because the GBA was praised by the media as the best solution for portable gaming.
Of course I had a clue. I like sports games, but Superstar Soccer is not too playable in this small screen. It is fine on the telly, though.
My post was not a troll, really. I don't think that every opinion that differs from the mainstream one should be modded as troll.
Hey guys, I can't find this posted anywhere, but this is *good stuff*, DS Screenshots and renderings. Enjoy.
WarioWare. In one game you had to keep rubbing the screen as if you were applying charcoal on paper to reveal an image. One quickie had four objects on screen that required you to draw a line between the matching pairs. Another had you drawing a line between a boy and a girl to bring them together.
Ýes it also took ten full minutes for someone to code each of those games, for some reason Im not terribly excited to rub out the touch screen with those.
OK Im not a Warioware fan, so I thought I should check the rest of the launch titles:
Super Mario 64 X 4 -- This four-player game showed off both the wireless and dual-screen facets of the system.
Now couldnt at least changed the title ? Mario 64? x4? the scheme finally was revealed the GBA played a bunch of re-releases from SNES now the DS is set for re-releases from N64!!! (and not even the best ones like mario,banjo and conker)
Metroid Prime: Hunter -- From a technical standpoint, this was the most impressive DS title I saw. This first-person shooter looked incredible. Off the top of my head, I can't think of a Nintendo 64 FPS that looked as good as this game.
Hmm now I have to admit this one sounds yummy, after all the reason why I have my gba is because of metroid prime, if I get convinced to get a DS any day it will probably because of this one (wheres the castlevanias too?) however could the reviewer be a bit less obvious about the n64 nature of the DS?
Oh yeah and the rest:
Pac-Pix (pacman)
Pac 'n Roll (pacman)
Air Hockey(!)
If that amazing list didnt got your heart pounding with excitement! is because no human could care for any of those! the following should interest you a bit more! (I like to use exclamation marks and say wow! for no immediate reason!):
I also got to play demos featuring Sonic, Square characters, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Gundam, Pikachu, and Bomberman. They weren't as memorable as some of the others
Oh man! now that's a memorable moment! the guy at gamespy who literally gets payed to talk wonders about this games prefered not to talk about the later! WOW! now that should give you a small hint at what sort of masterpieces they must be! WOW!
In resume:
there you have it: the DS is basically a portable N64 with wireless networking a stylus (which is EXTREMELY used in wario ware) a touch screen and is going to cost around $150 we still dont know what is final name would be but it wont be "DS".
The launch library is 95% crap and theres not even a mario 64 at sight, however is GBA compatible and some of its launch titles like mario kart (although Mario dash would been much better), warioware (featuring a bunch of games made during lunch break) and metroid look like a lot of fun specially in 4 player wireless connection. Not even the reviewer wanted to talk about the others. (and he is a guy who got excited about rubbing the back of wario with a stylus)
Theres no info about battery consumption and considering nintendo likes to cut corners and they are too quiet about it chances are it will really, really suck. So prepare to play a lot while connected to a power outlet, or carry around a battery charger everywhere.
In my own personal humble opinnion? portable N64 vs portable PS2? sorry nintendo you just lost a costumer. But thats just me, a lot of nintendo fans will be really happy with this one.
Go ahead MOD my day!
More opinions here
DS article
According to the above referenced article the new DS also has Voice recognition and its DS card can hold almost a Gigabyte of information. I noticed that this wasn't really referenced in the USA Today Article.
For what it's worth, they carry GBA SP batteries at GameStop (and probably other stores too), and you can swap them with just a screwdriver. They also have higher capacity batteries that will last up to, I think, thirty hours. It's just as easy to bring along a spare SP battery as it is AA batteries, if you ask me.